U.K News

Teen Getting 10 Years For Fire That Killed 5 From Senegal

Published

2 years ago

2023-02-01

Kiara Grace

DENVER, Colo. — A surveillance camera captured three people outside in full face masks and hoodies looking around the home’s backyard where members of three families of Senegalese immigrants lived minutes before a major house fire erupted and killed five people in 2020.

The investigation into the Aug. 5, 2020 fire dragged on for months amid fears that it was a hate crime, but authorities eventually accused three teens of setting fire to the house in retaliation for a stolen iPhone, which one of them mistakenly traced to the home in a neighborhood near Denver’s airport.

Screams could be heard, and a husband, wife, and their 12-year-old daughter escaped by jumping out an upstairs window, but five people were found dead inside the home after the fire in 2020.

Despite the objections of victims’ families and representatives of the city’s Senegalese community, the youngest of the teens charged in the case, Dillon Siebert, 14 at the time and now 17, was sentenced to seven years in prison him to serve three years in juvenile detention. Siebert, who was charged as a juvenile, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in adult court in a deal that prosecutors and the defense said balanced his lesser role in the fire’s planning, his remorse, and interest in rehabilitation with the horror of the crime.

The cases against the other two teenagers, including the alleged teen ringleader, Kevin Bui, and Gavin Seymour, both of whom were 16 at the time of the fire, are still pending in adult court, where they face charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, arson, and burglary.

The Teen Tried to Immigrate

Amadou Beye, who lost his wife, Hassan Diol, and their infant daughter, Hawa, in the fire, called Siebert a “monster” and claimed that he killed not only five people but also himself and many others connected to them. Beye, whose wife was allowed to immigrate to the United States before him, claims he considers suicide every day and requires medication to sleep.

“My life no longer makes sense,” Beye said, wearing a sweatshirt with a large photo of his wife and baby and the words, “Why my wife? “Why, my daughter?” Judge Martin Egelhoff asked.

Hassan Diol’s brother Djibril, his wife Adja Diol, and their 22-month-old daughter Khadija were also killed. Their bodies were discovered on the first floor, near the front door. Teen Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, expressed condolences for their deaths, and as months passed with no suspects identified, many Senegalese immigrants installed surveillance cameras in their homes.

Others talked about the hole that was left by the death of Djibril Diol, an engineer who was working on a major rebuild of Interstate 70 in the city and who wanted to build roads in Senegal. He teen helped other immigrants and was a devout Muslim, they said, rising early for morning prayers.

Abou Diol, Djibril Diol’s brother, said he lost the person he relied on for sound advice and that their father has “lost his mind” since the fire.

The Man Says “Black Lives Dont Matter”

Ousman Ba, a friend and community leader, said 10 years was insufficient punishment for such a crime and wondered what would have happened if five members of a white family had been murdered in this manner.

“However, Black lives do not matter,” he said.

Siebert looked at family and friends of the teen as they addressed Egelhoff, but he showed no emotion. When asked to speak, he apologized for what he had done to them and their families, mentioning how upset he was when his grandmother died shortly before the fire and could not see her due to coronavirus restrictions.

“I’m lucky I still have people who love me,” Siebert said, describing himself as a “people pleaser” who was bullied over a speech delay and became friends with Bui and Seymour amid the pandemic’s isolation.

Bui, who was identified as a suspect alongside the others after police asked the Google company to release the name of the person who searched for the home’s address within 15 days of the fire, allegedly told investigators he was robbed a month before the fire while trying to buy a gun and traced his Samsung phone to the home using an app. He admitted to starting the fire, only to learn the next day through news coverage that the victims were not the people who robbed him.

Lawyers for Bui and Seymour are challenging police use of Google keyword search results, describing it as a “digital dragnet” that swept up searches from billions of people worldwide.

Last year, Egelhoff denied a request to have the Google search teen evidence thrown out, but defense attorneys have now asked the Colorado Supreme Court to hear the case. It is expected to hear arguments in May.

