Rolf Harris Jailed For More Than Five Years

Shamed entertainer Rolf Harris has been sentenced to five years and nine months behind bars for a string of sex attacks against young girls.

However the attorney general has since said the sentence has been referred to him as unduly lenient by a member of the public.

He will now decide whether to pass the sentence on to the Court of Appeal for review.

The 84-year-old, convicted on Monday of 12 counts of indecent assault between 1968 and 1986, was flanked by guards in the dock as the punishment was handed down.

One of his four victims was seven or eight years old, and the others, including the best friend of Harris' daughter Bindi, were teenagers aged between 14 and 19.

The judge at Southwark Crown Court Mr Justice Sweeney told the disgraced performer: "You have shown no remorse for your crimes at all.

Harris' daughter Bindi (L). His wife Alwen not in court due to ill-health

"Your reputation lies in ruins, you have been stripped of your honours, but you have no one to blame but yourself.

"You took advantage of the trust placed in you because of your celebrity status to commit the offences."

During the seven-week trial, prosecutor Sasha Wass described Harris as a ''sinister pervert''.

She claimed he had a ''dark side'' and was a ''Jekyll and Hyde character''.

The main complainant was Bindi's best friend, to whom seven of the 12 counts related.

The woman, now aged 49, said she had been "traumatised" by the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of Harris.

She said: "The attacks that happened have made me feel dirty, grubby and disgusting. The whole sordid saga has traumatised me."

Another victim, Australian Tonya Lee - who waived her right to anonymity - said her assault by Harris in a London pub during a visit to England was a "turning point" in her life that she has never recovered from.

She said: "I have never felt safe since, I live in a constant state of anxiety."

Harris earlier left his riverside home on a boat

A third victim, indecently assaulted by him as she went to get his autograph at a Portsmouth community centre when she was seven or eight, said Harris' assault took away her childhood.

She added the incident left her angry and confused, adding: "I became an angry child, unable to express myself and unable to trust men."

A fourth victim, who was assaulted when she was a teenager as Harris took part in a celebrity game show in Cambridge in the 1970s, said he took advantage of her, making her feel ashamed.

She said: "He treated me like a toy that he had played with for his own pleasure."

Harris had arrived at court accompanied by Bindi, and made his way inside the building without commenting to reporters.

In the dock, he had a small, multi-coloured suitcase on a chair behind him.

His wife, Alwen, was not in court as she was apparently unwell.

Harris' lawyer Sonia Woodley told the court that despite his convictions he had led an " upright life" for the last 20 years, and had done "much good".

Harris had earlier left his riverside home in Bray, Berkshire by boat as he made his way to London to hear his fate.

Since his conviction Harris has been stripped of his Bafta fellowship, lost an honorary degree from the University of East London and also faces losing his CBE.

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Allegations Of Harris' Shocking Web Searches

Details of Rolf Harris' alleged web searches for sexual images of young girls have been revealed - but prosecutors say the convicted paedophile will not go on trial over the claims.

The 84-year-old had 33 sexual photographs of children in a much larger collection of thousands of adult pornographic images, it was claimed.

But Harris' legal team told judge Mr Justice Sweeney the models in the photos were over 18, according to their identity documents provided by website bosses in the Ukraine.

They also maintained the entertainer accidentally accessed the images when he clicked on links from mainstream porn sites.

Harris was found guilty on Monday of 12 counts of indecent assault between 1968 and 1986 and was jailed on Friday for five years and nine months.

One of his four victims was seven or eight year old, and the rest were teenagers aged between 14 and 19.

Prosecutor Sasha Wass QC said: "In the light of the 12 unanimous convictions on the counts that Mr Harris faced, the Crown Prosecution Service has decided it is no longer in the public interest to proceed with a trial on these four charges."

Prosecutors claimed he had looked at a website called "teeny tiny girlfriends" and accessed a picture of a girl who was "extremely young in appearance".

Harris also allegedly clicked on other words including "youngest teen porn", "my little nieces" and "young teen girls".

Expert opinion gathered by both sides disagreed over whether the images were of underage girls, with the prosecution claiming one was of a child under 13.

This was denied by the defence, which maintained that all the models were adults and that the word "teen" could refer to someone of 18 or 19 years of age.

As the counts were debated during legal argument, Ms Wass said: " If it was an accident, it appears to be an accident he had a number of times."

Both sides agreed he had clicked on "young teen galleries" and "Russian virgins" while looking at porn.

Prosecutors alleged he deleted the images because he knew they were illegal, but again the defence denied this.

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Costa Concordia: Eerie New Video From Wreck

Italian police have released startling new video showing the interior of the sunken liner Costa Concordia.

The eerie footage shot by police divers shows broken metalwork, staircases, corridors, possessions and furniture.

Its release comes as salvage experts prepare to tow the liner away to be broken up.

The Costa Concordia hit a reef off the island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized.

What appears to be a help desk for passengers

Some 32 of the 4,200 people on board were killed and the captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial on charges including manslaughter.

Last September engineers righted the 114,500-tonne vessel and have been attaching huge tanks to the sides to float it off the reef.

Once it is ready it will be taken to operator Costa Crociere's home port of Genoa, a five-day trip, to be dismantled for scrap.

Relaxation area with sofa, table and stools

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace staged a protest against that decision in its own ship, the Rainbow Warrior.

It argues the work should be done somewhere closer as there could still be hazardous liquids or contaminants inside the wreckage.

"We want all the dismantling... to happen publicly and in the light of day and, above all, choosing the solutions with the fewest environmental risks," said a Greenpeace spokesman.

Further details of the Concordia removal operation, the largest of its kind in maritime history, are expected in the next few days.

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Mother And Son Run Over After Sinkhole Fall

A mother and son are recovering after their car was swallowed by a sinkhole and they were then run over by a truck.

Juanita Pineda, 41, and Benjamin Hernandez, 15, were delivering papers in rural Illinois in the early hours of Tuesday when the accident happened.

As they drove along a dark road their Ford Taurus plummeted into a 10-ft-wide (3-metre) pit in the road in Kane County, west of Chicago.

Benjamin fractured his spine, nose and jaw and lost several teeth

Benjamin fractured his spine, nose and jaw and lost several teeth in the fall.

He can be heard crying in pain during his mother's 911 call.

As Ms Pineda spoke to emergency services, a pick-up truck unwittingly drove over them.

Juanita Pineda says she believes an angel watched over them

"Oh my God, no! Another car!" Ms Pineda, who was badly bruised in the crash, screams in the call.

The stunned pick-up driver stopped his car to help the pair.

Emergency crews managed to cut the mother and son from the wreckage.

Authorities said June's rainfall, double the average for the region, had caused the road to crumble.

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Two Plebgate Libel Cases 'To Be Dropped'

The two plebgate libel cases are close to being abandoned, Sky News can reveal.

Andrew Mitchell is suing The Sun newspaper which printed the original claims that the Tory MP used the term "plebs" during a dispute at the gates of Downing Street in 2012.

PC Toby Rowland is seeking libel damages from the Tory MP

And the policeman at the centre of the row, PC Toby Rowland is seeking libel damages from the former chief whip, repeating his claim Mr Mitchell used the word after being blocked from cycling out of the street through the main gate.

But Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt has discovered there has been a confidential process of mediation between the two sides, and that they are now close to mutually ending their legal action.

The dispute centres on an altercation at the gates of Downing Street

The MP has always maintained he never used the word "pleb", but admits swearing during the altercation.

Mr Mitchell ended up resigning over the row.

He has always claimed the Police Federation used the incident to take revenge for police cuts and had orchestrated a "stitch-up".

PC Keith Wallis was jailed for lying about the Plebgate affair

Several police officers and one civilian relative of a police officer have been arrested for offences arising out of the case.

PC Keith Wallis ended up being jailed for lying about witnessing the exchange, and at least three others have been dismissed from the police.

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Man Spared Jail After Dogs Killed Girlfriend

A man whose pregnant girlfriend was killed by their two pitbull-type dogs in a "truly shocking, tragic and disturbing episode" has avoided a jail sentence.

Lee Horner, 34, was sentenced to 280 hours of unpaid work after being given a community order over the death of mother-of-four Emma Bennett.

Ms Bennett, 27, died after she was attacked by the dogs, named Dollar and Bella, at the couple's home in Leeds in December.

Deputy District Judge Tim Spruce told Horner at Leeds Magistrates Court that the case "crossed the custody threshold".

But the judge said he felt it was not appropriate to jail Horner in view of the loss he had suffered with the death of his partner.

Horner was sentenced to 280 hours of unpaid work

Passing sentence, Mr Spruce said the legislation was designed to protect the public from certain breeds "because these animals are inclined to be unpredictable in nature and often with devastating consequences".

The judge continued: "That unpredictability, those consequences could not be more solemnly illustrated than in the unique and tragic circumstances of the case before the court today.

"Two dogs with no previous recorded history of difficulty, danger or harm have set up their owner in circumstances which may never be entirely clear.

"This was a truly shocking, tragic and disturbing episode."

Horner last month admitted owning dogs prohibited by the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Prosecutors had described how Horner was out when police arrived at the house he shared with Ms Bennett.

Police were called by neighbours who heard a noise they first thought was an argument.

Miss Bennett was heard shouting: "No, no, no."

The two officers forced their way inside after nobody answered and found the two dogs acting excitably with blood on their snouts.

They tried to resuscitate Miss Bennett, who had suffered severe injuries to her face and head, but she died.

Prosecutor Vincent O'Malley told the court how two women social workers visited the house in July last year and Horner told one of them: "Shut it or I'll set the dog on you."

Mr O'Malley said that Horner told the other social worker, who was eight months pregnant at the time: "What you looking at? Wait until I get the dog and see if you continue looking at me like that."

Horner has been ordered to pay £500 towards the destruction of the two dogs as well as their housing since the incident.

He was also ordered to pay £240 in prosecution costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

He has been banned for life from keeping dogs.

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Saudi Arabia 'Deploys Troops To Iraq Border'

Red-Bearded Chechen Fighter Is Face Of ISIS

Updated: 10:15am UK, Thursday 03 July 2014

A red-bearded Chechen fighter with a deep hatred of Americans has emerged as the public face of al Qaeda splinter group ISIS.

Omar al Shishani - which means Omar the Chechen - has appeared on the group's recent propaganda videos and may have been promoted to overall military chief.

He is among hundreds of Chechens who are considered some of the toughest and most ruthless jihadi fighters in Syria and Iraq.

In a video released by the group over the weekend, al Shishani is shown standing in front of black masked militants declaring the elimination of the Iraq-Syria border.

Up until recently, the 28-year-old has been considered the group's military commander in Syria, leading an offensive towards the Iraq border.

But he may now have risen to become overall military chief, a post left vacant after the death of Iraqi militant Abu Abdul Rahman al Bilawi al Anbari.

Al Shishani, whose real name is Tarkhan Batirashvili, is an ethnic Chechen from the Caucasus nation of Georgia, specifically from the Pankisi Valley.

The area is a centre of Georgia's Chechen community and once a stronghold for militants.

Former comrades say he was raised by a Christian father and Muslim mother, who died of cancer. 

With a deep hatred for the Kremlin, he played a role in the 2008 Russia-Georgia War, spying on Russian tanks and relaying their positions back to Georgian artillery.

He is described by those who knew him before ISIS as a sober and respected person who did not show signs of religious extremism.

Reports suggest he rose to the rank of sergeant in the Georgian army, but was discharged after contracting tuberculosis in 2010.

He later spent 16 months in a Georgian prison after being charged for possessing illegal weapons.

It was during his time in jail that al Shishani apparently developed a deep hatred of Americans as "the enemies of Allah and the enemies of Islam".

"I promised God that if I come out of prison alive, I'll go fight jihad for the sake of God," he told a jihadist website.

As soon as he was released in 2010, al Shishani  left for Turkey and later surfaced in Syria in 2013.

There, he led the al Qaeda-inspired "Army of Emigrants and Partisans", a group including many fighters from the former Soviet Union.

A meeting was soon organised with ISIS overall chief Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, an Iraqi, in which al Shishani pledged loyalty to him, say reports.

He first showed his battlefield prowess in August 2013, when his fighters proved pivotal in taking the Syrian military's Managh air base in the north of the country.

His high profile contrasts sharply with al Baghdadi, who remains deep in hiding and has hardly ever been photographed. 

Al Shishani's father described his son as "a man with no job, no prospects - so he took the wrong path".

That path appears to have taken him to the upper echelons of the most formidable jihadist organisation in the world.

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Airport Security Tightened On Electrics

Security is being tightened at UK airports with extra checks on electrical items, amid fears of new terrorist bombs.

Passengers travelling to America may be subject to secondary checks on electrical items after the main security gate, Sky sources say.  

The new precautions come as US authorities have warned of a "specific threat" to Entebbe Airport in Uganda later today.

The US embassy in Kampala said Ugandan police had informed them that intelligence sources believe there could be an attack by an unknown terrorist group.

In a statement the embassy said the threat was apparently aimed for "today, July 3rd, between the hours of 2100-2300".

Armed police at Heathrow

It added: "Individuals planning travel through the airport this evening may want to review their plans in light of this information."

Although the embassy did not name any group, al Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have claimed recent attacks in Kenya and Djibouti, and at home in Somalia.

Ugandan Army spokesman Paddy Ankunda said troops had been deployed at the airport and in the capital, some 35km (20 miles) from Entebbe.

"People must be vigilant in the face of this threat, report any suspicious individuals seen in their areas," he said, calling on people to "stay calm and alert."

Passengers queue to go through security checks at Gatwick

US Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson said he had asked officials to "implement enhanced security measures in the coming days at certain overseas airports with direct flights to the United States".

A statement issued by the US Department for Homeland Security said: "We are sharing recent and relevant information with our foreign allies and consulting the aviation industry.

"These communications are an important part of our commitment to providing our security partners with situational awareness about the current environment and protecting the travelling public."

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the additional security was not expected to cause "significant" disruption to flights.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin does not anticipate disruption

He told Sky News: "There will be extra security checks but they will be made in the course of events people already go through and I hope there will not be significant delays."

But British aviation security expert Philip Baum said heightened security will inevitably mean longer queues and increased waiting times to board flights at UK airports.

