Agony of girl, 13, ‘groomed and raped by gang of men’
- Teenager told court she was driven to houses and was forced to have sex with men and paid money to keep quiet
- Said she was left depressed and disgusted by her ordeal
- 11 men on trial accused of a variety of sex offences against children including rape, trafficking and sex assault
By Jaya Narain
Last updated at 10:02 PM on 22nd February 2012
A court yesterday heard harrowing testimony from a 15-year-old girl who was repeatedly plied with alcohol before being passed around a group of men to be used for sex.
The teenager was driven to houses where she was forced to have sex with various men and was later paid money to keep quiet.
Yesterday a jury was played a video of a police interview in which the girl described the first time she was plied with vodka before being raped in a room above a takeaway.
Kabeer Hassan (left), from Oldham, and Qamar Shazad (right), from Rochdale, both deny rape
The teenager told the 59-year-old man she did not want to have sex with him, but he replied: ‘That’s the deal – I give you something and you do something for me.’
Throughout her ordeal on a bare mattress in the bedroom, the girl cried and pleaded with him to stop but her abuser told her ‘Don’t cry – I love you.’
A gang of 11 men are on trial accused of a variety of sex offences against children including rape, trafficking and sexual assault.
The girl told police she was left depressed and disgusted by her ordeal.
She said the abuse first began when she and friends went to a takeaway in Rochdale, Greater Manchester to get some food.
They were taken round the back of the restaurant and were talking to a man they called ‘chef’ when a 59-year-old man arrived.
Mohammed Amin (left), who denies sexual assault, was among the defendants on trial along with Abdul Qayyum (right)
The jury at Liverpool Crown Court heard the man handed a bottle of vodka to the girls before inviting the 15-year-old upstairs to a room above the takeaway.
The teenager said: ‘He told me to get on the bed and told me to have sex with him. I said ‘No’ but he said ‘I have just given you vodka so it is part of the deal – I have done something for you so you have to do something for me. He pulled his pants down and I said I don’t want to do it but he just carried on.’
She said: ‘He was just saying ‘Please, please we are good friends’ I was crying while he was doing it but he just ignored me. He started saying ‘Don’t cry, I love you’ and all this.
‘Afterwards I went downstairs and he said ‘Have you been crying?’ and I said ‘Yes’. He said: ‘I love you, when can I make love to you again?’ and I said ‘Never’’
The teenager told the court the 59-year-old then raped her again and began to pass her round his friends and acquaintances.
The court heard she and her friend had accepted a lift home from the man but instead of taking her back to her own house he took her to a property in Oldham.
Once there he told the girl: ‘You have to have sex with me before I take you home’ before raping her and then inviting a second man into the room.
Abdul Rauf (left) denies trafficking for sexual exploitation while Mohamed Sajid denies trafficking, two counts of rape and one allegation of sexual activity with a child
The girl told police: ‘The other man came in and he said I have to have sex with him as well. I just let him do it because I thought I had to or I wouldn’t be able to go home.’
When she was finally allowed home the 59-year-old gave her £40 saying: ‘Don’t tell anyone – I’ll give you money, anything you want.’
Liquat Shah denies two counts of rape
The court heard that on another occasion the 59-year-old forced the schoolgirl to have sex with another man despite her pleading: ‘I am only 15.’
In a video interview she said: ‘He said it didn’t matter and I had to have sex with him as well. Then after that he gave me £20 to keep my mouth shut and he kept bringing people and making me have sex with them and then gave me money to shut up about it.
‘I said I didn’t want to do it anymore and he said: ‘You have to.’
I said: ‘You will get done for this if I tell the police’ and he said: ‘I won’t get done’ because in his country you are allowed to have sex with people from the age of 11.’
She went on to tell police about an occasion when he raped her in his car before buying her cigarettes and telling her ‘It’s the deal. Every time we have sex I’ll buy you things.’
The girl said the man told her ‘I’ll get someone to kill you’ and threatened to tell her mother if she didn’t get into the car and comply with his demands.
The rape claims came to light in 2008 when the girl was arrested following a disturbance at a takeaway but the jury was told yesterday that Greater Manchester Police did not take her allegation further and the girl fell back into the hands of abusers.
Rachel Smith, prosecuting, said: ‘Regrettably the police officers who looked into the matter didn’t take the investigation further at that stage.’
