FAR-RIGHT activist Tommy Robinson was discriminated against by police owing to his political beliefs when he was nabbed driving a Bentley, a court has been told.
A POLISH woman has been discovered in a shocking state after allegedly being locked in a tiny room by her parents for nearly three decades.
Mirella, now 42, was just 15-years-old when she vanished from public life in 1998.
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Mirella, 42, has been discovered in a shocking state after allegedly being locked in a room for three decadesCredit: Unknown
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The Polish woman was found ‘days away from death’Credit: Unknown
She lived in the city of Świętochłowice, in southern Poland.
Her parents reportedly told neighbours at the time that their teenage daughter had gone missing. For years, no one questioned it.
But this summer, police stumbled upon the horrifying truth.
Officers were called to an apartment block in July after residents heard a disturbance coming from inside.
When they knocked on the door, the elderly landlady, 82, denied anything unusual was going on.
Cops then spoke to Mirella directly. She reassured them that “everything was fine”.
But officers quickly noticed severe injuries on her legs and decided to call and ambulance.
She was rushed to hospital – and doctors determined she was just “days away from death” from infection.
Although Mirella’s discovery took place in July, the shocking case has only now come to light after locals launched a fundraiser to help her recover.
One of the organisers posted online: “Doctors determined that she was only days away from death due to infection.
“She has been in hospital for two months now due to her critical condition.
“People who knew Mirella thought she left her ‘family’ home almost 30 years ago.
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The emaciated woman was discovered by cops. Police had been called to an apartment block back in July after neighbours reported hearing a disturbance.Credit: Unknown
“People who knew Mirella thought she left her ‘family’ home almost 30 years ago.
“Unfortunately, the truth turned out to be different.
“Much remains unknown, and several facts cannot be revealed at this stage. One thing is certain: the truth must come to light as to why this young, healthy 15-year-old stopped leaving her home and disappeared without a trace.
New CCTV in search for missing woman, 34, who vanished from her home
“It is unimaginable to spend so much time in one room.
“She herself says that she has never even seen her city develop, that it is behind in everything, that she has missed out on so many things, she has never been to a doctor, never obtained an ID card, never gone for a simple walk or even to the balcony…
“She’s never been to a dentist or a hairdresser.
“Her hair and teeth are in critical condition, even threatening her health, so visits to a private clinic are now necessary.”
Mirella’s nightmare began when she was just a teenager. Her parents allegedly confined her to a small room in their flat and cut her off from the outside world completely.
For 27 years, neighbours believed the couple’s story that their daughter was missing.
Residents assumed only two people lived in the flat: the elderly couple.
Her ordeal only came to an end at the end of July when neighbours heard noises and alerted the emergency services.
When police and paramedics entered the second-floor apartment, they were met with a devastating scene.
Witnesses said Mirella looked “extremely neglected,” and her legs “appeared to be necrotic.”
One neighbour said: “It’s unbelievable. I remember Mirella as a teenager. We used to play in front of the building when I visited my grandmother for the holidays.
“Then she suddenly disappeared under mysterious circumstances.”
After she was rescued, Mirella spent two months in hospital fighting for her life.
Authorities have now launched a criminal investigation.
Prosecutor Agnieszka Kwatera confirmed that the case is being formally investigated.
Junior Asp. Anna Hryniak from the Municipal Police Headquarters in Świętochłowice told Fakt: “After our intervention and transporting the woman to the hospital, the district police officer contacted the Social Welfare Center.
“We are awaiting feedback on this woman’s situation from the Social Welfare Center so we can take further action.”
It is not yet clear what legal consequences Mirella’s parents will face.
The shocking discovery comes just days after a separate case made headlines in Brazil.
Authorities were tipped off anonymously and found the child in a state of neglect. She had never been to school, received no vaccinations, and could not speak.
Child protection counsellor Ligia Guerra said: “The girl was very apathetic and dazzled by everything.”
She added that the child’s hair was “tangled” and looked “as if it had never been washed.”
The girl had reportedly eaten nothing that day and survived only on liquids.
She communicated with police and counsellors through sounds rather than words.
The child was immediately taken to hospital for medical checks before being moved to a children’s home.
Both cases have horrified the public and raised questions about how such extreme abuse can go unnoticed for so long.
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She lived in the city of Świętochłowice, in southern PolandCredit: Getty
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Her ordeal only came to an end at the end of July when neighbours heard noises and alerted the emergency servicesCredit: Getty
THIS is the head-scratching moment a food delivery cyclist can be seen pedalling along the M4 in rush hour traffic.
The bizarre video of the delivery rider was captured by a passerby on a bridge running over the motorway.
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Footage captured shows a delivery rider pedalling along a busy motorwayCredit: Caters
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The scene occurred on the M4 during rush hour trafficCredit: Caters
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A cop car signals for the rider to pull overCredit: Caters
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He is then seen on the side of the road with a number of officers and vehiclesCredit: Caters
Desperately trying to keep up with the traffic, the rider furiously pedals down the motorway road.
Cars speed past on both sides of the road as he takes up an entire lane.
A police car then steers up to the bike with its siren blaring to pull up to the rider.
Unfazed, the man on the bike takes a quick glance over looks over.
A following angle then shows the rider pulled to the side of the motorway.
He is surrounded by three cops, with two more who can be seen approaching.
Three police vehicles are also spotted parked along the roadside to attend the incident.
The video was shared on social media, with a caption which read: “Absolute scenes on the M4.”
Text on the video also says: “I hate to tell you your McDonalds might be cold.”
Several viewers questioned why so many cops were needed for the delivery rider.
