Alleged hitman not guilty but woman gets 12 years in prison for ordering her husband's death

<p> </p><p>Charles Michael G.C. has served three years in prison on remand and has now been found not guiltyThe accused in court - EFE A 22 year old woman has been given a 12 year prison sentence for ordering the death of her husband with a hitman. María Dolores M., a lawyer from Ciempozuelos, Madrid, contracted Eloy S. to act as a mediator with the hitman. Eloy S. the owner of a private security company, has been given a 12 year six month sentence for his role, and has been found guilty of murder. However the man originally accused of being the hitman, Charles Michael G.C., and who would have carried out the killing of Miguel Ángel S.P., was found not guilty. He was released on December 12 after being held on remand in the Alcalá Meco prison since May 2008, accused of being the material author of the three shots which did away with the ex husband of the lawyer at garage of their home in Ciempozuelos in May 2007. The prosecutor had called for a 45 year sentence for the alleged shooter.</p>

Alleged hitman not guilty but woman gets 12 years in prison for ordering her husband's death

  Charles Michael G.C. has served three years in prison on remand and has now been found not guiltyThe accused in court - EFE A 22 year o...

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British drug smuggler pardoned from life sentence in Philippines after 20 years in jail

<p> </p><p>A BRITISH thalidomide victim jailed for drug ­smuggling 20 years ago has been pardoned by the president of the ­Philippines. Billy Burton, born with shortened arms and twisted hands, got a life sentence after trying to take 12lb of cannabis out of the country. Benigno Aquino III’s decision came after a campaign for release on the grounds of Mr Burton’s poor health. Advertisement >> The 48-year-old, of Rufforth, North Yorks, will now return home and pay a £294 fine. He will never be allowed to return to the Philippines. Campaign leader Guy Tweedy said: "I've been campaigning for 20-odd months now. While we don't condone what he did, he's deteriorated as a Thalidomider and we had to get him out." Freddie Astbury, the president of Thalidomide UK, also welcomed the news. He said: "We were very concerned about his health because his health had deteriorated rapidly since being in prison. "Obviously, nobody supports why he was there but, at the end of the day, his health's deteriorated and he needs to be in a safe environment now and get all the help that he needs." Mr Astbury added: "The main thing is, get him back, get him treated and get him the health he deserves and as quickly as possible." Jago Russell, chief executive of Fair Trials International, said: "Thousands of people have spent this Christmas in jails all over the world, far from home. We are delighted that the Philippine government has shown compassion for Billy and that, for him, this ordeal is finally over." Mr Burton’s cousin, Angela Morris, said it was “the best present you could ask for”</p>

British drug smuggler pardoned from life sentence in Philippines after 20 years in jail

  A BRITISH thalidomide victim jailed for drug ­smuggling 20 years ago has been pardoned by the president of the ­Philippines. Billy Burton...

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Man arrested in Spain over Madonna song leak

<p> </p><p>Spanish police have arrested and charged a man with illegally leaking an early version of a new Madonna song. The 31-year-old is alleged to have put a demo of Gimme All Your Luvin on the internet in November. The investigation began after lawyers traced the recording to Spain. The man, described by police as a big fan of the singer, was arrested in Zaragoza. Madonna's first studio album in five years is due for release in late March, with the first single out next month. Police have not named the man arrested, but confirmed his initials as J.M.R. Officers in the northern Spanish city said they found recordings of the song in a search of the suspect's belongings. Madonna, 53, was said to have been "very upset" when the song first leaked last month. Her manager, Guy Oseary, tweeted about the incident and asked fans to help police any further leaks. The singer's upcoming album, her first since 2008's Hard Candy, has already been completed and will be released as part of a new three album deal with Interscope Records. It was also recently announced that the star will perform during the high profile Superbowl half-time show on 5 February.</p>

Man arrested in Spain over Madonna song leak

  Spanish police have arrested and charged a man with illegally leaking an early version of a new Madonna song. The 31-year-old is alleged ...

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Ryanair has cuts its Alicante services by 50% for next year

<p> </p><p>Ryanair has cuts its Alicante services by 50% for next year blaming the airport for forcing it to use ‘unnecessary’ airbridges. The airline, which claims the airbridges cost it 2million euros a year in fees, has appealed to the Spanish Commercial courts over the charges which is due to be heard in early February. Ryanair refutes claims from the airport that the airbridges are a safety issue and that Ryanair’s cutbacks were already planned. It added that if the compulsory airbridge use is withdrawn or if they win the appeal, the Alicante flights, traffic and job cuts will be reversed for summer 2012. Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said: “ AENA Alicante are now proving that inefficient airbridges and higher fees will result in the airport suffering route, traffic and job cuts. “We call again on AENA to reverse this abusive decision to force Ryanair and other airlines to use and pay for unnecessary airbridges at Alicante.” Ryanair had already cut its winter 2011/12 services at Alicante by 50%. A new base is being opened in Palma by Ryanair serving  17 new routes and sustaining up to 2,800 Balearic jobs. The new routes are Palma to Aarhus, Cork, Gothenburg, Haugesund, Kaunas, Krakow, Maastricht, Malaga, Magdeburg, Marseille, Oslo, Paris Beauvais, Poznan, Santander,Santiago, Stockholm, and Tampere. To launch the new flights, which go on sale tomorrow, Ryanair is having a seat sale from 9.99 euros for travel across European routes in late January and early February 2012.   This ends midnight on December 15th</p>

Ryanair has cuts its Alicante services by 50% for next year

  Ryanair has cuts its Alicante services by 50% for next year blaming the airport for forcing it to use ‘unnecessary’ airbridges. The airli...

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The methane time bomb - Climate Change

