Vikram Dodd

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Vikram Dodd

A scheme aiming to turn children arrested for violence away from crime has claimed staggering success, with up to nine out of 10 diverted from further offending, a new report says. Under the scheme, which is funded by London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), special youth workers are placed in police custody centres across the capital. The VRU claims the overwhelming majority of 10- to 17-year-olds do not reoffend within 12 months of release from custody.

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Vikram Dodd

A man armed with a large sword murdered a boy who was on his way to school and attempted to kill four others in a “brutal” early morning series of attacks, a jury has heard. Marcus Monzo, 37, denies all charges including the murder of Daniel Anjorin, 14, in Hainault, east London, in April 2024. The Old Bailey was told that at the time of the 20-minute rampage, Monzo had a psychotic disorder triggered by cannabis use.

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Vikram Dodd

A leading academic of English literature has criticised prosecutors for dropping an assault charge against a police officer who allegedly gave him forceful chest compressions meant for a heart attack victim while he was awake. John Sutherland, 86, emeritus Lord Northcliffe professor of modern English literature at University College London, fell ill on a London underground train in May 2023.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Vikram Dodd

Police hunting for people who use small amounts of cannabis is a waste of scarce resources, and diverts officers from tackling much more serious criminals, a former police chief has said. Brian Paddick was a senior Metropolitan police officer who in 2001 pioneered the limited decriminalisation of cannabis in a pilot scheme in Lambeth, south London. His comments come after the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, backed calls for the partial decriminalisation of cannabis possession.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Aamna Mohdin |Vikram Dodd |Rajeev Syal

Merseyside police’s decision to release details of the ethnicity of the suspect in the Liverpool parade collision could raise “difficulties and challenges” for forces in the future, a former superintendent has said. Merseyside police said they arrested a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area about two hours after the incident that left dozens of people, including four children, injured.