Pierce Brosnan's Daughter Loses Cancer Battle

Pierce Brosnan's daughter Charlotte has died of ovarian cancer at the age of 41 after a three-year battle with the disease.

Her mother, Cassandra Harris, died from the same type of cancer in 1991 while she was married to Brosnan.

Harris also lost her own mother to ovarian cancer when she was a teenager.

In a statement to People magazine, Brosnan said: "On June 28 at 2pm my darling daughter Charlotte Emily passed on to eternal life, having succumbed to ovarian cancer.

"She was surrounded by her husband Alex, children Isabella and Lucas, and brothers Christopher and Sean.

"Charlotte fought her cancer with grace and humanity, courage and dignity. Our hearts are heavy with the loss of our beautiful dear girl.

"We pray for her and that the cure for this wretched disease will be close at hand soon.

"We thank everyone for their heartfelt condolences."

The actor adopted Charlotte and her brother Christopher in the 1980s after the death of their father and the children took Brosnan's name.

He also had another son, Sean, with Cassandra Harris in 1983.

The Irish-born actor, who starred in four James Bond films, married his second wife Keely Shaye in 2001 and the couple have two children together.

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Shipley: Man Arrested Over Murder And Stabbing

Police are linking the murder of an 84-year-old woman to the stabbing of a nine-year-old boy and another incident in which a girl of eight was chased into her home.

West Yorkshire Police said a 26-year-old man has been arrested over the murder of pensioner Louisa Denby at her home in Shipley, West Yorkshire, on Monday, and the attempted murder of the boy at a nearby skate park.

Speaking at the skate park, Detective Superintendent Lisa Griffin said the boy was attacked for no reason and with no warning.

The officer said the girl was chased through her garden 10 minutes later but she went inside her home and came to no harm.

Det Supt Griffin said five people were in custody in relation to the three related incidents and officers were not looking for anyone else.

She confirmed that a knife had been recovered and that the 26-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder was related to Mrs Denby.

Shipley skate park

"Ten minutes after that attack on a nine-year-old boy, an eight-year-old girl was chased through her garden at home.

"Fortunately the girl went inside the house and nothing untoward happened to her."

Det Supt Griffin said inquiries into these two incidents had led officers to a semi-detached house in Prospect Mount where Mrs Denby's body was found.

"It's my belief at this time that the three incidents are linked," she said.

She went on: "The nine-year-old boy was out playing and was returning home for a drink when he was approached by the male suspect.

"With no prior warning and for no reason known to us at this time, he was attacked with a knife - a single stab wound causing him injuries to his chest and his arm."

Prospect Mount

The boy was taken to Leeds General Infirmary after emergency services were called to the skate park at about 4.40pm. He was due to undergo surgery and is said to be in a stable condition.

The girl was playing in the garden of her home in Prospect Grove "when a male approached and tried to draw her attention, chased her through the garden and she went into her home address".

Mrs Denby's body was found just before midnight. She had suffered a number of stab wounds, police have said.

Sky's North of England Correspondent Gerard Tubb, in Shipley, said Mrs Denby, a retired head teacher, was well-liked.

Next-door neighbour Jackie Smith said: "She was such a good neighbour and she was really respected down this road.

"She was my husband's school teacher and then, when she moved in, she'd say 'Hiya, Michael, I remember you'. She was absolutely lovely."

Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to contact the non-emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.

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Russian Spy Couple Sentenced By German Court

A German court has jailed a married couple convicted of spying for Russia.

Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag - known only by the fake names on the Austrian passports they used to enter Germany - were sentenced to six-and-a-half years and five-and-a-half years respectively.

The pair, thought to be in their 40s or 50s, were arrested in October 2011 and charged with spying for more than 20 years.

They were planted in the former West Germany in 1988 by the Soviet Union's KGB and later worked for its successor the SVR.

The couple, posing as middle class Austrian citizens who were born and grew up in South America, had obtained and passed on Nato and EU political and military secrets to the Russians.                  

"Like wheels in a clockwork, for better or worse, they were dependent on each other for the success of the mission," said presiding judge Sabine Roggenbrod.

The house in Marburg where the couple last lived

Andreas Anschlag studied engineering and worked in the car industry while Heidrun was a housewife.

Even their daughter had no idea about their double lives, according to reports.

The couple left the documents in "dead-letter boxes", such as under certain trees, from where they were picked up by employees of the Russian consulate general in Bonn.

They communicated with Russia via short-wave radio, text messages sent on a satellite phone and hidden messages in comments in YouTube videos under agreed names, the court heard.

The defendants, whose alias surname means "attack" in German, had refused to confirm any details about their identity, but their defence lawyer said they had Russian citizenship.

