Dead Deputy Head Had Images Of Boys Changing

Images from a school changing room have been discovered at the house of a deputy head teacher who was found dead earlier this month.

Essex Police began an investigation on 9 September into allegations that Martin Goldberg, 46, had images of naked teenage boys on his computer and had bought material from abroad.

He was not arrested at the time because police said there was insufficient evidence, but when officers returned to his home in Shoeburyness the next day following concerns for his welfare, his body was found.

Officers continuing their investigation found the photos on a camera hidden inside a bag.

Essex Police said the camera had been used to film male children undressing at Thorpe Hall School, in Southend, in the changing rooms at Southend Leisure and Tennis Centre swimming pool and two other unidentified locations.

In total 75 images in the school's male changing rooms, which are classified as indecent, were recovered.

There were a further 465 images from the swimming pool and 38 from the other two locations.

"These are criminal offences of voyeurism under the Sexual Offences Act 2003," a spokesman said.

Specialist detectives have identified four of the children and their parents have been informed.

Officers believe the images date from 2000 onwards and appear to be of boys aged from nine to 12.

Just over 1,000 still and moving images have been recovered from Goldberg's computer, although there was evidence he had tried to delete content.

Police added that they have found no evidence to suggest that Goldberg had any inappropriate physical contact with the children.

The force said Thorpe Hall School has cooperated with their investigation and there is no reason to believe the teacher shared the images with anyone else.

Anne Jones, Southend-on-Sea Council's executive councillor for Children and Learning, said: "We have been working very closely with Essex Police and Thorpe Hall School since this matter was drawn to our attention earlier this month.

"As a parent myself, I can understand how upsetting this must be to all those concerned."

Nick Alston, the county's police and crime commissioner, said there were indications that mistakes may have been made in the case.

He added that the original investigation had been launched after police in Toronto, Canada, contacted Essex Police in November 2013 with information suggesting that Goldberg had bought videos of naked boys several years ago.

As a result of this delay, the case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

At a press conference, Chief Superintendent Luke Collison of Southend Police refused to confirm there was a delay or discuss the issue because of the IPCC's involvement.

Mr Goldberg's death is not being treated as suspicious and the matter has been passed to the coroner.

A statement from the school at the time of his death said: "Mr Goldberg was a fantastic maths teacher who inspired countless young Thorpe Hallians over the last 23 years to strive to do their best and achieve amazing things."

A special number has been set up for anyone with concerns - 0800 056 0944, or +44 207 158 0010 if they are outside of the UK.

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'Radicalised' Schoolgirl Heading For Syria

A British teenage girl has gone missing from home and is feared to be travelling to war-torn Syria, possibly because she has become radicalised.

The 15-year-old, who is yet to be named, is currently in Turkey, and police are urgently trying to find her before she crosses the border.

Although she left for school as normal on the morning of her disappearance last week, the teenager was nowhere to be seen when her father went to pick her up at the end of the day.

She is believed to be with a 17-year-old woman, also of Somali descent, from Lambeth.

"There are indications she may have been radicalised, but at the moment, our priority is to find her before she crosses the border to Syria," said Assistant Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe, of Avon and Somerset Police.

The student, from Bristol, has been described as "incredibly bright, articulate and popular" by her family in a statement.

Ms Rolfe added: "We must all be vigilant and ready to stop the signs of radicalisation. Often, young people who go to Syria can be naïve and don't recognise that they are being sucked into joining extremist groups.

"This is not about criminalising these young people, it's about preventing tragedies."

Cllr Hibaq Jama has issued a message on the family's behalf. It read: "Please come back. We miss you very much. You are not in any trouble. We just want you to be safe and to come home as soon as possible."

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Thai Murders: British Backpacker 'Was Raped'

A British backpacker in Thailand was raped by both her killers before she was murdered, police have said.

They believe three people were involved in the attacks on 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, 24, whose semi-naked bodies were found on a beach on the island of Koh Tao earlier this month.

Lieutenant General Panya Mamen told the Bangkok Post: "Two of the suspects raped and killed Witheridge while another one witnessed the murder.

"We're confident we have a very high chance of finding the suspects."

David Miller, 24, died from drowning and a blow to the head

Two different semen samples were collected from Ms Witheridge's body, he added.