SOURCE – (AP)

U.K News

London Hit With Heavy Snow as Temperatures Plummet

Published

6 days ago

2024-11-19

Geoff Brown

London, England, has been gripped by an Arctic freeze, with temperatures dipping well below zero, snow forcing trains to stop, and over 200 schools closing in and across the UK.

Commuters faced traffic mayhem as Braemar in Aberdeenshire recorded the coldest temperature in the UK this early in the season since 1998, at -11.2C (12.2F).

Today, the Met Office issued three yellow weather warnings for snow and ice across the Midlands and North of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

The UK Health Security Agency issued the season’s first amber cold weather health advisory, warning that circumstances could be hazardous to vulnerable people.

Poor weather hampered rail travel, with no trains running between Nottingham and Worksop or between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales.

A couple walks on the snow-covered ground at Pavillion Gardens in Buxton, Derbyshire.

Northern services in Yorkshire between Bradford and Huddersfield, Hebden Bridge to Halifax, and Halifax to Hull were all disrupted while flooding at Ulverston in Cumbria caused delays between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster.

Around 130 Welsh schools closed in Wrexham, Powys, Denbighshire, and Flintshire, with closures also reported in Birmingham, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire.

Nearly 5 inches (12 cm) of snow fell at Watnall in Nottinghamshire, with 3 inches (8 cm) at Cranwell in Lincolnshire and 2 inches (5 cm) at Lake Vyrnwy in Powys, Wales.

The Met Office issued warnings that vehicles might become trapped, power outages could occur, remote communities could be shut off, and falling on ice could cause injury.

England has a yellow warning until 11 a.m., while Scotland has a warning until 10 a.m. tomorrow. Another warning for Northern Ireland expired at 10 a.m.

The UK Health Security Agency issued an amber cold weather health notice for the East and North of England, the Midlands, Yorkshire, and the Humber.

Yellow health alerts went into effect for the South East, South West, and London at 8 a.m. today and will run until 6 p.m. on Saturday.

National Rail warned that the cold weather would impair several routes on northern rail services until at least 2 p.m. today.

Merseyrail issued a notice informing passengers that due to the possibility of snow and ice covering tracks, the first train on each line in North West England would run without passengers to allow conditions to be examined.

National Highways also issued a strong amber weather advisory for snow, indicating that the M1 in Leeds and Sheffield, the M56 in Manchester, junction 39 of the M6, and junctions 21-23 of the M62 may see interruption.

WEATHER WARNING 1: The Met Office snow warning in Northern Ireland terminated at 10 a.m. today.

WEATHER WARNING 2: A separate snow and ice warning for Northern England until 11 a.m. today.

WEATHER WARNING 3: Scotland’s snow and ice warning is live until 10 a.m. tomorrow.

The Met Office, which characterized the weather as ‘the first taste of winter,’ said heavy snow will cause problems in England, with Derbyshire being the most vulnerable.

According to Dan Suri, the Met Office’s chief meteorologist, a low-pressure system will move eastward on Monday night.

The related frontal system, which marks the border between cold air in the north and milder weather in the south, may deliver disruptive snow to certain locations between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

Dr. Agostinho Sousa of the UK Health Security Agency stated, “This is the first amber Cold Weather Health Alert of the season, but we can expect more as winter approaches. It is critical to check in on vulnerable friends, family, and neighbors to ensure they are well prepared for the onset of cold weather.”

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U.K News

Windsor Castle Robbed While Royal Family Slept

Published

6 days ago

2024-11-19

Geoff Brown

UK police report two men broke into the Windsor Castle estate, home to Prince William and Catherine and their three children and stole two vehicles.

According to the Sun newspaper, the robbers broke into a farm building on the Windsor estate and stole a black Isuzu pick-up truck and a red quad bike stashed in a barn.

The Prince and Princess of Wales reportedly arrived at their estate home during the nighttime burglary.

Thames Valley Police stated the individuals ran to the Old Windsor/Datchet area, but no arrests have been made.

“Offenders entered a farm building and stole vehicles,” the police added. An investigation is underway regarding the incident.