"It will mean (more) random searches, secondary searches and an increase in the number of passengers asked to remove shoes and possibly all passengers being asked to remove shoes if they're going on certain flights," he said.

US officials said their general security warning followed intelligence reports that Islamist groups in Yemen and Syria had joined forces to prepare an attack on the US.

Bomb-makers from al Nusra Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, and Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are believed to be working together to develop the new devices.

According to ABC News, they are trying to build non-metallic bombs that could evade metal detectors.

In consequence security enhancements are likely to include greater scrutiny of US-bound passengers' electronics and footwear and installation of additional bomb-detection machines.

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Andy Murray Out Of Wimbledon In Straight Sets

Defending champion Andy Murray has crashed out of Wimbledon, losing in straight sets to Grigor Dimitrov.

The Briton lost the quarter-final 6-1 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 to the Bulgarian 11th seed - who had never previously made it to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament.

As the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge looked on from the Royal Box, Murray won only one game in the first set before being narrowly defeated in a second set tie-break.

The pair shake hands at the end of the match

He looked a beaten man at points during the third set and Dimitrov, whose girlfriend is Russian player Maria Sharapova, wrapped the game up after little more than two hours.

It comes just a year after Murray became the first Briton to win the Wimbledon singles title since Fred Perry in 1936.

Speaking after the match, Murray said he was "disappointed" with his performance.

Fans show their support on 'Murray Mound'

"It wasn't a great day," he said.

"The start wasn't good enough. He played a very solid game and made very few mistakes. I just wish I'd played a little bit better and made it difficult for him at times.

"Today just wasn't my day."

More follows...

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Ebola Outbreak: State Of Emergency 'Needed'

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

The doctor who first identified the deadly Ebola virus has warned the outbreak in West Africa is now so bad that a "state of emergency" should be declared.

Professor Peter Piot told Sky News that the disease, which kills up to 90% of patients, now affects such a wide area that it will be "difficult" to bring under control - and it will spread further without "very, very strict vigilance."

Prof Piot, now Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, helped to bring to an end to the first known outbreak of Ebola in Zaire in 1976.

There have since been more than 20 outbreaks in Central and West Africa. But the current epidemic affecting Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone was "unprecedented" he said.

Professor Peter Piot: 'A local problem is now a regional crisis'

The virus causes a high fever, organ failure and severe bleeding. Contact with any bodily fluid can transmit the virus. There is no treatment.

Prof Piot said: "We have waited too long. In cases like Ebola it is better to be accused of overacting than underestimating the situation.

"It is far more difficult to contain an epidemic that involves quarantine of people, isolation of patients and tracing their contacts when it has reached big urban populations.

More than 400 people have been killed across three countries

"This has turned from a local problem to a regional crisis.

"Even countries that are not yet affected by Ebola may become affected. Mobility of people including patients and sometimes cadavers is high across borders and I think it's time for declaring a state of emergency."

Professor Piot said the World Health Organisation must engage with community leaders to explain to local populations the importance of isolating victims in hospital to prevent further transmission of the virus.

He said burial practices in which the infected body is washed by unprotected relatives must also cease.

"In theory Ebola is very easy to stop with gloves, soap, isolating patients, and not reusing needles and syringes," he said. "But in practice it is about people and their beliefs.

"If you think that someone dies of witchcraft or that western medicine is at the origin, that is something that must be overcome."

Professor Piot also urged medical authorities to try using anti-viral drugs to treat patients. Tests on infected monkeys have suggested the drugs work to some extent against Ebola.

Professor Piopt suggests using anti-viral drugs to treat Ebola

"This is the time to try them," he said.

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Africa Battles To Stop Deadly Spread Of Ebola

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, In Liberia

The worst Ebola outbreak ever is spreading and will almost certainly extend across West Africa unless there is cross-country co-operation and urgent international assistance.

The porous borders between Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has meant the disease is not being contained and now risks spreading even further.

Health workers at the epicentre, where the borders of the three countries meet, have made an urgent appeal through Sky News for immediate international help to try to control the virus.

The latest outbreak has spread to three countries

Philip Azumah, the Foya district health officer, said: "We need help now, or the virus will spread and kill more people."

It is difficult to determine exactly how many people have already died from the disease given the cross-border contamination and lack of accounting.

But it is already clear there are many more deaths than any previous outbreak.

Aid organisation Doctors Without Borders has already said it is the largest outbreak on record, with the highest number of deaths.

Across the three countries, more than 400 have died in this latest outbreak, with no sign of the disease being halted.

And for the first time the disease has spread to highly populated areas including cities such as Guinea's capital, Conakry.

At one of the high-risk infection centres set up in Foya, in Liberia, the medics insisted we, like them, took extreme precautions.

This included wearing two layers of protective head-to-toe clothing featuring one waterproof all-in-one outfit, face and head masks, double gloves, thick plastic aprons, sturdy goggles and rubber boots.

Among the victims was a nurse who contracted Ebola after caring for a person who later died from the virus.

Nurse Elizabeth Smith was lying on a bed next to another nurse who had contracted Ebola from the same patient they had both treated.

But Ms Smith was significantly weaker than her co-worker. She did not raise her head as we entered and her bed was soaked in blood.

Neither woman had realised they were treating a patient with Ebola, so had taken none of the precautions their colleagues were now taking.

Two of them sprayed Ms Smith with disinfectant, down her legs, her feet, her hands and arms as they stood arms-length away in their head-to-toe protective clothing and visors. Gingerly, they took her arms and helped her to her feet, before escorting her down the tent corridor to the high-risk area.

Elizabeth Smith was too weak to raise her head

Here, every patient is a confirmed Ebola case and the odds are that 90% of them will die.

The frightening deadliness of Ebola, plus the ignorance around it and the lack of a cure, has thrown the medical staff in this area into a panic.

Francis Forndia, administrator for Foya-Borma Hospital, where medical staff have died after treating victims, told us his workers simply fled after nurses began dying.

"It is hard to get them to return, but we have managed to persuade some to come back by explaining to them how needed they are," he said.

Mr Azumah is co-ordinating the health battle against Ebola in this area. He tells me the first recent outbreak in Liberia was in March, when an infected woman travelled to Foya from Guinea.

She died two days after being admitted to the sole and tiny hospital in Foya. By the time of her death, she had infected eleven people in hospital alone.

Two of them were nurses who went on to die. The remaining nine somehow managed to survive.

Officials say cultural traditions have helped spread the virus

Then Liberia went a solid three weeks without an incident and believed they were clear - until the end of May.

This time, a woman from Sierra Leone, probably out of fear, gave misleading information about where she had come from.

She told investigators she was local, which was true, but did not mention she had in fact spent some time in an infected area of Sierra Leone.

This time the consequences were much more widespread. She had infected a stream of people, six of whom died.

They are still trying to trace all those she may have been in contact with.

There have since been other outbreaks in Voinjamma and the Liberian capital, Monrovia, while Guinea and Sierra Leone continue to register deaths, too.

Mr Azumah said: "In our culture, it is the habit to wash the dead body, look after it for a week in the home, kiss and touch it, even eat meals with the dead body - and we believe this has led to the virus spreading.

"Also people are keeping the illnesses and deaths secret if they suspect Ebola."

By alerting the authorities to possible Ebola, people risk being ostracised by their communities.

