Criminal launches appeal against suspended prison sentence for burglary

Full time criminal and benefits sponger, Adam Michaels has launched an appeal against his suspended prison sentence for burglary, in favour of a jail term instead.

The criminal, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, was given the suspended sentence last month after he was convicted of burglary at a house in Rickmansworth following a trial at Watford Crown Court.

Michaels had already admitted stealing petrol from a filling station in Elstree and a separate, less serious charge of stealing a ham and chicken sandwich from the same filling station, so he thought he would be going to prison, and as such, had packed a bag.

However, Michaels launched into a rage when he discovered he was getting a suspended prison sentence which included 200 hours of community service, as it meant he had wasted time packing the bag and now had to unpack it.

An official at Watford Crown Court confirmed Michaels' legal team has lodged an appeal against the sentence.

Michaels has a long criminal record for a wide range of offences across Hertfordshire and London including burglary, theft, assault, murder, dangerous driving, drugs offences, leaving the toilet seat up in a public W/C, taking more than ten items to the 'ten items or less' line at the Spar in Bushey, not colour-coordinating his clothes, not tipping the waiter enough at Nandos in Edgware, leaving the lights on after 11pm and walking in front of someone too slowly.

Passing sentence last month, Judge Richard Roberts said Michaels had caused his victim "severe psychological harm".

Michaels was given a 6 month prison sentence, suspended for 2 years, ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, pay £500 court costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

Outside Watford Crown Court, Michaels said: “A suspended prison sentence is simply unacceptable. I was fully expecting to be serving a stint at HMP The Mount, and I had already packed my bag ready for this, now I have to unpack. I will be appealing this sentence and demanding a prison sentence as soon as possible.”

Man accidentally puts the Recycle Bin in the Recycle Bin on Windows PC

A man appears to have deleted the Recycle Bin on his Windows 10 PC, by putting it into the Recycle Bin.

By accidentally deleting the recycle bin, average man Neil Smith, 26 from Brackley, Northamptonshire is now unable to delete any files from his computer.

Mr Smith wrote on a computer advice forum that he was now stuck after having accidentally put the Recycle Bin in the Recycle Bin on his computer. But far from advising him on how to fix it, most users informed him that he should go out and purchase a ton of USB memory sticks and external hard drives.

Usually, Windows software does not allow users to put the Recycle Bin inside the Recycle Bin, however it appears that a technical anomaly with Mr Smith's PC has allowed him to do just that, and seemingly left him unable to delete any files or folders.

Mr Smith told us: “To be honest, I'm not that good when it comes to computers. I just saw the Recycle Bin there and wondered if I could put it in the Recycle Bin, when I discovered that I could I was amazed, but that amazement soon turned to panic when I realised that I couldn't get it back as I had deleted it, and therefore was unable to delete anything else.”

Mr Smith confirmed to technical support that right clicking on a file and pressing delete did not work, as the delete button was grayed out.

“So now I have to go out and buy a hundred USB memory sticks and 20 external hard drives.” Mr Smith continued.

Most users agreed that it was unlikely that Mr Smith would be able to recover the recycle bin, and as a result his computer skills were almost certainly not going to get any better, either.

“I feel sorry to say that your recycle bin is now essentially, gone,” wrote a user called Sven.

A memorial service for Mr Smith's recycle bin is being held at St Peter's Church in Brackley which will be followed by a wake at the The Chequered Flag pub, just off Springfield Way. Mourners are requested to wear shirts featuring the recycle logo. A tombstone for the Recycle Bin will be erected at Brackley's Halse Road Cemetery.

French job seekers could have access to TF1 and M6 removed if they are not looking for work

The French labour minister has ordered a crackdown to root out those abusing unemployment benefits by having access to TF1 and M6 removed from their channel line up, after it emerged that hundreds of thousands of available jobs remain unfilled in France.

Amid stagnant economic growth and record unemployment, you would be forgiven for thinking paid work was in scarce supply in France.

However, according to the government there are some 350,000 jobs available, but which France's state employment agency Pôle Emploi is having a hard time filling.

As a result Labour Minister François Rebsamen has ordered the leadership of the Pôle Emploi to "reinforce checks" to make sure benefit recipients are in fact "looking for a job," and if it turns out they are not they will have their TV viewing access restricted he told i-Télé on Tuesday.

"It's not acceptable, in a struggling country that wants to recover, to have people not looking for work, where jobs are available," he said, adding he doesn't believe it applies to the majority of job seekers.

"I have plans to come down on benefit scroungers like a ton of bricks."

Under the new measures if someone who is receiving job seekers allowance and it is clear they are not doing enough, they will have their TNT or CanalSat set top box confiscated and replaced with a device to block out TF1 and M6 - obviously France's two most popular TV channels.

Their regular TNT or CanalSat box will be stored in a warehouse for up to 30 days, unless the person finds a job beforehand, whichever comes first.

