Burnt-out car found in investigation into around 50 dead animals dumped outside Hampshire shop
Police investigating an incident in which dozens of dead animals were dumped outside a Hampshire shop have found a burnt-out Suzuki Grand Vitara believed to be linked to the case.
Warning: This story contains images and descriptions readers may find distressing
Hampshire Police has urged the public to send any CCTV or dash cam images of cars matching this description in the Test Valley area at the time of the incident.
“Officers are following all possible lines of enquiry and will be in the area today to provide reassurance to local residents,” the force said in a statement.
The bodies of around 50 dead hares as well as a barn owl and a kestrel, were discovered by a member of staff who had gone to open up Broughton Community Shop on Friday.
The barn owl and kestrel were “stuffed” on the door handles and blood was smeared on the windows, the shop’s treasurer said.
On the shop’s Facebook page, a post said: “Thank you all for popping in, messaging and phoning to make sure we are okay. We are okay, shocked but okay.”
Police had previously appealed for information about a silver Suzuki car that may have been in the area between Thursday night and Friday morning.
“It was bedlam, it was just covered in dead hares, all the way across this paving here, horrifying,” the shop’s treasurer Mike Hensman told Sky News.
“And on the door there was a dead raptor, bird of prey, and an owl impaled on the door handles. And there was blood everywhere.”
He described how shocked staff and villagers had to remove the remains.
“We cleared it all up, got the police in, had to wash all the windows down and get rid of everything.
“We got a local farmer here to get rid of all the dead hares and we just got on with business because that’s what you do in a community. We’re servicing the community. We just had to keep going.”
He believes the shop was targeted because the entrance is “tucked away”.
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“A shop on the high street you wouldn’t have been able to do it because there would have been cars going by. It’s tucked away so someone’s able to get a car round here and have a party with some dead hares. It’s ridiculous.
“It made entertainment for them and caused a problem for us… it could have been anywhere.”
It is the second time in recent weeks that the local area has been targeted.
Carcasses of pheasants, chickens and hares were dumped outside Awbridge Primary School, around six miles from Broughton, last month.
Police say they are keeping an “open mind” about whether the two incidents are linked.
Dead pheasants found outside Awbridge Primary School in another incident in February. Pic: Solent Photo Agency
Tony Lowry, a local wildlife and conservation warden, believes rival criminal groups who travel from outside the area are to blame.
He claims it’s driven by gambling: “Money, betting between groups, that’s basically what it’s about… how many animals they’re going to kill in one night, how big an animal?
“We’ve had instances of deers’ ears being chopped off to prove they’ve actually got them, taken them away. We find piles of animals with no ears, we have done in the past. Terrible.
“I’m a country person, I’m a gamekeeper and so my work does involve killing, but that is just killing for no reason at all.”
A teenage girl who was killed after getting out of a police car on the M5 in Somerset has been named.
Tamzin Hall, 17 and from Wellington, was hit by a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday.
She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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Avon and Somerset Police said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss.
“A specially-trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support.
“The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
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The police watchdog, the IOPC, has been asked to investigate.
In a statement, director David Ford, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends and everyone affected by the events of that evening.
“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role, and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.”
Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes of the girl being hit but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The motorway was closed in both directions while investigations took place. It was fully reopened shortly after 11am on Tuesday, Nationals Highways said.
A survivors group advocating for women allegedly assaulted by Mohamed al Fayed has said it is “grateful another abuser has been unmasked”, after allegations his brother Salah also participated in the abuse.
Justice for Harrods Survivors says it has “credible evidence” suggesting the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated at Harrods and the billionaire’s properties “was not limited to Mr al Fayed himself”.
The group’s statement comes after three women told BBC News they were sexually assaulted by al Fayed’s brother, Salah.
One woman said she was raped by Mohamed al Fayed while working at Harrods.
Helen, who has waived her right to anonymity, said she then took a job working for his brother as an escape. She alleges she was drugged and sexually assaulted while working at Salah’s home on Park Lane, London.
Two other women have told the BBC they were taken to Monaco and the South of France, where Salah sexually abused them.
Mohamed al Fayed. Pic: AP
The Justice for Harrod Survivors representatives said: “We are proud to support the survivors of Salah Fayed’s abuse and are committed to achieving justice for them, no matter what it takes.”
The group added it “looks forward to the others on whom we have credible evidence – whether abusers themselves or enablers facilitating that abuse – being exposed in due course”.
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Salah was one of the three Fayed brothers who co-owned Harrods.
The business, which was sold to Qatar Holdings when Mohamed al Fayed retired in 2010, has said it “supports the bravery of these women in coming forward”.
A statement issued by the famous store on Thursday evening continued: “We encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the Harrods scheme, where they can apply for compensation, as well as support from a counselling perspective and through an independent survivor advocate.
“We also hope that they are looking at every appropriate avenue to them in their pursuit of justice, whether that be Harrods, the police or the Fayed family and estate.”
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Bianca Gascoigne speaks about Al Fayed abuse
The Justice for Harrods Survivors group previously said more than 400 people had contacted them regarding accusations about Mohamed al Fayed, who died last year.
One of those alleged to have been abused is Bianca Gascoigne, the daughter of former England player Paul.
Speaking to Sky News in October, Gascoigne said she was groomed and sexually assaulted by al Fayed when she worked at Harrods as a teenager.
UK
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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