There is even a fear among these poverty stricken communities that the visiting health workers are spreading the virus.

But what seems significant is that, in Liberia at least, one of the poorest countries in the world, they are largely coping with this virulent disease on their own - with very little outside help evident.

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Paedophile Claim Dossier 'Handled Properly'

Historic Paedophile Allegations

Updated: 2:24pm UK, Wednesday 02 July 2014

The Home Office has published the executive summary of an independent review it commissioned into the handling of information it received about organised child sex abuse between 1979 and 1999.

The report concluded the Home Office had acted "appropriately".

It was released as Leon Brittan said he had asked officials to "look carefully" at a dossier presented to him about alleged paedophile activity at Westminster, when he was Home Secretary in the 1980s.

A copy of the executive summary is published below.

Executive Summary

1.1. In February 2013 the Home Office Permanent Secretary commissioned an Independent Review of all Home Office files from 1979 to 1999 to identify any information received about organised child sex abuse. An experienced investigator from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is leading the Review with additional oversight provided by HMRC's Director of Criminal Investigation.

1.2. The Independent Investigator has produced an Interim Report based on the examination of over 400 Home Office files and a targeted search for material directly relevant to contacts on child abuse between the late Geoffrey Dickens MP and the Home Office. The findings will be updated if the Review identifies additional relevant material in the ongoing wider search of Home Office files which is expected to be completed by June 2013.

1.3. The Independent Review has confirmed that the Home Office did receive information from Mr Dickens in November 1983 and in January 1984 about alleged child abuse. Copies of the material have not been retained but a Home Office file contains a copy letter dated 20th March 1984 from the Home Secretary in response to Mr Dickens. The letter confirms that the information was considered at the time and that any matters requiring investigation were referred to the Police.

1.4. The letter is not suitable for publication as it contains details of one case of alleged child abuse from which it would be possible to identify the victim. However, the following extract explains how the information which Mr Dickens provided was handled at the time.

"Dear Geoff,

You drew my attention to a number of allegations concerning paedophilia when you called here on 23 November and in subsequent letters.

I am now able to tell you that, in general terms, the view of the Director of Public Prosecutions is that two of the letters you forwarded could form the basis for enquiries by the police and they are now being passed to the appropriate authorities. In other cases there either seems to be inadequate evidence to pursue prosecution, for example the lady who wrote about PIE (Paedophile Information Exchange) advertising but did not secure any example of the material complained of, or they have already been dealt with in some way by the courts or the police."

1.5. Mr Dickens was a robust campaigner on child protection issues and used Parliamentary Privilege to name alleged offenders if he believed appropriate action was not being taken. He challenged his own Government on child protection issues in Parliament and in the media when he disagreed with policies or decisions. The Independent Review has found no evidence of Mr Dickens expressing dissatisfaction about the action taken in respect of the information he had passed on.

1.6. On 17th March 1986 in his response to a debate in Parliament about the use of Parliamentary Privilege, and referring to information he had received about alleged child abuse, Mr Dickens said:

"I always sent the files to the Home Office, which investigated the cases for me, and in many cases to the chief constables concerned."

1.7. On 31st March 1987 during his speech in a Parliamentary debate on the admissibility of video evidence in court proceedings Mr Dickens said:

"I should like to place on record my thanks to the Home Office and the departments within the Home Office for following up the many cases that I keep sending to it. I should also like to thank the Attorney-General. They have been very helpful and a strength to me in my campaigns."

1.8. Full details of these statements are publicly available via www.parliament.uk in Hansard reports of Parliamentary business.

1.9. The Independent Investigator's Interim Report and a full copy of the relevant Home Office file have been passed to the Metropolitan Police Service for information in relation to their current investigations of allegations of historic child abuse.

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Sollecito Distances Himself From Knox

Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend has sought to distance himself from the American woman ahead of their appeals trial, saying he is not her "guarantor".

Raffaele Sollecito stressed during a press conference in Rome that he believes Knox is innocent in the 2007 murder of English student Meredith Kercher in Perugia.

But he said that any "anomalies" would have to do with Knox's defence, not his. 

"My name is Raffaele Sollecito, not Amanda Marie Knox, and I must answer as someone whose name is Raffaele Sollecito," he said.

Sollecito and Knox have been convicted by an appeals court in the murder. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, she received a 28 year and six month term.

The two, who were having a relationship at the time of the murder, have always denied wrongdoing.

Meredith Kercher was 21 when she was killed

An appeal trial before Italy's highest criminal court, the Court of Cassation, awaits them.

Knox has maintained she spent the night of November 1, 2007, when Kercher was murdered, at Sollecito's house.

But the Italian said today that he can only vouch for the late evening.

He did not confirm that the two were together in the first part of the evening, around 8.30pm or 9pm, which is roughly the time they believe Ms Kercher was killed.

Sollecito also said Knox had been caught in a lie: the American said she had sent a text message from Sollecito's house the night of the murder but the judges who convicted the pair said her phone's signal showed she was not at Sollecito's house.

Knox and Ms Kercher shared a house in Perugia

"I am not Amanda Knox's guarantor and I can only take my stand on the basis of my experience, of what I have lived," he said, flanked by his lawyers.

The press conference had been called to lay out Sollecito's defence strategy ahead of the Cassation appeal, expected in months.

He insisted the comments did not amount to a change in his defence strategy and reiterated his belief Knox is innocent.

He said at the time of the murder he was in love with Knox - whom he had started dated a short time before - but also added she remained a "stranger".

Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found with her throat slashed in her bedroom at the house she shared with Knox.

The wounds on Ms Kercher's body indicate she was killed by more than one person, experts said at the time.

Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivorian, has been convicted of the murder and is serving a 16-year sentence.

Knox is back in Seattle and has no plan to come back to Italy for the appeal trial.

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Rolf Harris: 12 Women Seeking Compensation

The Fall Of One Of Britain's Best-Loved Stars

Updated: 6:09pm UK, Monday 30 June 2014

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Despite being born in Australia, Rolf Harris' lengthy career in show business, spanning almost six decades, has ensured he is one of Britain's best-known and, until now, best-loved stars.

From his humble beginnings as a swimming champion in his native Western Australia, he moved to London in 1952 after deciding to abandon a teaching career and study art instead.

Within weeks he was singing in ex-pat clubs and two years after stepping off a liner, he signed a contract with the BBC which marked the start of a lengthy association with the broadcaster.

Artist, singer-songwriter and TV star, his legendary career earned him an MBE, OBE and CBE and Australian honours as well.

He was given a BAFTA fellowship, painted a portrait of the Queen and has met other members of the royal family countless times.

Harris also made numerous TV commercials and appeared at Glastonbury six times - opening the event in 2010 - and singing in front of a crowd of almost 100,000.

Countless generations of children and adults know him through iconic programmes from the 70s, 80s and 90s, such as The Rolf Harris Show, Rolf Harris Cartoon Time, Animal Hospital and Rolf On Art.

His wife of 56 years, Alwen, and daughter Bindi, 49, supported him in court throughout the seven-week trial, although only Bindi was called to give evidence in the case.

She described how she wanted to ''stab herself with forks'' after discovering Harris had been having a relationship with her best friend, who was the subject of seven of the charges.

