Rihanna flies her tattoo artists 1,500 miles to spend 11 hours making her New Zealand tribal art work 'pretty'

Rihanna wanted to add to the tribal hand tattoo she got in New Zealand, so she called up her American ink artists.
Only thing was their New York City shop was 1,500 miles away. Not a problem for the Diamonds singer - she just put them on an airplane to meet her in the Dominican Republic on Sunday, according to PageSix.
The designers said it took them 11 hours to make the traditional marks 'pretty,' no doubt offending the ancient tribes. She showed off the new work during her Puerto Rico concert on Monday.

More ink: While performing in Puerto Rico on Monday, Rihanna showed off her new henna-inspired tattoo on her right hand that covered up most of the traditional art work she got in New Zealand

Before and after: Tattoo artist Keith McCurdy says he thinks he made her tribal art work 'pretty'

She can't stop: It took 11 hours to add to her old designs, and she was left 'bruised,' according to her artist

NEW ZEALANDER TATTOO ARTIST DEFENDS RIHANNA AFTER BACKLASH

Rihanna has been slammed on Twitter for modifying her traditional tribal ink.
Purple Kisses said, 'Far too much going on' and They Call Me Sir! said the decision was 'horrifying.'

Tiki Taane, who was one of Rihanna's New Zealand tattooists, has come out to defend the singer.

'I love how she’s pulling together all these different cultures through tattooing, that’s mean alright!' he wrote on his page.

'I think the added tattooing looks awesome! It pulls the traditional work in nicely. Go Riri i say. I know what its like traveling the world getting tattooed & its always a massive work in progress. Ive had 43 tattooist from around the planet work on me & im still along way off finishing it all. Choice one!'

Her artists Keith McCurdy and Cally Jo - who have tatted up Rihanna's pals Katy Perry and Justin Bieber - work out of Bang Bang Tattoo in New York City's Lower East Side.

'We designed something that plays over the knuckles and wrist, and just tried to incorporate it with what was done before,' Keith told Page Six.
'We blended what used to be there into a more decorative pattern. We tried to make it look like jewelry, a bit like a henna tattoo.'

 

Rihanna performs in skimpy leather outfit in Puerto Rico

Happy at last: Keith McCurdy said the Grammy winner 'loved' her new tattoos

An obsession?: The Barbados beauty has several other designs on her body, like a gun on her side

Does she want more? The Chris Brown ex has about 20 tattoos already

RIHANNA'S TOP TATTOOS

1. Egyptian queen Nefertiti
2. Hand gun
3. Skull
4. Dragon claw
5. 'Love'
6. 'Shhh...'
7. Pisces sign
8. Stars
9. Goddess Isis
10. XI IV LXXXVI

Keith added the 25-year-old was 'bruised' from the session on Sunday, but was 'fine.'
'We drew on her hand from 7 pm to midnight. We were drawing and changing things,' Keith told E!
'I'd take a break and Cally-Jo would draw, then I'd draw ... The inspiration was henna art, we wanted something really decorative, feminine and sexy. We thought that was the closest in style where we could shift and make it look decorative.
'She had something pre-existing on her hand. So it was a little bit of a cover up, but also making it look good, wanted to make sure it flowed. We needed to work with what she already had. [It was] difficult, because the stuff she already had was a pattern on skin. We were trying to fit the body with what she already had. Mend the two styles with a new style.'
Rihanna 'flipped out! Absolutely loved it, loved it!' the artist also told E!
He also commented on a before and after Instagram photo of the hand, 'So proud we made it pretty??'

Hardcore! She had a traditional Maori tattoo inked onto her arm with a chisel and mallet during her trip to New Zealand

Struggling: The intricate design featured lines and symbols going from the top of Rihanna's fingers down to the middle of her forearm

Read More »

Best friends, all four live in the same cul-de-sac. And they ALL found out their husbands were cheating on them

They met in a quiet Cardiff cul-de-sac as they embarked on married lives, babysat each other's children and laughed together on Friday nights.
But two decades later, Jan, Sarah, Jackie and Alison have more in common than just neighbourly bonds because, incredibly, within a year, all four discovered their husbands were having affairs. Here, they describe the very different ways they dealt with infidelity, and pay tribute to the friends who proved their salvation.

