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Lawrence Mother To Question May On 'Smear Plot'

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 27 Juni 2013 | 14.45

The mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence will ask the Home Secretary for either a judge-led or independent inquiry into claims undercover police were ordered to smear her family, her lawyer has said.

Doreen Lawrence will ask Theresa May about the claims made by a former officer in the Metropolitan Police's Special Demonstrations Squad.

Peter Francis said he had been asked to "dig up dirt" on the Lawrence family in the aftermath of their son's murder in 1993.

Mrs Lawrence's lawyer, Michael Mansfield QC, said: "She will be wanting something done in public, and the nearest example is Leveson, or an alternative scenario is one like the Hillsborough panel that looks at all the material.

"One of these two has got to happen. Not another internal inquiry which will not be made public because they will claim it's sensitive information.

Stephen Lawrence Stephen Lawrence was murdered by a racist gang in 1993

"It doesn't necessarily have to take particularly long. Leveson was done in a year, and it's a good example of something that was done in public, and quite searing questions were asked. Hillsborough was very efficient too.

"We're not talking about a public inquiry that takes years and a report that gets left on the back-burner, we're talking about an efficient, focused inquiry."

Claims have also emerged that police had bugged meetings between officers, lawyers and Stephen's friend Duwayne Brooks, who was with him on the night that he was murdered by a racist gang.

Mr Mansfield, who represents the Lawrence family along with fellow lawyer Imran Khan, said: "I'm wondering if they did exactly the same with Imran and myself. I will want assurances that they have not done that. It's a very serious situation.

Neville Lawrence Neville Lawrence has already called for a public inquiry

"This has been a very sorry saga. Doreen has been extraordinarily patient."

Earlier this week Mrs May said Mr Francis' claims would be investigated in two continuing inquiries - one into the undercover operations of the SDS and another into alleged police corruption in the original inquiry into Stephen's murder.

However, the 18-year-old's father, Neville, insisted that only a judge-led public inquiry would be enough to get to the truth.

Mr Brooks' lawyer, Jane Deighton, told Sky News that if the bugging claims were true, they were "bizarre and sinister".

Michael Mansfield Michael Mansfield QC will seek assurances his conversation were not bugged

She said: "It's bizarre because it's a meeting that the police sought, it was a meeting that the police felt they had to seek after the Macpherson Inquiry had found that they had treated Duwayne in an institutionally racist way.

"The meeting was sold to us as a measure the police were taking to treat him with the respect he deserved.

"It's bizarre and it's sinister that they should have sought authority to bug this meeting."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "An investigation into the circumstances of what took place has now been started by the DPS (Directorate of Professional Standards).

"This investigation will seek to establish exactly what was authorised and what happened to any material which may have been gathered, in the context of the legal framework of that time."


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Wind Farm Plan In Bristol Channel 'Catastrophic'

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 23 Juni 2013 | 14.44

By Emma Birchley, Sky Correspondent

A battle is being fought to stop one of the world's biggest offshore windfarms being built in the Bristol Channel as the race continues to hit tough targets on renewable energy.

The Atlantic Array is a development of 240 wind turbines that will be visible both from South Wales and North Devon.

If planning permission is granted, it would provide enough power for 900,000 homes and reinforce the UK's status as the global leader in offshore wind power.

But Steve Crowther from the Slay The Array campaign says it will be "environmentally catastrophic".

"They call this an offshore wind farm - it's inshore. It is between this beautiful Devon coast visited by four million people every year and the Pembroke coast visited by three million people every year.

"And people don't come here to see the landscape and the horizon covered in wind turbines. They come here for peace, tranquillity, rural settings and seascapes."

But with the Government committed to offshore wind power, the number of turbines is only going to increase.

One of the biggest players in the industry is DONG Energy.

Steve Crowther from the Slay the Array Campaign Steve Crowther says the wind farm will destroy the beauty of the area

It operates the 48 turbines at Gunfleet Sands near Clacton, which have been up and running for three years and supply electricity to 120,000 homes in Essex.

UK wind power manager for the company, Benj Sykes, says despite concerns about the efficiency of wind farms, they are generating energy more than 80% of the time.

"They are becoming more efficient by the day and Dong Energy is committed to improving that further.

"By the end of the decade we will see the cost of energy coming down by something like 40% making them competitive with other technologies."

And with nearly 8000 miles of coastline there is plenty of opportunity for further development.

Offshore wind turbines in the UK can currently generate more than 3GW watts of energy - enough to power two million homes.

In all, 12.5% of the UK's electricity is already created from renewable sources.

The target is to produce around 30% by 2020, which means building many more turbines - and that creates jobs.

In Brightlingsea, an entire business has been built because of the Essex wind farm.

Andy White, chairman of Ctruk and Cwind, said: "Three years ago we didn't exist. We started the two companies to go out and help build offshore wind farms for the utility companies so three years ago we had zero people working for us and now three years on we have 150 people working for us."


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Suspicious Item Found At Walsall Mosque

Homes near to a mosque in Walsall are being evacuated following the discovery of a suspicious item, West Midlands Police say.

Army bomb disposal experts are currently at the scene and have this morning ordered the evacuation of around 39 homes in the immediate vicinity of the mosque.

The measure is precautionary while a further examination of the item is undertaken.

Walsall

Police were called to the Rutter Street address at around 10.45pm last night following the discovery in the grounds of the building.

The item was then brought inside the building by a member of the public, police said.

The area has been cordoned off.

"People in the affected area and who are unable to make alternative arrangements are being taken to Walsall Town Hall where they will be cared for," a police statement said.

Meanwhile, local officers remain at the scene and are talking to residents to keep them up-to-date with the incident and offer reassurance.

More follows...


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