Mr Miller, from Jersey, died from drowning and a blow to the head, while Miss Witheridge, from Great Yarmouth, died from head wounds on Sairee beach in the early hours of September 15.

A blood-stained garden hoe, which is thought to be the murder weapon, was discovered nearby.

Officers have collected 200 DNA samples from people on the island - including more than eight Thai footballers - and the results are expected at some point this week.

Almost three weeks after the murders police are no closer to an arrest

The group of Thai footballers, who reportedly threw a late-night party at the nightclub where the victims spent their final hours, are the latest to be questioned by officers investigating the murders.

Almost three weeks after the deaths police are no closer to making an arrest and are offering a reward of more than £13,000 (700,000 baht) in an effort to catch the killers.

The latest development in the probe comes as it emerged tourists in Thailand may be issued with wristbands in the wake of the murders to help identify those who run into trouble.

Party curfews and restrictions on where they can be held are also being considered, as well as the idea of introducing a "buddy system" - pairing tourists with a local minder.

Tourists in Koh Tao where the bodies of two British backpackers were found

Thailand's tourism minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, said: "When tourists check in to a hotel they will be given a wristband with a serial number that matches their ID and shows the contact details of the resort they are staying in so that if they're out partying late and, for example, get drunk or lost, they can be easily assisted.

"The next step would be some sort of electronic tracking device, but this has not yet been discussed in detail."

Having consulted hotels over the identity wristband idea, she admitted it had already been met with some resistance.

"Most people welcome the idea but some hotels are concerned that tourists may not want to wear the wristbands," she said.

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British 'Islamic State Recruiter' Arrested

A British man has been arrested in Bangladesh on suspicion of recruiting people to fight alongside Islamic State militants in Syria.

Samiun Rahman, who is from London, arrived in the country in February to find fighters for both IS and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, according to Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division (DCID).

"He has plans to recruit and send a team from Bangladesh to fight in Syria," Commissioner Monirul said.

Islamic State fighters have seized large parts of Iraq and Syria

Rahman, whose parents are from a town northeast of the capital Dhaka, has confessed to trying to recruit fighters for the groups, police said, although it is not clear if his efforts were successful.

He told police he had joined the Nusra Front in Syria last September and fought with the group until December 2013.

Police say Rahman returned to Britain at some point and visited other countries to recruit jihadis before going to Bangladesh to do the same.

Foreigners have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with IS

IS has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in recent months, and fighting is reportedly continuing around the capital, Baghdad.

An explosion at a makeshift IS hospital has killed at least three fighters in Baquba, Diyala province on Monday, according to Sky sources.

There has also been intense fighting between Kurdish rebels and IS militants close to the Turkish border.

The US has been conducting airstrikes in Iraq since last month in a bid to reverse IS gains, and recently expanded their campaign to neighbouring Syria.

Britain joined the mission last week when MPs approved military action against the Islamists in Iraq.

Although RAF Tornados have flown a number of missions over northern Iraq since then, they have yet to fire any missiles.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters in position in Jalawla

But, a former IS fighter has told Sky News the airstrikes are backfiring, bringing extremist groups closer together.

A key part of the effort against IS are the Kurdish peshmerga battling the group in the north.

A peshmerga commander has also told Sky's Stuart Ramsey that airstrikes alone will not be enough to defeat the group.

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Clegg Summons Chinese Ambassador Over Demos

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has summoned the Chinese ambassador over concerns about the handling of protests in Hong Kong.

Tens of thousands of activists have been demonstrating against China's decision to only allow vetted candidates to run for elections on the island in 2017.

At the weekend police fired tear gas at demonstrators, and Hong Kong's chief executive Leung Chun-Ying has called on protest leaders to "immediately" withdraw their followers from the streets.

Mr Clegg will meet the ambassador later this week to discuss the protests.

More follows...

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British 'Islamic State Recruiter' Arrested

A British man has been arrested in Bangladesh on suspicion of recruiting people to fight alongside Islamic State militants in Syria.

Samiun Rahman, who is from London, arrived in the country in February to find fighters for both IS and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, according to Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective and Criminal Intelligence Division (DCID).

"He has plans to recruit and send a team from Bangladesh to fight in Syria," Commissioner Monirul said.

