UK News & Investigations

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

The policing inspectorate is to carry out an urgent independent inspection into the Metropolitan Police’s recruitment and vetting standards, after it emerged that thousands of candidates joined the force without proper checks.    This follows an internal review carried out by the Met which found that the force had lowered vetting checks into the background of both prospective and existing police officers and staff between 2018 and 2023. This included not checking military bac

A POLICE officer obsessed with female belly button piercings waged an online stalking and harassment campaign against 11 women he met through work, school and university, a misconduct panel found. Former PC Joss Astley targeted the victims between 2014 and 2020 while he was an officer for the Met Police, the hearing in south east London heard. Astley, who resigned during the investigation, set up pseudonym Instagram accounts to massage the victims, some of whom came to him fo

SOME retailers are to blame for the shoplifting epidemic for their feeble response and unwillingness to prosecute according to Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (top left) and a security leader. Sir Mark would not name uncooperative retailers but called out the industry after saying police had stepped up their response to the problem after being urged to by retailers two years ago.even He even warned of a number of cases where corrupt shop security were aiding and abett

Officers investigating the murder of 15-year-old Adam Henry (above) have made five arrests at an address in north west London. Detectives located and arrested 22-year-old Abdel Dedour (below) on Friday, 26 December 2025 following a two-week manhunt and public appeal. Four others within the property, three men and a woman aged between 18 and 47, were detained for assisting an offender. The 47-year-old woman was further arrested after an assault on a police officer while one o

RUSSELL Brand has been charged with further sexual offences against women. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised two new charges, one of rape and one of sexual assault, against Brand, 50, with an address in Oxfordshire. These new charges are in relation to two further women and are in addition to the charges issued to Brand in April 2025 which involved four women. Then he was charged with two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and two counts of sexual

Detectives investigating a fatal shooting in Brent have named the victim as they continue to work at pace to determine the circumstances that led to his death. Officers have named 55-year-old Simon Whyte (above), as the man fatally shot during the incident in Stonebridge on the evening of Friday, 19 December. As their investigation into Simon’s death continues, detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Team are appealing for witnesses, information and anyone with dashcam foo

A MURDER probe is underway after a man was stabbed to death in a block of flats that has been plagued by intruders according to residents. The 40-year-old victim was stabbed at flat in Tollgate House, Tollgate Gardens, Kilburn, north west London. Police were called at 9:42pms on Friday, 19 December to reports of a stabbing in the property. It was just seven minutes after they were called to an unconnected gun murder in Brent. Officers attended the Kilburn address alongside th

THE national body of freemasons has threatened the Metropolitan Police with legal action over its plans to force officers to declare their membership of the organisation. Earlier this month, the Met said Freemasonry membership would be added to its declarable associations policy , following a consultation of officers. Two-thirds of around 2,000 respondents felt membership of such organisations affects perception of police impartiality and public trust, the force said. It fol

A MET Police detective, who spent four of his thirty years on the force in the Freemasons says that he was told to leave by a very senior officer. Retired detective Mick Randall (above), who now runs private investigation firm Fedora investigations, said the lodge he was in turned out to be, unbeknown to him, linked to "unbelieveable corruption." He posted on Linkedin after the Met Police announced on Thursday that all officers must now declare any past or current involvement