Scorned: They met in a quiet Cardiff cul-de-sac as they embarked on married lives, but two decades later, all four discovered their husbands were having affairs

I FORGAVE MY HUSBAND THREE AFFAIRS

Jan Griffiths, 47, is mother to Aiden, 30, Lucy, 18, and Josh, 13. She married her husband Stephen, 47, an entrepreneur, in March 1992. Stephen has had three affairs - the last of which was in October 2010 - but they remain married.
As I opened the letter, my jaw dropped in disbelief. 'Dear Jan,' it started. 'I have to tell you I've been having an affair with your husband for the past 11 months . . .'

The woman explained she was a local bar manager and that she was in love with Stephen. She also left her contact details.
Until that moment in 1997 I'd had no reason to question Stephen's fidelity - in the five years we'd been married he'd always seemed so dependable.

Cheating husband: Jan Griffiths forgave her husband's three affairs, though she doesn't fully trust him again

Stunned, I called my friend Sarah for advice. She had been living in the same cul-de-sac for two years and we'd become soul mates. Our great friend Alison had arrived in 1993 and Jackie, like Sarah, came along in 1995. Sarah reassured me that Stephen would never cheat. But I was determined to discover the truth, so I drove to his office, taking her for support.
Stephen was horrified when I walked in and flung the letter on his desk. He muttered that he'd only seen this woman once or twice. I stormed out, furious. Sarah's rage almost matched my own.
Over the next week, the atmosphere at home was terrible, as Stephen steadfastly refused to talk about what had happened. Desperate, I decided the only way to discover the truth was to meet the woman myself.
I arranged to meet her for coffee. With short blonde hair and an average figure, aged about 37, she wasn't even more attractive than me. By the time we finished our coffee I felt sorry for her. She was infatuated, but Stephen had told her he had no intention of leaving me.
When, days later, Stephen eventually confessed to the affair, he insisted he loved me, and that it had been a harmless flirtation which had led to a situation he couldn't get out of.
I tried to forgive but, as the months went by, I found it impossible to trust him.
While the 'girls' were very supportive and urged me to stick by him, it was hard being the only one with a cheating husband. They all appeared to have marriages that, if not perfect, were healthier. Eventually, a year later, Stephen and I went for counselling. It emerged he felt that not only had I become engrossed with the children, but I'd dominated our relationship. His affair had been his way of asserting himself.
Slowly I learned to trust him again: I felt the crisis had strengthened our marriage. So I was livid when, in October 2006, I heard him in the conservatory whispering to another woman on the phone at 2am.
I snatched the mobile - one I'd never seen before - from his hand. The line went dead and I stormed off, hiding his secret phone in my handbag.
The next morning, his mistress called and I answered. I learned she'd met Stephen when he was on a golfing weekend in Ireland nine months earlier and had no idea he was married. When I confronted him later, he insisted: 'Nothing happened. We just talked to each other.'
We stayed up all night arguing. He'd betrayed me again!

'I was livid when, in October 2006, I heard him in the conservatory whispering to another woman on the phone at 2am.'

Despite my rage, by 6am I decided I didn't want to leave. Stephen was still a wonderful father, and I have to be honest about the fact that I didn't want to jeopardise our comfortable lifestyle. But the damage was done and our physical relationship disappeared overnight.
'I didn't worry that the lack of it would make Stephen stray: after all, he'd proved he could cheat even when we'd had a healthy sex life.
When the girls from the cul-de-sac got together on Friday nights for cocktails, they were respectful of my decision and careful not to judge.
Then, in November 2010, I found yet another strange mobile phone, tucked in a seat pocket in our car. On it were dozens of flirtatious text messages to yet another woman.
I confronted Stephen immediately. He admitted he'd met her on another golfing trip a month earlier.
'She means nothing . . . nothing happened,' he insisted. 'I love you.'
I didn't know what to do. He insisted that, like the time before, nothing physical had happened. But should I stand by him or throw him out?

Jan and Stephen's wedding day: While the couple are still together, Jan has set up Women Scorned, a support website for cheated wives who can't afford expensive therapy

When I asked the girls, Jackie pointed out the positives. Unlike her husband, Stephen was attentive and funny, and she reminded me how happy we'd been.
But in February, unable to bear the betrayal any longer, I snapped and told him: 'I want a divorce.'
Stephen's reaction shocked me. He started to cry and seemed so genuinely sorry that I knew I couldn't leave. But I warned him I would not tolerate any more infidelities.
It's been three years now. I'd be lying if I said I fully trusted Stephen, but when I see him playing with our youngest son, I'm so glad I gave him another chance.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Jackie, Sarah and Alison, because over the next eight months they would all find themselves alone after their own husbands cheated.
It was their ordeals that inspired me to set up Women Scorned, a support website for cheated wives who can't afford expensive therapy. As I know all too well, the support of friends is worth any number of counselling sessions.    

