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“I should have been dead many times,” says Pastor Mick Fleming.

The 57-year-old has survived several attempts on his life after working as an enforcer for the criminal underworld.

He narrowly avoided being killed in a drive-by shooting when he felt bullets “whizz” past his body. “I think that was the closest I came to be being murdered,” Mick tells Sky News.

He also survived his own attempt to kill himself when he pointed a gun at his head, pulled the trigger but the weapon failed to fire.

“I dropped the gun and I cried,” he says.

“It was the first time I’d cried since I was little boy.”

After years of violence and drug use, Mick says he had grown to “despise” himself.

He suffered two traumatic events growing up in Burnley, Lancashire, that sent his life spiralling into crime and substance abuse.

Aged 11, he says he was raped by a stranger in a park as he walked to school.

Mick Fleming says his life spiralled after he was sexually abused by a stranger and his sister died
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Mick Fleming pictured as a boy

“I felt a hand over my mouth and I was dragged into this bandstand,” Mick says.

“I was petrified. I still sometimes think about it. It hasn’t gone away.”

The next day, Mick was told his 20-year-old sister Ann had suffered a heart attack and died in her father’s arms.

“My dad came through the front door and shouted: ‘Come down, your sister’s dead’,” he says.

“It was cold and blunt… then he broke down. He was a tough guy my dad, but a nice man. I’d never seen him cry.”

Mick Fleming says he began dealing drugs as a teenager
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Mick Fleming says he began dealing drugs as a teenager

Life of crime

Mick says he went “inward” and started imagining carrying out crimes like pickpocketing “to escape the real world”.

Soon after, he started stealing and dealing drugs as a teenager before working as an enforcer collecting debts for criminals.

He admits there was “a lot of violence” and that his family described him as “demonic” at that time. It was not until 2009 that his life changed.

Mick Fleming was a drug dealer and underworld enforcer before he turned his life around
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Mick says he spent years dealing with drug abuse

Armed with a gun wrapped in a plastic bag, Mick went to collect a debt from a man outside a gym. But when he walked towards his target, he realised the man was holding hands with two little girls – and there appeared to be “light shining off their hands”.

“It was a really surreal moment,” he says. “I felt sick. I started to cough and splutter and I couldn’t see.

“I felt this thing in the pit of my stomach. It was a horrible, dark feeling – like a sickness.

“I got back in the car and drove round the corner into this little industrial unit and pulled over. I was throwing my guts up. There was blood everywhere. I looked like I’d been stabbed.”

Mick Fleming was a drug dealer and underworld enforcer before he turned his life around
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Mick was an enforcer for the criminal underworld

It was at this point that Mick tried to shoot himself. After he failed, he was later admitted to a psychiatric unit.

“I’ve never had a drink or used drugs since,” Mick says. “I was on a road to recovery from that point on.”

Meeting his rapist – and the plan to kill him

Mick had been clean of drink and drugs for about a year when he says, by chance, he met the man who raped him.

He spotted his attacker in a McDonald’s restaurant. The man was drunk and Mick bought him a cup of tea.

“I knew it was him,” Mick says. “He didn’t know it was me.”

Mick arranged to meet the man the next day with the intention of killing him.

“I went back with a knife in my sock,” he says.

“I was going to cut his throat. I was going to kill him. Everything was building up inside me.”

Mick Fleming, referred to as Pastor Mick, runs the charity Church on the Street in Burnley
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Mick Fleming is known locally as Pastor Mick

As Mick walked towards the man, he says he imagined killing him, with “clear, vivid pictures” of the brutal act in his mind.

But instead of carrying it out, Mick says he sat down and listened to what the man had to say.

“I didn’t say anything,” Mick explains. “In that moment I got this real understanding. I thought: ‘I’m not going to live in your sin.’

“People say resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. That’s what I’d been doing.

“I didn’t grow to love the guy but, in the end, I can honestly say I didn’t hate him.”

Mick says the man died about two years later.

Becoming a priest

After leaving the psychiatric unit, Mick went on to achieve a degree in theology from the University of Manchester, overcoming difficulties he faced with dyslexia.

Now ordained as a priest and recently consecrated as a bishop, he is known locally as Pastor Mick and runs a charity called Church On The Street, helping people struggling in the cost of living crisis.

Among its services, the charity provides food, mental health support and Citizens’ Advice – and has recently had to start helping families pay for funerals.

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Church helping families in Burnley

“At the moment, it’s far, far worse than the pandemic,” he says. “It’s ordinary people with children who are in dire straits.”

He is also concerned about the impact of the cost of living on mental health and suicide risk.