In his 2001 autobiography, titled after his catchphrase "Can You Tell What It Is Yet", there is a telling passage in which he explained his feelings about his family.

He wrote: ''Alwen and Bindi have to come first. It has only been in the last five years that I have realised this. Late, but better than never.''

Telling, because it was in 1997 Harris wrote to the father of Bindi's best friend to tell him of the affair he had been having with his daughter when his own daughter found out.

He also wrote of how, as his career took off in the 60s, he found himself ogling women in backstage dressing rooms set aside for dancers he worked with.

Harris wrote: ''I tried not to watch - or be seen watching - but it wasn't easy, I spent most of my time reading the same page of a book 14 times realising I was holding it upside down.''

It's also clear he had a difficult relationship with his daughter and wife - blaming himself for not being with them as he devoted his time to his career - leaving them a painful second.

In the early 1960s as his career hit the big time, Alwen visited Australia with him and it later emerged she had contemplated suicide, Harris only finding out about it 30 years later when he found her diary.

Harris described how ''the words struck me like hammer blows'' adding that he ''felt terrible and I kicked myself for my selfishness''.

His awards and honours count for nothing and he will now swap his luxury Thames-side home in Berkshire for the cold harsh surroundings of a prison cell, as a convicted sex offender.

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Madeleine: Search Dogs Return To Portugal

Madeleine: Key Events Timeline

Updated: 8:10pm UK, Monday 30 June 2014

Here is a timeline of the key events since Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

2007

:: May 3 - Kate and Gerry McCann leave their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

Jane Tanner, one of the friends eating with the McCanns, later reports seeing a man carrying a child away earlier that night.

:: May 5 - Portuguese police reveal they believe Madeleine was abducted but is still alive and in Portugal, and say they have a sketch of a suspect.

:: May 14 - Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese man Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an "arguido", or official suspect.

:: May 25 - Detectives release a description of the man reported by Jane Tanner three weeks earlier after pressure from the McCanns, their legal team and the British Government.

:: May 30 - Mr and Mrs McCann meet the Pope in Rome in the first of a series of trips around Europe and beyond to highlight the search for their daughter.

:: August 6 - A Portuguese newspaper reports that British sniffer dogs have found traces of blood on a wall in the McCanns' holiday apartment.

:: August 11 - Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.

:: September 7 - During further questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both "arguidos" in their daughter's disappearance.

:: September 9 - The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

:: October 2 - Goncalo Amaral, the detective in charge of the inquiry, is removed from the case after criticising the British police in a Portuguese newspaper interview.

:: October 25 - The McCanns release a new artist's impression drawn by an FBI-trained expert showing the man described by Jane Tanner.

2008

:: March 19 - Mr and Mrs McCann accept £550,000 libel damages and front-page apologies from Express Newspapers over allegations they were responsible for Madeleine's death.

:: April 7 - Three Portuguese detectives, led by Paulo Rebelo, fly to Britain to re-interview the seven friends on holiday with the McCanns when Madeleine vanished.

:: July 17 - Mr Murat receives £600,000 in libel damages from four newspaper groups over "seriously defamatory" articles connecting him with the child's disappearance.

:: July 21 - The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and Mr Murat.

:: August 4 - Thousands of pages of evidence from the Portuguese police files in the exhaustive investigation into Madeleine's disappearance are made public.

2009

:: January 13 - Mr McCann returns to Portugal for the first time since coming back to the UK without his daughter.

:: March 24 - The McCanns launch a localised new appeal for information focused on the area in the Algarve where Madeleine disappeared.

:: April 4 - Mr McCann goes back to Portugal to help film a reconstruction of the events on the night his daughter vanished.

:: April 22 - The McCanns fly to the US to record an interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey to mark two years since Madeleine's disappearance.

:: June 14 - Dying paedophile Raymond Hewlett says he was in the Algarve when Madeleine disappeared and has an alibi - but has no plans to reveal it.

:: August 6 - Detectives say they are hunting a "Victoria Beckham lookalike" with an Australian or New Zealand accent, reportedly seen in Barcelona three days after the little girl went missing.

2010

:: Feb 18 -  Kate and Gerry McCann say they are "pleased and relieved" at a judge's decision to uphold a ban on a book by former detective Goncalo Amaral.

:: Mar 3 -  A newly-released file from Portugese police on possible sightings is called "gold dust" and could lead to a breakthrough, says a spokesman for the McCanns.

:: May 1 - Kate McCann reveals she had thoughts about being "wiped out" in a motorway crash to end the pain of losing Madeleine - but vows never to give up.

:: November 10 - Madeleine's parents launch an online petition to help force a UK and Portuguese joint review of all evidence in the case.

:: November 15 -  The McCanns sign a deal to write a book about their daughter's disappearance.

2011

:: May 13 - The Prime Minister David Cameron asks London's Metropolitan Police to help investigate the case.

:: November 23 - Kate and Gerry McCann appear at the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

They tell how media pressure affected their family life and accuse newspaper editors of hampering the search for their missing daughter.

Kate McCann says she felt "violated" when her diary was published without her permission.

:: December 5 - Scotland Yard detectives spend time in Barcelona as part of their re-examination of the case.

2012

:: March 9 - Portuguese police in Oporto launch a review of the original investigation.

:: April 26 - Scotland Yard says Madeleine McCann may still be alive and release an artist's impression of what she may look like as a nine-year-old.

:: July 6 - British detectives examine a claim that the little girl's body is buried near the apartment from where she vanished. It comes after a self-styled investigator sends police radar scans he claims show a burial site.

2013

:: February 11 - Gerry McCann calls for politicians to implement the conclusions of the Leveson Inquiry in full, backed by legislation.

:: February 13 - Police say the results of DNA tests on a girl in New Zealand who was mistaken for Madeleine reveal that she is not the missing British girl.

:: February 21 - Retired solicitor Tony Bennett who published claims that Madeleine McCann's parents caused her death is given a suspended jail sentence.

:: May 2 - Madeleine McCann's parents tell Sky News a police review into their daughter's disappearance is making "excellent progress" as they mark the sixth anniversary since she went missing.

:: May 17 - Scotland Yard say they have identified a number of "people of interest" they want to speak to. It believes it has found enough evidence to reopen the case but the Portuguese authorities are still resistant. 

:: June 15 - The Home Office agrees to fund a full-scale investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

:: October 13 - UK detectives reviewing the case say key details in the timeline of her disappearance have "significantly changed".

:: October 14 - A fresh appeal is launched in a bid to find a suspect detectives say is of "vital importance", with two new separate e-fits - thought to be of the same man seen on the night Madeleine went missing - released by police.

:: October 17 - Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the Scotland Yard team, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, and Mr and Mrs McCann meet officers in Lisbon to be briefed on the Portuguese case.

:: October 23 - Britain's most senior police officer Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe defends the way the Portuguese dealt with the initial investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, saying it would have been "very difficult" to immediately know if they were dealing with a serious crime.

:: October 24 - Detectives in Portugal reopen the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance after an internal review uncovers new lines of inquiry and witnesses who were never questioned during the original Portuguese investigation.

2014

:: January 3 - A family source says Kate and Gerry McCann have been denied permission to give evidence at a Portuguese libel trial over a book about the case by former local police chief Goncalo Amaral.