<p> </p><blockquote>The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmosphere from beneath the Arctic seabed has been discovered by scientists. The Independent has been passed details of preliminary findings suggesting that massive deposits of sub-sea methane are bubbling to the surface as the Arctic region becomes warmer and its ice retreats. Underground stores of methane are important because scientists believe their sudden release has in the past been responsible for rapid increases in global temperatures, dramatic changes to the climate, and even the mass extinction of species. Scientists aboard a research ship that has sailed the entire length of Russia's northern coast have discovered intense concentrations of methane – sometimes at up to 100 times background levels – over several areas covering thousands of square miles of the Siberian continental shelf. In the past few days, the researchers have seen areas of sea foaming with gas bubbling up through "methane chimneys" rising from the sea floor. They believe that the sub-sea layer of permafrost, which has acted like a "lid" to prevent the gas from escaping, has melted away to allow methane to rise from underground deposits formed before the last ice age. They have warned that this is likely to be linked with the rapid warming that the region has experienced in recent years. Methane is about 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and many scientists fear that its release could accelerate global warming in a giant positive feedback where more atmospheric methane causes higher temperatures, leading to further permafrost melting and the release of yet more methane. The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is calculated to be greater than the total amount of carbon locked up in global coal reserves so there is intense interest in the stability of these deposits as the region warms at a faster rate than other places on earth. Orjan Gustafsson of Stockholm University in Sweden, one of the leaders of the expedition, described the scale of the methane emissions in an email exchange sent from the Russian research ship Jacob Smirnitskyi. "We had a hectic finishing of the sampling programme yesterday and this past night," said Dr Gustafsson. "An extensive area of intense methane release was found. At earlier sites we had found elevated levels of dissolved methane. Yesterday, for the first time, we documented a field where the release was so intense that the methane did not have time to dissolve into the seawater but was rising as methane bubbles to the sea surface. These 'methane chimneys' were documented on echo sounder and with seismic [instruments]." At some locations, methane concentrations reached 100 times background levels. These anomalies have been seen in the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea, covering several tens of thousands of square kilometres, amounting to millions of tons of methane, said Dr Gustafsson. "This may be of the same magnitude as presently estimated from the global ocean," he said. "Nobody knows how many more such areas exist on the extensive East Siberian continental shelves. "The conventional thought has been that the permafrost 'lid' on the sub-sea sediments on the Siberian shelf should cap and hold the massive reservoirs of shallow methane deposits in place. The growing evidence for release of methane in this inaccessible region may suggest that the permafrost lid is starting to get perforated and thus leak methane... The permafrost now has small holes. We have found elevated levels of methane above the water surface and even more in the water just below. It is obvious that the source is the seabed." The preliminary findings of the International Siberian Shelf Study 2008, being prepared for publication by the American Geophysical Union, are being overseen by Igor Semiletov of the Far-Eastern branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since 1994, he has led about 10 expeditions in the Laptev Sea but during the 1990s he did not detect any elevated levels of methane. However, since 2003 he reported a rising number of methane "hotspots", which have now been confirmed using more sensitive instruments on board the Jacob Smirnitskyi. Dr Semiletov has suggested several possible reasons why methane is now being released from the Arctic, including the rising volume of relatively warmer water being discharged from Siberia's rivers due to the melting of the permafrost on the land. The Arctic region as a whole has seen a 4C rise in average temperatures over recent decades and a dramatic decline in the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by summer sea ice. Many scientists fear that the loss of sea ice could accelerate the warming trend because open ocean soaks up more heat from the sun than the reflective surface of an ice-covered sea.</blockquote>

The methane time bomb - Climate Change

  The first evidence that millions of tons of a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is being released into the atmospher...

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Britain was now “outside the economic policies of the EU.”

<p> </p><blockquote><br /></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote>It might even have been the day that the EU, as we have known it, ceased to exist. But for Europe’s leaders yesterday, all these unfortunate truths were at least partly concealed by making it the day for blaming Britain. “We have a very good result,” said the president of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek. “Twenty-six versus one.” An agreement of all 27 EU members, said France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, was impossible “thanks to our British friends.” Maybe he was just tired – it was 5am – but as he ground out the words, the French president’s lip seemed to curl. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, told reporters: “I really don’t believe David Cameron was ever with us at the table.” In what seemed, at times, like the anti-British summit, lower-ranking figures circulated through the halls, turning up the rhetoric in the search for a scapegoat. Cameron had been “clumsy in his manoeuvring,” said one senior EU diplomat. Guy Verhofstadt, the former prime minister of Belgium, was on hand to tell us that Britain was now “outside the economic policies of the EU.” None of this is necessarily wrong. In the early hours of yesterday, by saying that he would not agree a treaty for closer eurozone “fiscal union” without safeguards for the City, Mr Cameron may indeed have brought Britain to a 50-year crossroads. But it is substantially beside the point.</blockquote>

Britain was now “outside the economic policies of the EU.”

    It might even have been the day that the EU, as we have known it, ceased to exist. But for Europe’s leaders yesterday, all these unfortu...

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Snowshoeing in Spain’s Sierra Nevada Mountains

