UK News & Investigations

A prolific waste criminal has been ordered to hand over more than £1.4 million for illegally dumping in excess of 4,275 tonnes of waste across England. A nationwide investigation by the Environment Agency uncovered a network of 16 illegal dumping sites, stretching from the northeast to the south coast. Farms, a historic manor house and a nature reserve were among the locations trashed. Varun Datta, 36, of Little Chester Street, London, must now pay £1.1 million, reflecting th

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

A CAGE fighter convicted of the attempted murders of two men in Romania has avoided a second bid to extradite him after a British judge said forcing him back home to serve the sentence would breach his human rights. Convicted gangster Adrian Preda, 44, (both above) is wanted in Romania to serve jail terms for a series of violent offences and belonging to a notorious crime gang. But, he has been allowed to remain in the country after a judge said extradition would breach his r

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

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

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

DRUG suppliers are using "cleanskin" adults to deliver their goods in the hope it will lead to less detections by police, it has emerged. Adults with no criminal past are offered regular well-paid shifts with expenses covered inthe hopeitwill lure them into being illegal delivery drivers to drug users. Details emerged during the prosecution of Claire Young, a woman, who said she was "buzzing" to work part time "shifts" as a drug courier, instead of a standard job. She avoided

A "MANAGER" in a county lines drugs gang that peddled crack cocaine and heroin between Liverpool into Gosport and Plymouth has been jailed for six years and nine months. Danny Venning, 39, (pictured above) of Beatrice Avenue, Lipson, Plymouth, was jailed when he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court, as the last member of the gang to be sentenced after the group was dismantled following an investigation by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Northern Area Serious & Organise

THIRTY eight people have been arrested during a huge police operation across a crime-plagued part of Liverpool today. Codenamed Operation Vanguard, Merseyside Police sent a convoy of police vehicles for a series of raids in Stockbmberridge Village and Huyton today, Thursday 11 December 2025. More than 250 police officers have been conducting warrants, roadside checks, land and underwater searches and more in a "sustained and relentless offensive against criminals" operating i

A WATCH store manager who hanged himself after he was tied up during a £1.1million robbery was working in a business that was "run by Maurice Sines as a front for organised crime", a court was told. The three men accused of being involved in the audacious heist from the luxury watch store 247 Kettles, in south west London, were also warned by police their lives were in danger after a "£100,000 bounty" was placed on each of them, Woolwich Crown Court heard. The court heard the