There have been previous security incidents at Windsor. On Christmas Day in 2021, an intruder was apprehended on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Jaswant Singh Chail, who was equipped with a crossbow, received a nine-year prison sentence.

The Windsor estate, located west of London, spans 15,800 acres and contains functioning farms, conservation areas, Windsor Great Park, and well-known royal attractions, including Windsor Castle.

Windsor Castle received 1.4 million visitors last year, making it the UK’s most popular royal tourist site.

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U.K News

Britain’s Conservative Party Elects Kemi Badenoch as Leader

Published

3 weeks ago

2024-11-02

Ana Wong

Conservatives pick Kemi Badenoch as party leader

U.K. Conservatives pick Kemi Badenoch as their party's new leader

Britain’s Conservative Party elected outspoken MP Kemi Badenoch as its new leader on Saturday, making her the first woman of color to lead a major British political party.

She has promised to give the right-of-center Tories “renewal” by advocating for a smaller state and rejecting identity politics.

The new leader faces a daunting challenge in restoring the party’s reputation after years of division, scandal, and economic turbulence, hammering Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s policies on key issues such as the economy and immigration and returning the Conservatives to power in the 2029 election.

“The task that stands before us is tough but simple,” Kemi Badenoch said in a victory address to a room full of Conservative legislators, staff, and journalists in London. She stated that the party’s role was to hold the Labour administration accountable while developing commitments and a government strategy.

Addressing the party’s electoral defeat, she stated, “We have to be honest — honest about the fact that we made mistakes, honest about the fact that we let standards slip.”

“The time has come to tell the truth, to stand up for our principles, to plan for our future, to reset our politics and our thinking, and to give our party, and our country, the new start that they deserve,” according to Badenoch.

Kemi Badenoch was Born in London

Kemi Badenoch, a business secretary in Sunak’s cabinet, was born in London to Nigerian parents and grew up in West Africa.

The former software engineer positions herself as a disruptor, advocating for a low-tax, free-market economy and promising to “rewire, reboot, and reprogram” the British state. Like her adversary Jenrick, she has opposed multiculturalism and advocated for decreased immigration, but unlike him, she has not asked that Britain abandon the European Convention on Human Rights.

Kemi Badenoch, a self-proclaimed hater of wokeness, opposes identity politics, gender-neutral toilets, and government initiatives to reduce carbon emissions in the United Kingdom. During the leadership race, she was chastised for claiming that “not all cultures are equally valid” and implying that maternity pay was excessive.

Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, predicted that under Badenoch, the Conservative Party would “swing to the right both in terms of its economic and social policies.”

He foretold that Badenoch will follow “what you might call the boats, boilers and bathrooms strategy …. focusing very much on the trans issue, the immigration issue and skepticism about progress towards net zero.”

Conservative Party Becoming More Diverse

While the Conservative Party is unrepresentative of the country as a whole, with a decreasing membership of 132,000 mostly affluent, elderly white men, its higher echelons have become significantly more diverse.

Badenoch is the Tories’ fourth female leader, following Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, and Liz Truss, who became prime ministers.

She is the second Conservative leader of color, following Sunak, and the first with African heritage. The center-left Labour Party has a more diversified membership, but its leaders have always been white men.

In a more than three-month leadership contest, Conservative MPs narrowed the field from six to two in a series of votes before presenting the last two to a vote of the party’s membership.

Both finalists were from the party’s right-wing and claimed they could reclaim votes from Reform U.K., the hard-right, anti-immigrant group led by populist leader Nigel Farage that has eroded Conservative support.

However, the party lost many votes to the winning party, Labour, and the centrist Liberal Democrats, and some Conservatives are concerned that tacking right may move the party away from popular sentiment.

Kier Starmer’s Labor government has had a difficult first few months in power, plagued by unfavorable headlines, fiscal woes, and a sinking approval rating.

However, Bale stated that the historical record implies Badenoch’s chances of leading the Conservatives back to power in 2029 are slim.

“It’s quite unusual for someone to take over when a party gets very badly beaten and manage to lead it to election victory,” according to him. “However, Keir Starmer did just that after 2019. So there are records to break.”

Source: AP