Islamic State fighters have seized large parts of Iraq and Syria

Rahman, whose parents are from a town northeast of the capital Dhaka, has confessed to trying to recruit fighters for the groups, police said, although it is not clear if his efforts were successful.

He told police he had joined the Nusra Front in Syria last September and fought with the group until December 2013.

Police say Rahman returned to Britain at some point and visited other countries to recruit jihadis before going to Bangladesh to do the same.

Foreigners have travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight with IS

IS has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in recent months, and fighting is reportedly continuing around the capital, Baghdad.

An explosion at a makeshift IS hospital has killed at least three fighters in Baquba, Diyala province on Monday, according to Sky sources.

There has also been intense fighting between Kurdish rebels and IS militants close to the Turkish border.

The US has been conducting airstrikes in Iraq since last month in a bid to reverse IS gains, and recently expanded their campaign to neighbouring Syria.

Britain joined the mission last week when MPs approved military action against the Islamists in Iraq.

Although RAF Tornados have flown a number of missions over northern Iraq since then, they have yet to fire any missiles.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters in position in Jalawla

But, a former IS fighter has told Sky News the airstrikes are backfiring, bringing extremist groups closer together.

A key part of the effort against IS are the Kurdish peshmerga battling the group in the north.

A peshmerga commander has also told Sky's Stuart Ramsey that airstrikes alone will not be enough to defeat the group.

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Memorial Service For Stabbed Leeds Teacher

Hundreds of people have gathered for a memorial service in Leeds to remember teacher Ann Maguire.

The 61-year-old was stabbed while teaching a Spanish lesson at Corpus Christi Catholic College in April.

The mother-of-two had taught at the school for more than 40 years. She was due to retire this month.

Mrs Maguire died from multiple stab wounds following an attack in April

The memorial service at Leeds Town Hall was led by Reverend Monsignor John Wilson, of the Catholic Diocese of Leeds.

Organisers said beforehand the event would be "a celebration of Mrs Maguire's life in song, on screen and through words".

Members of the public were invited to join Mrs Maguire's family, colleagues and pupils at the memorial.

Mourners gather for the funeral of Mrs Maguire in May

Those attending the service, as well as schools across Leeds, also took part in a minute's silence at about 12.30pm.

Some 300 people attended Mrs Maguire's funeral mass in May. A long line of flowers and tributes were also laid outside the school.

Flowers laid outside Corpus Christi Catholic College in April

The Ann Maguire Arts Education Fund has been established to provide bursaries and funding for young people through music, drama, language and dance.

Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/ann-maguire.

A 15-year-old boy has appeared in court charged with Mrs Maguire's murder. He is remanded in custody and will appear in court again in November.

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Placenta And Umbilical Cord Found At Cemetery

A new mother has been urged by police to come forward with her baby after a human placenta and umbilical cord were discovered at a cemetery.

A worker at Preston Cemetery made the discovery shortly before 9.30am on Friday.

Tests confirmed the remains are human and police say there are traces of both female and male DNA, possibly from the mother and a baby boy.

Further examinations will take place to try and narrow down the identity of the mother.

Chief Inspector Geoff Hurst, from Lancashire Constabulary, said: "This is a significant inquiry and we are working extremely hard to try and establish exactly what has happened.

"Our inquiries are focusing on the basis that someone has given birth here or elsewhere and that there is a woman and young baby out there who will be in need of urgent medical and emotional support and it is vital that they contact us.

"We are carrying out a number of inquiries to try and identify the remains and we are talking to healthcare professionals to see if they have any knowledge or information which could help us

"We are not here to judge. This is about finding whoever has left these remains here and make sure they are safe.

"I can't stress how important it is for people to come forward with information. We may have an extremely vulnerable woman out there who is in desperate need of help and support."

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting log number 0287 of September 26.

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Alice Gross: Police Search National Trust Park

Police trying to trace schoolgirl Alice Gross are carrying out searches in Osterley Park - a National Trust Georgian country house and estate in the western suburbs of London.

The move is an extension of the ongoing search operation and follows the dredging of a canal close to where she disappeared a month ago.

More than 300 officers are involved in the massive hunt for the 14-year-old, who failed to return to her home in Hanwell, west London, on August 28.

A map showing Alice Gross's last-known movements

She was last seen on CCTV walking along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal towards Hanwell at 4.26pm.

