Crime in Europe

By: William Fox
*These statistics based on The European Union

Crime is a major problem in any area. Crime exists mainly because everyone needs to eat and have housing. If you do not have a legitimate means to provide for yourself you are limited to few jobs. Most of these jobs pay minimum wage, €7.06($7.25) an hour. This for a 40 hour week(The average working week) is €282.42($291.38). Food, necessities(Toiletries and Laundry), and housing costs an average of €462.11($597.92) which leaves you in a debt of €179.69($232.5). This is bad every week you lose money, your options are borrowing money, which is comparable to building on sand or less accepted methods(Crime).

The most common means of illegitimate gains in Europe consists of; Drug trafficking, Domestic burglary, Violent Crime, Robbery, and Motor vehicle theft. These often give great gains in money as they are high risk high return, they are all against the laws of these countries1. Surprisingly even with the lose of money2 the crime rates have been dropping, with the exception of burglary and drug trafficking, some have dropped as much an average of 8 reports a year. I think that this is a great, as any improvement to lessen crime is good for the community.

1 Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and The United Kingdom
2 Statistically

Facebook Killer Still Posts Behind Bars

A convicted murderer, who used Facebook to announce his intent to kill, has been discovered to continue to use the site behind bars.
            Leon Ramsden, 22-years old had stabbed a man to death in a pub in Manchester, England, only hours after posting that he felt “like killin some1.”
            That was three years ago. Since that time, he has continued to post on his Facebook page in prison, including posting pictures of him along with other shirtless inmates.
            Ramsden has 639 friends on Facebook, and he has been posting using his Blackberry phone.
            Prison officials said that prisoners have no access to the internet, and they are barred from Facebook. Additionally, cell phones are a violation inside the prison, and Ramsden’s phone will be found and taken away.
            Meanwhile, the family victim of Ramsden’s crime—Paul Gilligan, a father of three-- is outraged.
            "It's disgusting. Losing his freedom was part of the punishment. We have lost contact with Paul forever but he can still contact his family and friends,” Gilligan’s father Dennis said.
            Ramsden was sentenced to a minimum 17 years in prison for what the judge described as a “senseless, unprovoked murder.”

Weekly Crime in the UK

     
     Crime in the UK is cold and bitter, just like its weather.


A lot to talk about in this weeks crime in the UK agenda. The majority of crimes this week in the UK consisted of murders and sexual assault. Here are the UK’s top crime news headlines:

Whales:

-Mom calls daughter and informs her while screaming and crying that her son was murdered.

-Poorly built wall collapses and causes the death of 3 year-old, is architect to blame?

-Police use e-bay to catch criminals who stole gears from marine vehicles.

Scotland:

-Man is sentenced to four years in prison after severing part of another mans finger off.

-Golden Eagle found dead after being caught in a trap.

England:

-Two police officers Shot dead in Greater Manchester.

-Men found guilty of paying underage girls with drugs, alcohol, and food for sex.

-Drug smuggling boss, John Alan Brooks was arrsested while visiting family in Blackpool. In 2008 a yacht bought and operated by men he hired was found off the south-west coast of Ireland smuggling £406m worth of cocaine.

Northern Ireland:

-Priest accused of abuse in the 1980’s

-Man charged after damaging school property

-Man is shot in the leg in west Belfast

-CS spray used during Belfast arrest

This has been the UK crime headlines of the week.

-Sean Jarrell-Hurtado

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk/

Husband and Relatives Suffocate Pregnant Wife in a Failed Attempt of an Exorcism

Naila Mumtaz was smothered at her home in 2009  Photo: PA

           

Naila Mumatz, 21, was smothered in her home by her husband, Mohammed Tauseef Mumtaz, 25, his parents, both aged 51, and Hassan, 24, Mumatz's brother in July of 2009. According to Mohammed Mumatz, his parents, and Hussan, they were trying to drive an evil “jinn” spirit from Pakistan sent by Naila’s parents.  Jurors heard also from the killers that Naila Mumatz tried to strangle herself why she was allegedly “possessed” by the spirit. The jury’s guilty verdict found that the victim was deliberately suffocated by one or more of the defendants, the judge did not find that the panel’s reasons as to why she was attacked. Possible motives for the death of Naila that was raised during the trial was that the defendant’s unborn child was another man’s or that she was possessed by a jinn from Pakistan. The judge, who ruled that it was unlikely for the defendants to believe that Naila was pregnant from another man said: "The other possibility explored in the course of the trial about why Naila was smothered was that the defendants believed that Naila had been possessed by a jinn, which had been sent from Pakistan by Naila's parents, and that they ... smothered her in order to get rid of the jinn. I regard this as a less unlikely explanation for what happened."