:: January 13 - British police investigate three burglars who were in the area when Madeleine disappeared, and whose phones were apparently "red hot" after she went missing. A letter is sent to Portuguese police asking for help to track them down.

:: January 29 - Scotland Yard officers, including the detective leading the case, fly to Portugal to meet police there and discuss the latest developments.

:: March 19 - Officers from Operation Grange launch a search for a man who sexually assaulted five British girls in the Algarve between 2004 and 2006.

:: April 23 - Detectives identify five new cases where a lone intruder abused young British girls in holiday apartments in the Algarve.

:: May 1 - Kate and Gerry McCann give an interview to Sky News where they are desperate to find out what happened to Madeleine, even if it is the "worst case scenario" as they back calls for a Child Rescue Alert service similar to the Amber Alert system in the US.

:: May 6 - Scotland Yard plans to dig for evidence in three locations in Praia da Luz are approved, with officers set to use ground penetrating radar.

:: May 8 - British Officers reportedly use a military helicopter to photograph potential excavation sites and hold a four-hour meeting with Portuguese colleagues to agree a timetable for new searches.

:: May 22 - Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley says the investigation will enter a "substantial phase of operational activity" in Portugal in the coming weeks. 

:: June 2 - Portuguese police seal off an area of scrubland to the west of Praia da Luz as they prepare to examine the potential excavation site.

:: June 11 - Police begin to search an area between Praia da Luz and the town of Lagos behind a water treatment plant. The search of the scrubland site was later wound down.

:: June 30 - The British team return to Portugal and plan to speak to a key witness and several suspects the following day.

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Israel Holds Funerals For Teen Kidnap Victims

The family homes of men suspected over the deaths of three kidnapped Israeli teenagers have been blown up.

Troops set off explosions in the West Bank buildings, blowing open a doorway in one, an army spokeswoman said.

The other property was on fire after the blast.

A fireball rises above Rafah, southern Gaza, following an Israeli airstrike

Israeli fighter jets also bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip, hours after vowing to take revenge on the killers of the three hitch-hikers.

A man was shot dead after allegedly throwing a grenade at troops attempting to arrest a militant in the Jenin refugee camp.

The Israeli teenagers' bodies were found under a pile of rocks in an isolated spot near Hebron, three weeks after they went missing.

Soldiers walk away from the Hebron home of one of the kidnap suspsects

Eyal Yifrach, 19, and 16-year-olds Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel disappeared on June 12 while hitchhiking home from the Jewish school where they were studying.

Their bodies were found by soldiers after the biggest Israeli ground operation inside the West Bank in nearly a decade.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Islamic militant group Hamas for the atrocity and said the teenagers were "kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals".

"Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay," he said.

One of Amer Abu Eisheh's relatives walks through the shell of his home

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has denied any involvement in the kidnappings, although a spokesman said: "Threats don't scare Hamas and if (Mr Netanyahu) wages a war on Gaza, the gates of hell will open on him."

An adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the country was committed to peace so that "no mother or no family will be bereaved for the loss of their beloved ones, (whether) Palestinian or Israeli."

However, Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli government, told Sky News: "President Abbas says he's committed to peace, reconciliation and fighting terrorism, and yet he's in an alliance with terrorists who kidnap and murder children.

Demonstrators march near the UN headquarters in New York

"When he chose to form a pact with Hamas, he was turning his back on his own commitment to fighting terrorism.

"Hamas is part of a family of terrorist movements, such as Hizbollah in Lebanon and Isis in Iraq, who are well known for their violence and their extremism.

"President Abbas has to decide whether he's with them or with the path of peace and reconciliation."

About 400 suspected Hamas militants were arrested as Israeli air strikes hit 34 targets inside the Gaza Strip.

The homes of chief suspects Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Eisheh, who are still on the run, were also destroyed, witnesses told the AFP news agency.

Israeli security officials are expected to discuss possible further military action after an emergency meeting on Monday.

Overnight, thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv's central Rabin Square to sing, pray and light candles.

It came as Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the "despicable terrorist act" as an "outrage beyond any understanding or rationale".

"As a father, there are no words to express such a horrific loss that shakes all people of conscience," he added.

US President Barack Obama said the murders were "senseless" but warned against retribution that "could further destabilise the situation".

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'Dirty Old Man': New Allegations Of Harris Abuse

The Fall Of One Of Britain's Best-Loved Stars

Updated: 3:49pm UK, Monday 30 June 2014

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Despite being born in Australia, Rolf Harris' lengthy career in show business, spanning almost six decades, has ensured he is one of Britain's best-known and, until now, best-loved stars.

From his humble beginnings as a swimming champion in his native Western Australia, he moved to London in 1952 after deciding to abandon a teaching career and study art instead.

Within weeks he was singing in ex-pat clubs and two years after stepping off a liner, he signed a contract with the BBC which marked the start of a lengthy association with the broadcaster.

Artist, singer-songwriter and TV star, his legendary career earned him an MBE, OBE and CBE and Australian honours as well.

He was given a BAFTA fellowship, painted a portrait of the Queen and has met other members of the royal family countless times.

Harris also made numerous TV commercials and appeared at Glastonbury six times - opening the event in 2010 - and singing in front of a crowd of almost 100,000.

Countless generations of children and adults know him through iconic programmes from the 70s, 80s and 90s, such as The Rolf Harris Show, Rolf Harris Cartoon Time, Animal Hospital and Rolf On Art.

His wife of 56 years, Alwen, and daughter Bindi, 49, supported him in court throughout the seven-week trial, although only Bindi was called to give evidence in the case.

She described how she wanted to ''stab herself with forks'' after discovering Harris had been having a relationship with her best friend, who was the subject of seven of the charges.

In his 2001 autobiography, titled after his catchphrase "Can You Tell What It Is Yet", there is a telling passage in which he explained his feelings about his family.

He wrote: ''Alwen and Bindi have to come first. It has only been in the last five years that I have realised this. Late, but better than never.''

Telling, because it was in 1997 Harris wrote to the father of Bindi's best friend to tell him of the affair he had been having with his daughter when his own daughter found out.

He also wrote of how, as his career took off in the 60s, he found himself ogling women in backstage dressing rooms set aside for dancers he worked with.

Harris wrote: ''I tried not to watch - or be seen watching - but it wasn't easy, I spent most of my time reading the same page of a book 14 times realising I was holding it upside down.''

It's also clear he had a difficult relationship with his daughter and wife - blaming himself for not being with them as he devoted his time to his career - leaving them a painful second.

In the early 1960s as his career hit the big time, Alwen visited Australia with him and it later emerged she had contemplated suicide, Harris only finding out about it 30 years later when he found her diary.

Harris described how ''the words struck me like hammer blows'' adding that he ''felt terrible and I kicked myself for my selfishness''.

His awards and honours count for nothing and he will now swap his luxury Thames-side home in Berkshire for the cold harsh surroundings of a prison cell, as a convicted sex offender.

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Car Hits Schoolgirls On Pavement: One Dead

A 14-year-old girl has died and two others have been injured after being hit by a car on their way to school in Witney, Oxfordshire.

The crash, which also injured a male pedestrian in his 40s, happened just after 8am in Curbridge Road when the car mounted the pavement.