One wrote: “Why do they need 3 cop cars for one bro on a pushbike…sure this is overkill? Motorway or not.”
“3 cars vs 1 just eat man on his bike. Sounds legit.”
Moment delivery driver lobs water bottles to passengers through windows of broken-down train after it got stuck in 33C
Others joked about the wait for the food delivery: “Estimated delivery time 6 hours. Yeah.”
“When you set your just eat account to car not bike by mistake,” another wrote.
“Still waiting for my big mac meal…”
Some were more sympathetic to the rider: “He deserves a tip!”
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Users responded to the video posted on social mediaCredit: Caters
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Cops can be see berating the cyclist on the side of the motorwayCredit: Caters
“I feel so bad for him. Cycling his whole way through all the for some food,” another added.
It comes after another delivery rider was spotted passing motorists on the M6 earlier this year.
The Just Eat employee was filmed by a driver on the M6 in Birmingham, West Mids., which was shared to X.
In response to the incident, a Just Eat spokesperson said: “Most delivery drivers delivering food to customers’ doors are employed directly by independent restaurants.
“We do work with third-party courier companies, agency couriers and self-employed independent contractors in certain areas.
“We hold ourselves to the highest standards and in line with these, we would expect all drivers associated with Just Eat to act responsibly and respectfully at all times.”
A ‘KNIFEMAN’ has been arrested by police following a knife attack as two people have been rushed to hospital.
Cops rushed to the scene after reports a man armed with what appeared to be a knife on Great Horton Road in Bradford.
He was detained by college security staff and arrested by attending West Yorkshire Police officers.
A man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting two members of the public and assaulting two emergency workers.
He was also arrested for a racially-aggravated public order offence and causing damage to a police vehicle.
The two injured members of the public have been taken to hospital for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries.
A small gardening tool was seized by police at the scene, police say.
Detective Inspector Ailis Coates said: “We know that this incident will understandably cause some concern in the community.
“I would like to reassure people that the suspect was quickly detained by security staff and arrested by the police.
“We understand that this incident has been witnessed by a large number of people and that some people may have filmed bits of it.
“We would ask them to please share this footage with the police as it could greatly assist us in our ongoing investigation.
“We currently have a police scene in place on Great Horton Road and people can expect to see our neighbourhood policing colleagues in the area providing reassurance to college staff and students and the wider community.”
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Two injured members of the public have been taken to hospital after a stabbing in Bradford
A TEENAGE girl, 17, was reportedly raped by a stranger in broad daylight as cops launch a manhunt.
The alleged attack unfolded in the village of Hassocks, in West Sussex, between 6pm and 7.30pm on Thursday.
The victim claimed to be approached in Keymer Road, near the junctions with Parklands Road and Grand Avenue.
Detective Inspector Debbie Birch, leading the investigation, said: “We are supporting the victim as we actively carry out detailed enquiries, which include CCTV and house to house enquiries.”
DI Birch added: “We have increased our police presence in the village while we investigate, and we are carrying out additional high visibility patrols for reassurance.
“Anyone who has any concerns is urged to stop and talk to officers.
“If you were in the area and noticed anything suspicious or have information that may assist us, we ask you to contact police or on 101, and quote Operation Insight.
“We will provide updates about the investigation when possible.”
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The alleged attack unfolded in the village of Hassocks, in West Sussex
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COPS have launched a hate crime investigation after reports of a suspected arson attack at a mosque.
CCTV footage shows two men with face coverings pull up to the Peacehaven Community Mosque, in East Sussex, on Saturday night.
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A burnt out vehicle in front of the Community Mosque in Peacehaven
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A masked thug appears to pour an accelerant over the entrance
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A man runs from inside seeking safety
The video appears to reveal one yob, wearing a black jacket, walking up the front steps holding a green container.
He appears to douse the entrance steps with an accelerant before they go up in flames.
Within seconds the car has also turned into a fire ball.
A man who was inside the mosque runs out in terror, seeking safety.
It is not known how many people were in the building when the inferno was sparked.
Fire crews were called out to the chaotic scene and a large police presence remains in the area.
Footage from the scene shows a burnt-out vehicle being dampened by firemen.
A member of the Mosque told The Sun Online: “There was an attack on the mosque, a few individuals came with balaclavas on and blew up a vehicle outside the mosque and set the front a light.”
“It was a targeted attack,” he claimed.
“There’s a large police presence here now.”
Sussex Police Detective Superintendent Karrie Bohanna said: “This is a fast-moving investigation, and we are urging anyone with relevant information to report it to us.
“This includes anyone with CCTV, ring doorbell, dashcam, and mobile phone footage in the area at the time.
“We understand the concerns this has caused within the community, and the impact that will be felt by the Muslim community as a result.
“There is already an increased police presence at the scene and there are also additional patrols taking place to provide reassurance at other places of worship across the county.
“Sussex Police takes a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime and there is no place for hate across the county.
“If you have concerns for your safety or experience any hate or criminal behaviour, please speak to an officer or contact us online or by calling 101. Always dial 999 in an emergency.”
Anyone with information about the arson can report it to Sussex Police online or on 101, quoting Operation Spey.
Alternatively contact CrimeStoppers anonymously by calling 0800 555 111.
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Fire crews were called out to the chaotic scene at XXXpm
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It is not known how many people were in the building
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The car became a fireball in seconds
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Two men arrived in the same car they later set alight
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A large emergency service presence is at the scene
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In 1997, the comedy “In & Out” did its shiny, star-studded best to mainstream the story of a closeted gay man in a rock-ribbed American community embracing his truth. The fine new indie drama “Plainclothes,” which takes place in 1997 in Syracuse, N.Y., and centers on a young police officer in the throes of desire, wants to remind us that the reality of such reckonings was a bit more fraught.
