Tech firms face fines up to £60,000 for failing to remove knife crime content

Published

17 hours ago

April 25, 2025

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Social media companies will be fined up to £60,000 each time a post relating to knife crime is not removed from their sites in a bid to stop children viewing “sickening” content.

The new sanction expands on previously announced plans to fine individual tech executives up to £10,000 if their platforms fail to remove material advertising or glorifying knives following 48 hours of a police warning.

It means tech platforms and their executives could collectively face up to £70,000 in penalties for every post relating to knife crime they fail to remove, with the new laws applying to online search engines as well as social media platforms and marketplaces.

Crime and policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said the content that young people scroll through every day online “is sickening” adding: “That is why we are now going further than ever to hold to account the tech companies who are not doing enough to safeguard young people from content which incites violence, particularly in young boys.”

The sanctions for tech platforms will be introduced via an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill.

It is separate to the Online Safety Bill, which aims to protect children from online harm, which some campaigners and parents have criticised for not going far enough.

The Home Office said today’s announcement follows “significant consultation” with the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime, launched by Sir Keir Starmer in September as part of his bid to half knife offences in a decade.

Patrick Green, chief executive of The Ben Kinsella Trust, a knife prevention charity which is part of the coalition, welcomed the measure, telling Sky News social media companies have “proved themselves to be incapable of self-regulation”.

“There’s been a real reluctance of social media companies to take action sufficiently quickly. It’s shameful, we shouldn’t need legislation,” he said.

The Ben Kinsella Trust is named after teenager Ben Kinsella who was fatally stabbed in 2008 on the way home from the pub after celebrating his GCSEs.

Months earlier, Ben had written to then prime minister Gordon Brown to urge his government to tackle knife crime.

Knife crime rates soar

However, the problem has soared since then.

In the year to March 2024, there were 53 teenage victims aged 13-19 in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics. That is a 140% increase on the 22 teenage victims a decade earlier.

Overall, police recorded 54,587 knife-related offences in 2024, up 2% on the previous year and more than double the 26,000 offences recorded in 2014.

Mr Green told Sky News that while knife crime has been happening “long before social media took hold”, online content glamorising the possession of a knife is hindering efforts to reduce it.

“There will be pictures of these knives [on social media] with ‘follow me’ luring young people onto places where these knives are sold. It’s never been easier for a child to buy a knife.”

‘One part of a larger problem’

However, while welcoming today’s announcement he said social media was “one part of a larger problem”, adding that “provisions of youth services have been decimated” and “much more needs to be done”.

The government’s plan to halve knife crime in a decade includes banning zombie-style knives and ninja swords, with a nationwide surrender scheme launching in July, and stronger laws for online retailers selling knives.

Ministers also want to increase prison sentences for selling weapons to under-18s and introduce a new offence for possessing a weapon with intent for violence, with a prison sentence of up to four years.

Government ‘can’t police the internet’

Last month, Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty suggested violent videos viewed online should be used as evidence to prosecute under the new law. He was speaking during a debate he secured on knife crime, in which he criticised a wider culture which “valorises” criminality and gangs in music and the media.

On the measures announced today, the Huntingdon MP told Sky News that while “any measures to help reduce instances of knife crime are hugely welcome”, he was doubtful that the sanctions could be effectively enforced.

“The sheer scale of content on social media that glorifies or incites violence is staggering, let alone content returned by search engines,” he said.

“The government can’t possibly hope to realistically police the internet.

“The government must tackle the culture that promotes and encourages the use of knives and ensure that there are robust consequences to doing so, not simply pretend they will have online content removed.”

UK

Three men jailed for plotting to murder £54m Securitas robber Paul Allen

Published

8 hours ago

April 25, 2025

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Three men jailed for plotting to murder £54m Securitas robber Paul Allen

Three men have been jailed for a combined total of 99 years for plotting to murder a member of a gang that carried out Britain’s biggest-ever cash robbery.

Paul Allen, 46, was shot twice as he stood in his kitchen in Woodford, east London, on 11 July 2019.

He was a member of the Securitas heist gang that stole £54m from a cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.

The former cage fighter was living in a large detached rented house with his partner and three young children after being released from an 18-year prison sentence over the raid.

The attack at his home has left him paralysed from the chest down.

Louis Ahearne, 36, Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, denied conspiring to murder Allen but were found guilty last month following a trial at the Old Bailey.

The trio were sentenced at the Old Bailey in central London on Friday.

Kelly was sentenced to 36 years in prison and an extra five years on licence, Louis Ahearne was jailed for 33 years, and his sibling Stewart Ahearne – 30 years.

Prosecutors did not give a motive for the murder plot, though they described the victim as a “sophisticated” career criminal.

Detectives said the shooting could seem like “the plot [of] a Hollywood blockbuster” but added it was actually “horrific criminality” from “hardened organised criminals”.

In her sentencing remarks, the judge said she believed the trio “were motivated by a promise of financial gain”.

Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC said: “I have no doubt that this agreement to murder Paul Allen involved other people apart from the three of you and that you three were motivated by a promise of financial gain.

“The culpability of each one of you is very high.

“The harm caused to the victim was very serious – indeed, short of killing him it could hardly be more serious. He is currently paralysed and relies on others for every single need.”

The shooting was just the latest act in a long list of criminal deeds. The day before, Kelly and Louise Ahearne used a rented car to carry out a burglary in Kent, accessing the gated community by pretending to be police officers.