<p><h1 class="entry-title" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 36px; font-style: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; color: #000000; line-height: 42px; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"></h1><div class="entry-meta" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: #555555; clear: both; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; width: 70px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><span style="color: #373737; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"></span></div></div></div></p><div class="entry-content" style="font-family: 'PT Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; padding-top: 1.625em; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; color: #373737; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.976563); margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Do you have a map? Yes.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Do you have a compass? Yes.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Do you have a GPS? Yes.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Do you have an ice axe? No we are staying in the forest.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Do you have crampons? No, we have snowshoes!</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Paco was clearly going through a list drawn-up by someone else but found our reasoning acceptable and let us pass.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Although Spain’s Sierra Nevada contains the highest mountain in mainland Spain (Mulhacen 3472m), there is only one downhill ski resort in the range. Essentially, this is an undeveloped wilderness in winter where you can get away from it all and experience some genuine backcountry snowshoeing. Each day you can access a different part of the range from the relatively warm southern side with its pretty villages built hundreds of years ago when the Arabs ruled Spain. Dirt track roads lead to high starting points. It’s also possible to stay high in relative comfort at the Poqueira Mountain Refuge at 2500m or fend for yourself at one of a number of unmanned bivouac refuges to make a multi day trip.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The appeal for us running snowshoeing holidays there is the undeveloped nature unlike so many European alpine resorts whose association with skiing, après-ski, and chairlifts spoil the wilderness experience.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: #1982d1; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" rel="attachment wp-att-61510" href="http://www.snowshoemag.com/2011/12/05/snowshoeing-in-spain%e2%80%99s-sierra-nevada-mountains/caballo/"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-large wp-image-61510" height="450" src="http://www.snowshoemag.com/wp-content/uploads/Caballo-600x450.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 15px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 1px 2px 4px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 6px; border: 1px solid #dddddd;" title="Caballo" width="600" /></a><strong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Above Capileira</strong></p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Leaving Paco to continue his questioning, we set off into the trees. The forest above Capileira is our favourite starting point when introducing people to snowshoeing or to this area. Capileira at 1300m is usually just below the snowline and breakfast of coffee and “tostada con tomato” can be had in one of a number of bars before heading up into the snow.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The usual summer road head of Hoya del Portillo is unobtainable, but it provides a good highpoint for a first day out on snowshoes. Up through forested valleys we tramped, passing numerous rocky outcrops, which gave us views of the valley below. The route that day would take us to the summer road head, which in winter was blocked by many feet of snow. We return partly through forest clearings and recently thinned trees, which offer ideal snowshoe terrain. One of the highlights in spring as the water starts to flow again is crossing an “acequia” one of the many water channels built by the Arabs who settled here in medieval times. Although, the Arabs are long gone, their legacy in these water channels and village architecture still remains. The style of building in the high mountain villages here are similar in style to the Berber villages of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">A Trip to the Poqueira Refuge</strong></p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">An alternative is to continue above Hoya del Portillo, which offers a good circuit up to the Poqueira Refuge at 2500m. Not easily possible as a day trip, the refuge does provide a “hotel” service 365 days a year. This modern refuge sleeps up to 84 and can be busy at weekends. Booking is advisable though at anytime of the year.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">From Hoya del Portillo it’s possible either to ascend through the stunted pines or easier up the fire break with its stunning views above the Poqueira gorge up to Valetta the second highest mountain in the range. Forty minutes above Hoya we come to the viewpoint of Puerto Molino. It’s from here that we get our first decent views of Mulhacen, mainland Spain’s highest mountain. An undulating ridge leads from here to Mirador Trevelez 2700m where we begin our descent down towards the hut. We skirt the hill of Alto del Chorrillo where we can see a huge cairn about 1km in the distance. This marks the way to the Refuge, which can be seen from the cairn.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">A night in the Poqueira Refuge is a great experience. Although the food is basic mountain fare, there are usually four courses and plenty of it. The log burner in the dining room provides plenty of warmth though a down jacket and sleeping bag are useful for upstairs.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">By spending two nights at the Poqueira refuge it’s possible to ascend Mulhacen. This is a more challenging proposition, and really only the South Ridge from Alto del Chorrillo is suitable for snowshoes – the West Ridge being steeper and requires ice axe and crampons.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">If choosing the West Ridge route, the ascent from the refuge to the Caldera bivouac refuge is up through the valley of the Rio Mulhacen. There is some avalanche risk here and starting early is a must as is having avalanche transceivers, shovels and knowing how to use them. Despite the difficulties, the summit on a clear sunny day offers some great views, of the entire range, and well beyond.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Returning to the valley from the Poqueira Refuge can itself be interesting. It’s possible to complete a circuit by either returning along the path running under the west side of the ridge we ascended back to near Puerto Molino or by descending down to Cortio los Thomas and by following the acequia, which brings us out onto a trail (driveable in summer) beneath Hoya.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: #1982d1; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" rel="attachment wp-att-61511" href="http://www.snowshoemag.com/2011/12/05/snowshoeing-in-spain%e2%80%99s-sierra-nevada-mountains/march-sun/"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-large wp-image-61511" height="400" src="http://www.snowshoemag.com/wp-content/uploads/March-Sun-600x400.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 15px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 1px 2px 4px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 6px; border: 1px solid #dddddd;" title="March Sun" width="600" /></a>Caballo, Europe’s Most Westerly 3000m Peak</strong></p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Caballo is our favourite mountain and has been the source of many adventures. It’s a nice – though hard day – out from Lanjaron. Driveable dirt tracks take us up to near the road head at 2100m just short of the old ruined Ventura Refuge. Where the snowline starts varies, but it’s usually possible to reach the road head and have snowshoes on within 20 minutes of starting the ascent.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">It usually takes around four hours to reach the summit this way. Last march we were able to drive most of the way in a friend’s four-wheel drive and a group of us, including six-month old in a backpack, enjoyed a day of warm sunshine exploring the southern flanks of the mountain. From the old refuge we headed northwards ascending gradually until we hit a forest of stunted pines. An ascent to the top of the forest before leads to a diagonal traverse up to the ridge, which is then followed to the summit. The safest way back avoiding the avalanche risk of the Rio Lanjaron is to retrace your steps, which on a clear day gives views across to the mountains in North Africa some 150Km away. Allow three hours for the descent.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">If the snow conditions allow access to it’s possible to drive high, onto the West Ridge of Caballo, which provides the easiest and safest ascent. We’ve found it to be a nice route in April and early May – a four- or five-hour round trip.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Puerto De La Ragua</strong></p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">This is a cross country ski “resort” situated at 2000m. The road to this point is usually kept clear and it provides a good starting point for both easy snowshoe itineraries and for some more serious mountain itineraries. Parking with a café bar, restaurant makes this more of a traditional style alpine resort and good base for circular routes.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Following on from our Poqueira trip, we decided to head off to Ragua. We resisted the temptation to have a coffee, as the forecast for the afternoon was not so good. Instead we skirted the prepared cross country ski tracks and took a big loop to scale the easy rounded summits of Morron de la Cabanuela 2223m and Morron del Hornillo 2375m. From here we dropped down through the trees to follow the track for a short way back to base.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Care should be taken when returning through the forest, especially near the Baranco del Hornillo as there is some avalanche risk here. The more adventurous may wish to extend this itinerary to include the Morron del Mediodia 2753m though a cautious eye should be kept on the weather and time. On this occasion we just managed to enjoy the open tops before the wind got up by which time the café beckoned and we returned to the warmth.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><a style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; color: #1982d1; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" rel="attachment wp-att-61512" href="http://www.snowshoemag.com/2011/12/05/snowshoeing-in-spain%e2%80%99s-sierra-nevada-mountains/mulhacen/"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-large wp-image-61512" height="450" src="http://www.snowshoemag.com/wp-content/uploads/Mulhacen-600x450.jpg" style="display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 15px; height: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.199219) 1px 2px 4px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; padding: 6px; border: 1px solid #dddddd;" title="Mulhacen" width="600" /></a>Conditions and Technical</strong></p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Spain’s Sierra Nevada lies a long way south relatively close to North Africa. Its height attracts the snow and there is usually reliable snow cover most years from 1900m in January, February and March. That said, we have found acceptable snow well into May, and the ski resort has remained open into May for the past three years.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The area can attract very high winds and because of the high altitude the climatic conditions can be very adverse. If contemplating the higher routes you will need experience in survival situations and be able to navigate well in snow. There are plenty of lower more sheltered routes in the forests for those windy days. The Guardian and staff at the Poqueira refuge are always happy to advise on conditions in the higher mountains.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The maps are for the most part accurate in what they show. If it’s on the map it’s usually there on the ground. However, none of the maps show craggy features; so much caution needs to be exercised if following a compass or GPS device in poor visibility as you may be walking off a cliff.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">To make the most of a trip to this region you should consider hiring a car. We hire small vans for the extra ground clearance negotiating the dirt track roads. Hiring four-wheel drive vehicles is better though expensive. Capileira is the best base if you do not have a car though you will have to walk an hour to the snowline. The Spa town of Lanjaron is a good base for access to a variety of routes, but you will need your own transport.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Mountain House Holidays will be running seven-day snowshoeing holidays based from the spa town of Lanjaron in February and March 2012, though we also take clients for daily-guided trips at other times.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">There is some information on our website for those wanting to plan their own trip, but we are always happy to share our experience with anyone who gets in touch.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">There are other guides available locally, but please be aware that only acceptable qualifications for snowshoe guides in Spain (and most of Europe) are International Mountain Leaders or IFMGA Guides.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><strong style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Summary</strong></p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">There are few places left in Europe’s mountains that are undeveloped for skiing and winter sports. Spain’s Sierra Nevada remains one of these giving a truly wild backcountry feel. A higher level of commitment is needed though because of this lack of development. Rescue can be problematic with no dedicated rescue service; maps not including obvious features such as cliffs; and the combining of altitude and possible high winds giving sometimes arctic conditions. We have got to know the area over many years, sometimes turning back when conditions have dictated it. We expect to spend many more years further exploring the range.</p><p style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 0px; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">These days Mountain House guides are well known and Paco doesn’t bother going through his checklist with us, rather we engage in pleasant conversation about the mountains, weather and environment. As he says, “you know it all.”</p></div>

Snowshoeing in Spain’s Sierra Nevada Mountains

Do you have a map? Yes. Do you have a compass? Yes. Do you have a GPS? Yes. Do you have an ice axe? No we are staying in the forest. Do you ...