In first-time screenwriter-director Carmen Emmi’s tense, sensitively threaded scenario, fresh-faced cop Lucas (Tom Blyth) isn’t just holding a secret — he’s involved in the enforced criminalization of it. His assigned undercover detail is the mall, using a seductive look (not entirely acting) to lure gay men to the restroom, silently clocking the moment they meet the minimum requirement for breaking indecent exposure laws, then having them arrested.
Something shifts inside Lucas during one of these stings, however, when he locks eyes with a target named Andrew (Russell Tovey), whose soulful return gaze promises a deeper connection than instant gratification. He spares Andrew the planned indignity waiting outside, but secures a phone number away from the watchful eye of his sergeant (Christian Cooke). Weeks later, the pair arrange to meet in the upstairs balcony of an old movie palace. (Though we never see the screen, sharp-eared film buffs will recognize allusions to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 surveillance classic “The Conversation.”) After a couple of warm, intimate exchanges in secluded spaces, Lucas allows himself to imagine a future free from hiding, even if Andrew cautions that what they have can only ever be temporary.
Early in “Plainclothes,” thanks to changes in aspect ratio and Lucas’ facial hair, we realize that this timeline amounts to an extended memory, triggered in the present scenes by tense New Year’s Eve preparations at Lucas’ childhood home and a misplaced letter that he hopes neither his adoring, recently widowed mother (a wonderful Maria Dizzia) nor his obnoxious, hot-headed uncle (Gabe Fazio) find.
The backward-forward structure creates entwined tracks of suspense between the outcome of the Andrew relationship and the expected ramifications of what’s assumed to be a revealing letter. That framework gives “Plainclothes” the feeling of an emotional chase film where pursuer and pursued are the same, stuck in a loop of possibility, torn about what being caught really means.
Emmi’s well-conceived screenplay does justice to the ways a compartmentalized life can crack. When Lucas is with Andrew — and even in scenes with a nice ex-girlfriend (Amy Forsyth) — acceptance is palpable, understanding real. Among family, the pressure to conform activates his guardedness. And when his department, steeped in macho culture and eager for more mall arrests, starts deploying a video camera behind a one-way mirror, an increasingly anxious Lucas is made to feel nothing but risk about his identity.
There may be little that’s psychologically fresh about “Plainclothes,” but the fact that its low-key, close-framed style suggests a taut, moody gay indie you might have seen in the ’90s works in its favor. It’s also well cast, with the appealing Blyth always in control of the undercurrents, especially alongside the excellent Tovey, playing a sadder, wiser closetedness. I wish Emmi hadn’t overegged the visual motif that Lucas’ POV in moments of stress is akin to the fuzzy texture of Hi8 video: A little of it goes a long way and too often pulls us out of the tone in a room. But it’s the kind of choice that’s easier to forgive in a movie so well-attuned to shifts in perception, one that dimensionalizes the problem of achieving clarity when leading a double life.
‘Plainclothes’
Not rated
Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Playing: Opens Friday, Sept. 26, at Landmark Sunset
Neighbours were left shocked after the bodies were discovered at a property in the village of Ormesby, North Yorkshire, on Wednesday, police said.
Cleveland Police are treating the deaths as “unexplained” at present with detectives carrying out investigations.
A property on Millbeck Way was cordoned off on Thursday morning after police made the grim discovery on Wednesday afternoon.
One local resident told TeessideLive that they hadn’t seen the people living at the property in “almost three weeks”.
They said: “I had a funny feeling after a week that something wasn’t right.”
Another resident said: “I was gutted when I heard, it was sad really.
“They were lovely people to speak to, they were to me, they were polite.”
There were also reports of the windows of the property being smashed or boarded up.
A spokesperson for Cleveland Police said: “At approximately 2.45pm on Wednesday, September 24, police attended to a property on Millbeck Way and located two bodies inside.
“The deaths are currently being treated as unexplained as detectives begin an investigation into the circumstances.
“A scene is in place at the property.”
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COPS have released CCTV footage of a man they are hunting in connection with an alleged sexual assault.
A man is alleged to have attacked a woman as she sat next to him on a busy train from Birmingham to London.
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Cops have released CCTV in connection with the alleged assault
British Transport Police confirmed a probe had been launched into the shocking assault.
The force said: “Detectives investigating a sexual assault on board a train from Birmingham New Street to London Euston have released this CCTV image in connection.
“On Wednesday 30 July at around 6.36pm a man sexually assaulted a woman as she sat next to him on the train.
“Detectives believe the man in this CCTV image may have information that could help with their investigation.
“Anyone who recognises him is asked to contact BTP by texting 61016, or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 674 of 30 July.
“Information can also be given anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
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Police are still appealing for anyone with information that can help their investigation to come forward.
I make £30k in 3 days doing a job nobody wants to do
This includes any witnesses who may have seen or helped Tony in Westcourt Road between 7.20pm and 7.40pm on September 11.
Detective Inspector Amanda Zinyama, of the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: “This is a tragic incident, and our thoughts are with Tony’s family and friends.
“Through our initial enquiries, it has been established that the victim and suspect are known to one another and we want to reassure members of the public that charges have now been secured and we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this investigation.”
Police presence will remain at the address as enquiries continue.