"The court could not uncover your true identities," Roggenbrod told the two accused. "We don't know where you were born or your real names."

But she stressed: "The court is convinced that the accused knew right until the end exactly which master they served and for what purpose."

A Dutch court in April sentenced a Dutch diplomat to 12 years in prison for delivering confidential EU and Nato documents to Russian agents.

The Anschlags allegedly compiled the information he gathered and sent it on to Russia's intelligence agency.

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CCTV Shows Cop Killing Child Snatcher

CCTV images have been released of a child hostage situation in an Oklahoma supermarket, which ended with a policeman shooting dead the suspect.

The surveillance video released by police in Midwest City shows a man snatching a two-year-old girl from a shopping trolley and then holding a knife to her throat.

The toddler's mother, Alicia Keating, frantically pleads with the man, identified as Sammie Wallace, 37, as other shoppers crowd around.

The man snatches the child as her mother's back is turned

She is seen and heard calling 911 for help. Local police are quickly on the scene and clear the store. 

After 30 minutes of tense negotiation, police said Wallace began talking about a satanic cult and counting down from 60.

One of the officers, Captain David Huff, determined that the only way to ensure the safety of the toddler would be to take drastic action. 

On the video he is seen moving quickly towards the hostage-taker and preparing to fire a single shot at his head.

The pictures stop at that point, but the police commentary continues and confirms Wallace was killed. The child was unharmed.

The mother pleads for her child to be let go

"Obviously, our goal was to talk him down to get him to release the child,"  Police Chief Brandon Clabes told reporters.

"I mean, we waited until the last second to use deadly force. No one wants to take a life, especially in the line of duty."

The Oklahoma County district attorney said the shooting on June 17 was justified, and hailed Captain Huff as a hero.

Wallace served time in a Texas prison from 2000 to 2011 on drug and assault charges. He was known to have a long history of mental illness.

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Nightingale: SAS Sniper 'Put Public At Risk'

By David Bowden, Defence Correspondent

SAS sniper Danny Nightingale "put the public at risk" by keeping a working 9mm pistol and more than 300 rounds of ammunition in the bedroom of his shared house, a trial has been told.

Those dangers "were particularly acute in this case given the quantity of 9mm rounds (172) that were stored in the same bedroom as the gun," said prosecutors.

They claim that Sgt Nightingale also had many rounds of other ammunition, including bullets for a sniper rifle, a smoke grenade and signal flares.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray told the court martial there was "no excuse" for what the defendant did.

Sgt Nightingale: 'Stored bullets, a grenade and a flare in his house'

"No matter how he tries to deny it, the gun and the ammunition were in his bedroom because he put them there and kept them there. These are the plain facts which he will not face up to," said Mr Cray.

The prosecution says that Danny Nightingale told police interviewers that he had brought the gun back from Iraq in 2007 and had intended to have it decommissioned and handed over to his unit as a trophy.

Nightingale has pleaded not guilty to both charges of possessing the gun and ammunition illegally.

Prosecutors say the defence will claim that someone else put the weapon and ammunition into the sniper's room and that he couldn't remember because of a brain injury sustained during a jungle marathon in Brazil in 2009.

The prosecutor told the hearing that "no one is saying that Sgt Nightingale was a bad soldier, in fact his service career is deserving of high praise", but added "even good soldiers can make bad mistakes".

The court has also heard that despite defence claims that Nightingale was mentally impaired after his collapse in the jungle, he was passed fit for deployment to Afghanistan a year later.

The court martial has been told that Sgt Nightingale's housemate, who also worked as a firing range instructor for the SAS and known only as soldier N, has already been convicted of similar charges to Nightingale and is serving a prison sentence.

Concluding his opening statement, the prosecutor posed three questions to the panel:

"Did the defendant put the gun and the ammunition in his bedroom, or did somebody else put it there?

"If the gun and ammunition belonged to somebody else, how did the defendant miss it?

"Is this claim of memory loss in respect of specific and detailed confessions the truth or a lie told to try and avoid the consequences of the truth?"

The trial is expected to last into next week and evidence will be heard from serving Special Forces soldiers, including some who will speak to the court martial via videolink from Afghanistan where they are currently on operations.

The judge has already ruled that none of the SAS witnesses can be identified.

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Shrien Dewani Hearing: Suspect 'Hopeless'

A man accused of orchestrating the honeymoon murder of his wife was overcome by hopelessness and despair during his time in mental health hospitals, a court has heard.

Shrien Dewani is alleged to have arranged the death of his 28-year-old wife Anni, who was shot as the couple travelled in a taxi on the outskirts of Cape Town in November 2010.