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Spanish suburbs transformed into land of shattered dreams

<p> </p><p>When Magali Quezada began working at a remittance office in suburban Madrid four years ago there were long lines of customers -- now she waits patiently for someone to walk in. "It used to be swarming with people, there were long lines of people who wanted to send money back home," the 34-year-old Peruvian said as she looked around the empty office at Torrejon de Ardoz. Like other Spanish suburbs, Torrejon saw a huge influx of immigrants during the years of a profitable real estate boom as millions of foreigners arrived seeking jobs in construction and the service sector. Immigrants account for about one-fourth of Torrejon's population. They come mainly from Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe and have helped keep the town's bars, cafes and beauty salons busy during the good times. But with immigrants especially hard-hit by the collapse of Spain's real estate bubble in 2008, stores are now deserted. "For sale" signs dot the windows of flats, and the suburb is plagued by unemployment and shattered dreams. "We got used to the good life, we had leisure time, we could buy a plot of land in our countries, we brought over our families. Now all of that is over," said Quezada who arrived in Torrejon a decade ago. Spain's unemployment rate soared to a 15-year high of 21.52 percent in the third quarter, the highest among major industrialised nations. But among immigrants the joblessness is even higher, standing at 32.7 percent. Many now struggle to meet repayments on car and and home loans given out with ease by banks when times were better. When Luis Mendes arrived in Spain in 1997 from Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony on the West African coast that is one of the world's poorest nations, he thought he found his land of opportunity. The 40-year-old worked long hours on a farm and then as a construction worker and got a bank loan for 100,000 euros to buy a 70-square-metre flat in Torrejon. "I earned a good living, I earned 1,800 euros a month because I would often worked overtime. It was enough to help my family who stayed behind," he said. "Today I don't work anymore. I received jobless benefits during a year but now I am not entitled to them anymore," said Mendes, who shares his apartment with his two brothers who are also out of work. He is facing eviction from his flat because he has not been keeping up with his mortgage payments. The street where Mendes lives has been nicknamed "eviction street" because several other people risk losing their homes over missing mortgage payments. Last month a group of about 60 activists who fight against home foreclosures tried in vain to prevent two bailiffs from evicting Consuelo Lozano from her first-floor flat in Torrejon. The 40-year-old unemployed cleaning lady had already sent her two sons and daughter back to her native Ecuador with her husband but she cannot walk away from her 200,000-euro mountain of debt. "It is a fight against giants and I am nothing beside them," she said, her eyes welling with tears, after she turned over her keys to the bailiffs. Lozano would like to go back to Ecuador but if she leaves Spain the debt on her flat would pass on to her sister, who is a guarantor of the bank loan. "I could go back to Ecuador but where would I leave my conscience which torments me?," she asked. Other immigrants, like Mendes, have no desire to return to their homeland. "It is very hard, I live very badly now. But it is even worse in my country," he said.</p>

Spanish suburbs transformed into land of shattered dreams

  When Magali Quezada began working at a remittance office in suburban Madrid four years ago there were long lines of customers -- now she w...

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Yard detectives investigating Maddie disappearance travel to Spain and Portugal

<p> </p><p>SCOTLAND Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have flown to Spain and Portugal, it emerged yesterday. Three officers met colleagues in Barcelona last month. It is believed the visit was linked to reports Maddie may have been smuggled into the country after being snatched just before her fourth birthday on a holiday in Portugal in 2007. Advertisement >> Investigators hired by parents Gerry and Kate earlier uncovered a child porn ring in the city. A Met Police spokesman said there had been “good co-operation” between the forces. Scotland Yard was called in to review the case earlier this year following a request by PM David Cameron. The McCanns praised cops and added in a statement: “We are pleased that the review is making progress.”</p>

Yard detectives investigating Maddie disappearance travel to Spain and Portugal

  SCOTLAND Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have flown to Spain and Portugal, it emerged yesterday. Thre...

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Speeding was identified as a possible cause of what is believed to be one of the world's most expensive ever road accidents