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Anthony ‘Tony’ Scarrott, 80, died on September 14 after he was taken to hospitalCredit: SUSSEX NEWS AND PICTURES
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There will be an ongoing police presence at the address as police enquiries continue
In the push to expand as quickly as possible, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is aggressively wooing recruits with experience slapping handcuffs on suspects: sheriff’s deputies, state troopers and local cops.
The agency even shelled out for airtime during an NFL game with an ad explicitly targeting officers.
“In sanctuary cities, dangerous illegals walk free as police are forced to stand down,” the August recruitment ad warned over a sunset panorama of the Los Angeles skyline. “Join ICE and help us catch the worst of the worst.”
To meet its hiring goal, the Trump administration is offering hefty signing bonuses, student loan forgiveness and six-figure salaries to would-be deportation officers.
ICE has also broadened its pool of potential applicants by dropping age requirements, eliminating Spanish-language proficiency requirements and cutting back on training for new hires with law enforcement experience.
Along the way, the agency has walked a delicate line, seeking to maintain cordial relations with local department leaders while also trying to poach their officers.
“We’re not trying to pillage a bunch of officers from other agencies,” said Tim Oberle, an ICE spokesman. “If you see opportunities to move up, make more money to take care of your family, of course you’re going to want it.”
But despite the generous new compensation packages, experts said ICE is still coming up short in some of the places it needs agents the most.
“The pay in California is incredible,” said Jason Litchney of All-Star Talent, a recruiting firm. “Some of these Bay Area agencies are $200,000 a year without overtime.”
Even entry level base pay for a Los Angeles Police Department officer is more than $90,000 year. In San Francisco, it’s close to $120,000. While ICE pays far more in California than in most other states, cash alone is less likely to induce many local cops to swap their dress blues for fatigues and a neck gaiter.
“If you were a state police officer who’s harbored a desire to become a federal agent, I don’t know if you want to join ICE at this time,” said John Sandweg, who headed ICE under President Obama.
Police agencies nationwide have struggled for years to recruit and retain qualified officers. The LAPD has only graduated an average of 31 recruits in its past 10 academy classes, about half the number needed to keep pace with the city’s plan to grow the force to 9,500 officers.
“That is a tremendous issue for us,” said Brian Marvel, president of the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California, a professional advocacy organization.
A person walks near the stage during a hiring fair by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Aug. 26 in Arlington, Texas.
(Julio Cortez / Associated Press)
ICE, too, has long failed to meet its staffing targets. As of a year ago, the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations — it’s dedicated deportation force — had 6,050 officers, barely more than in 2021.
As of Sep. 16, the Department of Homeland Security said it has sent out more than 18,000 tentative job offers after a summer recruitment campaign that drew more than 150,000 applications.
It did not specify how many applicants were working cops.
At an ICE career expo in Texas last month, the agency at times turned away anyone who didn’t already have authorization to carry a badge or an honorable discharge from the military.
“We have so many people who are current police officers who are trying to get on the job right now and that’s who we’ve been prioritizing,” one ICE official at the event said.
But the spirited pursuit of rank-and-file officers has sparked anger and resentment among top cops around the country.
“Agencies are short-staffed,” said David J. Bier, an immigration expert at the Cato Institute. “They are complaining constantly about recruitment and retention and looking every which way to maintain their workforce — and here comes along ICE — trying to pull those officers away.”
Law enforcement experts say that outside of California, especially in lower income states, many young officers take home about as much as public school teachers, making the opportunity for newer hires to jump ship for a federal gig even more enticing.
Some fear the ICE hiring spree will attract problematic candidates.
“The scariest part keeping me up at night is you hear agencies say we’re lowering standards because we can’t hire,” said Justin Biedinger, head of Guardian Alliance Technologies, which streamlines background checks, applicant testing and other qualifications for law enforcement agencies.
At the same time, the Trump administration is finding ways to deputize local cops without actually hiring them.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at the Wilshire Federal Building in June in Los Angeles.
(Luke Johnson/Los Angeles Times)
As of early September, according to the program website, 474 agencies in 32 states were participating, up from 141 agencies in March.
Some states such as Georgia and Florida require their agencies to apply for the program. Others, including California, forbid it.
But that, too, could soon change.
The administration is exploring ways to force holdouts to comply, including by conditioning millions of dollars of funding for domestic violence shelters, rape crisis hotlines and child abuse centers on compliance with its immigration directives. In response, California and several other states have sued.
Even in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions such as Los Angeles, where local laws prohibit cops from participating in civil immigration enforcement, police officers have found themselves tangled up in federal operations. The LAPD has drawn criticism for officers responding to the scenes of ICE arrests where confrontations have erupted.
“We get called a lot to come out and assist in providing security or making sure that it doesn’t turn violent,” said Marvel, the police advocacy organization president.
“The vast majority of peace officers do not want to do immigration enforcement because that’s not the job they signed up for,” Marvel said. “We want to protect the community.”
Among the agency’s most vocal critics, the push to beef up ICE is viewed as both dangerous and counterproductive.
“Punishing violent criminals is the work of local and state law enforcement,” said Ilya Somin, law professor at George Mason University and a constitutional scholar at the Cato Institute. “If we were to abolish ICE and devote the money to those things, we’d have lower violence and crime.”
The cash and perks ICE is dangling will inevitably draw more people, experts said, but some warned that newly minted deportation officers should be careful about mortgaging their future.
The potential $50,000 hiring bonus is paid out in installments over several years — and the role may lack job security.
At the same time Trump is doubling ICE’s headcount, he’s also rewriting the rules to make it far easier to ax federal workers, said Sandweg, the former Obama official.