Sarah Roberts: 'My whole life felt like a lie'

I HAD A BREAKDOWN

Sarah Roberts, 42, married Lloyd, 43, in July 1991. They have three daughters: Jenny, 20, Felicity, 15, and Ruth, six. Lloyd, a manager at an electricity board, left her in July 2011. Sarah still lives in Cardiff, as do Lloyd and his new partner.  
When Stephen betrayed Jan, I felt so sorry for her, but never expected in a million years that Lloyd would do the same to me.
My husband and I met at a party in 1986 and had a fairytale wedding in 1991. Four years later we moved into a three-bedroom end-of-terrace in Jan's cul-de-sac.
It was a great place to bring up a young family and as our children grew up, we bonded over play-dates and milestones like their first days at school. Meanwhile, Lloyd was the perfect father and husband. I adored him.
Then, four years ago, he suddenly took up running and bought a motorbike.
I put his odd behaviour down to a mid-life crisis. After all, I thought, we still told each other everything and we had a healthy sex life.
So I was stunned when an anonymous letter arrived in January 2011, claiming Lloyd had been caught in a romantic clinch with a colleague.
'This letter has also been sent to Lloyd's boss and his married colleague's husband,' it stated. 'You need to be aware of what's going on.'
That night Lloyd denied everything, saying it was a cruel prank and he loved me. I believed him.
For the next seven months, we carried on as normal, our sex life remaining as good as ever. We even made love the night before he left me.
It was July 2011, the week before our 20th wedding anniversary.
That morning Lloyd asked me to do a supermarket shop. But when I got back, he announced: 'I don't want to be married to you any more.'
I fell to the floor and just howled.
I could see his belongings in his car: he'd clearly sent me out so he could pack his things. He insisted before driving off that he wasn't seeing another woman.
Where had the devoted man I loved disappeared to? My whole life felt like a lie.
A few days later, I took a razor to my wrists. I wanted to end it all.
My eldest daughter found me and my sister drove me to hospital, where I was diagnosed with an emotional breakdown. For the next six weeks, I stayed at a mental health unit.

Fairytale wedding: The week before their 20th wedding anniversary, Lloyd left Sarah

The girls from the cul-de-sac were amazing. Jan, recently betrayed herself and doubly supportive, took me for walks and made cakes for my daughters. We spent evenings watching Steel Magnolias - our favourite film. Here we were, two women whose husbands had abused our trust.
In December 2011, Lloyd and his colleague made their relationship official, though others have since told me they'd been together for around a year.
Later that month, I filed for divorce.
Lloyd's new relationship was a blow, but my girlfriends wouldn't let me crumble again. They listened patiently as I ranted.
I hope one day I will be able to laugh again. If anyone can put a smile on my face, these girls can.

Jackie Powell: 'We grew more distant, but I never suspected he was cheating'

I started dating

Jackie Powell, 52, married Paul, a university lecturer, in April 1992. They have two children: James, 20, and Amelia, 19. In April 2010, Paul, 59, left Jackie for a Mexican woman whom he married in May 2011. They now live in Mexico City. Jackie still lives in Cardiff.  
As much as I love my friends, sometimes I feel our cul-de-sac was cursed.  
Paul and I moved into our detached four-bedroom house in 1995 after he took a post at the University of Wales. We'd met in 1991 when I was a mature student and he was my psychology lecturer. By the time we married, I was already five weeks pregnant and had abandoned my university place.
As a stay-at-home mother, I quickly built a rapport with the other mums in the cul-de-sac. We took it in turns to host New Year's Eve parties and spent many evenings gossiping when the children were in bed.
Meanwhile, at home Paul chipped away at my confidence. He'd accuse me of not cleaning our house properly or criticise my hair.
Still, when Jan confided about her husband's affairs, while I felt sympathy, part of me was relieved that at least I hadn't had to go through that.
Paul, meanwhile, thought my girlfriends were beneath him: 'They're a waste of space,' he said.
He never elaborated, but I knew it was because they weren't as educated as him.
In 2005 Paul took up Spanish, claiming it would help his career. By 2008 he was going abroad regularly to forge 'good relations' with other universities.
We grew more distant, but I never suspected he was cheating.