A stretch of canal was searched in the hope of finding possessions such as her iPhone - but no new leads were discovered.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "That search was conducted as part of the wider search and nothing of significance was found. Searches are ongoing."

Officers from more than a dozen forces are now involved in the hunt, while the RAF has been drafted in to help identify new search areas.

Runners in a half-marathon in Ealing wore yellow ribbons

Runners taking part in a half-marathon in Ealing on Sunday wore yellow ribbons to raise awareness of Alice's disappearance.

Ribbons were also tied to trees and fences along the route, close to where Alice was last seen.

Her mother, Rosalind Hodgkiss, said: "Every morning, as Alice's disappearance grows longer and longer, brings new agony, new anguish."

On Saturday, officers revealed that footage from 300 CCTV cameras within a six-square-mile radius was now being analysed.

A reconstruction of the teen's last-known movements prompted 150 calls

Police received 150 phone calls after staging a reconstruction of the teenager's last-known movements.

Convicted murderer Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in her disappearance, who has also vanished, was filmed cycling the same route behind the teenager.

But police stress the Latvian, who was also accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl in 2009, is just "one line of enquiry".

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered to anyone who has information that leads police to find Alice.

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RAF Airstrikes Wait As Intelligence Is Key

As I write this, RAF Tornados have completed four armed missions over northern Iraq and are currently engaged in a fifth.

They have managed more than 12 hours of flying time in the theatre of operations since Friday's Parliamentary vote, hunting for Islamic State (IS) convoys, hideouts and strongholds. 

And yet, the Tornados haven't dropped a single bomb or fired a single missile. Should we be surprised? Not necessarily.

Privately I know military chiefs and senior politicians are slightly dismayed that the British haven't managed their first strikes on IS, but they acknowledge that it proves their pre-emptive warning that this will be a slow conflict with much patience required.

"Intelligence, intelligence, intelligence," is how analyst put it to me this morning. "That is the key to this battle, intelligence."

He is spot on.

The UK has its Rivet Joint aircraft flying out of Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar. It vacuums up communications data from 30-odd thousand feet. Telephone conversations, email traffic, text messages.

Tornado GR4 aircrew have completed four missions over Iraq. Pic MoD

The US has at least eight drones monitoring patterns of life. These can stay up in the air for many hours, watching a single spot if necessary.

IS have been smacked around a bit this past week and they're changing their tactics, minimising their exposure.

For all the technology in the sky, nothing beats eyes on the ground. Local knowledge.

The person who quietly points out the farmhouse down a track, an IS bomb-making factory. The source that passes on details of militants' movements. This is the aim: the local population working against the occupying insurgency.

But the local population needs to be convinced that the coalition, which they can barely see up in the skies above them, is the right side to be on.

They need to be sure the airstrikes will work. If they don't, the IS reprisals will be unforgiving.

Too many times, in this part of the world, has the West promised to defend the people only to leave them at the mercy of the enemy.

Peshmerga fighters have been unable to retake Mosul

In 1991, after American and British missiles pummelled Saddam's Iraq for weeks, President Bush encouraged the Iraqi people to rise up and overthrow the government themselves.

Rise up they did, expecting the support of US fighter jets. Instead Iraqi helicopter gunships came for them. Some 60,000 Iraqis were killed; two million Kurds fled to Turkey and Iran.

Last year the United States, UK and France promised airstrikes against the Assad regime. They never came.

In the aftermath of that fateful vote in the House of Commons, we have talked much about the damage that night did to Washington-London relations. It was nothing compared to the loss of trust between anti-Assad forces and the West.

What will they now make of these airstrikes which, if anything, are helping Assad?

We mock the abject failure of the Iraqi army to protect its country against the march of ISIS, but in truth they were never going to succeed. They just weren't welcome in many of the towns and cities they sought to defend.

The widespread Sunni hatred of the Maliki government kept them out.

They were weak - yes, too weak for an army that has received billions of dollars in equipment and training from Washington. Their capitulation was a failure of politics as much as it was one of military.

My colleague Stuart Ramsay writes today about the Peshmerga's inability to re-take Mosul, despite their will to do so.

The truth is that at the moment there is a dramatic mis-match between the modern warplanes dropping precision missiles and the poorly armed, inadequate armies on the ground.

The two need to work together, if this is going to work at all. 

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