That could come back to haunt many agency recruits four years from now, he said: “I think there’s a very good chance a future Democratic administration is going to eliminate a lot of these positions.”
Zurie Pope, a Times fellow with the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, contributed to this report.
THE dad of a missing schoolboy – who vanished 18 years ago – has revealed how cops initially pointed the finger at him before coming up with a bizarre second theory.
Kevin Gosden claims he was told by investigators Andrew, 14, could have become a jihadi fighter and fled the UK due to some books he’d checked out from the library for a school project.
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Kevin Gosden spoke to The Sun on the 18th anniversary of his son going missingCredit: Andrew McCaren – The Sun
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Andrew Gosden went missing from his home in Doncaster at the age of 14 on September 14 2007Credit: BPM
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Andrew was last seen on CCTV footage at King’s Cross Station in London on the day he vanishedCredit: BPM
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Andrew vanished without a trace after skipping school and taking a train from his hometown of Doncaster to London on September 14 2007.
Weeks later, detectives were able to track down CCTV showing the teenager in King’s Cross station – but from there the trail has run cold.
In December 2021, two men were arrested on suspicion of kidnap and human trafficking, but police confirmed no further action was being taken in September 2023.
Dad Kevin has told The Sun how in the early weeks of the investigation, officers put the family through “traumatising” questioning in which he claims the finger was pointed at him for possible murder.
“They only wanted to get hold of the station CCTV to prove he wasn’t buried in the back garden,” Kevin said.
Asked if cops ever directly accused him of killing Andrew, he added: “That was their assumption. They’re really good at inventing stories.”
At one point Kevin and wife Glenys went to a meeting with investigators in which it was proposed their son may have become a jihadi – which refers to armed militant Islamic movements that seek to establish states based on Islamic principles.
Kevin said: “They came up with some really bizarre ideas.
“He’d taken out some books from the library about Islam and they’d come up with the idea that perhaps he was joining some sort of jihadi group.
“We had this meeting and got back in the car – we looked at each other and said ‘is that the most ridiculous thing you’ve heard in your life?’
Human remains riddle at Loch Lomond as cops probe missing man’s last movements
“He was doing a school project.”
Kevin said the jihadi theory was an example of “this horrible spiral, that was entirely unhelpful and non-productive”.
“They’d come up with something insanely unlikely, that it was laughable,” he explained. “It really wasn’t good in 2007, at the beginning.”
He felt such lines of enquiry seemed to be distracting from following more obvious leads and when detectives finally did try to track down CCTV, much of the footage had already been wiped.
Investigators questioned both of Andrew’s parents, and older sister Charlotte prior to releasing the station video, a month after the disappearance.
Describing his own interrogation, Kevin said: “I did get the good cop bad cop routine.”
He added: “A couple of officers involved were in our house for five minutes, 10 minutes…
“They turned to us and said ‘how did you discipline him?’
“We said ‘we didn’t, we never had problems with him’.”
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Kevin with Andrew as a newborn babyCredit: Collect
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Kevin with wife and Andrew’s mum Glenys – who remain hopeful of eventually having answersCredit: Alamy
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Andrew in tears as a toddler, aged twoCredit: Collect
Referring to the family’s treatment, he said: “It’s wrong. I still have no idea what they said to Charlotte.
“She came back (from police questioning) really shaken and said ‘just don’t ask because what they asked me was disgusting’, so we can guess.”
He continued: “There were too many statistics and assumptions.
“They traumatised all three of us, but just because I’m a man I got the worst of it.
“It was so off beam and so wrong, that it did end up with a suicide attempt because I just thought we’re never going to find him like this, I just need to be out of the way because clearly they’ve got this idea in their head.
“I know it’s not true but they’re never going to find him if that’s where they’re putting their time and resources.”
Referring to the idea he or anyone else in the family had hurt Andrew, Kevin went on to say: “I said to them more than once, if you find him, you can ask him and he’ll tell you it’s rubbish.
“You’ve asked my daughter and my wife, the neighbours, his teachers, school friends and you’ll have come across no hint that there was ever a problem.”
‘All we can hope is something comes up’
Andrew, if he’s still alive, would be 32 now.
Kevin said: “All we can hope is that something comes up and someone volunteers something and remembers something, anonymously if necessary, and gives us something revolutionary.”
The dad-of-two, 59, is currently refurbishing the family home, including repainting Andrew’s old bedroom, which is adorned with photos of the then-schoolboy.
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A missing person poster with a mock up of what Andrew may look like as an adultCredit: Andrew McCaren – The Sun
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Kevin has never given up on finding his sonCredit: Andrew McCaren – The Sun
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Kevin with Andrew and his daughter Charlotte as small childrenCredit: Collect
Kevin said: “It never gets any damn easier… nightmares and flashbacks overnight. I finally get to sleep and I’m like ‘how have I woken up at one in the afternoon?’”
The refurbishment is addressing “all the stuff I haven’t paid notice to for the last 30 years”, he explained.
Asked if keeping his mind occupied has helped him to process what happened to Andrew, he said: “I don’t know about processing things. It never gets any easier.
“I’ve never made the mental illness stuff a secret.”
Kevin attempted suicide early in the search for Andrew, saying he was tipped over the edge by cops implying he was involved in his son’s disappearance.
It never gets any damn easier… nightmares and flashbacks overnight. I finally get to sleep and I’m like ‘how have I woken up at one in the afternoon?
Kevin GosdenMissing Andrew’s dad
“Sadly, I had reached the conclusion that it isn’t going to get any better.”
He left his job at the NHS after Andrew disappeared and was doing part-time cleaning work before being made redundant.