So I was shocked when, at Easter 2010, Paul announced it wasn't working between us and he was going  to Mexico to stay with a lecturer called Alma.
When I told my friends, Jan advised me to get myself a good solicitor. I thought it was too soon, but she was right: two weeks later Paul returned and told me he wanted a divorce.
'Get the rat to move out,' insisted Jan when I called her in tears. But, fearing I'd be judged a failure if he left, I moved into the spare room instead. A month later I was served with divorce papers while Paul was at work.
That evening, he admitted he was in a 'growing relationship' with Alma.

Jackie's wedding, 1992: Jackie has started seeing someone else but she's devastated she couldn't make her marriage last

Our divorce was finalised in January 2011, but he still refused to leave the family home. Then, the following month, I found an invitation to his wedding in his bedside table. It was to be in Mexico City that May.
I felt sick as I called Jan. She came straight over and told me I deserved more. Later that week, Sarah took me to a bar to cheer me up.
While they couldn't take away my pain, just having my friends, who had been in the same boat, on my side made me feel better.
Finally, Paul agreed to let me have our £195,000 home and moved out a month after marrying Alma. Last July, he retired and moved to Mexico. The children have visited once.
While I haven't had a serious romance since, for the past two years I have been seeing someone. It's a casual relationship based on friendship: I still find it hard to trust. I'm devastated I couldn't make my marriage last. Having given up my degree and ambitions for Paul, I sacrificed so much. So I hope it works out for him - otherwise, all the hurt will have been for nothing.

I WANTED TO KEEP MY TUNISIAN TOYBOY

Alison: 'I logged onto his email and discovered a string of messages from a German girl'

Alison Morris, 52, married Aymen, 32, a Tunisian waiter, in May 2010. They divorced in May 2012 after she claimed Aymen had been flirting with other women. Alison lives alone in Cardiff.
The first friend I made when I moved into the cul-de-sac was Jan. It was 1993 and I'd just bought a two-bedroom semi five doors down from her. We bonded over coffee and I loved her honesty. She was a kindred spirit.
When she confided about her husband's affairs, I admired the way she stuck to her guns when the obvious thing would have been to throw Stephen out. She never minced her words.
While I'd had a partner for 19 years, we broke up in 2009.
When I fell for a gorgeous man 20 years my junior on holiday shortly afterwards, I remember Jan saying: 'Don't give him any money.'
Aymen and I met in the restaurant where he worked on the first evening of my Tunisian break.
With his cheeky smile, I was thrilled when he invited me for coffee. We kissed, we watched the stars from his rooftop and we became inseparable. The day after I flew home, he texted saying he missed me.
Part of me knew a relationship was a ridiculous idea, but I found his attention irresistible.
I visited him in October and again in December. The following month he told me his flatmate had moved out and he couldn't afford the rent on his own. Would I transfer £200?
I agreed, but didn't tell the girls as I knew they would think I was naive.
After that, I was giving him at least £200 every month, even though I couldn't afford it.
I began going to Tunisia regularly and in April 2010 Aymen proposed.
I accepted. My former partner had just got engaged and I wanted to prove I was desirable, too.
The girls thought I was mad. 'You barely know him,' said Jackie. 'Have you lost your mind?'
But I loved feeling wanted. We married in Tunisia on May 6, 2010.
Aymen didn't want to leave Tunisia and, as my mother's carer, I couldn't leave Cardiff, but I visited him often.
But soon after we married, I found a perfume bottle in his bathroom and a pair of earrings under his bed. He insisted they belonged to his friend's girlfriend and I wanted to believe him.
But by the summer of 2011 I was increasingly suspicious. During a visit that September, I logged onto his email and discovered a string of messages from a German girl. There were other flirtatious emails to Polish and Russian girls.