“I’ve got NHS mental health teams working with us in our building. People can’t afford to have a funeral for their loved ones. It’s horrendous. We pay an undertaker to do the funerals for us and then I do the services for free.”

The Duchess of Cambridge The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge meeting Pastor Mick Fleming during a visit to the Church on the Street (left) in Burnley, Lancashire, where they are meeting with volunteers and staff to hear about their motivations for working with Church on the Street as well as a number of service users to hear about their experiences first-hand. Pastor Mick is a former drug dealer who set up Church on the Street in 2019 to help the homeless and people living in some form of poverty
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William and Kate met Pastor Mick during a visit to his charity last year

Meeting William and Kate

Mick’s work was recognised by royalty when Prince William and Kate visited the charity in January last year.

William has since written the foreword to Mick’s book – with a TV series about his life in the works – and he was invited to Kate’s Christmas carol concert in December.

“I got to pray for them which was quite an honour,” Mick says. “I really felt they’re going to need prayers.”

Mick believes William and Kate understand the problems people are facing with the cost of living despite their royal lifestyles.

“Obviously they haven’t experienced it but you don’t have to dead to be an undertaker, do you?” he says.

“They’ve got the ability to open doors and ask questions that need to be asked and point fingers in right directions.”

Prince William wrote foreword to Pastor Mick’s autobiograpy

The Prince of Wales wrote the foreword to Pastor Mick’s autobiography entitled Blown Away: From drug-dealer to life bringer.

In it, the future King said: “It’s impossible to visit Church on the Street and not be deeply moved by the work the organisation does for those in need.

“It is an extraordinary place that has been an important refuge and place of safety for so many.

“Often, it is only by sharing our problems and being honest with ourselves that we are able to heal and overcome life’s challenges.

“And by doing so, we find just how deep the bonds we all share are.”

Mick – who was married with three children during his time as a criminal enforcer – says he has repaired relationships with his family over the years.

“I wasn’t a good father,” he says. “I have to live with that fact.

“I’d want it to be better with my children, that’s the truth. But it’s all right – my family have come to accept me, and love me, and care for me. It’s the best I can do.

“Some of it is my regret around my children. I wish I could turn the clock back with that but I can’t so I accept it and do the best with it.”

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

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Easter holidaymakers warned of disruption as Heathrow Airport security guards start 10-day strike

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Easter holidaymakers warned of disruption as Heathrow Airport security guards start 10-day strike

Ten days of of strikes by security guards at Heathrow Airport start today after last-minute talks failed to resolve a pay dispute.

Around 1,400 members of the Unite union who are employed by Heathrow Airports Ltd (HAL) are expected to take part in the 10-day walkout which ends at 23.59pm on Easter Sunday.

The strikes involve security officers at Terminal Five, which is used exclusively by British Airways, and campus security guards who are responsible for checking all cargo that enters the airport.

As a result, British Airways said it has cancelled around 5% of its flights during the industrial action and stopped selling tickets for strike days.

Unite said the strikes will cause disruption to flights, however Heathrow said it has contingency plans to help passengers during the Easter getaway.

The union said talks broke down because HAL failed to substantially improve its pay offer.

Unite regional co-ordinating officer Wayne King said: “Heathrow Airport has thrown away the opportunity to avoid strikes.

More on British Airways

Union warns of ‘severe delays and disruption’

“Unite went into today’s (Friday’s) meeting looking for an offer our members could accept. Unfortunately it seems HAL went in with no intention of avoiding industrial action.

“The strike action will undoubtedly result in severe delays and disruption to passengers across the airport but this dispute is a direct result of Heathrow Airport’s stubborn refusal to pay its workers fairly.”

Read more:
Heathrow strike forces BA to cancel flights from Terminal 5 over Easter period
Strike to hit Heathrow Airport over Easter

Who is striking and when?

Heathrow said it was putting “contingency plans” in place and drafting 1,000 extra staff into terminals to assist passengers.

An airport spokesperson said: “We will not let these unnecessary strikes impact the hard-earned holidays of our passengers.

“Our contingency plans will keep the airport operating as normal throughout.”

Passengers should check their flight status

They added: “Following further talks, Unite has again refused to take an improved offer to members, despite the PCS union wanting to do so.

“Colleagues could have an above-inflation 10% pay increase back-dated to January 1 and a lump sum payment of £1,150, but instead they’re left empty-handed by Unite’s actions.”

Heathrow said that at any busy time it may take a little longer than usual to get through security during the strikes.

“Passengers can help us ensure they get the best start to their journeys by checking their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport, arriving at I no earlier than two hours before short haul flights and three hours before long-haul flights and by being ready for security with their compliant liquids and electronics out of their hand luggage,” it said in a statement.