The 18-year-old driver of the Citroen has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

The girls were walking to school

Those hit were taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where the girl, named locally as Liberty Baker, was pronounced dead.

One of the girls is understood to have been treated for serious injuries, while the other was unharmed.

The man is believed to have suffered a serious hip injury.

The Citroen is taken away from the scene

Inspector Paul Winks of Thames Valley Police said: "This is just an urban 30 miles an hour road, it's fairly straight, visibility is good.

"So I'm not 100% sure what happened this morning, it's something we need to establish.

"It may take weeks or even months to determine exactly what's happened here."

All three of the girls went to the nearby Henry Box School.

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The Fall Of One Of Britain's Best-Loved Stars

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Despite being born in Australia, Rolf Harris' lengthy career in show business, spanning almost six decades, has ensured he is one of Britain's best-known and, until now, best-loved stars.

From his humble beginnings as a swimming champion in his native Western Australia, he moved to London in 1952 after deciding to abandon a teaching career and study art instead.

Within weeks he was singing in ex-pat clubs and two years after stepping off a liner, he signed a contract with the BBC which marked the start of a lengthy association with the broadcaster.

Artist, singer-songwriter and TV star, his legendary career earned him an MBE, OBE and CBE and Australian honours as well.

He was given a BAFTA fellowship, painted a portrait of the Queen and has met other members of the royal family countless times.

Harris also made numerous TV commercials and appeared at Glastonbury six times - opening the event in 2010 - and singing in front of a crowd of almost 100,000.

Appearing in a 1960s panel show

Countless generations of children and adults know him through iconic programmes from the 70s, 80s and 90s, such as The Rolf Harris Show, Rolf Harris Cartoon Time, Animal Hospital and Rolf On Art.

His wife of 56 years, Alwen, and daughter Bindi, 49, supported him in court throughout the seven-week trial, although only Bindi was called to give evidence in the case.

She described how she wanted to ''stab herself with forks'' after discovering Harris had been having a relationship with her best friend, who was the subject of seven of the charges.

In his 2001 autobiography, titled after his catchphrase "Can You Tell What It Is Yet", there is a telling passage in which he explained his feelings about his family.

He wrote: ''Alwen and Bindi have to come first. It has only been in the last five years that I have realised this. Late, but better than never.''

Rolf Harris appearing in a 1970s children's TV show

Telling, because it was in 1997 Harris wrote to the father of Bindi's best friend to tell him of the affair he had been having with his daughter when his own daughter found out.

He also wrote of how, as his career took off in the 60s, he found himself ogling women in backstage dressing rooms set aside for dancers he worked with.

Harris wrote: ''I tried not to watch - or be seen watching - but it wasn't easy, I spent most of my time reading the same page of a book 14 times realising I was holding it upside down.''

It's also clear he had a difficult relationship with his daughter and wife - blaming himself for not being with them as he devoted his time to his career - leaving them a painful second.

In the early 1960s as his career hit the big time, Alwen visited Australia with him and it later emerged she had contemplated suicide, Harris only finding out about it 30 years later when he found her diary.

Harris described how ''the words struck me like hammer blows'' adding that he ''felt terrible and I kicked myself for my selfishness''.

His awards and honours count for nothing and he will now swap his luxury Thames-side home in Berkshire for the cold harsh surroundings of a prison cell, as a convicted sex offender.

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Rolf Harris Guilty Of String Of Sex Attacks

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

Veteran entertainer Rolf Harris has been found guilty of a string of indecent assaults against underage girls.

Harris, whose showbusiness career spans more than 60 years, was impassive as the jury returned guilty verdicts on all 12 counts after a seven-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.

His daughter Bindi held hands with a fellow supporter, and his wife Alwen and niece Jenny watched from the public gallery as Harris learned his fate.

The 84-year-old will be sentenced on Friday.

Mr Justice Sweeney warned Harris it was "inevitable" a custodial sentence would be possible.

Harris at court with daughter Bindi (left), wife Alwen and niece Jenny

It is the highest profile conviction achieved by officers from Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree team - the unit set up to investigate historical sex abuse claims in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.

During the trial, four females described their ordeal at the hands of the Australian-born cartoonist - with the youngest being just seven or eight years old.

He was accused of indecent assaults dating between 1968 and 1986, but several other women gave bad character evidence against him at the trial, reliving how they had been molested by him as late as 1991.

Prosecution sources confirmed to Sky News that dozens of other women have also come forward during the trial, claiming they too were assaulted by him and police are considering whether to bring further charges.

Two Australian women have also exclusively told Sky News they were groped by Harris in circumstances which echo some of the evidence heard during the trial.

The main complainant against Harris - who performed in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 - was the best friend of the singer's daughter Bindi.

The woman, who is now 49, told how she was first molested by Harris after she stepped out of a shower during a holiday in Hawaii in 1978 with Bindi and the rest of her family.

Harris's career in showbusiness spanned six decades

He then groped her again on the beach before carrying out further attacks on her in the bedroom of his family home in Australia - as Bindi slept nearby - and the assaults continued back in Britain.

Prosecutor Sasha Wass described Harris as a ''sinister pervert'' who used his fame to get close to young women and girls, adding that he had a ''dark side'' and was a ''Jekyll and Hyde character''.

Key to the case was a letter written by Harris to the father of the main victim in 1997 after she had told her parents of the abuse she had suffered as a teenager.

In it, Harris wrote how he was in a ''state of abject self-loathing'', adding he was ''sickened'' by the ''misery I have caused".

The prosecution said it amounted to a confession of his indecent assaults on her which went on until she was 29 years old - only ending when she moved to Norfolk.

The other allegations involved attacks on a girl in Portsmouth in 1968-1969, a woman in Cambridge some time between 1975 and 1979 and an Australian woman called Tonya Lee who was molested in a London pub in 1986.

In an interview broadcast last year Ms Lee said: ''I don't know how he lives his life day to day, and I don't know how he sleeps at night.''

The Metropolitan Police said Harris "habitually denied any wrongdoing" and "thought his celebrity status placed him above the law".

The Crown Prosecution Service added: "The victims in this case have suffered in silence for many years and have only recently found the courage to come forward. Each victim, unbeknown to the others, described a similar pattern of behaviour - that of a man acting without fear of the consequences."

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Radical Islamic Preacher Seeks Asylum In UK

The family of Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad are applying for his asylum in the UK after claiming he had been tortured in Lebanon.

They say the radical preacher has suffered systematic torture while in custody at a maximum security prison.

The family say he should be allowed back into Britain on "humanitarian grounds" as his health has deteriorated and he is no longer able to walk.

Mohammad left the UK in 2005 and was barred from returning

The cleric caused outrage in the wake of the 2005 London bombings after saying he would not inform police if he knew Muslims were planning attacks.

He left the UK in 2005 and was told he would not be allowed to return.

But the cleric's son, Mohammad Bakri, told Sky News: "I'm here on the humanitarian basis. At the end of the day, many people find what he says distasteful, and he quotes things from the Islamic perspective.

"But I think unless you know the character, himself, like my father - I grew up with him - so therefore I understand the tactics that he uses to attract the media in order to pass the message of Islam.

"You may find that distasteful, but at the end of the day he has not committed any crimes in the UK."