Abdul Aziz, 41, Abdul Rauf, 43, Mohammed Sajid, 35, Adil Khan, 42, Abdul Qayyum, 43, Mohammed Amin, 44, Qamar Shahzad, 29, Liaquat Shah, 41, Kabeer Hassan, 24, and Hamid Safi, 22, along with the 59-year-old man have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The case continues.
A bomb alert at Liverpool Crown Court earlier this week brought proceedings to a halt during the trial of the eleven men accused of grooming young children
Double murder probe as two elderly women are found dead in houses just a quarter of a mile apart after man, 43, hands himself in to police
- 43-year-old man thought to be a taxi driver is held on suspicion of murder
- Officers found body of widow Margaret Biddolph, 78, as they investigated suspected burglary in Southport, Merseyside
- Second body of pensioner in her 80s, named by neighbours as Annie Leyland, discovered today just a quarter of a mile away by police
By James White
Last updated at 5:01 PM on 22nd February 2012
A 43-year-old man sparked a murder probe when he handed himself in to police who later found the bodies of two elderly women, it emerged today.
Police first discovered the body of 78-year old widow Margaret Biddolph around 5.20pm yesterday at her home in Southport, Merseyside.
Today officers investigating her death confirmed a second woman in her 80s had been found dead at her home less than a quarter of a mile away.
The bodies were found after the suspect – said to be a taxi driver – walked into a police station on Monday evening and spoke with officers. At least one of the deaths is being connected with a burglary.
Investigation: Forensic officers were today examining the home of Margaret Biddolph after her body was found inside. A second body of an elderly woman was found this morning at a house nearby in Southport, Merseyside
Cordoned-off: The road outside Mrs Biddolph’s home has been closed as police make forensic and door-to-door inquiries today
Neighbours named the second victim as Annie Leyland, of Birch Street which is less than five minutes’ walk from the first crime scene in Lonsdale Road.
A spokesman for Merseyside Police said: ‘As a result of further inquiries, a second body has been recovered at an address in Birch Street, Southport, in the early hours of this morning.
‘At this time, the cause of death has yet to be established and Home Office post-mortems will be carried out later today.’
The 43-year-old suspect was in custody being questioned by detectives on suspicion of murder. The houses were cordoned off while forensic teams examined the scene. The causes of death in both cases are not known.
Mrs Biddolph had lived in the house, in Southport, Merseyside for 36 years and had been widowed for up to 40 years.
Second body: Another pensioner was found dead at this house, left, also in Southport, Merseyside
It is believed she has three grown-up children who live away and she had recently extensively refurbished her semi detached home.
Marianne Lott, 54, who lived opposite the pensioner, said: ‘Margaret was very quiet and a lovely woman, she was often tending her garden and was very jolly and independent.
‘She was in her 80s but that didn’t stop her from getting taxis out and about to pick up groceries or do some shopping.
‘I last saw her before the weekend. She didn’t like to go out much but we waved to each other when I last saw her.
‘She always had good stories to tell from when she lived in Liverpool as a younger woman.’
Mrs Biddolph had lived on leafy Lonsdale Road for over 50 years and had been a widow for 40 years, claimed Mrs Lott.
Before retiring Margaret worked for Princes Foods in Southport and has three grown up children, including a daughter who lives in the south and son Alec, who lives in Southport.
Known for being immaculately dressed, Mrs Biddolph had recently undergone a hip replacement operation and was regularly seen walking to the local shops.
Home: Mrs Biddolph’s death, at her home, centre, has left neighbours in shock
One neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said: ‘We all knew her and talked to her because she had been here so long and was well-liked in the neighbourhood. It’s a big shock to everybody.
Alice Chandley was walking home from work with her three-year-old daughter when she saw police cars outside the £121,000 seaside home.
She said: ‘It’s such a quiet little street, you never get anything bad down here. Everyone’s nice and looks after each other. It’s bizarre and a shock.’
Speaking about the death of Mrs Biddolph, Det Ch Insp John Roberts, of Merseyside Police, said: ‘This is a tragic incident that has resulted in the death of an elderly woman. While we are at the early stages of the murder inquiry, we are investigating a possible connection with a burglary.
‘A man has been arrested in connection with the incident and we urge anyone who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously in the area in the days and weeks prior to the incident, or has any information about burglaries in the area to call us, no matter how small that piece of information may seem, as it could be important to our investigation.