In November, when he turns 60, Kevin is due a “big payout” from the NHS, having been employed there for 20 years.
He said keeping himself occupied with any little projects is essential.
“I know an awful amount of people retiring, I can’t,” he admitted. “All of this distracts.
“Since Andrew disappeared, my concentration, memory, all that stuff… mood and anxiety in particular, it paralyses your brain.
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There have been very few credible clues as to what happened to AndrewCredit: Collect
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Andrew’s bedroom at home in DoncasterCredit: Andrew McCaren – The Sun
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The schoolboy had skipped school and taken a train to London when he vanished
“All of that has been constant so I struggle to think straight.
“Things like refurbishing, you have to pay enough attention on it to not ruminate on things. I have several little projects on the go.”
He went on to say: “I do most days wake up in a bit of a panic, thinking I need to get this done, I need to get that done.
“My wife goes, ‘you never sit still’. You propel yourself into doing stuff with far too much anxiety behind it and rush it. That tends to be how it goes.
“You get the days when depression will kick in and I just can’t do anything. It’s constantly tough.
“Every day it is a struggle. Partly I just keep doing these things, you have to persevere, or I do, just to keep going. As opposed to giving up.”
Sick trolls posting fake updates
Most recently, Kevin and his family have been forced to consult with police over sick clickbait articles falsely claiming that Andrew has been found, or further CCTV footage has been unearthed, and some include falsified statements from his loved ones.
“That’s been causing me a lot of anxiety,” said Kevin. “What I worry about is, you just don’t want to end up going through the same thing Nicola Bulley’s family went through.”
Nicola Bulley was a mum-of-two young children who vanished aged 45 in January 2023 during a dog walk in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, before her body was found weeks later in the river.
However, the search for the mum saw a media frenzy, with TikTokers and other social influencers flooding the scene and some spreading misinformation online.
Kevin has been alerted to countless possible sightings of Andrew over the years, and at one stage the family had age progression images done showing what he might look like now.
“One of my fears is I could walk past him in the street, if he’s alive,” he said.
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Andrew, aged five, opening presents at homeCredit: Collect
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A school photo of Andrew a few years before he disappearedCredit: Collect
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Kevin said one of his biggest fears is that if Andrew is alive he may have come across him without knowingCredit: Andrew McCaren – The Sun
“He might have grown a beard, he would look so different. You worry you could trip over him in the street and have no idea.”
Asked what he believes became of Andrew, Kevin said he, his wife and daughter have “fluctuated on this for years”.
He continued: “None of us can imagine that the Andrew we knew would not have made some kind of contact at some point because we never fell out, we never argued.
“It still boils down to we’re still absolutely clueless, but that makes us think he probably isn’t alive but that makes you think how come we’ve never found remains and no one ever saw him or noticed anything.
“It turns around in your head and you can never come to any definite conclusion, which is the whole problem with ambiguous loss and why the mental health issues never resolved.”
He added: “We try to maintain hope, there’s that little voice in your head that says someone somewhere must know something, surely.”
Kevin said it would be easier, in a sense, if it could be proven either way what happened to his son.
“If we had a bag of bones or something that would be incredibly tough, and obviously would raise a whole lot of other questions as to how we’ve ended up with that,” he said.
“It’s a double-edged sword, it’s the answer you just don’t want to know. But on the other hand, it feels like knowing would be better than not knowing.”
Andrew went missing at a time before the smart phones craze, the first iPhone was released the same year as his disappearance, and he didn’t even have a mobile.
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Andrew in Woolwich Arsenal area of London during a trip to the capital
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Another mock up of what Andrew may have looked like in the years after he disappearedCredit: PA:Press Association
Kevin said: “You are going back to the days of a lot less social media and internet. People weren’t carrying around a computer in their pocket the whole time.”
However, he said the fact that it appeared to go “pear-shaped” when trying to retrieve further CCTV at one of Europe’s most heavily surveillanced areas, “is still rather upsetting”.
Kevin said he and his family told investigators, after witnesses came forward, that King’s Cross was unlikely to be Andrew’s final destination as it’s a “transport exchange with links to everywhere”.
But he said the sluggish start meant the golden window of collecting evidence within the first 48 hours was missed.
Kevin said: “It’s worth saying that policing is still inconsistent when looking for a missing person, but it is very much improved.
“I’m pretty sure every police force has a dedicated team for missing persons now. Things are done a lot better now.”
Andrew’s disappearance
Looking back to the time Andrew disappeared, Kevin said it was a Friday and they weren’t certain he’d gone missing until the Monday morning.
The family spoke to train station staff, including a woman who said she’d sold the schoolboy a one-way ticket.
They then trekked down to London and began putting up posters in any places they thought Andrew might have been.
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They have relatives in the capital and he had been on trips there before.
“A couple of commuters saw posters we put up and said ‘we sat on the same carriage’ and we established he got to King’s Cross,” Kevin said.
The dad had also rung around Andrew’s friends and local hospitals, and even considered his son may have gone to Whitby, another place he liked.
“Our gut instinct was right,” he continued. “We were saying to police ‘we know he went to King’s Cross, most likely he got a train because he was most familiar with that transport’.
“The point is, it took them 27 days or something to get the CCTV of him walking out of King’s Cross station, which is what we were saying he would probably do from the start.”
But Kevin said he doesn’t believe cops at the time wanted to believe Andrew had simply gone missing, and rather the attention turned to something more sinister involving the family.
He said: “There were potential sightings that sounded quite plausible but the police weren’t following those up.