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Olivia Pratt-Korbel: Reformed Liverpool gangster says ‘morals have gone out of the window’ among city’s criminals

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Olivia Pratt-Korbel: Reformed Liverpool gangster says 'morals have gone out of the window' among city's criminals

Sicarius McGrath is a big guy. Muscled, shaven-headed and more than a little intimidating – everything you might expect of a Liverpool gangster.

But his days of roaming the streets of Anfield are over and now he helps steer vulnerable and deprived kids away from a life of gangland crime.

With convictions for violence and intimidation, he knows his subject and was an enlightening companion as together we toured the city’s estates, waiting for the jury verdicts in the Olivia Pratt-Korbel murder trial.

I drove, he talked. When he was setting up a gun factory and protection rackets he was known as Anthony Harrington.

At 7pm Sky News will broadcast a special programme: The murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel

Sicarius McGrath says he used to 'put guns on the streets in massive volumes'
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Sicarius McGrath says he used to ‘put guns on the streets in massive volumes’

His adopted name Sicarius means “assassin”, but he didn’t go to a school that taught Latin. I did, but that isn’t the only difference between us.

“I used to put guns on the streets in massive volumes,” he told me, rather matter-of-factly.

“They are bought and paid for through drugs money. I felt responsibility 100% for the things that happened, whether someone was harmed as a result, but when you’re in that game you don’t give a s***. It’s profits over anything else.

“Decades ago there was a moral code, that you didn’t harm women, you didn’t harm kids. I’m not saying that little girl was shot intentionally, but those morals have gone out of the window.

“I was mixing in those circles and surroundings, so I’m a bit of a hypocrite to say now they are absolute scum, but I was once that scumbag.”

Read more: Thomas Cashman found guilty of murdering Olivia Pratt-Korbel

Olivia Pratt-Korbel
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Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead in her home

Although Merseyside Police had a key witness within a day or two of Olivia’s shooting, they struggled to find the direct evidence detectives always strive for.

There were no forensics, no eyewitnesses who could identify the killer and the two guns used have not been found.

I asked Mr McGrath how a close community deals with the conflict of outrage and the need for justice, set against loyalty and the fear of being labelled a grass.

“People are going to be reluctant, of course they are, depending on who commits the murder. If it’s established gang members people are going to be more reluctant. Everyone says there’s a code, no grassing, but criminals will grass each other up,” he said.

“It’s a question of what benefits them, if they can get a rival out of the way, bring police attention on them, but they’re not just gonna do it for charity.”

Gasps as Thomas Cashman found guilty on all charges – follow updates

What about the ordinary public – wouldn’t they be more scared of retribution for giving police information?

“It’s gonna be scary, they’re not really going to want to get involved, but when it’s a little girl the rule book goes out the window and you have to dig deep,” he said.

“People are more likely to engage with the police when it’s a young girl murdered and it’s up to the police to reassure them they are going to protect them.”

A month on from the shooting, after initial arrests but no charges, and with police still appealing for help, an anonymous businessman offered a remarkable £100,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Olivia’s killer.

Lord Ashcroft, the founder of Crimestoppers, had also initially offered a £50,000 reward – but the anonymous donation prompted him to double his offer and, at £200,000 combined, it became the biggest ever reward.

At 7pm Sky News will broadcast a special programme: The murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel

Olivia's coffin carried by horse-drawn carriage on the day of her funeral. Pic: AP
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Olivia’s coffin carried by horse-drawn carriage on the day of her funeral. Pic: AP

The other businessman, who did not want to be named for safety reasons, said: “When I heard that there was a seeming reluctance for people to come forward and testify, that’s what really got my back up.

“I thought, well, I’m going to try and do something about this. It was an amount that would make people sit up and make it as easy as possible for them to help catch the killer.”

The businessman’s family are from Merseyside and memories of his childhood in the area fuelled his desire for justice for Olivia.

“I understand people’s reluctance to speak out and I’ve thought about my own safety in putting up the reward. Like others, I had doubts and worries, but Crimestoppers assured me my identity would be protected. The bottom line is that this was horrific, the murder of a young girl. It doesn’t come much worse than that.”

Read more from Sky News:
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Merseyside beset by violence in summer trail of bloodshed

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The battle between Liverpool’s gangs

Mick Duthie, director of operations at Crimestoppers, said the reward had prompted “a phenomenal amount” of information from the public.

“I understand that in communities people don’t want to be seen as a grass or make themselves vulnerable, they don’t want to talk to the police, so the charity allows people to speak up anonymously,” he said.

“The community of Liverpool provided so much information. It wasn’t for us to decide how important it was. We took it and passed it on to Merseyside Police.”