The 33-year-old is wanted for trial in South Africa, but his extradition has been delayed due to his ongoing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

At an extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, psychiatrist Dr Alan Cumming described Dewani's time being treated at clinics in Bristol where he "cried all day" as he sank into despair.

He also said that in one incident he reacted to a room search by pulling down his trousers and saying: "If you treat me like a dog I'll bark like one."

Dewani pictured with his late wife

But he also pointed to signs that his condition is now improving.

In a report after visiting him in hospital in March this year, Dr Cumming said he had "no qualms about the quality of care".

Dewani tried to take an overdose in 2011 but since then he has not spoken directly about self-harm or suicide, the court heard.

He has been allowed to use his laptop to access the internet, and to walk home - accompanied by a member of staff - every day for visits.

Dewani was also given permission to buy a camper van, which he set up in the grounds of the hospital and would spend large periods of time in.

Xolile Mngeni (L) and Mziwamadoda Qwaba

During a four-hour interview which took place in 2012, Dr Cumming said Dewani became tearful when talking about his late wife and the topic was "emotionally charged".

The court also heard that South African authorities would make "an exception" for Dewani by allowing him mainstream mental health treatment instead of sending him to a forensic unit.

Members of both Dewani and his wife's families were at court again for the second day of a five-day extradition hearing. Dewani himself has been excused from attending.

Newlywed Mrs Dewani was shot when a taxi in which the couple were travelling was hijacked in the Gugulethu township.

Shrien Dewani and driver Zola Tongo were ejected from the car before Mrs Dewani was driven away and killed.

She was found dead in the back of the abandoned vehicle with a bullet wound to her neck.

Last year South African Xolile Mngeni was convicted of premeditated murder for shooting Mrs Dewani.

Prosecutors claimed he was a hitman hired by Shrien Dewani to kill his new wife, something that Dewani has consistently denied.

Tongo was jailed for 18 years after he admitted his part in the crime, and another accomplice, Mziwamadoda Qwabe, also pleaded guilty to charges over the murder and was handed a 25-year prison sentence.

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Stop-And-Search Police Powers To Be Reviewed

The Home Secretary has launched a public consultation into controversial police stop-and-search powers.

Theresa May, in a Commons statement, warned the way the powers were being used was harming community relations as well as wasting police time.

MPs heard that people from black or ethnic minority backgrounds were seven times more likely to be stopped by officers than white people.

Mrs May said more than one million stops were recorded every year but on average only around 9% led to an arrest.

This conversion rate and how long each took to process - around 16 minutes - caused a "dreadful waste of police time", she added.

Last year this took up 312,000 hours - equal to 145 full-time officers doing nothing else, Mrs May told the House.

Theresa May speaking to MPs in the Commons

She stressed that the procedure would not be scrapped but announced a six-week public consultation into its fairness.

She said: "Everybody involved in policing has a duty to ensure nobody is ever stopped just on the basis of their skin colour or ethnicity.

"The law is clear that in normal circumstances stop and search should only ever be used where there is a reasonable suspicion of criminality and that is how it should be."

She added: "Firstly, it must be applied fairly and in a way that builds community confidence in the police, rather than undermining it.

"And second, given the scale of recording requirements placed on the police, when stop-and-search is misapplied, it is a waste of police time."

The consultation comes a few weeks after the Government's equality watchdog said police forces were being fairer and more efficient in how the employed the powers.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found that five forces, including the Metropolitan Police, had reduced their use without compromising crime reduction.

Mrs May has also asked Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to look at the procedure and their report is due within a few weeks.

Under current laws, police need to have reasonable grounds to suspect that the subject is guilty of some form of criminal behaviour before they can conduct a search.

The Home Secretary said: "At its best stop-and-search is a vital power in the fight against crime. At its worst, it is a waste of police time and undermines public confidence in the police."

She promised a formal Government response would be issued by the end of the year.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights campaigners Liberty, said: "After years of bad and counter-productive practice, it is encouraging that the Home Secretary is waking up to concerns about stop and search.

"Lax powers have failed to increase public safety and only alienated the young. But whether it's snooping or stopping and searching, warm words and guidance are no substitute for tightening up the law."

Mark Hammond, chief executive of the EHRC, added: "Stop and search is a necessary and useful power.

"If it is used proportionally and intelligently the police can protect the public, reduce crime and disorder and improve relations with black and ethnic minority groups.

"There is no evidence to suggest that disproportionately targeting black and Asian people reduces crime."

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Ovenden: Review Of Child Sex Sentence

An internationally renowed artist who escaped a prison term despite being convicted of a string of child sex charges has had his sentence referred to the Court of Appeal for being unduly lenient.