'When I confronted him about the emails, he shrugged'

When I confronted him, he shrugged and said: 'You're always accusing me of being with other women anyway.'
The girls here were so sympathetic, but then they all knew what it was like to be cheated on. Jackie even offered to fly to Tunisia with me to help me sort things out. I felt stupid but didn't want to admit defeat.
Then, the day after I got back from a visit in January 2012, Aymen rang and said he wanted a divorce. I later found out that he had a new Tunisian girlfriend.
I couldn't face going to the divorce hearing, but as far as I'm aware I'm now divorced, although I still haven't received my papers.
Thankfully, I have not been asked to pay him any more money. I wasted thousands of pounds on a man who only ever wanted me for cash and I'm a fool for not realising it sooner.
But the best thing about the girls? They never once said: 'I told you so.' After all, we've all had our hearts broken in different ways.
Some names have been changed. For the support website for cheated wives that Jan set up, visit  women-scorned.co.uk.

Read More »

Terrorised by union bullies: How Labour's Unite paymasters intimidated managers and their children in bitter oil refinery battle

The full extent of the Unite union’s campaign of bullying and intimidation against senior managers during the bitter Grangemouth oil refinery dispute is revealed today.
In a disturbing echo of the union militancy of the 1970s and 80s, Unite leaders deployed a dirty tricks squad to personally target and humiliate executives of the Ineos chemical company and their families.
The sinister unit – known as the ‘Leverage team’ – sent mobs of protesters to the homes of senior figures in the firm.
One director last night said he had feared for the safety of his wife and his two young children after 30 Unite protesters descended on his drive during the school holidays.

The Unite union bullied and intimidated senior managers during the bitter Grangemouth oil refinery dispute

Police were called after the group approached his neighbours, telling them he was ‘evil’ in an apparent attempt to coerce him into giving in to their demands.
The daughter of another company boss had ‘Wanted’ posters denouncing her father posted through her front door hundreds of miles away in Hampshire.
The union agreed to call off the Leverage team only as part of the settlement of  the dispute.
Yesterday, an unrepentant Unite spokesman said such activities were ‘legitimate in the context of an industrial dispute’, adding that ‘bad employers should have nowhere to hide’.

Stephen Deans, the Unite organiser at the heart of the dispute

Details of the bully-boy tactics were revealed yesterday as David Cameron branded Stephen Deans, the Unite organiser at the heart of the dispute, a ‘rogue trade unionist’ whose behaviour nearly sank the plant.
Ineos threatened to close the Grangemouth plant after Mr Deans and Unite refused a new pay and pension package designed to save the business.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey brought the dispute to crisis point by launching strike action.
Unite finally caved in last Friday and Mr Deans resigned on Monday after being told he would be fired for spending a quarter of his working hours on Labour party business. Mr Deans was also chairman of the Falkirk Labour party where he had become embroiled in a Labour vote-rigging scandal.
The Prime Minister said of Mr Deans: ‘Frankly, we have a real problem with a rogue trade unionist at Grangemouth who nearly brought the Scottish petrochemical industry to its knees.’
One Grangemouth boss, who as asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, called the police after 25 Unite members working for the union’s Leverage team protested on his driveway with flags, banners and an inflatable rat for about 90 minutes on October 18.
The director was called by his wife, who was out with her children and had been phoned by a friend to say a mob had arrived on their doorstep. He rushed to the scene said he was overcome with ‘bloody anger’ when he saw they had targeted him.
‘It was a mob, a threatening mob,’ he said. Children as young as seven who were playing on the street were coaxed into joining the mob.
‘They were trying to humiliate me,’ the director said. ‘Trying to portray me as a nasty boss, a nasty capitalist. To portray me as someone evil. Their intent was to have my neighbours thinking, gosh, what sort of a guy do we have living there.

Unite members protest outside the home of an Ineos director over the Grangemouth dispute

‘It was just despicable to approach kids and try to introduce them to a demonstration against one of their neighbours. It’s hard to find words to describe the lunacy of their behaviour.’
Police were called and interviewed the director and his neighbours at length, saying they would search out the members of the group on suspicion of being in breach of the peace. Officers decided not to press charges.

The director added: ‘Their intent was to gain concessions. But taking it to someone’s home, to someone’s drive, during the school holidays, is way over the line.’