‘House-to-house enquiries are ongoing in the area, high-visibility patrols have been stepped up and CCTV is also being sought.
‘A post mortem was scheduled to take place to establish the victim’s cause of death and enquiries are ongoing to trace next of kin.
Nikitta Grender trial: Boyfriend’s cousin Carl Whant guilty of rape and killing pregnant teenager
- Carl Whant yawned as jury delivered guilty verdicts before he is jailed for life with minimum tariff of 35 years
- Killer, 27, torched Nikitta Grender’s flat in attempt to disguise crimes
- Nikitta’s parents say: ‘For us to see our grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was the most heartbreaking thing we’ve ever had to do’
- Heavily pregnant teenager two weeks from giving birth
- Father-to-be Ryan Mayes, 17, had vowed to be ‘perfect dad’
- Whant took flowers to her grieving family as he tried to cover up
By Rob Cooper
Last updated at 3:58 PM on 22nd February 2012
Mother-to-be: Nikitta Grender, 19, who was raped and killed by her boyfriend’s cousin Carl Whant
A former nightclub bouncer was today jailed for life for raping and murdering a young mother-to-be in her home just two weeks before she was due to give birth.
Heavily pregnant Nikitta Grender, 19, was repeatedly stabbed in an attack by Carl Whant in her flat.
Tattooed Whant raped Miss Grender, who was the girlfriend of his closest friend and cousin Ryan Mayes, then slashed her throat and stabbed her in the abdomen.
In an attempt to disguise his crimes, he then set fire to her home in Newport, south Wales, which was ready for the imminent arrival of baby Kelsey May.
The blaze also claimed the life of Miss Grender’s pet dog which was discovered burning by a frantic neighbour.
But ‘arrogant’ and calculating killer Whant, who left Miss Grender’s parents sickened with his claims that he had consensual sex with their daughter just hours before her death, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years today.
Father-of-one Whant appeared to yawn as the jury at Newport Crown Court unanimously found him guilty of murder, rape, child destruction and arson.
Mr Mayes looked at Whant and shook his head gently at each verdict.
Despite throwing away the murder weapon, Whant, 27, of Bettws, near Newport, was caught after DNA evidence was found at the scene and in his car.
The jury rejected his claim that the reason he was driving near Miss Grender’s flat near sunrise was to ‘pick up fags’ from his grandmother’s house.
The bouncer returned to the party he had left more than an hour later without cigarettes and coolly slept on the sofa before leaving for work.
After the verdict, Nikitta’s parents Marcia Grender and Paul Brunnock said today in an emotional statement: ‘For us to see our grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was the most heartbreaking thing we’ve ever had to do.’
As he handed down his sentence, Judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams told Whant he was ‘calculating and devious’.
He told the defendant that he had left a party on the night of the teenager’s murder and went to her flat because ‘you fancied Nikitta and wanted to have sex with her’.
He said that because he knew that she would not agree, ‘you went armed with a knife, prepared to rape her.
‘The likelihood is that she let you in, believing that Ryan was with you.’
The judge told Whant that the murder of Ms Grender had ‘left her family, Ryan Mayes, and her friends bereft.
‘The subsequent loss was compounded by the knowledge that her murderer had raped her and then tried to destroy her body.
‘The grief was made all the more deep because you did not scruple to make the wholly false allegation that she had consensual sex with you.’
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Guilty: Carl Whant, 27, raped and murdered his own cousin’s pregnant girlfriend Nikitta Grender, 19, two weeks before she was due to give birth
The judge said Whant had acted with ‘quite extraordinary hypocrisy’ after the murder of the teenager was discovered.
‘You even took flowers to the Grender household.’
He added that the 6ft 3in bouncer was a ‘calculating, vain and devious’ individual and said that the full facts of what happened in the early hours of February 5 last year may never be known.
But he added: ‘The explanation for these crimes lies in part in your vanity.’
Grief: Nikitta’s father Paul Brunnock and mother Marcia Grender make an emotional statement after Whant was jailed
‘TO SEE OUR GRANDCHILD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A MORTUARY WAS HEARTBREAKING’
The grief-stricken parents of murdered mother-to-be Nikitta Grender described the first time they saw their dead granddaughter as the most harrowing experience of their lives.
Kelsey-May was due to arrive in the world around February 21 last year, but she was killed just two weeks beforehand.