         Mohammed Mumatz, his parents, and brother Hassan, all face a life time in jail on account of smothering pregnant Naila for being possessed by an evil spirit.

sources: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9563199/Husband-and-relatives-suffocated-pregnant-wife-in-suspected-botched-exorcism.html

Man Arrested for Flying with Fake Pilot Credentials

Man Arrested for Flying with Fake Pilot Credentials

In Rome, on September 23, 2012, a 32-year-old man was caught flying as a false airplane pilot. He created a false identity, naming himself ‘Andrea Sirlo.’ He home-made a pilot’s uniform and used forged identity cards to fly as a “third pilot” free of charge at least once. The flight was from Munich to Turin in April. Sirlo introduced himself as a captain to a civil aviation lieutenant, who thought he was too young for the job.

Supposedly, ‘Sirlo’ wanted to “be like Frank Abagnale...” in the Leonardo DiCaprio movie, Catch Me If You Can. The movie is about a man named Frank Abagnale, a real-life con man who flew more than once as a fake American pilot in the 1960’s. Sirlo told the police “I flew free on only one flight. On that occasion they invited me into the cockpit as a third pilot.”

Sirlo was an unemployed criminal when he was let into the cockpit. He had several offenses, including fraud. After his arrest, the police searched Sirlo’s house where they found fake identity cards, several pilot uniforms, two fake resumes, training manuals and an airport staff parking permit.

Nikusha Beatty

Sources:
McKenna, Josephine. "Man Fakes Pilot Credentials to Fly for Free." (online forum message). The Telegraph. September 23, 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9560900/Man-fakes-pilot-credentials-to-fly-for-free.html (accessed September 23, 2012).

Georgian Prison Videos Cause Protests

Georgian Prison Videos Cause Protests
By: Jonathan Hays, Europe News, September 25, 2012

Georgian citizens protest after prison videos leak

Videos have leaked in Georgia of prison guards abusing and violently beating inmates at Gldani Number 8 penitentiary. Gldani Number 8 is referred to as one of the most violent and problematic prison facilities in Georgia, but these videos take that title to a whole new level. In the video, viewers can see inmates being violently kicked, beaten by police batons, and even one getting raped by a broomstick.

Majority of the identified prison guards abusing the inmates have been arrested while others are being pursued currently by the police. The country’s interior minister has released a statement blaming certain prison employees for the gruesome treatments and violating of human rights. She ended up resigning from her job a few days later.

The Us embassy released a statement saying, "Abuse of prisoners is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. We urge that the government conduct this investigation in a thorough and transparent manner and ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice as soon as possible."

            With only a few weeks until the Parliamentary Elections, this scandal has become a major issue against the Georgian Government. Riots fill the streets while the government rushes to try and ease the problem, and calm down the community. It looks like the Georgian government was sentenced to community service.

Sources:

Miriam Welder, "Georgia prison guards 'captured on video torturing prisoner'," Guardian News, September 19, 2012, accessed September 21, 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/19/georgia-prison-guards-torture-video.

CNN Wire Staff, "Purported prison abuse videos prompt outrage in Georgia," Cable News Network, September 20, 2012, accessed September 21, 2012, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/19/world/europe/georgia-prison-videos/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2.

Car smashes into an upstairs bedroom.

By: William Fox

A couple were asleep in their bedroom in Epsom, Surrey when they were rudely awoken early on Sunday morning. A Lexus took flight and crashed into the side of their house. “It sounded like a plane falling out of the sky.” a witness said. The driver and two passengers were taken to a hospital with minor injuries. A total of five cars, a house, a fence, and a post box were damaged in this early morning accident. It is believed the The Lexus came around a turn too fast and mounted a parked Audi before hitting the side of the house. A tremendous amount of damage was caused to the master bedroom of the house, luckily there was no injuries of the Occupants. The Lexus was said to have flown 25m (80ft) before it crashed into the house. Neighbors said “The family inside were so incredibly lucky to escape without a scratch”. Another said “It actually went into the couple’s bedroom and their two children were asleep next door.” Bridge Road is on a very tight junction, and it is assumed that the drive may have been speeding and took the corner to sharp. Looks like he wanted to see how the Mercedes bends
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/