LEVERAGE IS LEGITIMATE, SAYS UNION

Unite admit the use of ‘Leverage’ on their website and claim it has helped secure a number of ‘landmark victories’.
It says: ‘Leverage is a process whereby the union commits resources and time to making all interested parties aware of the treatment received by Unite members at the hands of an employer.
‘Those interested parties may include shareholders of the employer; competitors of the employer; communities within which the employer operates; customers of the employer and the market place of the employer.
‘We ask all interested parties to make moral and ethical decisions about their future relations with an employer who we believe is acting immorally.
‘Unite will make sure all are aware of the true facts behind an employer’s poor treatment of our members.
‘We will ask those who object to the behaviour of an immoral employer to conduct in lawful protest against the actions of the employer.
‘Where Unite members are involved in such lawful protest the union will use  its best endeavours to ensure such  members are aware of their rights of  lawful protest. Leverage is not a call for unofficial action.
‘Leverage is about the democratic right of the union to ensure that immoral employers cannot hide behind veils of secrecy and must conduct their business in an open and transparent fashion and accept the consequences of the moral judgements that may follow.
‘It is in no way a replacement for  collective strength. The development of industrial power remains vital if workers are to have the ability to win long-term.
‘Leverage does not offer a solution that excludes the critical need to organise workers.
‘Leverage has secured landmark  victories including:
‘Honda – defeat of de-recognition at the CAC.
‘BESNA – defeat of the so-called BESNA 7 – construction industry ‘majors’ – who were seeking to rip up industry agreements and impose inferior contracts on thousands of workers.
‘London Buses – a supplementary payment gained following a dispute over additional workload caused by London’s hosting of the Olympics.’

The director and his wife now fear for the safety of their children, who are both under ten.
‘It had quite an impact on my kids,’ he said. ‘My wife is very concerned that they could turn up at any time again. They know where I live. It’s in the back of my mind.’
Leaflets denouncing company owner Jim Ratcliffe were also posted through the doors of homes in the town where he lives.
Union protests were also held outside dozens of businesses which trade with Ineos, including their bankers Lloyds and customers Sainsbury’s and Asda, in a effort to pressurise them to cut their ties with the firm.
Another Ineos director said: ‘They have send flying squads of protesters to dozens of businesses we have links with. The put leaflets through the door of pretty much every house in Lyndhurst where we have our headquarters. My daughter received a poster explaining what a terrible person I am.
‘This behaviour smacks of totalitarianism. The way they have been behaving is frankly insane.’
The Mail has seen an email, sent from Mr Deans’ email account last Wednesday, acknowledging that the Leverage unit went on the attack.
The message, written by Mr Deans’ fellow Unite convenor Mark Lyons to Calum MacLean and Declan Sealy, the two Ineos negotiators, offered the company a deal. In addition to accepting the ‘survival plan’ and ‘pensions proposals’, the Unite point man also says union bosses will ‘ensure withdrawal of leverage strategy’.
On Unite’s website, the union boasts that it uses ‘leverage’ to put pressure on ‘shareholders of the employer, competitors of the employer, communities within which the employer operates’ and ‘customers of the employer’.
‘Leverage is about the democratic right of the Union to ensure that immoral employers cannot hide behind veils of secrecy.’
The behaviour of the Leverage team appears not to violate union laws banning secondary picketing since protests are allowed if they do not prevent employers of the firms they targeted from going to work.
But the Tories last night branded the revelations ‘extremely sinister’ and called on Ed Milibad to reopen Labour’s inquiry into the activities of Unite.
A Unite spokesman said: ‘All the activities referred to are both legal and legitimate in the context of an industrial dispute. Bad employers should have nowhere to hide.
‘Of course all campaigning in the context of the Ineos dispute has now ended.
‘However for the workers and their union to be described as “bullies” is beyond satire.’
Last night Len McCluskey denounced Mr Cameron after he used Prime Minister’s Question Time to criticise Mr Deans.
‘The Prime Minister’s conduct today was disgraceful,’ said Mr McCluskey. ‘His rush to smear a good and honourable man will appal decent-thinking people. He should apologise at once.’

Read More »

Frightening scale of reoffending revealed: 148,000 criminals caught this year had at least FIFTEEN previous convictions

Almost 150,000 criminals convicted or cautioned last year had committed 15 or more previous offences,  figures revealed last night.
The ‘frightening’ re-offending rates mean this group alone have been responsible for  more than two million crimes between them.
And shockingly, the number of such career criminals has increased by 14 per cent in just five years.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said the figures exposed the abject failure of the criminal justice system to get to grips with repeat offenders and showed the desperate need for action to tackle persistently high reoffending rates.
Mr Grayling said the public – and the Government – were ‘fed up with crooks doing their time and going straight back to crime’. The Justice Secretary has proposed radical reforms to the Probation Service aimed at reducing recidivism among hardened criminals.
Charities and private firms will be paid ‘by results’ to engage with criminals and help them turn their lives around.
But his reforms have faced fierce opposition from unions – who are planning strike action next week – and probation chiefs.

