UK News & Investigations

DRONES which can pinpoint buried illegal rubbish are set to be used to try to clampdown on the epidemic of illegal waste sites that are spreading across the country, UK News and Investigations can reveal. Environment Agency (EA) investigators hope to use specialist drones to fire lasers from above which will allow them to develop Detailed laser mapping and satellite imagery helping investigators catch offenders off-guard. It is one of a range of new measures to tackle waste c

Three men have been jailed for their involvement in the £1.1m robbery of a luxury watch shop "linked to Maurice Sines" the day after which store manager Oliver White took his own life. Mr White, 27, was put in a headlock and tied up during the raid at the 247 Kettles shop in Richmond, south-west London, in May 2024 while more than 70 high-value uninsured watches were stolen. Robbery mastermind Mannix Pedro, 38, (above middle) of Woking, Surrey, was today, February 6 2026, jai

A man found with a large amount of dangerous chemicals in his garden shed has been jailed after he was convicted of various offences linked to explosive and poisonous substances. Harry Whittaker, aged 33, (above) was arrested on 6 May 2024 after Bedfordshire Police officers searched his home address in Caddington. Whittaker came to police attention after he was seen by paramedics for injuries linked to exposure to various chemicals he had been handling. Whittaker made comment

A NATIONAL Police Service is to be created, to deal with the most complex and serious crimes and terrorism, in one of the biggest shake ups of policing ever. The changes, to be announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (below) could signal the end of the National Crime Agency (NCA), which will be absorbed into the new service. The service will also bring the capabilities of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP), Regional Organised Crime Units, the National Air Police Service (NA

POLICE officers will have to be licensed like doctors and lawyers as part of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's major changes which will also mean the start of direct-entry police chiefs and more graduates being recruited. Police officers in England and Wales will be required to hold and renew a licence throughout their career so they learn new skills as criminal techniques evolve. Officers must adopt new skills to stay at the top of their game and keep pace with new methods ad

A FORMER police informer who spied on environmental activists has been jailed for life after he planned to travel overseas to rape children as young as six. Edward Gratwick, 68, (above and below), also known as Nick, from Mitcham, was arrested at Stansted Airport on 7 March 2025 as he attempted to board a flight to Bucharest, Romania. He was found guilty in October of 38 “abhorrent” paedophile offences, including plans to pay to rape or sexually assault children in the UK and

A GUN and explosives workshop was being secretly run on Britain's biggest travelling showmen's site. Blank-firing pistols imported from Turkey were converted into deadly firearms, for sale to organised crime gangs across London and the south east, in a static caravan transformed into a makeshift workshop, Kingston Crown Court heard. The unit was equipped with drills, lathes and welding equipment to carry out the illegal conversions and to transform the ammunition into deadly

The inquest into the death of £1.1m watch robbery victim Oliver White has been adjourned after allegations of the store being a "front for organised crime" emerged in court. Oliver White, 27, (below left) manager of the 247 Kettles store in Richmond, took his own life a day after CCTV of the raid, showing him being tied up, circulated on social media. An inquest into his death was listed to go ahead in December but was pulled at the eleventh hour after the criminal trial of t

POLICE are appealing for information about an assault on a man in a shop on Cranbrook Road, Ilford, on New Year's Eve. At 3:10pm on Wednesday, 31 December 2025, officers and the London Ambulance Service responded to reports of an assault involving a large group of men at the Where 2 Save international supermarket on Cranbrook Road, Ilford.  A Met Police spokesperson said: "One victim, a man in his 40s, suffered head injuries and was taken to hospital. His condition was not

A "TRAVELLER Town" linked to the families who occupied the illegal Dale Farm development continues to face police investigation due to alleged feuds and suspected links to international organised crime. Rathkeale, in County Limerick, (above) saw its population swell over Christmas as traveller families, who spend the year travelling across the UK, Europe and further afield, returned to attend weddings and funerals. The country town has one of Ireland's biggest Irish traveller