Miss Grender’s uncle Michael Brunnock said his brother Paul and his niece’s mother Marcia Grender had found the events of the past 12 months incredibly difficult.
Speaking on behalf of Miss Grender’s family, as well as Ryan Mayes, he said: ‘Nikitta was so young and beautiful. Together with Ryan, they were to become very proud set of parents to Kelsey-May.
‘This has been ripped from them by Carl Whant, who has never had the decency to tell us the truth.
‘For us to see our grandchild for the first time in a mortuary was the most heartbreaking thing we have ever had to do.
‘The last 12 months has been harder for us than you could ever imagine. We remain in total disbelief as to what happened.
‘We will never deal with the tragic events that have stolen our family from us, but we hope we can at least start to understand what has happened.’
Mr Brunnock also praised the work of Gwent Police and the Crown Prosecution Service in getting justice for their family.
After the verdict was delivered in court, Miss Grender’s father approached prosecuting barrister Gregg Taylor to thank the leading QC – while family and friends embraced in tears of relief and joy.
‘You told the police that she was “feisty” and in my view she told you that she was going to report you to the police for raping her, and that is why you murdered her.’
Father-to-be Ryan Mayes and Nikitta were ‘well-prepared’ for the birth of their baby girl – and had bought a cot and pram ready for the big day.
But on the night of Miss Grender’s death, Mr Mayes went for a night-out with family and friends and returned to discover her dead in the burned-out flat.
During the trial, prosecutor Greg Taylor said: ‘Nikitta was alone at home in the flat in the early hours where she should have been safe for the rest of the night.
‘Her boyfriend Ryan was out in pubs, nightclubs and a house party with his cousin Whant.
‘Someone entered that flat, someone raped her, someone murdered her and in the process destroyed her unborn child.
‘She was stabbed right through the neck cutting her carotid artery.
‘She was also stabbed in her stomach and the knife penetrated the unborn baby.’
The court heard the bed Miss Grender was found lying in was deliberately set on fire.
Mr Taylor said: ‘This was an attempt to cover up these crimes making it appear Nikitta Grender had died in a tragic house fire. The man who did that was Carl Whant.’
He added: ‘Nikitta fell pregnant and was expecting her child in February 2011. They moved into a new flat the previous September – Nikitta’s mother lived around the corner to help her out.
‘Nikitta visited the midwife regularly with Ryan and they were both looking forward to the birth of their child.
‘Nikitta and Ryan knew the baby was going to be a girl and had already given her the name Kelsey-May.
‘They had decorated one room in the flat and had bought a cot and pram – they were well prepared.’
Killer: Whant, 27, with his girlfriend Rachel Bird who gave evidence against him in the month-long murder trial at Newport Crown Court
Thug: Tattooed Whant, a 6ft 3in bouncer, was jailed for a minimum term of 35 years after unanimously being found guilty by the jury today
Damage: The fire was started by murderer Carl Whant, 27, in a desperate attempt to cover up for the killing of the 19-year-old mother-to-be
Charred: Inside Nikitta Grender’s upstairs flat which was almost completely destroyed by the blaze which ripped through it after she was murdered
Guilty: Police mugshot of murderer Carl Whant who was today jailed for 35 years
Mr Taylor told how Miss Grender disliked Whant – and ruled out that she had consented to sex with him.
He said: ‘It was common knowledge that Nikitta disliked Carl Whant – he was a self-confessed cocaine user and she thought he was a bad influence on Ryan.’
Mr Taylor said firefighters arrived to see smoke billowing out of the windows of the first-floor flat.
Mr Taylor said: ‘The fire was started deliberately there is no doubt about that. It was to mask the murder.
‘The firefighters broke through the door and inched their way across the floor when a five-foot ball of flame rolled across the ceiling from Nikitta’s bedroom.
‘When they got into that room they could see Nikitta’s body on the bed. It was heavily charred.’
Miss Grender was just 5ft 3in and weighed 7st 10lbs even though she was heavily pregnant.
Her parents Marcia Grender and Paul Brunnock said today following the verdict: ‘Nikitta was so young and beautiful and together with Ryan they were to become a very proud set of parents to Kelsey-May.
‘This has been ripped from them by Carl Whant who has never had the decency to tell us the truth.
‘We will never deal with the tragic events that have stolen our family from us.
‘But we hope we can at least start to understand what has happened.’
