verdict

A court in Honduras has delayed a verdict in a sex-trafficking case linked to the 2022 disappearance of Angie Pena, a case that has raised concerns about impunity in transnational crimes.

On Monday, Honduras’s judiciary cited the need to review evidence and wait for the return of a court interpreter, who was out of the country. The decision has been delayed until November 20.

The verdict was expected that same day. Critics framed the unexpected delay as yet another hurdle in a case that has drawn comparisons to the crimes of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender in the US accused of running a sex-trafficking ring.

Four men, including two US citizens, are on trial for crimes related to Pena’s disappearance four years ago.

Harold Green and William James Murdock, both from the US, face human-trafficking charges. Another US citizen, Gary Lee Johnston, and Honduran citizen Gustavo Trejo are accused of criminal association.

Honduran authorities have also sought an Interpol notice for another suspect, US citizen Antony Frank Grayson.

The Honduran public prosecutor’s office said the suspects are part of a network involved in crimes including drug trafficking and sex trafficking involving minors.

It alleges police and at least one judge helped facilitate the criminal network, without naming the officials.

Defence lawyers, however, have denied the men’s involvement and requested an acquittal.

Pena went missing on January 1, 2022, after setting out on a jet ski from West Bay on the Honduran island of Roatan, while vacationing with her family.

Authorities initially focused on a rescue mission at sea, treating her disappearance as a possible accident.

But the case expanded into a trafficking investigation after Pena’s jet ski was found in Belize, some 170km (90 nautical miles) away.

In August 2022, authorities investigating the disappearance found a minor in the Roatan house occupied by Johnston, who was later sentenced to 32 years for commercial sex trafficking and child pornography in a separate case.

An analysis by Honduran media found that the country was mentioned more than 100 times in the Epstein files, including multiple references to Roatan, from where Pena disappeared.

“There are many more women and girls who have been victims of trafficking networks, and those cases are silenced, they go unpunished,” said Kenia Paz, a lawyer for the Legal Team for Human Rights, which represents Pena’s family.

Lawyers representing the family have questioned the lack of transparency in the investigation and in the trial, which was not open to the press or the general public.

Postponing the verdict “fuels the perception of impunity, increases public distrust in state security institutions, and prolongs the suffering and vulnerability of affected families”, said former Honduran Vice Minister of Security Julissa Villanueva in a post on X.

Dereck McNeil, a key protected witness, was killed in August, spurring further concerns about the case.

In videos made public after his death, McNeil alleged corruption within a special unit of the public prosecutor’s office known as the ATIC.

He accused the unit of leaking information about the case and being linked to drug-trafficking networks.

The ATIC director has denied any corruption and said that the unit has not been involved in investigating Pena’s disappearance.

Villanueva, the former vice minister, told The Associated Press that she believes prosecutors mishandled the case from the start, pushing a “tunnel vision” explanation of what happened.

“There are connections with other larger networks, and only by making them public will this family be able to get justice,” said Villanueva.

“It’s not just Angie. It’s all those women around Angie. There are many.”

Coronation Street’s Sarah Platt received a verdict in her murder trial in Monday night’s episode and fans were certainly divided by the trial outcome.

Coronation Street’s Sarah Platt was found not guilty of murder in Monday night’s episode of the ITV soap.

The legendary character, who has been played by Tina O’Brien since 1999, had spent time in prison awaiting trial after hitting evil Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) over the head with a metal pole. She has claimed that it was all in self-defence.

Sarah was sent back to her cell to wait, and the jury reached a verdict remarkably quickly – something which did not fill the Platts with hope. To everyone’s great surprise, Sarah was found not guilty and her family cheered as she learned she was free to go.

Sarah rushed to hug her daughter Bethany (Lucy Fallon), and David was straight on the phone to mum Gail, who now lives in France, to tell her the good news. Soon enough, Bethany was back at home reunited with her young son Harry and ex-boyfriend DC Kit Green who had taken on caregiver duties whilst she was inside.

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She proclaimed: ” I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world to be back with you all again,” unaware that daughter Bethany recently had a fling with the man who was almost her stepdad and is now pregnant. Later on, Bethany was seen preparing to call an abortion clinic.

Whilst on their own, Sarah decided to have a heart-to-heart with Kit, who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, and asked him for a chance to reunite. He said things were “different” now but insisted it wasn’t about his illness.

He told her: “Things are different now. We can’t. It’s about not being what I want. Just because you’re out, nothing’s changed. Stop it. Too much has happened,” and announced that he would be moving in with his long-lost mum Bernie Winter.