"If people think they are going to sit around all day watching general entertainment on the taxpayer they can think again." he continued.

Rebsamen's statement caused outrage among human rights activists.

"The words of François Rebsamen are disgraceful and obscene... not to mention a complete breach of our human rights. This leftist government is carrying out rightist policies," French human rights activist, job seekers allowance recipient and a Calais resident who did not wish to be named told i-Télé. "If this happens to me I will be taking the Pôle Emploi to the human rights court in Strasbourg.

"I know it takes months to appeal by which time my access to TF1 and M6 would be returned but that will not be putting me off."

It's not the first time a labour minister has vowed to crackdown on phony job seekers, last year he indeed it has become a habit over recent years, as Europe 1 radio points out.

Earlier this year a new system was trialed in four regions around France, where special agents were employed to track down those who were cheating the system, and give them polite notices asking them to stop it.

It has not been confirmed whether there are plans to roll out the system across France.

Google to launch Street View in people's homes

Google Street View will begin launching its maps of private residences across the country, which allows internet users to take a virtual tour of anybody's house.

The ambitious privacy busting initiative is hoping to help burglars to plan their movements inside houses they intend to rob.

Employees from Google began invading homes in December 2015.

The route will follow the interiors of every house in the country, starting at the front garden and will include the living room, the kitchen as well as bedrooms, bathrooms, the loft and the back garden, if there is one.

Scotland Yard says it will help them to plan drug busts on a potential dealer's house.

"We hope that by bringing Street View into private homes, we will be able to see if the owners have any cannabis plants, and if they do, what strategy we can take to smash their front door and windows in whilst destroying other possessions in the home at the same time." a Scotland Yard spokesman was quoted as saying.

Charles and Beth Golfer, from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire were rudely awoken by several Google employees taking 360-degree images of their bedroom last month, however in a fit of irony, their clock radio had failed to go off at 7am, the time it is normally set for.

As a result, the Golfer's would have been late for work had it not been for the Google employees invading their home.

"We are of course, eternally grateful that the lovely employees from Google were there to wake us up after our alarm clock failed to go off, however we will still be suing them." said Mr Golfer.

A dreary Mr Golfer then yawned, glanced a dirty look towards a Google employee taking images and then told him "I'll see you in Strasbourg!" before heading to the bathroom for his morning shower, where another Google employee was taking images in there, at the same time.

However it won't be Google's only trip to Strasbourg as documents released on Wikileaks show they are intending to take legal action against full time hoarder Elliot Jackson of Northampton, as he obstructed Google's access to his property by not having enough room in his house for the 360-degree camera to swing fully inside his living room.

While images are still being taken in the 26 million homes across the UK, there is currently full coverage for houses in major conurbations in England including Greater London, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, West Yorkshire, Tyneside, Teesside and Brighton & Hove. Full UK coverage is expected by Autumn 2016.

Coming to your home soon!

Homeowners must provide pamphlets guiding potential burglars to high value items

In a major victory for a campaign run by The Sunday Telegraph, the Department for Justice will move to bring in a new law protecting criminals who break into people's houses.

Ahead of the new law being introduced in the House of Lords this week, Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary, declared today that the changes will give burglars the protection that they need - the confidence that the law will be on their side”.

He adds: “Now the deal will be this: if you are a homeowner you will be legally required to create a pamphlet directing any potential burglar to the whereabouts of your highest value items. This could include the location of your car keys or any expensive jewelry you might own.”

The move follows a string of high-profile cases in which burglars who broke into houses had difficulty finding anything of high value to steal.

In the most recent case, in September, full time burglar Russell Stapleton was burgling a house in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, when he was unable to find anything worth stealing and couldn't even figure out the combination for a safe in the spare bedroom. As a result financial experts have estimated that Mr Stapleton lost out on £500 he could have made that night.

This newspaper has campaigned under the slogan “The Right To Steal From Others" for greater legal protection for burglars. The campaign has won the support of many current and future criminals.

John Harrison, a Conservative MP, said: “This has been a very long time coming. At last burglars in my constituents will be properly protected.

“Burglars are hard working people just like you and me trying to make a living, by taking the property of other hard working people.”

Under the new law, homeowners will be forced to design a pamphlet or leaflet which will act as a guide for potential burglars advising on where all high value property is kept including location of car keys, the combination or code to any safe kept on the property, and also the alarm code if the house is equipped with one.

Furthermore, the document must also contain a full map of the house, colour coded with "areas of interest" for burglars. Pamphlets should be located next to all entry and exit points of the house including front and back door and all windows. If a homeowner catches a burglar in their house, then they must legally offer them a cup of coffee or tea and biscuits and co-operate with them to make their job easier.

Homeowners could be jailed for up to six months for failing to co-operate with burglars.

Man moans on Twitter about trying to write shopping list while shooting takes place outside

32 year old Simon Smith of Moss Side, Manchester has moaned about trying to write his shopping list as gang members shoot each other directly outside his house.