Serviceman: Carl Whant, 27, when he was in the Welsh Guards a few years ago
Detective Chief Superintendent Geoff Ronayne said police and the Crown Prosecution Service had ‘worked tirelessly and thoroughly’ to put the prosecution case together.
‘We are satisfied that justice has been served today with the conviction of Carl Whant for the horrific murder of Nikitta and Kelsey-May.
‘Whant has never admitted his guilt, given any indication as to why he committed this terrible crime or provided Nikitta’s family with any answers.’
He added that expert advice had been sought from across the UK in an effort to strengthen the case against Whant.
‘We have also done our best to provide support to Nikitta’s family and our thoughts, as they have always been, are with them today.
‘With the murder of Nikitta and Kelsey-May, they have lost their daughter, sister and granddaughter, and Ryan has lost his girlfriend and daughter.
‘The family and Ryan must be commended for their bravery and dignity, and for the support they have given to the police investigation over the last 12 months.
‘This process has undoubtedly been a harrowing ordeal for them.
‘I am hopeful that this conviction brings to an end one part of the process, although, without a doubt, they will continue to mourn the family and grieve for Nikitta and Kelsey-May for the rest of their lives.’
Murdered: Nikitta Grender, 19, was ready to give birth to her first child, Kelsey May, and had bought a cot and a pram
Cousins: Bouncer Carl Whant 27, left, raped and murdered the girlfriend of his cousin Ryan Mayes, right, killing their unborn baby
Torched: Nikitta Grender’s flat which was set on fire by drugged-up Carl Whant after he had stabbed her and her unborn baby to death in Newport, South Wales
Killer: Carl Whant 27, who murdered pregnant 19-year-old Nikitta Grender is pictured holding a child
Carl Whant sat composed and seemingly unemotional for weeks as he listened to the prosecution case in his murder trial.
As the quality and quantity of evidence against him built up, any residual doubt that he might be innocent rapidly disappeared.
Juries are warned at the start of any trial that they should reach their verdict only on the facts as set out in court.
But the case against Whant quickly appeared so overwhelming, expectations were raised that he would change his plea to guilty.
When that failed to happen many concluded that what his plea really amounted to was a denial of the truth.
The picture which emerged of Whant during the trial was that of an ineffectual loser living an aimless life.
A stint working as a nightclub bouncer had given way to work as a canvasser for a double glazing firm.
He had a cocaine habit and was regarded as unreliable and basically untrustworthy by his girlfriend and friends alike.
Habitually short of cash, his money seems to have been largely spent on cigarettes, drink and drugs.
Despite his faults he had won the friendship and respect of his youthful second cousin, Ryan Mayes.
The 17-year-old boyfriend of murdered mother-to-be Nikitta Grender, 19, was also the father of the unborn child.
Whant’s murderous act was all the more brutal for robbing his closest friend of a partner, a daughter and fatherhood.
Whant: A stint working as a nightclub bouncer had given way to work as a canvasser for a double glazing firm. He had a cocaine habit and was regarded as unreliable and basically untrustworthy by his girlfriend and friends alike
A year later he forced him to re-live the trauma suffered at his hands by insisting on his innocence in court against all the evidence.
‘PREGNANT MOTHER’S BABY COULD HAVE BEEN BORN ALIVE’
Carl Whant was charged with killing Nikitta’s unborn baby under a rarely-used law.
As the baby had not been born, legally he could not be accused of murder so instead he faced a child destruction charge.
The offence is rarely used in court and Whant is believed to be one of the few people charged with it in the last 10 years.
It covers those who kill unborn babies who are ‘capable of being born alive’.
It usually applies if the woman has been pregnant for 28 weeks or more – Nikitta had been pregnant for 38.
The crime was created in the 1929 under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act.
The act read: ‘Any person who, with intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, by any wilful act causes a child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother.
‘Shall be guilty of felony, to wit, of child destruction, and shall be liable on conviction thereof on indictment to penal servitude for life.’
The crime is punishable with life in prison – the same as murder.
David Wooler, Crown Advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service in Wales, said: ‘I decided that Carl Whant should also be charged with the offence of child destruction, under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929.
‘This is an offence which prohibits wilful acts causing the death of any child capable of being born alive – and given the advanced stage of Nikitta Grender’s pregnancy, Kelsey-May certainly fit that description.
‘Child destruction is, thankfully, a very rarely used charge; we are not aware of another case like this one in Wales.