“They weren’t liaising with the Met and then it’s six weeks later and they’re saying ‘the CCTV’s been overwritten’, that was frustrating at the time.”
Kevin and Andrew’s other loved ones still have no idea why the schoolboy even decided to skip school and head down south.
“This is why it was a complete shock to us,” Kevin said. “It never occurred to us that he would go missing at all.
“The whole thing was awful and I can’t remember how many days, weeks it was and when certain events occurred.
“It was such a blur. You’re in such a state of panic. We were all three of us very traumatised by the fact of the matter that Andrew had disappeared and we had no clue why.”
At the time, there were theories Andrew had perhaps travelled down for a gig or to meet up with friends, and would suddenly turn up.
“He was going to do something that he knew we wouldn’t want him to do – just doing whatever it was,” said Kevin.
“He maybe thought ‘I can always get to my grandparents or my uncle’s and I’ll face the music later on and they’ll have a chance to calm down.’
“We thought he’d show up somewhere and say ‘I’ve done something foolish and I need a bit of help’. It just never happened,” said Kevin.
Other theories suggested Andrew had been groomed online and had headed down to London where he was trafficked.
Kevin said: “There’s no evidence, not one shred of evidence.”
Instead, he believes it was as simple as Andrew skipped school to do something in London he knew his parents otherwise wouldn’t be happy about, and he came across the wrong people.
“That’s what my gut has always said, really,” Kevin admitted. “We brought both kids up to think for themselves and be independent and they were both extremely capable, more than.
“Andrew was exceptionally gifted academically, so he could be lost in deep thought.
“He was insanely intelligent, but you wouldn’t have put him in the hanging round street corners and being streetwise category.”
He added: “One day, we hope that we’ll find out what happened.”
DCI Andy Knowles, of South Yorkshire Police, who has led the investigation in recent years, told The Sun: “I’m in regular contact with the Gosden family and I’m incredibly grateful for their support as we work together to answer the questions which have remained unanswered for so long.
“We carefully consider any information received ensuring it is recorded, catalogued and, where there are reasonable lines of enquiry, it is pursued.”
Missing People charity
Since Andrew’s disappearance, his family has been supported by charity Missing People.
According to the organisation’s website: “Going missing is a matter of life or death for tens of thousands of people each year.
“Missing People was founded in the early 1990s by sisters Janet Newman OBE and Mary Asprey OBE, inspired by the tragic disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh in 1986.
“Initially starting a Helpline from their home, they quickly became a beacon of hope for families of the missing.
“For over 30 years, we’ve been there for children and adults who are at risk of danger or harm, and those who love them.
A MAN allegedly exposed himself to an 11-year-old schoolgirl in a pub in broad daylight.
Police have now released CCTV images of a man they hope to speak to in relation to the incident.
It was reported that the incident occurred at a Gloucester Pub yesterday at around noon.
The man was reportedly sat near the family of two children and their grandparents.
The 11-year-old girl later reported that the man had been staring at her.
During a moment when the grandfather and other child had left the table, and the grandmother was distracted, the man allegedly exposed his genitals to the young girl.
He then reportedly proceeded to leave the pub.
The man has been described as being 5ft 9ins tall, aged in his 50s and had grey hair.
He was spotted wearing glasses, a blue and white checked shirt and dark shorts.
Officers have conducted enquiries since the report and would now like to speak to the man pictured in connection with the incident.
A CYCLIST has tragically died after being mowed down by a car as cops arrest the driver.
The man was struck down on the Shepherds Hill Roundabout in Woodley, Berkshire, at about 4.45pm on August 29.
Cops confirmed the cyclist tragically died in hospital on Tuesday.
A 24-year-old man from Slough was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by careless driving.
He has since been released on jail.
Investigating officer Police Sergeant Matthew Cadmore, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Firstly, I would like to share my sincere condolences to the family of the man who has sadly died in hospital as a result of his injuries.
“I am re-appealing to anyone who witnessed this collision to please get in touch.
“I am also appealing to anyone who was driving in the area in the moments leading up to the collision to please check their dash-cam for any footage.
“Footage can be uploaded to our dedicated online portal and anyone with information can call 101 or make an online report via our website, quoting reference number 43250442717.
“If you don’t want to speak directly with police, you can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
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A cyclist has tragically died after being mowed down by a car as cops arrest the driver
More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online
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POLICE are hunting a man after another man was tragically found dead in a seaside town.
The public have been warned not to approach Taylor Mitten, 22, following the death of a man, 25, at a home in Worthing, West Sussex.
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The public have been warned not to approach MittenCredit: Sussex Police
Police were alerted to an “incident” at the property at around 4.05pm on Wednesday, where they discovered the 25-year-old.
Despite the best efforts of paramedics to save his life, he was tragically declared dead at the scene.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cullimore, leading the investigation, said: “Firstly, I’d like to express my sincere condolences to the family of the victim.
“They continue to be supported by specialist officers as our enquiries continue.
“While the exact circumstances remain under investigation, I’d like to reassure the community that we are treating this as an isolated incident and the suspect is believed to have been known to the victim.”
DCI Cullimore added: “I would urge anyone who sees Taylor Mitten not to approach him, but to please dial 999 immediately, quoting Operation Duxford.
“We are not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident at this time.
“Our officers will remain in the area for high visibility reassurance, and anyone with any information can either approach them, dial 101 or report it online.
“I would also like to directly appeal to Taylor to make himself known to police.”
More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online
Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t nearly as dire, pointing out that crime numbers are down.
But “numbers mean little to people,” Newsom lamented during a press gaggle in his office Thursday, where he ruthlessly trolled Trump with a flags-and-all setup that appeared to mock the president’s marathon Cabinet meeting earlier in the week.