Graham Ovenden, who abused children who posed for his paintings in the 70s and 80s, told a jury at his trial that he felt it was his "moral obligation" to capture a child's "state of grace".

When he was arrested the artist, whose youngest victim was just six, told police he had a "major reputation" for having "some of the best portraits of children in the last 200 years".

However, Ovenden, from Cornwall, was convicted of six charges of indecency with a child and one of indecent assault relating to three girls. He received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, has decided to refer the 70-year-old's case to the Court of Appeal where judges will decide whether or not to increase the sentence handed down by Judge Graham Cottle at Plymouth Crown Court in June.

The Attorney General has had 150 complaints about Stuart Hall's sentence

Making the announcement the Attorney General also disclosed he had received around 150 complaints about the 15-month sentence handed to the BBC presenter Stuart Hall for a series of sex attacks against children.

His prison sentence will be considered for a referral to the Court of Appeal for its leniency and a decision is due on July 15.

The work of Ovenden, who studied under the so-called "Godfather of Pop-Art" Sir Peter Blake, was  celebrated in galleries across the world at the height of his commercial popularity.

But the jurors at his trial heard his profession formed part of a ruse for abusing girls at his studio in Cornwall and former home in Hounslow, west London, where he would make them dress in Victorian clothing before removing it and committing indecent acts.

He told the trial: "I have to say the absolute witch-hunt which is going on at the moment - and the idea a child naked is something to be frowned upon - is absolutely abhorrent."

He described one of his subjects as a beautiful child both in front of the camera and as a person and said: "It is important that someone pays homage to that and places her in a state of grace."

He said: "I think holding those things, by photography or painting, is a moral obligation."

Following Ovenden's conviction, the Tate removed more than 30 prints from its online collection.

Last week, the Attorney General revealed that the number of sentences flagged to his office for being too lenient had surged to a record high in 2012.

The number of possibly unduly lenient sentences (ULS) drawn to the Attorney General's attention in 2012 rose to 435, from 377 in 2011 and 342 in 2010.

As a result 62 offenders saw an increase in their sentence.

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Wife's Body Found In Wall After Husband Dies

A skeleton found walled-up in a basement full of junk has been identified as a first-grade teacher reported missing by her husband more than 27 years ago.

JoAnn Nichols disappeared in December 1985.

Her husband James Nichols died of natural causes last December, aged 82.

The body was found in this Poughkeepsie home (Pic: News 12 Westchester)

Authorities say a contractor cleaning hoarded items and debris out of the Nichols' home in upstate New York found the bones in a sealed container behind a false basement wall.

The Dutchess County medical examiner's office identified the remains as those of JoAnn Nichols, based on dental records.

Dr Kari Reiber said the 55-year-old woman died from a blow to the head.

Poughkeepsie Police said the investigation into her death continues.

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Linzi Ashton Murder: Man Arrested By Police

Detectives investigating the murder of mother-of-two Linzi Ashton have arrested a man on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have offered a £5,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Michael Cope, whom they describe as a "dangerous man".

He is wanted for the "sustained and vicious" murder of Miss Ashton, whose body was found at her home in Winton, Salford, on Saturday.

A post-mortem concluded she died as a result of pressure to the neck and multiple injuries.

A 25-year-old man was arrested on Monday night on suspicion of helping Cope, a police spokesman said.

Cope had been in a relationship with Ms Ashton

Chief Superintendent Kevin Mulligan said: "We are continuing to do all we can to trace Michael Cope and urge him once again to hand himself in to the police.

"We also reiterate our appeal to those who may have information on Cope's whereabouts to speak to us in confidence.

"We are also working with our partner agencies to look at evicting anyone who is using their property to offer this man safety."

Cope is still thought to be in the Salford area.

The murder scene in Winton, Salford

Police say they would like to hear from anyone who saw Miss Ashton and Cope after it was established they were together on Friday night.

Miss Ashton, 25, was last seen alive by a friend in the Eccles area shortly before 2am on Saturday.

She was found dead by a relative at her home in Westbourne Road shortly before 6pm on Saturday. Her two daughters, Daisy, two, and Destiny, seven, were not at the address at the time.

Miss Ashton, a barmaid, and Cope had been involved in a brief, "acrimonious" relationship and she had previously complained to police he had raped and beaten her.

GMP have referred their previous contact with Miss Ashton to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney said: "We know that Michael Cope had been in a relationship with Linzi and through that relationship there have been reports to police in respect of allegations made by her.

"This includes a serious sexual offence and an assault that were reported at the end of April and the middle of May respectively.

"I am not going to go into great detail about these offences or our involvement. Suffice it to say Michael Cope was wanted in connection with these matters and numerous attempts were made to arrest him."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 8531, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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