A SENIOR Met Police firearms officer is facing allegations he promoted a mobile pizza business while on long-term sick leave from the force. PS Matt Skelt, of the Met's MO19 Specialist Firearms Command Unit, known as the 'Trojans', is accused of spending time on the family business across Essex. It is part of a Met Police apparent crackdown on officers allegedly carrying out other jobs while on sick leave or suspension. A public notice published ahead of a misconduct hearing

On the surface they looked like any other young Essex couple. But there was a reason why jobless Samuel De Vere-Hunt and his £13-an-hour receptionist girlfriend Rosie Wise were living in luxury in leafy Kelvedon Hatch, near Brentwood. The pair were involved in a multi-million pound drug and money laundering operation and covering their tracks via the encrypted EncroChat mobile phone system, which was busted by French cyber police in 2020. Unassuming looking De Vere-Hunt, 30

HOSPITAL chiefs are investigating after a dad-of-three died in front of other patients after waiting for over an hour complaining of chest pains in a busy A&E waiting room. Thomas "Tomboy" Casey, 34, (both above) from Basildon, died at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, on Friday, after being given painkillers despite his son begging staff for emergency care. A number of posters on Facebook said they witnessed the harrowing incident, which initially did not appear to be taken s

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

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

Two men have appeared in court charged with the murder of Stephen Morrisson in Epping more than five years ago. Stephen (pictured above in a memeorial at the scene) from Plaistow in East London's brother is rapper Jon Morrisson - aka "Morrisson". His other brother is Joey Morrisson, who once dated TOWIE star Lauren Goodger. He sustained a single stab wound after a confrontation in a car park in Epping Road shortly before 8pm on Tuesday 23 June 2020. The 30-year-old sadly died

A FUGITIVE British boxer who was on the run for two years before being arrested in Thailand has been jailed for 14 years for masterminding a multi-million pound cocaine and ketamine supply operation across the south east. Ben Ransome, 29, (both above) sat at the top of a criminal network which organised the sale of drugs in bulk to his customer base, which included dealers linked to firearms. He was found living in luxury on the holiday island of Phuket until his arrest at a

POLICE are appealing for information about a road collision in which a woman and a child were injured in Maldon High Street as revellers hit the town for the last Friday before Christmas. Officers were seen in a sealed off area near All Saints Church at about 10pm on December 19 2025. The High Street was closed between Market Hill and Coach Lane while an investigation was underway. According to comments on a post on a local Facebook group paramedics had also been in attendan

THIRTY years ago today the bloodied bodies of three drug dealers were found in a Range Rover on an isolated snowy farm track near Basildon. Pat Tate, 37, Tony Tucker, 38, and Craig Rolfe, 26, (below left to right) had been lured to the location in Rettendon before they were ambushed and shot dead with pump action shotguns. The grisly executions on December 6 1995 put Essex on the map again for all the wrong reasons less than three weeks after headlines about the death of 18-y

A MAN who told former Met Police detectives and the makers of the Sky Essex Murders documentary series that he ordered the Rettendon Range Rover murders and convicted killers Jack Whomes and Michael Steele were innocent, went on to admit he "made it all up." Dave Cawston, 59, had his identity disguised (above) during the interview filmed for the third episode of the three-part series which was first broadcast in April 2023. He told the producers and ex-detectives from private