<p><div class="oneHalf gutter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; float: left; width: 460px; color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="story" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-bottom-style: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; border-top-width: 2px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: #666666; padding-top: 3px;"><div id="mainBodyArea"><div class="firstPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Ferraris and a Lamborghini – plus a Toyota Prius – were among the vehicles involved in the crash, which witnesses said happened when a speeding car slid across a wet road surface.</p></div><div class="secondPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Television footage showed mangled Ferraris – many of them racing red – and debris spread over some 400 metres of the eastbound side of the Chugoku Expressway, the main trunk road in southern Honshu.</p></div><div class="thirdPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;"><img alt="" height="287" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02074/ferrari-2_2074940c.jpg" style="display: inline; border: 0px initial initial;" width="460" /></p></div><div class="fourthPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">A pack of about 20 supercars was<strong> <a style="color: #234b7b; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8934718/Astonishing-accident-involving-eight-Ferraris-worlds-most-expensive-car-crash.html">travelling in convoy on Sunday morning on a stretch of wet highway</a></strong> when the leading Ferrari slid into a guardrail, police said.</p></div><div class="fifthPar"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Those behind slammed on their brakes, but for many of them it was apparently too late.</p></div><div id="tmg-related-links" class="related_links_inline" style="background-color: #f4f4f0; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: #e5e5e5; margin-bottom: 8px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 460px;"><div class="headerOne styleNine" style="background-image: url(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/grey_dots.gif); background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; border-top-width: 2px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: #d42f00; color: #262626; margin-bottom: 6px; padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat;"><h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.1em; text-transform: uppercase; display: inline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1em; border-top-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-color: initial; color: #333333;"><span style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">RELATED ARTICLES</span></h2></div><ul style="list-style-image: url(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/articleBullet.gif); 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line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">"I've never seen such a thing," highway patrol lieutenant Eiichiro Kamitani told AFP by telephone. "Ferraris rarely travel in such large numbers."</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Kamitani said 10 people – five men and five women – sustained slight injuries, in the accident. "It is highly possible that they were driving in couples."</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">"Many of them were probably on their way to Hiroshima," some 130 kilometres (80 miles) to the east, for a gathering of supercars there, said Kamitani.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">"Speeding was possible but we have yet to determine the exact cause," he added.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;"><img alt="" height="287" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02074/ferrari-3_2074941c.jpg" style="display: inline; border: 0px initial initial;" width="460" /></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">The Prius and a second Toyota also caught up in the 14-car smash were not thought to be part of the supercar pack. The three other vehicles involved in the accident were all Mercedes-Benz.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">An unidentified male eyewitness told the TBS network: "A group of cars was doing 140-160 kilometres (85-100 miles) per hour. One of them spun and they all ended up in this great mess."</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">The speed limit on that section of the highway was 80 kilometres per hour (50mph).</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;"><img alt="" height="287" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02074/ferrari-1_2074943c.jpg" style="display: inline; border: 0px initial initial;" width="460" /></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">"The front car crashed into the left embankment and bounced off toward me," another man told public broadcaster NHK.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">The highway was closed for more than six hours while authorities removed the wrecked cars.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">A 36-year-old self-employed man, who did not want to be named, described a scene of chaos as he was driving in the opposite lane at the time of the accident.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">"Cars were making a tremendous noise," the man, from Kanzaki, Saga Prefecture,<a style="color: #234b7b; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111204004152.htm" target="_blank"> <strong>told Japanese media</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">One of the Ferraris was reported to be a F430 Scuderia, a model with a top speed of 320 kilometres per hour.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;"><img alt="" height="287" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02074/Expensive-Crash_2074844c.jpg" style="display: inline; border: 0px initial initial;" width="460" /></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Kamitani said the lead Ferrari was being driven by a 60-year-old self-employed man from Chikushino, near Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;"><strong><a style="color: #234b7b; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/">Japanese</a></strong> media said the total cost of the pile-up could run to 300 million yen ($3.8 million), with new Ferraris retailing at more than 20 million yen each and Lamborghinis costing anything up to 30 million yen.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">Supercars are not necessarily owned by the super-rich in Japan. Many owners are young people who save up their earnings to satisfy their dream, according to media.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;"><img alt="" height="287" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02074/Expensive-Crash-SU_2074846c.jpg" style="display: inline; border: 0px initial initial;" width="460" /></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.7em; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 1.48em; margin: 0px;">No one has been yet been charged over the accident.</p></div></div></div></div><div class="oneSixth" style="float: left; width: 140px; color: #282828; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div id="shareSide" class="shareFunctions" style="border-top-width: 2px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: #666666; height: 162px; padding-top: 5px;"><div class="storyFunc addThisStoryFunc" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; font-size: 1.2em; padding: 0px;"><ul class="shareThis" style="list-style-type: none; overflow-x: auto; overflow-y: auto; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><li class="shareThisShare" style="float: left; height: 24px; width: 140px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding: 0px;"><span class="shareLabel" style="color: #343434; float: left; font-weight: bold; padding-right: 10px;"><br /></span></li></ul></div></div></div></p>

Speeding was identified as a possible cause of what is believed to be one of the world's most expensive ever road accidents

Ferraris and a Lamborghini – plus a Toyota Prius – were among the vehicles involved in the crash, which witnesses said happened when a speed...

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Rich Egyptians weigh emigration as Islamists surge

<p> </p><p>For decades, Egypt's Westernised elite kept the country's growing religosity at arm's length, but a projected Islamist surge in the first post-revolution polls has driven many to think of moving abroad. Sporting the latest fashions and mingling in upmarket country clubs, Egypt's rich fear a victory for the Muslim Brotherhood and hardline Salafis in the first phase of parliamentary elections presages change ahead. "I hope they don't impose the veil and ban women from driving like in Saudi Arabia," said coquettish fifty-something Naglaa Fahmi from her gym in the leafy neighbourhood of Zamalek. In a nearby luxury hotel, Nardine -- one of Egypt's eight million Coptic Christians who are alarmed by the prospect of a new Islamist-dominated parliament -- is pondering a move aroad. "My father is seriously thinking about sending me and my brothers elsewhere because he thinks we won't have a future in the country with the Salafis," said the banker in her twenties. Ten months after a popular uprising ended the 30-year autocratic rule of Hosni Mubarak, millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms earlier this week at the start of multi-stage parliamentary elections. The preliminary results to be published on Friday were expected to show the moderate Muslim Brotherhood as the dominant force, but with a surprisingly strong showing from the hardline Al-Nur party. Its leaders advocate the fundamentalist brand of Salafi Islam, rejecting Western culture and favouring strict segregation of the sexes and the veiling of women. They say they have been the victims of Islamophobia and sustained fear-mongering by liberals in the Egyptian media. Nevertheless, the fear that they will try to impose their values on the rest of society has driven Angie to consider leaving her comfortable Cairo life behind. "My husband recently got a job offer in Dubai. In the beginning I was hesitant, but now, with all that's happening, I'm encouraging him to take the job and I'll join him with our daughter," she said. "The Gulf has become more liberal than Egypt," she told AFP. For Ahmed Gabri, having the Islamists in power means having his freedoms restricted. "I will leave the country," said Gabri, a Muslim. "I will not stand living in a puritanical climate. Why don't they just let people live the way they want?" The next parliament will be charged with writing a new constitution and the idea of an Islamist-dominated assembly has sent shockwaves through some segments of society. Many stress the difference, however, between the different Islamist groups. "They don't scare me. We have democracy now which means we'll be able to remove them if they don't suit us," said Manar, a tall blonde in her 40s. "It's the not the Muslim Brotherhood that worries me because they want to appear in the best light, it's the Salafis that I'm concerned about," she said. Iman Ragab, a shop assistant, has resigned herself to the election's likely outcome. "This is democracy, you have to accept the results of the ballot," she said.</p>

Rich Egyptians weigh emigration as Islamists surge

  For decades, Egypt's Westernised elite kept the country's growing religosity at arm's length, but a projected Islamist surge i...

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confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs

<p> </p><p>A confrontation between rival bikie gangs saw 12 members ejected from the Danny Green fight in Perth. West Australian Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan confirmed on Thursday two gang members were arrested, with one charged with assaulting a public officer. They were led out of Challenge Stadium by members of the Gang Crime Squad during the cruiserweight bout between Green and Poland's Krzysztof Wlodarczyk on Wednesday night. It is believed the initial confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs. "It's not an unusual occurrence at these sorts of events - it is one reason why we have such a large security response," Mr O'Callaghan said.</p>

confrontation was between members of the outlaw Gypsy Jokers and Comancheros motorcycle gangs

  A confrontation between rival bikie gangs saw 12 members ejected from the Danny Green fight in Perth. West Australian Police Commissioner...

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Hells Angel pleads not guilty in NV casino killing

<p> </p><p>California member of the Hells Angels has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for his role in a September brawl at Nevada casino that erupted into a shootout that claimed the life of his San Jose chapter president. Cesar Villagrana of Gilroy, Calif., is accused of shooting two members of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang the night that his longtime friend Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew was shot to death on the floor of John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks. Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer on Thursday tentatively assigned him the same Jan. 17 trial date she earlier set for the Vagos accused of killing Pettigrew - Ernesto Gonzalez of San Francisco. But Villagrana's lawyer, Richard Schonfeld of Las Vegas, doesn't expect a trial before the end of 2012.</p>

Hells Angel pleads not guilty in NV casino killing

  California member of the Hells Angels has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for his role in a September brawl at Neva...