‘When the legislation was originally drafted in the 1920s, it was intended to be used to curb the activities of back-street abortionists.
‘But in a more modern setting, it can be applied to cases where an offender deliberately takes the life of an unborn child through a violent or aggressive act.’
His denial was all the more unpalatable for the victim’s loved ones because of a belated claim that he had consensual sex with his victim.
Coming as it did little more than one month before the start of his murder trial, the claim smacked of desperation.
It was vital for Whant’s defence that he explain how his semen came to be found inside the dead body of Ms Grender.
His claim that he had sex with the heavily pregnant teenager on the evening of the murder at the invitation of Mr Mayes always appeared outlandish.
That he claimed the invitation was made moments after Mr Mayes had had sex with her himself sounded like the fiction of desperation.
Mr Mayes vehemently dismissed that either he or Whant had had sex with Ms Grender on the evening in question.
The claim meant that despite being a victim himself, his own sexual conduct came under scrutiny of Whant’s defence.
The teenager, aged only 16 at the time of his partner’s murder, was forced to stand and publicly deny ever sharing women with his cousin.
His obvious repugnance at the very idea was a final insult forced on him by his former friend. But Whant could not explain how Ms Grender’s blood came to be on his shirt and in his car.
He could not explain how his car was identified on CCTV by experts travelling a route on the morning of the murder which led to her Broadmead Park flat.
He admitted leaving a party in Newport at a time which gave him the opportunity to commit murder, claiming he was going to get cigarettes.
He claimed that he had visited his grandmother’s home to ask for them but failed to wake her.
Despite being able to describe his nine minute drive across Newport in detail, he went on to claim he had no memory of returning to the party.
His account was so riddled with inconsistencies and lies that nobody who sat through the trial could ever believe him innocent.
It was a measure of the man that to escape justice he was willing to force his friend through the added ordeal of a trial in spite of everything he had already done to him.
Family: Nikitta’s father Paul Brunnock, mother Marcia Grender, the victim’s boyfriend Ryan Mayes and Nikitta’s younger brother Luke exit Newport Crown Court (left). Right: Mr Mayes arrives at the court earlier in the case
FATHER-TO-BE TOLD MURDERED NIKITTA HE WOULD BE ‘PERFECT FATHER’
Stabbed to death: Nikitta Grender, 19, was in a long-term relationship with Ryan Mayes, Carl Whant’s cousin
Heartbroken father-to-be Ryan Mayes told how he was counting down the days to the arrival of his baby girl with partner Nikitta Grender.
The young couple had already named her Kelsey-May and painted her nursery pale pink.
Nikitta, 19, had bought nappies and baby clothing ready for the day she would proudly bring her back from hospital. Ryan, just 17, kept the ultra-sound scans of their baby on his mobile phone to show his friends and family.
Ryan had gone along to Nikitta’s ante-natal classes and had told family he planned to be the ‘perfect dad.’
He said: ‘After we moved in together our relationship improved – it went better. We just had ourselves and may have had one or two friends each.
‘We wanted each other and didn’t want to go out drinking and finding other people.
‘We just kept ourselves to ourselves and stayed strong. I was over the moon she was expecting a baby and she felt exactly the same.’
Eight and-a half-months pregnant Nikitta was due to give birth on Ryan’s 18th birthday – February 17th 2011.
But in the early hours of February 5 Ryan’s cousin Carl Whant called at the couple’s first-floor flat and murdered Nikitta.
Although Ryan loved and respected his older cousin – Nikitta didn’t like him.
Ryan said: ‘She didn’t like Carl because I spent a lot of time with him. Maybe she was a bit jealous.
‘She just couldn’t like him. The way he came across to her she didn’t like that. She didn’t like what he was about or what he liked doing.’
Ryan wore a pink shirt – Nikitta’s favourite colour – to the funeral of his girlfriend and unborn baby who were buried together.
He left a teddy bear wreath for Nikitta and Kelsey-May. It read: ‘My beautiful angels taken too soon. Sleep well my Princesses. Love Ryan (Daddy).’
