‘Life stopped’: British-based families of Hamas attack victims speak of turmoil

Published

11 months ago

October 24, 2023

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The British-based families of people killed or taken hostage in Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel have spoken of their grief.

Speaking at a press conference in London, Ayelet Svatitzky, whose brother was killed in a raid on his kibbutz in southern Israel, said her “life stopped” on 7 October.

Her other brother and mother have both been taken hostage by Hamas militants.

“I try not to deal with the loss of my brother because I find it too painful and if I start thinking about that too much it would hurt too much, and it would break me – and I don’t have the privilege of breaking,” she said.

“Because I have a mission – I need to be efficient, effective and productive trying to get the Red Cross to family members to see them, to get lists of who has been taken.

“We are chasing information, we are trying to get the hostages help and to get information out.”

Ofri Bibas Levi’s brother was taken with his wife and two children.

“It is like living in a nightmare,” she said.

“The pictures keep running in front of my eyes. I feel guilty for eating, I feel guilty for sleeping in my own bed, I feel guilty for playing with my own children.

Talking about the recent release of some of the hostages, she said: “It is psychological torture, hearing that they are releasing this one, or this one.

“We want all of them back, and we want all of them back now together.”

David Barr’s sister-in-law was shot dead in her kibbutz in southern Israel during the attack.

He said: “It took four days to identify what we call the ‘Smile of the south of Israel’.

“She was well-known – she worked as a dental assistant and in the past few years, also, a keep-perfect freak. She simply went for a run in her kibbutz.

“She was shot in the back and shot again in the head at point-blank range.

“Life is turned upside down by death, by hatred, by evil people, monsters.”

Downing Street said on Tuesday that at least 12 British nationals are known to have died either in or since the 7 October attack – with five people still missing.

Among the dead are two teenagers, a soldier, people visiting Israel on holiday, and a music festival security guard.

Hamas released two Israeli hostages on Monday night, after releasing two US citizens on Friday.

On Monday, before the release of the two Israeli hostages, a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said 222 people were being held hostage in Gaza.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, at least 5,100 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October.

At least 1,400 Israelis were killed in that attack, according to Israeli officials.

UK

‘Dangerously stretched’ Met Police has fewer officers working on unsolved murders

Published

8 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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'Dangerously stretched' Met Police has fewer officers working on unsolved murders

Fewer police officers are working on unsolved murder cases amid warnings the Metropolitan Police is dangerously stretched.

Five officers from the force are moving from a specialist cold case department investigating the 30-year-old murder of Atek Hussain to instead bolster basic command units.

Mr Hussain, 32, was stabbed in the heart as he returned from work in September 1994. He managed to stagger to his home and tell his family that his attackers were Asian before collapsing.

No charges have ever been brought in the case despite two focused appeals by the police on the 10th and 20th anniversaries of his killing.

Mr Hussain’s daughter Yasmin was 10 when she watched her father die in their family home. She told Sky News she had hoped the Met would launch a renewed appeal on the 30th anniversary of his death this week.

“I waited and waited as September approached, hoping they’d say something but all of the officers I’d been dealing with have either retired or moved on, and it seems nobody knows what to do with me,” she said.

“One person told me to call 101.”

The Met told Sky News the case is not currently active. However, no unsolved murder investigation is ever closed and Mr Hussain’s case was last reviewed by its Serious Crime Review Group in August.

“Should any new information come to light, it will be assessed accordingly,” it said in a statement.

“In order to better protect the public, including the prevention of future homicides, we are moving some experienced officers from specialist units to bolster BCU (basic command unit) public protection teams to ensure they have the right skills, experience and capacity.

“The MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) continues to maintain a strong capability to investigate cold case homicides. No unsolved homicide is ever closed and all cases remain under review.”

Clive Driscoll, a former Detective Chief Inspector of the Met Police who finally secured two convictions for the murder of Stephen Lawrence, explains how the forces deal with cold cases.

“Every two years you would review the case to see if there are opportunities. The one that always stands out is forensics opportunities. Forensics moved on while we’ve been talking. So that’s what you would do with a review, you would be looking to see whether or not something has changed from the last time you saw it.”

Mr Driscoll says forces across the country are facing challenges including a shortage of officers and staff, greater scrutiny of the police and an issue with confidence among officers.

“They feel that maybe their job has become harder,” he told Sky News before urging police units to go the extra mile.

“As hard as it may be for a police officer, it can’t be even a slightest comparison of how hard it must be for Mr Hussain’s children who’ve lost their father.”

Recent data shows the annual number of unsolved homicides across Britain has more than doubled since 2010. That is thought to be driven almost entirely by a surge in larger police forces, in particular the Met.

On Wednesday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described the force as “dangerously stretched”, telling an audience at the Police Foundation that a wave of new pressures, a lack of investment, abuse and insults of the police and reduced confidence among officers has left London less safe.

Mr Driscoll warned that failing to properly review unsolved homicides sends a dangerous message.

“We don’t want to send the message out to people that feel they can take the life of a human being and after a certain amount of time ‘oh that’s alright then I’ve got away with it’. The message must always be that if there is an opportunity to affect an arrest, put someone before a court then we will take it. We must always show that we will not forget the victim and also that out there is someone who felt that they can take someone’s life.”