Sky's Home Affairs Correspondent Mark White said the family's claims have not been independently verified.

"The families of Omar Bakri Mohammad say that he has been transferred to a maximum security prison ... in Lebanon," he said.

"They also say that he has been systematically tortured during his time in that maximum security prison.

Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad's daughter and son

"We have no independent verification of this, but the family insists that he is in very poor health.

"They claim that he is actually close to death and they're seeking an urgent appeal now to the UK authorities to have him returned to the UK under asylum."

Mohammad holds Syrian and Lebanese citizenship and lived in Britain for 20 years, where he headed the now-disbanded radical Islamist group al Muhajiroun.

He was among 54 people sentenced in Lebanon in November 2010 in trials of militants who fought deadly clashes with the Lebanese army in 2007.

He was convicted of belonging to an armed group that aimed to carry out terrorist acts and plots to kill Lebanese soldiers.

The preacher speaks in London alongside Abu Hamza in 1999

A Home Office spokesperson said: "An individual must be physically present in the UK in order to make a claim for asylum.

"Omar Bakri Mohammad was permanently excluded from the UK in 2005 on the grounds that his presence is not conducive to the public good.

"As Omar Bakri Mohammad is excluded from the UK, he will be unable to make a claim for asylum."

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps told Sky News: "People will have their own opinions, but there are proper processes in place to deal with these things."

Asked whether those processes meant that people had to be in the country to claim asylum, Mr Shapps added: "Those are the processes, that's right."

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Newlyweds Tied Up And Killed By Bride's Family

A 17-year-old girl and her husband have been tied up and had their throats slit shortly after they married for love, according to police in Pakistan.

Muafia Bibi and her partner Sajjad Ahmed, 30, were killed in a village which is part of Daska town in Punjab province, police officer Asghar Ali said.

He added that the girl's grandfather, parents and two uncles are accused of killing them with a butcher's knife, and that all five have been apprehended.

The couple married earlier this month and Mr Ali said the family had lured them home by saying they accepted the marriage.

The family said they had been embarrassed by the marriage of their daughter to a man from a less important tribe, police were quoted as saying.

District police chief Gohar Nafees said they admitted killing the couple in the name of honour.

Cultural traditions in many areas of Pakistan mean that killing a woman whose behaviour is seen as immodest is widely accepted.

A woman marrying a man of her own choice is considered an unacceptable insult to many families.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, some 869 so-called "honour killings" were reported in the media last year.

The true figure is probably much higher since many cases are not reported.

Under Pakistani law, the woman's family are able to forgive the killer even if they are convicted.

Many families nominate a member to do the killing and then formally forgive the killer.

In May, Farzana Iqbal, who was three months pregnant, was stoned to death outside a court in the eastern city of Lahore by family members for marrying the man of her choice.

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Nigeria 'Islamist Militants' Attack Kills 10

At least 10 people have been killed in an attack on a Nigerian village near the scene of the abduction of more than 200 girls.

Suspected Islamist militants were behind the attack in Kautikiri village, three miles from Chibok, which comes two months since the school pupils were kidnapped.

In a separate assault on Friday, insurgents killed seven soldiers in the village of Goniri, in Yobe state, a security source and witnesses said.

And in another attack thought to be have been carried out by militant group Boko Haram on Friday, an explosion in a brothel in the northeastern Nigerian city of Bauchi killed 11 people and wounded 28.

Nigeria's northeast has been beset by violence over the past year, with the abduction of the schoolgirls by Boko Haram attracting international attention to the problems.

More than 200 girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram

Efforts to free them have so far failed.

Samuel Chibok, a survivor of the attack on Kautikiri village, said around 20 men in a Toyota pick-up truck and motorcycles rolled into town.

"Initially I thought they were military but when I came out, they were firing at people," he said.

"I saw people fleeing and they burned our houses. Smoke was billowing from our town as I left."

He added that some people had died in the attack, including two of his relatives.

A local pro-government vigilante, who declined to be named, said residents had so far recovered 10 bodies from the village.

Boko Haram, which is fighting for an Islamic state in largely Muslim northern Nigeria, has killed thousands since launching an uprising on 2009, and many hundreds in the past three months.

It is by far the biggest security threat to Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer, and has overshadowed government efforts to portray Nigeria as a prospective economic giant and massive investment prospect.

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Iraqi Troops Strike Back In Tikrit Offensive

Thousands of Iraqi troops backed by tanks, warplanes and helicopter gunships have launched their biggest counteroffensive yet against ISIS militants in Tikrit.

There have been conflicting reports as to just how much headway the Iraqi military has made in its advance on Tikrit - the home town of Saddam Hussein which fell to the insurgents on June 11.

Following two weeks of demoralising defeats, the military has claimed to have regained control of the northern city, but the rebels have insisted they are still in charge.

An Iraqi army soldier moves on Tikrit

A provincial official told the AP news agency that the insurgents retained control of most of the city, and fighting is concentrated in the northern neighbourhood of Qadissiyah.

As the "large military operation" started, Staff Lieutenant General Sabah Fatlawi warned the insurgents they had two choices: "Flee or be killed".

Witnesses reported heavy clashes as troops moved in from the west.

Troops in helicopters landed at a strategically located university campus, with sporadic clashes reported throughout the day.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki's security spokesman said warplanes were targeting insurgents there.

Lieutenant General Qassem Atta said security forces were also now in full control of a key road from Baghdad to Samarra, between the capital and Tikrit.

He said there was coordination with the US, which has deployed special operations forces to Iraq, over "studying important targets", without elaborating.

Iraqi forces advance on Tikrit from the direction of Samarra in the south

Also on Sunday, fighters backed by the Kurdish Peshmerga force were advancing on the village of Basheer, south of Kirkuk, which was taken over by militants during their offensive.

Sky's Senior Correspondent Michelle Clifford, who is in Baghdad, said if the recapture of Tikrit is true, "it would not only be a strategic but a symbolically significant victory".

"The government is desperate to portray this as a victory because of the humiliating capitulation by the Iraqi forces in the early days of the insurgency," she added.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called on Iraq's political leaders to form a "more inclusive government", as the new parliament prepares to convene on Tuesday.

"It isn't for us and it wouldn't help anybody for us to pronounce on who should be the Prime Minister of Iraq," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

Special operations forces hunting down ISIS militants

"But there has been a failure in recent years to bring together Iraqi leaders and people out of their sectarian divisions.

"No one has succeeded in doing that in Iraq in the last eight years or so."

World leaders have insisted on a political settlement among Iraq's Shia Arab, Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities.

Top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani has also called for unity in Iraq.

Tikrit fell to the insurgents on June 11

Mr al Maliki, who has publicly focused on a military response to the crisis, has acknowledged that political measures are also necessary.

On Saturday, Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said in Damascus: "Russia will not remain passive to the attempts by some groups to spread terrorism in the region.

"The situation is very dangerous in Iraq and the foundations of the Iraqi state are under threat."

Baghdad has agreed to buy more than a dozen Sukhoi warplanes from Russia and Belarus in a deal that could be worth up to $500m (£295m).

Iraqi state TV quoted Lt Gen Atta as saying Sukhoi jets had arrived, without specifying how many.

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