As we drove through Dovecot, where Olivia was murdered, I asked Mr McGrath whether £200,000 was a life-changing amount for people in this community.

“For someone anywhere in the country it’s a life-changing amount of money,” he said.

“People are struggling to put their lights on and run their cookers. A reward of £200,000 is gonna benefit the vast majority of people, criminals and non-criminals.”

Sixteen years ago, schoolboy Rhys Jones, who was 11, was shot dead – caught in cross-fire – only a few miles from here.

I reported on it at the time and Mr McGrath was in prison, but we both remember the loud and widespread calls for change.

Rhys Jones
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Rhys Jones was shot dead after being caught in cross-fire close to his home

Mr McGrath said: “They always say that when a young person is stabbed or shot, they always say enough is enough, they’re going to take a stand but communities never do. It’s all just words.

“A couple of days or weeks later they go back to doing what they were doing. It’s only the families that are left suffering. Whoever shot Olivia, whoever’s convicted, his friends won’t stop talking to him because he shot a young girl.”

A blitz on organised crime and guns by Merseyside Police has driven down the number of firearms discharges to record low levels in the past couple of years.

There hadn’t been one reported in more than a year before last August. But then Olivia became the third gun murder victim in just a week. And there have been two more in the city since.

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Cambridgeshire shooting: Father and son shot dead – ‘custody battle’ active line of inquiry for police

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Cambridgeshire shooting: Father and son shot dead - 'custody battle' active line of inquiry for police

Two men shot dead in Cambridgeshire on Wednesday evening were father and son, police have said.

Detective chief superintendent Jon Hutchinson, of Cambridgeshire Police, said the “primary line of investigation” was that the incident related to a “familial issue”.

“It’s been widely reported in the media that this may relate to a custody battle,” he said. “I can confirm that is an active line of inquiry for us.”

Police described the attacks as “targeted”.

The bodies of the 32-year-old man and a 57-year-old man were found on Wednesday evening at two different locations six miles apart in Cambridgeshire.

Police have recovered a firearm in Worcester.

A 66-year-old man was arrested in Worcester. A 27-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman have also been arrested in Cambridge.

All three were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.

Police at the scene in The Row in Sutton, near Ely, Cambridgeshire
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Police at the scene in The Row in Sutton, near Ely, Cambridgeshire

Mr Hutchinson said that officers made a “very quick two arrests in a hotel just outside Cambridge”.

He added: “In the early hours of this morning we did a joint operation alongside West Mercia Police at which stage a 66-year-old man was arrested on the motorway by armed officers.

“Following his arrest his vehicle was searched and I can confirm we have recovered a firearm.”

He said the man was in police custody in Worcester and is being transported to Cambridgeshire for interview.

Police were called to a property in Meridian Close, Bluntisham, just after 9pm on 29 March, where the body of a 32-year-old was found.

Seven minutes later, at 9.37pm, officers received a call from a person in Sutton, near Ely, who reported hearing gunshots. They found the body of a 57-year-old at a property in The Row.

The two locations are around a 15-minute drive apart, according to Google Maps.

Mr Hutchinson said that an “active line of inquiry” is “understanding whether that firearm was legally owned” and forensic work is taking place to establish whether the same weapon was used at both locations.

“A line of inquiry that we’re focusing on is that those people who are in custody are known to the deceased and have had recent contact with them.”

He added that the “initial arrests have been made for conspiracy to murder – that is likely to change as information develops in the hours ahead”.

At this stage, police are not looking for any further people in relation to the incident.

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£21bn of public money lost in fraud since COVID

At the time of the arrests, Detective Inspector Mark Butler said: “Tonight we have launched two linked murder investigations following the shootings of two men at separate properties in the county.

“These events will be shocking to local people and there will be understandable concerns within local communities, however, we are treating the attacks as targeted and there is no wider risk to the general public.

“There will be an increased police presence in the areas concerned today and officers and scenes of crime officers will be at the scenes throughout the day.

“Our thoughts also go out to the family and friends of the victims. Specially trained officers are in touch with them and they are helping our investigation.”

Meridian Close

A car believed to have been used by the offender, a white Peugeot 208, and a shotgun have been recovered.

“Detectives are now beginning inquiries into how these events unfolded and we are appealing to anyone who was in either area and saw anyone acting suspiciously or a white Peugeot 208,” Mr Butler added.

Sarah Lown, who lives near the sealed-off houses in Sutton, said she heard three loud bangs on Wednesday evening, but thought it was objects in her garden that had blown over.

“I didn’t think anything crazy had happened,” she said. “I heard two more – it was bang, space, bang. Whether or not they were each gunshots I don’t know; then police were outside the house.”

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