14 November 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

US soldier jailed for Afghan murders

originally by: The Irish Times
published: 11th November 2011

A US army sergeant was convicted by court-martial yesterday of murdering unarmed civilians and cutting fingers from their corpses as ringleader of a rogue platoon in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. The guilty verdict on all counts, returned after five hours of deliberations, carried an automatic life prison sentence, but the five-member jury panel then decided that Staff Sgt Calvin Gibbs (26) would be eligible for parole in eight-and-a-half years.

Pentagon officials have said the misconduct exposed by the case, which evolved from an inquiry of drug abuse within Gibbs’ Stryker Brigade infantry unit, damaged the image of the United States around the globe.

Photographs entered as evidence in the case showed Gibbs and other soldiers casually posing with bloodied Afghan corpses, drawing comparisons with the inflammatory Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq in 2004.

10 November 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Police to investigate mortuary ‘mix up’

originally by: Channel 4 News
published: 7th November 2011

Christopher Alder, 37, choked to death while handcuffed and lying on the floor of a police station in Hull, in the early hours of April 1 1998. It now appears a Hull pensioner of Nigerian descent, Grace Kamara, was buried in his place in 2000.

She’s understood to have died from natural causes in 1999 but her burial was delayed and finally scheduled for Friday.

The mix-up was only discovered when her friends and family were recently granted permission to identify the body. But they discovered Mr Alder’s remains were in her place in the mortuary.

5 November 201116 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Two HMP Preston officers charged after death of inmate

all credits: BBC News
published: 2nd November 2011

Two prison officers have been charged following the death of an inmate at a Lancashire jail. Christopher Oldham, 36, was found hanging in his cell in HMP Preston on 21 April. He was on remand, accused of perverting the course of justice. Shaun Percy, 49, of Walton-le-Dale, is charged with misconduct in public office. He has been suspended.

His wife, Lisa, also 49, is charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice. She is also suspended. Both are due to appear before Preston magistrates on 21 November.