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former full-patch member of the Hells Angels who was the bike gang's treasurer and top man in the Toronto area is in a fight to avoid deportation to Scotland.

<p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;"> </p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">Mark Alistair Stables, who has no criminal record and has been living here for more than 40 years, was found inadmissible to Canada by an Immigration and Refugee Board for being a member of a criminal organization, the Hells Angels.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">He appealed the decision to the Federal Court of Canada, and two weeks ago that court ruled Ottawa can make plans to deport Stables even though he doesn't have a criminal record.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">The nine-year "full patch" member was a former Sergeant at Arms and president of the Hells Angels Ontario Corp., in which he acted as a treasurer for 10 chapters for seven years.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">"He was very involved in many aspects of the Hells Angels activities," Judge Yves de Montigny said in his decision. The "positions would have given him a good knowledge about the organization's purpose, mandate, agenda or activities."</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">De Montigny said Stables was "not isolated" from gang activities and "was fully integrated into the Hells Angels."</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">Court heard Stables arrived in Canada from Scotland with his parents at the age of seven and never obtained citizenship. He joined the gang in 2000 and claimed to quit in 2009.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">His immigration problems began in 2006 after he was found carrying Hells Angels paraphernalia and phone numbers as he arrived on a flight at Vancouver International Airport. A report for his deportation was filed.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">The board noted Stables had no "exit date" on his Hells Angels tattoo to show that he left the gang.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">Stables still has appeals available to him before he can be deported, officials said.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">Police said the Hells Angels are involved in drug trafficking, importation of drugs, manufacturing and distribution of drugs, thefts, extortions, firearms, prostitution, money laundering and murder.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">"The organization collects intelligence on policing, and it operates a number of clubhouses that make it safe to conduct illegal business," the high court said. "Chapters are usually opened for the purpose of manufacturing or distributing drugs."</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">de Montigny said members who get in trouble with the law are assisted by club dues that are used to defray their costs.</p><p style="color: #333333; font-family: Geneva, Arial; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;">Police said the Hells Angels is considered the primary producer and distributor of illegal drugs in the U.S. and Canada.</p></p>

former full-patch member of the Hells Angels who was the bike gang's treasurer and top man in the Toronto area is in a fight to avoid deportation to Scotland.

  Mark Alistair Stables, who has no criminal record and has been living here for more than 40 years, was found inadmissible to Canada by an ...

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Man shot in Brunswick

<p> </p><p>A gunman is on the loose after a man was gunned down in a busy Brunswick street late this afternoon. The man was shot several times outside a gym and then stumbled across the Brunswick shopping centre car park where he collapsed beside a vehicle, police say. At least six shots rang out at the Barkly Square Shopping Centre late this afternoon and the 37-year-old man was hit in the upper body.</p>

Man shot in Brunswick

  A gunman is on the loose after a man was gunned down in a busy Brunswick street late this afternoon. The man was shot several times outsi...

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Bali jails Australian boy over cannabis possession

<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15884706"> </a></p><p>An Australian boy has been jailed for two months for possessing cannabis on the Indonesian island of Bali. The case sparked an outcry in Australia, where the media argued the 14-year-old was too young to be jailed. But Indonesian analysts hit back, criticising Australia for holding Indonesian youngsters in detention in people-smuggling cases. The teenager, who has not been named, will serve the rest of his sentence at an immigration detention centre. The jail term includes the time already served, so the boy, from New South Wales, is expected to be freed in two weeks' time. He will be deported to Australia at the end of his sentence. The boy bought a small amount of cannabis from a dealer on the island - a crime punishable by up to two years in jail. But the court treated him leniently after hearing that he had pre-existing drugs problems and had sought help from doctors. Drugs cases involving Australians in Indonesia regularly cause a huge outcry because of the country's extreme sentencing rules. The most notorious was that of the so-called Bali Nine, who were convicted of trying to import heroin. Most of them are serving lengthy prison sentences after having death penalties commuted on appeal.</p>

Bali jails Australian boy over cannabis possession

  An Australian boy has been jailed for two months for possessing cannabis on the Indonesian island of Bali. The case sparked an outcry in ...

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British woman falls off hotel balcony when having sex

<p> </p><p>There has been another case of balconing in Spain, this time in Adeje, Tenerife, and with the twist that the victim was having sex with her husband at the time she fell. The British tourist who fell several metres then got her ankle caught between the bars of an internal staircase was left hanging there, head down and totally naked until the emergency crews arrived. 49 year old A.M.A.M. had been having sex with her husband against the railings on one of the public areas of the hotel and in the frenzy, the railings gave way. The husband called the emergency services and the local and national police arrived with a fire crew. After their initial surprise, the managed to release the woman’s trapped right leg, and she was taken for observation to the Hospitén Sur.</p>

British woman falls off hotel balcony when having sex

  There has been another case of balconing in Spain, this time in Adeje, Tenerife, and with the twist that the victim was having sex with he...

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Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is pictured sitting in a plane in Zintan after his capture in Libya's rugged desert.

<p><div id="main-content-picture" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Saif al-Islam Gaddafi" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/11/20/1321789703033/Saif-al-Islam-Gaddafi-007.jpg" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="caption" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Photograph: Ismail Zitouni/Reuters</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The man who led the fighters that captured Saif al-Islam has said that the late dictator's son tried to escape arrest by pretending to be a camel herder.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">"When we caught him, he said, 'My name is Abdul Salem, a camel keeper,'" said commander Ahmed Amur on Sunday. "It was crazy."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">His unit, from Zintan's Abu Bakar al-Sadiq brigade, had been patrolling the vast southern desert of <a style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Libya" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/libya">Libya</a> for more than a month when it was given a tip-off late last week that Saif al-Islam was close to the town of Obari.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">"We knew it was a VIP target, we did not know who," said Amur, who worked as a professor of marine biology in Tripoli before the war.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">He said rebel units with pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns deployed in ambush positions in the desert near Obari, a small town that lies astride roads leading to both Algeria and Niger.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">As the informant had predicted, two Jeeps came into view at lunchtime on Friday, surging through the desert near the main highway that leads to Niger.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">"When we saw the first car we fired shots ahead of it, not to hit, as a warning. It stopped. Then the second car belonging to Saif came," he said, speaking in English. "We shot warning shots, he (Saif's car) stopped in the sand. Saif and his aide came out of the car."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">He said rebel fighters approached on foot, Saif threw himself face down and began rubbing dirt on his face. "He wanted to disguise himself," he said.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Amur raced up to him and ordered him to stand up, finding himself face to face with Saif al -Islam.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">But the most notorious son of the late dictator claimed he was not one of the world's most wanted war crimes suspects, but a simple camel herder – Abdul Salem being the equivalent of a British "John Smith".</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">"His face was covered (with dirt), I knew who he was," said Amur. "Then he said to us, 'Shoot.' When the rebels refused to shoot, and identified themselves, Saif told them: 'OK, shoot me, or take me to Zintan.'</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">"We don't kill or harm a captured man, we are Islam," said Amur, still clad in the green combat jacket he wore when making the arrest. "We have taken him here to Zintan. After that, our government is responsible."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Zintan was on Sunday hemmed-in by checkpoints set up by its fighters, whose units fought some of the toughest battles of the war, ending in their attack on Tripoli in August.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Omran Eturki, leader of Zintan council, says Saif must face trial in Zintan's own courthouse. "We can try him, it will not take too long, we don't need any new laws," he said, referring to questions over Libya's current legal limbo. "They are Zintanis who captured him so they will have to have him here."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Eturki said it was better to try him in Libya than send him to the international criminal court, which has indicted Saif for war crimes and crimes against humanity.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">"The judicial authorities can appoint the judges and the lawyers, but the trial must be here. As long as there is justice, that is it."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">He said Saif would get a fair trial. "There is no point to make a revolution for justice, and then you become the same killers. All the people of Zintan want to see him have a proper trial. We don't like to harm him. If we wanted to kill him we could kill him. We captured him so I think we have the right to try him."</p></div></p>

