Essex News & Investigations

Police are investigating how a bag containing a force laptop and phone ended up in the lost property of a central London eatery nine days after it was stolen. The rucksack was reported as being stolen from an off-duty officer while he was in a venue in Great Portland Street, at about 5:40pm on March 30 this year. It was handed into Charing Cross police station on April 8 after being found in the lost property of a different venue, a restaurant, within 1km of the location of t

THREE men were arrested on suspicion of drug offences in front of members of the public on a busy Saturday in Huddersfield. Several police officers were seen searching a vehicle and detaining the men in New Hey Road, as people nearby queued for fish and chips in the West Yorkshire town. A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: "Three men were arrested following a police stop of a vehicle in the Marsh area of Huddersfield at around 7.30pm on 4 April. "The men, aged 21, 22 an

SHOCKING accidental prisoner releases have largely been caused by an 'archaic' paper-based prison records system, the Government has admitted. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy today, April 15 2026, vowed to stamp it out, as the Government moves to digitalise system. Updating Parliament Lammy pledged to cut release mistakes to as close to zero as possible – backed by up to £82 million – tackling the rise in errors which began under the last government as prisons were pushed t

Humberside Police has closed a major investigation into child sex grooming gangs in Hull for the second time, bringing no charges. The first probe called Operation Marksman ran from 2019 to June 2021 when it closed with no charges even though 34 people had been arrested. Details of the first investigation were revealed by UK News and Investigations editor Jon Austin while he was Crime Editor of the Sunday Express. It was after a former social worker whistleblower alleged th

THE Labour government has claimed to have reduced knife homicides by more than a quarter after taking 63,000 knives taken off our streets since the July 2024 General Election. The Home Office today announced that knife homicides have fallen by 27 percent and knife-point robberies and hospital admissions for stabbings down by 10 percent and 11 percent respectively. It comes as next week the Government will launch its plan that it hopes will halve knife crime within a decade t

CELEBRITY peer Lord Brocket has denied five sexual offences against the same woman. Lord Charles Brocket, 74, a former contestant on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, appeared at Isleworth Crown Court today<April 1 2026> after being charged with two counts of rape last and three sexual offence charges against the woman last August. Lord Brocket (above in a still image from the hit ITV show), who is being prosecuted under his full name of Charles Nall-Cain Brocket, is cha

LONDON'S most crime-riddled hotspot is rarely proactively policed by the Met Police during the week, a probe by UK News and Investigations can reveal. An audit of police foot patrols in and around Leicester Square throughout 2025 found that during the week there was rarely a visible police presence from Sunday to Thursday unless some other form of proactive operation, such as targeting mobile phone thefts, was underway. The audit found that the force often displayed a good pr

THE former manager of Macclesfield FC's website, who was sacked after he pleaded guilty to offences involving indecent images of children, told police he inadvertently received the material after paying for what he thought was adult pornography, it can be revealed. Daniel Taylor, 31, who had been running its website, was dismissed after he admitted four offences involving indecent images of children at Crewe Magistrates' Court in February. Taylor, from Cranford Road, Wilmslow

Met detectives are appealing for information following a collision between a motorcycle and a pedestrian on Trafalgar Square. Police were called at 9:20pm on Saturday, 28 March 2026 to reports of a collision on Trafalgar Square by the junction of Spring Gardens, WC2N. Officers attended alongside the London Ambulance Service. The pedestrian, a woman in her 40s, sustained life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital, where she remains. Her next-of-kin have been informed

PICCADILLY Circus tube station was closed as armed police mobbed the area after reports of a man with a knife. This exclusive picture shows armed officers in the area yesterday, March 21 2026, just after 10:30pm. According to a source police were searching for suspects while emergency services were also on the scene. A British Transport Police spokesperson said: "Officers were called to Piccadilly Circus Underground station at 10.17pm on Saturday (21 March) following reports