Categories: News Tags: boyfriend's, Carl, cousin, Grender, Guilty, killing, Nikitta, pregnant, rape, teenager, trial, Whant
Double murder probe as bodies of two elderly women are found in separate houses by police investigating bungled burglary
- Officers found body of widow Margaret Biddolph, 78, as they investigated burglary in Southport, Merseyside
- Second body of pensioner in her 80s discovered today just a quarter of a mile away by police
By James White
Last updated at 11:38 AM on 22nd February 2012
A 43-year-old man was being questioned on suspicion of two murders today after the bodies of two elderly women were found by police investigating a bungled burglary.
Police first discovered the body of 78-year old widow Margaret Biddolph around 5.20pm yesterday at her home in Southport, Merseyside.
Today officers investigating her death confirmed a second woman in her 80s had been found dead at her home less than a quarter of a mile away.
Investigation: Forensic officers were today examining the home of Margaret Biddolph after her body was found inside. A second body of an elderly woman was found this morning at a house nearby in Southport, Merseyside
Cordoned-off: The road outside Mrs Biddolph’s home has been closed as police make forensic and door-to-door inquiries today
A spokesman for Merseyside Police said: ‘As a result of further inquiries, a second body has been recovered at an address in Birch Street, Southport, in the early hours of this morning.
‘At this time, the cause of death has yet to be established and Home Office post-mortems will be carried out later today.’
The 43-year-old suspect was in custody being questioned by detectives on suspicion of murder. The houses were cordoned off while forensic teams examined the scene. The causes of death in both cases are not known.
Mrs Biddolph had lived in the house, in Southport, Merseyside for 36 years and had been widowed for up to 40 years.
It is believed she has three grown-up children who live away and she had recently extensively refurbished her semi detached home.
Known for being immaculately dressed, Mrs Biddolph had recently undergone a hip replacement operation and was regularly seen walking to the local shops.
Home: Mrs Biddolph’s death, at her home, centre, has left neighbours in shock
One neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said: ‘We all knew her and talked to her because she had been here so long and was well-liked in the neighbourhood. It’s a big shock to everybody.
Alice Chandley was walking home from work with her three-year-old daughter when she saw police cars outside the £121,000 seaside home.
She said: ‘It’s such a quiet little street, you never get anything bad down here. Everyone’s nice and looks after each other. It’s bizarre and a shock.’
Speaking about the death of Mrs Biddolph, Det Ch Insp John Roberts, of Merseyside Police, said: ‘This is a tragic incident that has resulted in the death of an elderly woman. While we are at the early stages of the murder inquiry, we are investigating a possible connection with a burglary.
‘A man has been arrested in connection with the incident and we urge anyone who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously in the area in the days and weeks prior to the incident, or has any information about burglaries in the area to call us, no matter how small that piece of information may seem, as it could be important to our investigation.
‘House-to-house enquiries are ongoing in the area, high-visibility patrols have been stepped up and CCTV is also being sought.
‘A post mortem was scheduled to take place to establish the victim’s cause of death and enquiries are ongoing to trace next of kin.
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Categories: News Tags: bodies, bungled, Burglary, double, elderly, Found, houses, investigating, murder, Police, probe, separate, Women
Breaking news: Journalist killed in heavy shelling in Syria
By Charles Walford
Last updated at 9:44 AM on 22nd February 2012
Foreign correspondent Marie Colvin has been killed in Syria
Sunday Times war reporter Marie Colvin has been killed in heavy shelling in Syria.
The news comes just hours after the foreign correspondent reported on ‘sickening’ scenes in the war-torn city of Homs.
French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, also died in the attack on a building in Homs, where they were sheltering with activists.
Throughout her career she covered many conflicts around the globe, most recently Tunisia, Egypt and Libya in the grips of the Arab spring.
Although her area of speciality was the Arab and Persian world, she also worked in Chechnya, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka, where was injured and lost her eye in an ambush by government soldiers.
A passionate advocate of on the frontline war reporting, she once said: ‘Our mission is to report the horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice’.
She won the British press award for ‘Best Foreign Correspondent’ twice, for her work in reporting the conflict in Yugoslavia, Iran, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe; the International Women’s Media Foundation award for ‘Courage in Journalism’ for her coverage of Kosovo and Chechnya, and the Foreign Press Association’s Journalist of the Year award.
Colvin wrote and produced the BBC documentary Arafat: Behind the Myth and presented a documentary on Martha Gellhorn, the war correspondent famed for her coverage of the Spanish Civil War.
Fire and smoke rising from buildings in the Baba Amro neighbourhood in Homs during an attack by Syrian forces yesterday
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