A month before that, the trio had stolen more than $3.5m (£2.78m) worth of Ming dynasty antiques from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva, for which the Ahearne brothers had been jailed in Switzerland.

Kelly is also wanted in Japan over the robbery of a Tokyo jewellery store in 2015 in which a security guard was punched in the face.

UK

Claire Chick: Paul Butler jailed for life for murdering Plymouth university lecturer

Published

8 hours ago

April 25, 2025

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Claire Chick: Paul Butler jailed for life for murdering Plymouth university lecturer

A man has been jailed for life for the murder of university lecturer Claire Chick.

Paul Butler was sentenced to a minimum term of 27 years for killing his estranged wife after a six-month campaign of stalking and harassment when he refused to accept their relationship was over.

Ms Chick, 48, was found seriously injured on West Hoe Road in Plymouth just before 9pm on 22 January. She was taken to hospital, but died the next day.

Previously known as Claire Butler, Ms Chick worked at the University of Plymouth.

She died after a frenzied attack outside her home – the attack a culmination of months of harassment, stalking and violence at the hands of Butler.

Following her death, Devon and Cornwall Police made a referral to the police watchdog due to previous contact prior to her death.

Jo Martin KC, prosecuting, said Ms Chick had made six statements to the police about Butler and he had been arrested three times.

In her final statement to police the day before he killed her outside her own home, she said: “I only feel that Butler will kill me if further action is not taken. I am in fear of leaving my house.”

Butler was arrested around 20 miles away in the Liskeard area on 24 January.

He was sentenced on Friday at Plymouth Crown Court, having previously pleaded guilty to murder, and to one charge of possession of a bladed article.

‘I loved Claire’

The family of Ms Chick told the court how her murder left a “huge void” in their lives.

Her eldest daughter, Bethany Hancock-Baxter, described Butler as “evil”.

She said: “I want this evil man to listen to me. I want you to know what you have done to us as a family.

“Despite all the hate I have for you, I cannot bring myself to do what you did to my mum – that’s because I am not evil like you.”

Her sister, Lydia Peers, said Butler was a “parasite”.

After her short-lived marriage to Butler, Ms Chick began a relationship with another man, Paul Maxwell.

Mr Maxwell spoke from the witness box and repeatedly stared at the defendant as he spoke. Butler stared back at him.

“I loved Claire. She was beautiful, funny and kind,” Mr Maxwell said.

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UK

Vincent Nichols: British cardinal who will be in the conclave says picking the next pope is ‘intimidating’

Published

8 hours ago

April 25, 2025

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Vincent Nichols: British cardinal who will be in the conclave says picking the next pope is 'intimidating'

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has told Sky News it’s “intimidating” to be one of those responsible for choosing the next pope.

Vincent Nichols is among four UK cardinals in Rome for the Pope’s funeral on Saturday.

Following the funeral, and after nine days of mourning, cardinals from around the world will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to cast their votes, with white smoke announcing to the world when a new pope has been elected.

Cardinal Nichols told Sky’s Anna Botting: “I hope nobody goes into this conclave, as it were, with the sole purpose of wanting to win. I think it’s very important that we go in wanting to listen to each other… It has to be together, trying to sense what God wants next. Not just for the church.”

He described the procession that took Pope Francis to lie in state as “the most moving thing I’ve ever attended here”.

Describing the Pope as a “master of the gesture and the phrase”, he also recalled the pontiff’s last journey away from the Vatican.

Cardinal Nichols said Pope Francis had visited the Regina Coeli prison, telling the inmates: “You know, except for the grace of God, it could well have been me … Don’t lose hope, God has you written in his heart.”

The Pope later told his doctor his last regret was not being able to wash the feet of the prisoners during that visit.

Becoming emotional, he also said the final message he would like to have given Pope Francis is “thank you”.

The 88-year-old died peacefully on Easter Monday, the Vatican confirmed.

Heads of state – including Sir Keir Starmer, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron – have all confirmed their attendance at his funeral, which takes place on Saturday at St Peter’s Square.

Prince William will attend on behalf of the King, Kensington Palace has said.

Talking about the seating plan at the funeral, Cardinal Nichols said he understood it to be “royalty first, then heads of state, then political leaders”.

Worldwide geopolitical tensions mean that many eyes will be on interactions between heads of state at the event, with particular focus on Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy following their tense meeting at the Oval Office in February.

Looking back at the last papal funeral, Cardinal Nichols described the seating of the then Prince Charles one seat away from Zimbabwean present Robert Mugabe as “obviously a little bit tense”.

Cardinal Nichols explained event would be “exactly the same Catholic rite as everyone else – just on a grander scale”.

In a break from tradition, Pope Francis will be the first pope in a century to be interred outside the Vatican – and will instead be laid to rest at his favourite church, Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood.

He will also be buried in just one simple wooden coffin, instead of the traditional three coffins which are usually used for pontiffs.

Born in Crosby near Liverpool, Cardinal Vincent Nichols hoped to be a lorry driver as a child – but as a teenager reportedly felt the calling to join the priesthood while watching Liverpool FC.

As cardinal, he is known for leading the church’s work tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, for which he received the UN Path to Peace Award.

He was criticised by the UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which said he “demonstrated a lack of understanding” of the impact of abuse and “seemingly put the reputation of the church first”.

Cardinal Nichols, responding to the findings, previously told Sky News he was “ashamed at what has happened in the context of the Catholic Church” and promised to improve the church’s response.

He has appeared to rule himself out of the running for pope, telling reporters he was “too old, not capable”.