Average resident Mr Smith took to Twitter to 'tell off' local gang members Kid Lowride, of the Gooch Gang in Moss Side and Grandaddy Ice of the Pepperhill Mob as they shot at each other with handguns outside his house and asking them to "keep it down" as he "worked" in his kitchen trying to figure out how many packets of PG Tips tea bags he needed.

Mr Lowride and Mr Ice, both former HMP Forest Bank residents were reportedly arguing about drug turf in the Moss Side area and decided to settle the argument by means of a duel, otherwise known as pistols at dawn.

It is not known which side won the battle.

In his tweet Mr Smith wrote: "Trying to write my shopping list, despite noisy mob fighting outside my house. Keep it down please @GoochGang."

But the tongue-in-cheek tweet was - rather inevitably - met with a total lack of sympathy on social media.

One tweeter responded saying it's his own fault for living in the area and that he should have foreseen, or at least considered the possibility that this would happen while he was writing his shopping list, before he decided to live there.

Mr Smith will be carrying out his shopping trip next week on Monday, March 21st at an undisclosed Greater Manchester branch of Tesco.

We attempted to contact Mr Smith but he could not be reached for comment. It has been reported from an insider that Mr Smith has added noise-cancelling earphones and body armour to his shopping list as a result of the loud noise.

Dramatic dashcam footage shows police chasing thief through town streets at up to 70mph as the suspect throws packets of crisps and tic tacs out of the window

• Shahzad Hirani was spotted stealing from a Spar convenience store
• When he was flashed to pull over he raced off, jumping multiple red lights 
• He threw packets of KP and Seabrooks Ready Salted crisps as well as tic tacs, soft mints and chewing gum out of the window
• Hirani has now been fined £5.85 and jailed for two minutes and eight seconds

Dramatic video footage of a traffic officer following a thief in a high speed chase as he desperately tried to evade capture has been released.

Shahzad Hirani hurled stolen packets of crisps, tic tacs, soft mints and chewing gum out out of the window as he led police on a six-minute pursuit through the streets of Bolton at speeds of up to 70mph.

During the chase, Hirani sped through six red traffic lights, three red and amber traffic lights, two amber traffic lights and one malfunctioning red, amber and green traffic light. He also drove on the wrong side of the road, narrowly missing oncoming traffic as he tried to escape.

Hirani was jailed at Bolton Crown Court in Greater Manchester for a total of two minutes and eight seconds and ordered to pay back £5.85 through the Proceeds of Crime Act. He has also been banned from driving for two weeks.

Speaking afterwards, Sergeant Christopher Kitson - a member of GMP's Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit - said he spotted Hirani behind the wheel of a silver 55-reg Vauxhall Vectra at 10.10pm on September 14 last year.

The officer heard over his radio that a suspect matching his description had been stealing from the 24 hour Spar convenience store on Deane Road.

Sgt Kitson tried to pull Hirani over using his blue lights but he sped off and took the bend along a shopping street in the middle of the road at speeds of up to 65mph.

He jumped a red light before and continuing to drive erratically as he tried to lose Sgt Kitchen.

Speeding at 70mph, Hirani drove through more red lights, red and amber lights and one traffic light that was malfunctioning and showing all three colours. At the same time Hirani was weaving in and out of traffic.

Sgt Kitson said: 'As he was in Stanley Street South, he threw a bag from the driver's side window and it landed in the middle of the road, this turned out to contain packets of KP crisps. More discarded bags were found along Derby Street, which contained Ferrero tic tacs, Trebor soft mints and Wrigley's chewing gum.'

'We then found out that the carrier bags themselves were also stolen, as Hirani had not paid the 5p carrier bag charge.'

Hirani then cut across a mini roundabout on the wrong side almost smashing into a people carrier taxi.

He drove on the wrong side of the road and ignored a No Entry sign before being cornered by officers who had been called to assist.

Sgt Kitson said: 'A marked dog unit boxed him in then and he surrendered. He put his hands out of the car window and dropped the keys. When he got out a more stolen packets of crisps, some of which had already been eaten, fell onto the road.'

Officers recovered several discarded carrier bags thrown from the window and discovered 13 packets of KP crisps and 12 packets of Seabrooks crisps with an estimated street value £2.50. The chewing gum, soft mints and tic tacs had a street value of 50p each.

Hirani, local to the area, admitted dangerous driving, theft and possession of crisps with intent to supply, possession of chewing gum with intent to supply, supply of food without a licence and eating crisps after 10pm at Bolton Magistrates' Court on January 5.

Sgt Kitson said: 'The ANPR Interceptors are committed to taking Bolton criminals off the road.

'Thieves and those who attempt to evade justice by driving dangerously will be pursued and captured.

'The lengthy prison sentence handed down to Hirani demonstrates that the courts take a dim view of villains who selfishly disregard the lives of others for their own ends.'

'Hopefully Hirani will spend his lengthy two minute prison sentence thinking about what he did.'