This angst has augured in another get-tough era of crime suppression, culminating with the fulfillment of Trump’s authoritarian fantasy of National Guard troops patrolling in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and potentially more cities to come.
Newsom is now offering up what many have framed as a counterpunch to Trump’s military intervention: A surge of California Highway Patrol officers in strategic locations across the state, basically Newsom-controlled cop boots on the ground to mirror Trump’s troops.
But looking at Newsom’s deployment of more CHP officers as no more than a reaction to Trump misses a larger debate on what really makes our communities safer. Understanding what makes cops different from soldiers — and Newsom’s move different from Trump’s — is ultimately understanding the difference between repression and public safety, force and finesse.
Newsom has been using the CHP to supplement local police departments for years. In 2023, when the Tenderloin area of San Francisco was plagued by open drug use, making it the favorite right-wing example of a failed Democratic-run city, Newsom sent this state force in to help clean it up (though that work continues). The next year, he sent it into Oakland and Bakersfield, both places where auto theft, retail crime and side shows were rampant.
Now, he’s expanding the CHP’s role in local policing to include Los Angeles, San Diego, the Inland Empire and some Central Valley cities including Fresno and Sacramento.
In each of those places, mobile teams of around a dozen officers, all of whom will volunteer for the job, will target specific crimes, criminals or problem areas. These officers won’t just be patrolling or responding to calls like the local force, but hitting targets identified by data or intelligence, or making their presence known in high-crime neighborhoods.
Here’s where Trump’s military approach has an overlap with Newsom’s — and where the two men might agree: It is true that a visible show of armed authority deters crime. Whether it’s the National Guard or the Highway Patrol, criminals, both petty and violent, tend to avoid them.
“We go in and saturate an area with high visibility and view patrol,” said Sean Duryee, commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, standing at Newsom’s side. “The people that have a problem with that are the criminal community.”
The approach seems to be working. I can throw the numbers at you — 400 firearms seized in San Bernardino, Bakersfield, Oakland; 4,000 stolen vehicles recovered in Oakland; more than 9,000 arrests statewide.
But numbers really don’t matter. It genuinely is how a community feels about its safety. Across California, many if not the majority of small and mid-sized law enforcement departments are understaffed. Even big departments such as Los Angeles struggle to hire and retain officers. There are simply not enough cops — or resources such as helicopters or K9 teams — to do the work in too many places, and citizens feel it.
Using these small strike teams of CHP officers fills the gap of both manpower and expertise. And by aiming that usage precisely at troubled spots, it can make underserved communities feel safer, and crime-ridden communities actually be safer.
Tinisch Hollins is the head of Californians for Safety and Justice, an advocacy group that works to end over-incarceration and promote public safety beyond just making arrests. She is “obviously not a huge proponent of sending law enforcement into communities like that,” she said.
She has seen how the CHP has “made an impact” in the Bay Area.
“There are some very effective things happening,” Hollins said.
That buy-in from community, especially skeptical community, is a massive departure from the militarization of Trump, and also hints at the deeper difference between troops and cops.
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, California outlawed controversial carotid restraints that can cut off breathing. The state put in place a method for decertifying officers found guilty of serious misconduct. It increased age and education standards for becoming a peace officer, increased transparency requirements and put more oversight on the use of military equipment by civilian forces, just to name a few reforms.
Most significantly, Newsom is championing a new vision of incarceration and rehabilitation modeled after successful efforts in Norway and other places that centers on the simple truth that arresting people does not end crime.
Most people who are convicted and incarcerated will return to our streets after a few years at most, and if the state does not change their outlook and opportunities, they will also likely return to crime — making us no safer than the day they were first put into cuffs.
But for a time, it seemed to some as if these reforms with their focus away from enforcement and toward alternatives to incarceration had gone too far. Images of marauding groups of retail thieves invading stores filled the news, and reasonably caused anxiety — leading to Californians passing the still-unfunded, tough-on-crime Proposition 36 that sought to create stiffer penalties for some drug and property crimes, along with mandated treatment for addiction, but which could also take money from rehabilitation programs.
As much as Trump, Newsom’s use of the CHP is the response to that pushback on reform, an acknowledgment that enforcement remains a key piece of the crime-stopping dilemma.
But Hollins points out that the rehabilitation aspect, the most innovative and arguably important aspect of California’s approach to crime, is getting lost in the current political climate.
“It’s not just arresting people that brings crime down,” she said. “The [penal] system isn’t going to deal with the drivers of the crime.”
This is where Newsom needs to do better, both on the ground and in his explanations. It may not be popular to talk about rehabilitation, and certainly Trump will seize on it as weak, but it is what works, and what makes the California method different from the MAGA view of crime.
For Trump, the be-all and end-all is the arrest, and the subsequent cruel glee of punishment. He has called for harsher and longer penalties for even minor crimes, and recently demanded the blanket use of the death penalty in all murder cases charged in Washington, D.C. His is the authoritarian view that fear and repression will make us safer.
“We lost grip with reality, the idea that the military can be out there in every street corner the United States of America,” Newsom said Thursday.
Or should be.
Soldiers on our streets just make even law-abiding citizens less free, and ultimately does little to fix the problems of poverty and opportunity that often start the cycles of crime.
This is the showdown happening right now on American streets, and ultimately the showdown between the Democratic view of crime prevention and Trump’s — soldiers or cops, the easy spectacle of compliance induced by the barrel of a gun or a complicated and imperfect system of community and law enforcement working together.