Reform: Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said plans to privatise the probation service will save taxpayers millions

Last night Mr Grayling said: ‘People should stop and think about what these bleak figures represent – too many devastated victims, too many wasted lives and broken families, and millions in taxpayers’ money squandered.
‘Simply put, the situation is grim and it will only get worse by sitting on our hands and doing nothing.
‘Our reforms will help us put a stop to this, for the first time making it possible for every offender coming out of prison to receive at least 12 months’ support and supervision.
‘And we will only pay for services in full where they are proven to cut reoffending, making sure public money goes further.’
The previously unseen Ministry of Justice figures show some 148,641 criminals with 15 or more cautions or convictions to their names offended again in the year to  March 2013.
That total is up 14 per cent in five years, from 130,153 in 2008.
This group are therefore responsible for at least 2.25million crimes – although the true extent of their criminality will be much higher, as the figures do not capture how many more crimes than 15 each had committed.
In addition, many will have carried out further offences which went undetected.
The statistics also show that more than half a million offenders with at least one previous conviction or caution committed a further crime in the same period.
That includes 95 per cent of those given short jail sentences of less than 12 months.

Under pressure: The Goverment is being urged to suspend plans to overhaul the probation service. Probation trusts have said the plans pose a risk to public safety while the probation officers union is planning to strike

In addition, more than 350,000 of those convicted or cautioned in the same period had served some kind of community sentence.
Justice officials said the statistics exposed the ‘frightening scale’ of reoffending.
Experts say crime is increasingly committed by a small group of hardened offenders who return to crime again and again.

The previously unseen Ministry of Justice figures show some 148,641 criminals with 15 or more cautions or convictions to their names offended again in the year to March 2013

Peter Cuthbertson, director of the Centre for Crime Prevention think-tank, said: ‘These are appalling figures. Thugs are going through a revolving door of probation and soft justice and then reoffending time and again.
‘We need to do far more of what works – tough prison sentences. Locking up serious, repeat offenders cuts crime and protects the public.’
Under the new reforms Mr Grayling’s department will award contracts worth £450million to private and voluntary groups who will supervise some 225,000 low and medium-risk offenders.
The remaining rump of 31,000 high-risk offenders, including  dangerous violent and sexual  criminals, will remain under State control.
Criminals given short-term jail sentences, who currently are not supervised at all after their release from jail, will be given at least 12 months supervision and rehabilitation on release from prison.
This ‘Rehabilitation Revolution’ will, it is hoped, make a significant dent in reoffending rates.
The figures expose how reoffending remains persistently high – despite some recent falls – and  tens of thousands of criminals  continue to offend after completing community service or probation programmes.
Members of the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo) union are due to strike next Tuesday over the policy.
And yesterday the Guardian reported that the chairmen of the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Warwickshire probation trusts have told the Justice Secretary the plans will risk public safety.
The Ministry of Justice has said that more than 700 organisations worldwide have expressed an interest in carrying out the work, including hundreds of British firms.
In a letter to the Justice Secretary, Jane Wilson, chairman of the Leicestershire and Rutland probation trust, said the current timetable had ‘serious implications for service delivery and therefore increases the risk to public safety’.

Read More »

Girl, 13, digs herself out of a shallow grave after she is raped and buried alive by two men in Pakistan

A teenage girl dug herself out of shallow grave after she was raped by two men and buried alive.
The 13-year-old was snatched while walking to Koran lessons from her local village in Punjab and raped by the men in an isolated area.
Her attackers then buried her alive when they thought that she had died during the assault.

Horrific: A 13-year-old girl was buried alive and left for dead after being snatched while on her way to Koran class in the Toba Tek Singh region of Pakistan

But she regained consciousness and managed to dig her way out of the muddy grave and flag down a passerby.
She was taken to a medical centre and survived her horrific ordeal.
According to the New York Post, her father Siddique Mughal told local police that his daughter had been taken.
But they initially refused to investigate the incident.
But they were ordered to arrest the girl's alleged attackers by the Lahore High Court Chief Justice's Complaint Cell.