Taken aback by his sudden rejection, and unaware of what is really causing it, Sarah broke down in tears on the sofa.

During her time on the soap, Sarah was famously central to a teenage pregnancy storyline in 2000, was then kidnapped by an internet predator before her stepdad turned out to be a serial killer. She initially left the soap in 2007 but following her return in 2015, Sarah has helped cover up the death of her abusive ex-partner Callum Logan and then had to deal with her uncle Stephen Reid, who also turned out to be a serial killer.

Sarah’s not guilty verdict certainly caused divide amongst fans, with one fan writing on Reddit: “Anyone else disappointed by the verdict?

“Murder probably not but I don’t think Sarah deserves to get off scot free, end of the day Theo never actually touched her, we all know he probably would have, but it’s hard to defend a self defence claim when you haven’t been touched, especially when she tried to hide it, let someone else get charged etc. very least should be involuntary manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. Real world she’s never getting off with nothing.”

Another said: “I’m not disappointed Sarah got off. She’s one of my all time favorite characters,” and a third wrote: “Did anybody except anything else? She’s one of the main cast members. They weren’t going to find her guilty anyway. She has plot armour.”

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.

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Mary Berry has had her say on Nigella Lawson, who has taken over Prue Leith’s role as judge on The Great British Bake Off. Mary originally held the role alongside Paul Hollywood

TV cook and former Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry has backed Nigella Lawson – saying she is a “glamorous” addition to the show who has brought “new life” to the format.

Mary, 91, had clearly been watching the current run of Bake Off and was full of praise for Nigella on the new series, whilst also urging her to take fellow judge Paul Hollywood to task.

Dame Mary said: “Bake Off is a wonderful format. We started it off not knowing what we were doing and then Prue has been doing it and it is a format and you fit into it.

‘I am delighted Nigella is there. She has got to keep control of a certain person. Paul needs handling and he has this handshake which keeps appearing.

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“Nigella has brought some glamour to it, and she really likes tasting doesn’t she? And I know how she feels, I always took a proper mouthful because if you just take a little bit, the person whose food you are tasting, their auntie will say ‘well she didn’t even taste it’. So I was aware of that.

“Nigella is a joy and I think she has brought new life and I think it will do really well. A touch of glamour.”

Speaking on stage at Cheltenham with comedian and former host of Bake Off Mel Giedroyc, the pair recalled how Mary would sometimes arrive for day two of filming in the tent with the same hair and make up, having slept without taking it off to minimise the amount of time she needed to be styled.

Laughing, Dame Mary said: “Why not? I used to put a towel over the pillow, I didn’t want them to think I was grotty. It does take such a long time for someone to do your make up.”

She also said she found the tent cold and would hide hot water bottles under her jackets.

Dame Mary was appearing at Cheltenham to promote her first gardening book, My Gardening Life and a new cook book All In One.

Arguably she was a gardener before she could cook, as she recalled how her father grew practical crops such as potatoes, sweet peas and celery during wartime to feed the family.

“My dad had to take to gardening because he had to dig for Britain and he gave me a little patch and I grew radishes,” she recalled.

Nowadays she has six raised beds in her garden raised to above knee height so she can easily reach them and even perch on the edge if she wants to take a rest.

She said one of her greatest pleasures now in life was ‘deadheading’ in the garden, the process by which you removed faded or spent flowers to tidy up plants.

She explained: “Deadheading is one of my favourite things, you don’t have to dress up for it. I can do it when I get in tonight if its not dark. I can deadhead the roses which are still flowering and it so encourages more things to come on.”

She added: “Gardening is similar to cooking, you follow a formula. But cooking you can follow a recipe and produce it by tonight. Gardening you have got to be much more patient.

“Which do I prefer, gardening or cooking? I think the two go together. We grow vegetables that we eat, things that I like, so there is no kale, lots of herbs and I think they go together.

“I am a fair weather gardener, I would walk a dog in any weather but I don’t garden in any weather. I wait until the sun comes out.”

Dame Mary is of course better known for her baking and cooking. Having studied in France and the UK, she worked for a number of food industry bodies and wrote recipe pages of Housewife magazine.

Her first cookbook, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, was published in 1970 and since then she has gone on to write more than 50 others, which have sold millions of copies around the world.

Already a big name in food, Dame Mary became a household name to a new generation of cake lovers when she landed the role as a judge on The Great British Bake Off, alongside Paul Hollywood, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins in 2010.

She quit the show in 2016, along with the hosts Mel and Sue, when it moved to Channel 4, staying loyal to the BBC and continuing to make shows there.

* My Gardening Life by Mary Berry is out now, published by DK.

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