Atek Hussain had spent the evening working at his family-run restaurant in Croydon before arriving home to Burnels Avenue in East Ham at around 2.35am on 18 September 1994.

Officers believe he had just got out of his blue Vauxhall Cavalier and was walking towards his front door when he was attacked and stabbed in the chest.

In the absence of a renewed public plea from the police, Yasmin Hussain has launched her own appeal for help finding her father’s killers.

If you have information that could help police, call 101 or post @MetCC, or to remain 100% anonymous contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.

UK

Mohamed al Fayed ‘carried Viagra’ and ‘cherry picked’ women from Harrods shop floor, ex-employee claims

Published

20 hours ago

September 20, 2024

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Mohamed al Fayed 'carried Viagra' and 'cherry picked' women from Harrods shop floor, ex-employee claims

A former member of the Harrods management team has told how Mohamed al Fayed would “cherry pick” women from the shop floor.

Speaking to Sky News anonymously, the woman described the billionaire, who died last year aged 94, as “demonic” and said he “controlled everything with fear”.

Lawyers representing 37 alleged victims of sexual abuse at the hands of Fayed branded him a “monster” who was “enabled by a system that pervaded Harrods” at a news conference on Friday.

The former employee of the luxury department store, which the Egyptian businessman took control of in 1985, worked at Harrods at the height of his power.

“We were all told Harrods is the greatest place on Earth – but he controlled everything with fear,” she said.

“The power dynamic was so strong, in the blink of an eye you would lose your career and they would try and destroy you. It was this dark psychological trap and everybody was caught.”

She said she heard stories Fayed, known to staff as “the chairman”, would grope people although she was never a victim herself.

“The chairman would walk around the store and he would cherry pick people from the shop floor, if you had blond hair and brown eyes you were favoured,” she said.

“He used to say, ‘I want that one up in my office now’. He used to carry Viagra around in his pocket, and people were so scared of his ‘floor walks’ – if you weren’t smiling enough you were in the shit, if you smiled too much you were also in the shit.”

The ex-employee, who worked at Harrods in her first job after leaving university, said when women were called to Fayed’s office they “couldn’t say no”.

“I would sit her down and I would say I need to let you know what you are walking into,” she said.

“It’s suddenly a pay rise, and you’ll be invited to expensive events and lavished with expensive gifts but really you need to be aware of something.

“I said you will get invited to Park Lane, and parties where there will be lots of rich men, and you would be invited to sleep with people.”

She said she was once asked to see Fayed in his lounge-like office where he was wearing his slippers and said: “When are you going to come up and work for me here?”

The woman said she told him she did not want to work there and went back to her normal job.

“Afterwards he would smile at me and was courteous but then I started getting extra money in my pay packet. I went to the pay office and they said it’s a bonus for what you are doing. It didn’t last long but it happened just after he’d asked to meet him.”

The woman said she now feels “really conflicted” as she was “vulnerable too”.

“It was my first job leaving university. It leaves me feeling angry that we put up with things in that generation, that was our norm,” she added.

Harrods has said in a statement it is “utterly appalled” by the allegations of abuse and apologised to Fayed’s alleged victims.

The department store has also set up a page on its website inviting former employees to come forward if they have allegations.

UK

Katherine Watson: Body found in search for missing TV chaplain

Published

20 hours ago

September 20, 2024

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Katherine Watson: Body found in search for missing TV chaplain

A body has been found in the search for a missing hospital chaplain who starred in a Channel 4 documentary.

Katherine Watson, 50, was last seen in the Heaton Road area of Newcastle, at about 1pm on Thursday and Northumbria Police had become “increasingly concerned” for her welfare.

But after “extensive searches”, the force said a body had been found in the Jesmond Dene area of the city. Although formal identification has yet to take place, “it is believed to be Katherine”, they added.

“Her next of kin have been made aware and are being supported by specially-trained officers,” it said.

“This is an incredibly sad outcome and our thoughts are with Katherine’s loved ones at this difficult time. We will continue to support them in any way we can and we ask that their privacy is respected.”

Also known as Reverend Captain Katie Watson, she joined the army in her late teens, serving in Bosnia in the 1990s and as part of the Royal Military Police.

“Once you have seen genocide first-hand on the streets of a European country, there is nothing left in the world that can faze you after that,” she told the Church Times in 2022, as the Geordie Hospital documentary was first aired on Channel 4.

“I have seen the worst of humanity and I have seen, and continue to see, the very best of it.”

Ms Watson worked at the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for more than 16 years and was made head of chaplaincy in 2020.

Channel 4’s documentary Geordie Hospital was a six-part series that filmed hospital staff through a shift, featuring a cast including porters, surgeons, dental nurses and chaplains.

Speaking about her role in the show, Ms Watson said: “We only have two things to offer, the gifts of time and presence, but we give them whole-heartedly.”

There was an outpouring of support online for Ms Watson following the news she was missing.

“She baptised our baby boy when he passed away at birth and presided over his funeral,” one person wrote on X. “She’s such a wonderful person who gave us unwavering support through our darkest hours.”

Another said: “The compassion and care you gave me and my family when our mum passed last year was a tremendous blessing and support.”