Another victim: 2007 Gang-rape victim Kainat Soomro was labelled a 'black virgin' and shunned by her rural village after she accused her alleged attackers

A judge from the Toba Tek Sing area, where the attack took place, has also been asked to investigate the matter.
Child rape is becoming increasingly problematic in Pakistan.
According to Pakistani children's charity Sahil, the number of children raped between 2002 and 2012 increased from 668 to 2,788.
One of the most notable cases was that of Kainat Soomro who was attacked by four men when she was aged just 13 in 2007.
She was shunned by her village after speaking out against her attackers and was labelled a 'kari' or 'black virgin'.
Despite her own family being ordered to kill her to rid themselves of shame, they stood by her despite threats of violence against them.
Her father and one of her brothers were beaten, and another older brother went missing and was later found murdered.
Despite her quest for justice, her alleged attackers were eventually acquitted.
She told the Press earlier this year that her family have 'lost everything'.

Read More »

ITV rejected me for live national service debate because I'm a girl, says Cambridge Union president.

Snubbed: Joanna Mobed was stunned when researchers from ITV's Alan Titchmarsh Show changed their minds her taking part in a debate because she was a woman

As the president of the Cambridge Union, Joanna Mobed is one of the best young debaters in the country.
So the 20-year-old felt more than capable of taking part in a current affairs discussion when a TV show contacted her.
But she was left stunned when researchers from ITV’s Alan Titchmarsh Show had a change of heart – after they found out she was a girl.
They explained that since the debate was about national service, they wanted two men to take part and asked her if she knew any male debaters instead.
Yesterday, Miss Mobed, a linguistics finalist at Murray Edwards College, said she was upset by the treatment.
‘Being a woman should not disqualify me from speaking on that motion,’ she said. ‘I was disappointed by the decision to take the programme in this direction.’
But last night ITV defended its decision, saying male debaters were needed because the discussion had been about ‘reinstating national service for men’.
However, the Bill before Parliament regarding national service also applies to women.
Producers of the daytime programme on ITV had wanted to pit the presidents of the Oxford Union and Cambridge Union against each other in a segment called the ‘Daily Ding Dong’.
After Miss Mobed – who is expected to get a first when she graduates next year – agreed to take part in the feature, she received an email telling her she was no longer needed.
The male researcher wrote: ‘This afternoon I thought I had finally got everything sorted and would be able to come back to you with the debate motion and all the details.
‘However, my executive producer has decided she wants the debate to be a specific way so all my plans have got [sic] out of the window. She would like two men to debate the motion, “This house would reinstate national service” so would it be possible for you to find me a guy who would be willing to take part? It would also be best if he was British.
‘If you could let me know as soon as you can if this would be OK and the details of who you would like to put forward.’
Miss Mobed, who has also represented the university in cross-country running and completed several summer internships in banking and finance, was upset by the email.
‘I was also a bit surprised by the request for a British speaker,’ she told student newspaper The Tab.

Change of plan: Producers of the Alan Titchmarsh Show had had wanted to pit the presidents of the Oxford Union and Cambridge Union against each other, but when Miss Mobed agreed to take part she was told she was no longer needed

No girls allowed: ITV has defended its decision, saying male debaters were needed because the discussion had been about 'reinstating national service for men'

‘When debating, what matters is a person’s ability to think through and understand the issues involved.
‘Gender and nationality should not be a consideration in this matter.’
Conservative MP Philip Hollobone has proposed legislation that would make it mandatory for anyone aged 18-26 –regardless of sex – to spend a year doing charity work, caring for the elderly or serving in the armed forces. According to the Bill which is currently under consideration by Parliament, participants would be paid the minimum wage and would be required to live away from home, although accommodation and food would be paid for.

Academic: Miss Mobed is expected to get a first when she graduates in linguistics from Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge

The Alan Titchmarsh Show is made for ITV by production company Spun Gold. Last night an ITV spokesman said: ‘As a TV programme we cast contributors in accordance with the subject matter.
‘For this particular item we wanted to debate the motion of reinstating national service for men and so we were looking to cast two men who would explore both sides of the argument.’
Earlier this year, the Cambridge Union became involved in another sexism row after one of its female students was subjected to heckles during a debate at Glasgow University. Since it was founded in 1815, the student-run institution has hosted many powerful figures such as Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill.

Read More »