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is pictured sitting in a plane in Zintan after his capture in Libya's rugged desert.

Photograph: Ismail Zitouni/Reuters The man who led the fighters that captured Saif al-Islam has said that the late dictator's son tried ...

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Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial

<p> </p><p>While one former Indo-Canadian border guard got five years for his part in a drug smuggling ring – another is currently on trial for his part in a different operation that brought millions of illicit drugs into Canada. Baljinder Kandola, a former Canadian border guard who was charged with being part of a cocaine-smuggling ring, was at a loss for words during much of his testimony on Tuesday to explain why he risked so much to help a millionaire auto-parts importer for nothing in return. Under cross-examination by Crown counsel James Torrance, Kandola said he agreed to wave his co-accused Shminder Singh Johal and associates in his three automotive companies through the border, helping them avoid inspection, reported the Province newspaper. Kandola — who worked at the Pacific Highway crossing from July 2001 until his arrest on Oct. 25, 2007 — admitted he made unauthorized use of Canadian Border Services Agency databases to come to the conclusion Johal had been subjected to inspections over the years unfairly. “He asked if I was able to wave him through,” Kandola told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly, who is hearing the case without a jury. “It would save him time and money, and he wouldn’t be harassed.” Torrance reminded Kandola of his testimony a day earlier, when he said he was risking his job, his pension and his standing in the Sikh community by breaking his oath to protect Canada’s borders. “What was [Johal] offering you in return?” asked the prosecutor. “He didn’t offer me anything,” replied Kandola. “In my mind he was bringing auto parts into Canada.” Torrance asked, “This [waving Johal through] was definitely something you shouldn’t do?” “Yes,” agreed the witness. “Then why would you want to help a successful millionaire businessman?” Kandola replied: “I don’t know, I’ve asked myself the same question.” Torrance turned to Kandola’s illegal use of the databases to come to the conclusion Johal was unfairly harassed. A “lookout” had been placed on Johal’s border crossings after a tip from the RCMP. “Did you not consider [Johal] was previously suspected of smuggling cocaine?” asked Torrance. “No,” said Kandola. “That was all cleared up by your queries [into the databases]?” “I guess so,” replied the defendant. Torrance then meticulously went through Kandola’s phone, text and CBSA database records to show that he called Johal to let him know when he was in position to wave him through the border and when the “lookout” was on or off during the wee hours of Feb. 10, 2007. Asked if he was paid by Johal when they met at a 7-Eleven store the next day, Kandola denied it. Kandola was arrested on Oct. 25, 2007, shortly after he waved through a car driven by Herman Riar that contained 208 kilograms of cocaine. Riar pleaded guilty to drug smuggling and was sentenced last year to 12 years in prison. Kandola and Johal have pleaded not guilty to charges of drug smuggling, illegal firearms, conspiracy and bribing an official. The trial in New Westminster is scheduled to last three more weeks.</p>

Drug Smuggling Accused Border Guard Baljinder Kandola At Loss For Words At Trial

  While one former Indo-Canadian border guard got five years for his part in a drug smuggling ring – another is currently on trial for his p...

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small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang

<p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang, a court heard yesterday. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Adam Vincent, 33, was shot with air rifle pellets and savagely punched and kicked in the weeks before his gruesome death.  <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The gang then scattered his body parts in waterways across Lincolnshire, Sheffield Crown Court was told. </span></p><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Adam Vincent's head, right arm and right leg were found in the River Ancholme, near Brigg in June" class="blkBorder" height="286" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/11/article-2060452-0EC41B1A00000578-650_468x286.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" /><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Discovery: Adam Vincent's head, right arm and right leg were found in the River Ancholme, near Brigg in June, pictured</p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>His severed leg was found sticking out of the water by birdwatchers at Tetney Lock near Cleethorpes on March 3 this year. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>After a police investigation two other parts were recovered and his head, right arm and right leg were found in the River Ancholme, near Brigg in June. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Prosecutor Tom Bayliss QC said the five-strong gang believed Mr Vincent had stolen £5,000 from them and 'grassed' them up to the police.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The court heard Mr Vincent was a heroin addict and sold 'wraps' for the gang in return for using some of the drug himself.</span></p><div class="relatedItemsTopBorder" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </div><div class="relatedItems" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><h4 style="min-height: 1px; font-size: 1em; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"></h4></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>At the time of his death he was living with the gang whose headquarters was based in a small bungalow in Scartho, Grimsby. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Grimsby men Lee Griffiths, 43, his sons Thomas, 22, and Luke, 19, Lee's stepson Mark Jackson, 27, and Matthew Frow, 32, all deny murder between February 26 and March 4. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>They also deny conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by concealing Mr Vincent's dismembered body between the same dates along with Andrew Lusher, 43, also from Grimsby, who is alleged to have hired the van used to dispose of the body. <br /></span></p><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Mr Vincent's severed leg was found sticking out of the water by birdwatchers at Tetney Lock near Cleethorpes, pictured, on March 3 this year" class="blkBorder" height="286" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/11/article-2060452-0EC41B1200000578-707_468x286.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" /><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Mr Vincent's severed leg was found sticking out of the water by birdwatchers at Tetney Lock near Cleethorpes, pictured, on March 3 this year</p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The three Griffiths and Mark Jackson further deny conspiracy to supply heroin between December 1, 2010 to March 7, 2011. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Frow admits conspiracy to supply the Class A drug. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Bayliss said Mr Vincent was a close associate of the five men charged with murder. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>He did small-time drug dealing on their behalf and 'it was the gang he was associated with that killed him.' <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Three weeks before Mr Vincent's body was found three of the gang were arrested for drugs offences by police then released.</span></p><div class="thinFloatRHS" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 10px; min-height: 1px; width: 235px; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: bold; padding: 0px;"><span>'Birdwatchers chanced on the leg just hours after it had been dumped'</span></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Officers searched the bungalow, which is owned by Lee Griffiths, and where Mr Vincent had been living. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Bayliss said Lee Griffiths believed Mr Vincent had given information to the police and had stolen £5,000 and drugs from them. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The gang began a 'sustained physical assault' on Mr Vincent and the violence continued for a fortnight ultimately leading to his death.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>A post mortem showed Mr Vincent died from a blunt force trauma to the head. He had been struck at least three times with a weapon. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Vincent was last seen alive on February 27 and the following day it is claimed that one of the gang sent a text to his girlfriend which implied Adam Vincent had been killed. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>His body was dismembered after his death and a van, organised by Lusher, was allegedly used to dispose of it. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The birdwatchers chanced on the leg just hours after it had been dumped.</span></p><div class="thinCenter" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; min-height: 1px; width: 470px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><img alt="Prosecutor Tom Bayliss QC told Sheffield Crown Court, pictured, the five-strong gang believed Mr Vincent had stolen £5,000 from them and 'grassed' them up to the police" class="blkBorder" height="286" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/11/11/article-2060452-0EC4321F00000578-780_468x286.jpg" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="468" /><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Prosecutor Tom Bayliss QC told Sheffield Crown Court, pictured, the five-strong gang believed Mr Vincent had stolen £5,000 from them and 'grassed' them up to the police</p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span> </span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Bayliss said: 'Adam Vincent was killed behind closed doors by this gang. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'All five of the defendants were participating in a joint enterprise which led to Adam Vincent's death.'</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>He said it was difficult to identify individual acts of violence but the prosecution claim anyone involved in it is guilty of murder even if they were not present when the fatal blow was delivered.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The court heard three of the gang were arrested for suspected drugs offences and the bungalow was searched. Drug paraphernalia was seized along with an air rifle on February 11.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Pellets matched to the rifle were found in Mr Vincent's body. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Bayliss said: 'Even before this one of the things that was happening was that Mr Vincent had been shot in the body by this a air rifle.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'It would have caused pain and injury. It was an indication of how he was being treated. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'Mr Vincent's father Keith visited his son who was in hospital with pneumonia in late January. Mr Vincent told his dad he had had enough of his drug-taking lifestyle.'<br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'He said: ''I want to get away but they won't let me. I need to sort some issues out first.'<br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'He later added: 'You don't know these people. I'm trying to get it all sorted.''<br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Vincent discharged himself against medical advice and was probably killed three weeks later. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Bayliss said witnesses spoke of how Mr Vincent would tell of being beaten up and how 'they couldn't let him go because he knew too much.' <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>When Mr Vincent stole the money from the gang he was given 'a bit of a kicking' and was tied up in the house, it was alleged. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Another witness said Lee Griffiths was becoming 'paranoid' about heroin going missing from the house and suspected Mr Vincent had been stealing it. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The court heard that as early as January Mr Vincent was seen with a black eye and Thomas Griffiths was bragging he had shot him. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>A few days before Mr Vincent was killed Thomas Griffiths was seen to punch him in the face in the house and Luke Griffiths kicked him in the side while his father held a knife to Mr Vincent's throat. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The victim was later seen in pain and by February 26 was described as having a 'shocking' appearance by a witness at a supermarket.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>He was walking with a limp and had cuts all over his face.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'His facial expression according to a security guard was one of terror,' said Mr Bayliss. <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>The hearing, which is expected to last at least six weeks, continues.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><br /><br /><br /></span></p>

small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang

small-time drug dealer was tortured, killed and his body dismembered into six pieces 'behind closed doors' by a brutal drug gang, a ...

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IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me

<div class="art-o art-align-center otm-1 " style="width: 485px; text-align: center; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img alt="Adulthood" border="1" height="300" src="http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/sundaymercury/nov2011/4/5/adulthood-242837542.jpg" style="float: right; padding: 0px; margin: 10px; border: 0px initial initial;" title="Adulthood" width="465" /></div><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me.”</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">These are the chilling words of a 19-year-old Birmingham gang member who once roamed the streets of Lozells, selling drugs and fighting with rivals over territory.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">He has since left that dark and dangerous life behind him and is on course to become a PE teacher.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">Now he has helped make an award-winning film aimed at warning the next generation of the dangers of gangs.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">It is being shown in schools across Birmingham to children the same age he was when he became involved.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">Today, the teenager lifts the lid on the closed world of gang culture in our second city.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">But even now he cannot be named for fear of retribution from the people he once saw as ‘family’.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“It started when we were at high school,” he told the Sunday Mercury.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“I was part of a group of friends who came together and decided no-one would trouble us if we had any problems. There were probably about 20 of us in Lozells and Aston.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“Back then, it felt more like a family than a gang.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">‘‘You do everything with your gang.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“If you go to the city centre or something like the bonfire at Pype Hayes, you wouldn’t go on your own, you’d go with 20 or 30 people so you were safe.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“If we saw other gangs there would be a fight. And that could escalate really easily.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“Luckily, I was never a person to get stabbed but I’ve seen things like that and it’s not nice.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">‘‘My friend was also shot and killed last year. He was just in a car; it was a long-term rivalry; they pulled up next to him and shot him.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“In the back of your mind you know you don’t want to be in that environment, but you’re probably safer with your friends than without them.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“If you get caught slipping by going somewhere and another gang sees you, you’re liable, They don’t care whether you’re still in the gang or not.”</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">Criminal</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">Yet what started out as friends sticking up for each other quickly changed into criminal behaviour as the teen’s gang began selling drugs to make money.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">The wannabe teacher, who was once cautioned for possession of cannabis, added: “The aim was just to survive and to make money to live life.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“Everyone was selling it for someone else and just trying to make a bit for themselves.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“We would sell whatever drugs the buyer wanted really, if people want something you’ll end up trying to sell it.”</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">And he claimed his young gang members were led further astray by older kids who thrive on street violence.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“Peer pressure plays a big part,” he added.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“There were older figures but we never saw them as leaders. We saw them as older brothers. That’s the influence they had on us.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“There was loads of people our age with nothing to do. We were all young and easily influenced by the older generation.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“They used to say it was ‘robbery season’ where everything you want, you get. If you want a phone, you go and rob a phone.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">‘‘It was callous and evil.”</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">And as the gang got older, the trouble they got into became more serious.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“I think half of our gang ended up in jail,” added the 19-year-old.</p><p style="line-height: 16px; font-size: 0.95em; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left; padding: 7px; margin: 0px;">“That’s for everything from drugs to violence to robbery.</p>

IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me

“IT’S prison or death out there. I’ve seen people get stabbed and my friend was shot dead last year... I was lucky it didn’t happen to me.” ...

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