Armoured & Luxury
Chauffeur Driven Cars

A 14-hour stand-off between a gunman and armed police in Oxford has “ended peacefully”, police have said.

Shots were exchanged between the suspect and officers in Paradise Square on Monday before negotiators attempted to end the situation.

A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder at about 03:00 BST, police said.

One person is being treated for a non-life threatening injury, South Central Ambulance Service said.

Firearms officers were called at 13:15 BST on Monday after witnesses reported hearing gunfire.

Dean Dwyer, who saw armed police in the street, said: “They were screaming ‘put your hands up’.” One resident said he heard about 20 shots exchanged, with the gunman “shooting from the balcony” of a home. “I could hear a female negotiator and an armed response man trying to get him to put his hands up [and] let go of the gun,” he said.

Read More

The US has formally complained to China over several incidents of its pilots being irritated by lasers it says are coming from a Chinese base in Djibouti.

The Pentagon said it had asked China to investigate what it called “very serious incidents”. It said people at the east African base had been shining military-grade lasers at US pilots coming in to land.

In one case, two pilots on a cargo plane suffered minor eye injuries, officials said.

The US has a military base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, which is used for counter terrorism operations in Africa and the Middle East.

Last year, China opened its first overseas military base only a few kilometres from the US facility.

“They are very serious incidents. We have formally démarched the Chinese government and we’ve requested the Chinese investigate these incidents,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White told reporters.

Read More

Two people with links to the UK have been arrested in Iran, according to the Foreign Office and the British Council.

Mahan Abedin has dual Iranian and British citizenship – while Aras Amiri is an Iranian living in London who works for the British Council.

The Foreign Office said it is “urgently seeking information” about Mr Abedin. He is not the first UK citizen to be detained in Iran recently – Abbas Edalat, a British-Iranian academic, was arrested in Tehran in April. And Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian arrested in April 2016, is serving a five-year jail sentence in Iran.

The British Council said Ms Amiri was not working in Iran – the group, which aims to improve cultural relations, was stopped from working in the country by then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. The council said she was on a private trip to visit family.

Read More

The parents of a mentally ill ex-soldier warned a health trust he was collecting knives before he murdered an 83-year-old dog walker.

Alexander Palmer, 24, stabbed Peter Wrighton 45 times in woodland near East Harling, Norfolk, in August.

A letter from a Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust psychiatrist said Palmer was told to “get rid” of the weapons and would “hopefully” comply. The trust said an internal review into the case was under way.

Palmer was described as “dangerous” when he was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Mr Wrighton, whose injuries were so severe police initially thought he had been killed by an animal.

Palmer’s parents said their warnings that their son was not taking his medication were ignored because health workers said they could only “believe the patient”.

His mother and stepfather – who do not want to be named – said he had been documented as saying it was “inevitable” he would kill. The parents said they also told mental health professionals Palmer had knives and added the “severity” of his illness was not appreciated.

Read More

Two boys plotted to kill fellow pupils and teachers after becoming obsessed with a school shooting in the US, a court heard.

Prosecutors allege the pair “hero-worshipped” two students who killed 12 pupils and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999. The boys, both 15, deny conspiracy to murder and other offences.

They allegedly planned the attack at a school in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The Columbine massacre was carried out by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who then committed suicide.

Prosecutor Paul Greaney QC said: “Eighteen years after the Columbine massacre and nearly 4,500 miles away, two young teenagers in North Yorkshire became fascinated with Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.”

“Those two teenagers researched and discussed those killers and their interest in them turned to hero worship.”

Read More