Met police officer found not guilty of assault, tenants in legal action first & other stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities you shouldn't have missed this week - curated by Melissa Sigodo
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Sudanese activists and refugees held a protest over Manchester City football club owner and billionaire Mansour bin Zayed’s alleged role in aiding Rapid Support Forces paramilitary waging war in Sudan. The group gathered outside his club’s stadium where they held footballs signed by refugees. Read the full story by Rayhan Uddin at Middle East Eye.
Policing
A Metropolitan Police officer Liam Newman has been found not guilty of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm after a man was left tetraplegic and needing a wheelchair when he was Tasered by the officer and fell from a wall after attempting to flee. Read the full story by Jess Warren at the BBC.
Violence Against Women
Tributes have been paid to a woman who was murdered by her estranged husband. Nimalarajah Mathiyaparanam, 47, has been sentenced to 29 years after stabbing 44-year-old Nilani Nimalarajah who died in hospital. Read the full story by Shuiab Khan at Asian Image.
Health
Parents whose “beautiful little” four-year-old son Abulhadi died of a Strep A infection say he could still be alive if doctors had taken their concerns seriously. A doctor who met with the parents after their son’s death said they had only seen one or two cases of Strep A in ten years and that symptoms developed rapidly. Read the full story by Dan Dougherty at Asian Image.
Immigration and Asylum
The UK’s immigration changes and the government’s “growing culture” of disbelieving victims is helping people traffickers “thrive” and harming those at risk, according to new research by anti-slavery charity Unseen. Read the full story by Emiliano Mellino at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
Crime
An 18-year-old inspired by the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana who murdered three young girls has been sentenced to 14 months at a young offenders institute. McKenzie Morgan who planned a “copycat” attack was given a criminal behaviour order which states that he “must not go to places where children are.” Read the full story by Jordan Davies and Telor Iwan at the BBC.
A mother has been charged with murder of her “smart” and “beautiful” four-year-old daughter Lesma-Rose Wibier following a house fire in Manchester. As well as murder, Carrin Wibier has been charged with arson with intent to endanger life. Read the full story by Sinai Fleary at The Voice Online.
Thousands of young people moving drugs through “county lines networks” are being promised money and friendship but end up being tortured and threatened by people they call friends. Watch the full report by Symeon Brown at Channel 4.
The Source Exclusive
A 16-year-old girl who spent years in and out to hospital with sickle cell disease says she looks forward to a pain-free future after receiving a life-changing bone marrow transplant from her only remaining sister and sickle cell advocate Simply Sayo. Read the full story by Melissa Sigodo for The Source.
Housing
Flat tenants in Woolwich, London, who say their homes reach up to 43C in summer could become the first to take legal action against their housing association over the excessive heat. One woman says she’s unable to open the window in the hottest rooms which exacerbates the heat. Read the full story by Meghan Owen at BBC London.
Sport
Anthony Joshua has returned to training 19 days after surviving a car crash which saw his two close friends killed while on holiday in Nigeria. In a post on Snapchat the boxer posted a video of him back in the gym with the caption “mental strength therapy”. Read the full story by The Voice Online.
Politics
Three Palestine Action-affiliated prisoners say they have announced the end of their hunger strike following the UK government’s decision not to give a £2billion contact to the Israeli arms company subsidiary Elbit Systems UK. Read the full story by Haroon Siddique at The Guardian.
Reform UK’s mayoral candidate for London, Laila Cunningham who said that women wearing burqa’s should be stopped and searched has been accused of emboldening the abuse towards Muslims. Read the full story by Alexandra Topping at The Guardian.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair has been named on a list of officials who will “oversee the reconstruction of Gaza.” Read the full story by Robert Mackey at The Guardian.
Tributes
A 106-year-old man who raised over £400,000 for charity and the NHS by walking in his communal garden during the Covid pandemic has died. Dabirul Islam Choudhury walked 970 laps in his garden in Bow, east London, including while he was fasting through Ramadan. Read the full story by Molly Lee for Metro.
A Britain’s Got Talent finalist and “true legend” Letitia Cuney, 53, along with her partner Cheryl Pierre, 47, have died from their injuries after being involved in a car crash. A man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and possession of class A drugs and drug driving. Read the full story by Jacob Stolworthy at The Independent.
World News
2000 people have died in Iran during protests which began over the economy. Internet access and telephone connections have remained blocked with the Iranian leader not “acknowledging the scale” of events. Read the full story by France24.
Rwanda has joined Ghana in deploying military engineers to help repair the infrastructure in Jamaica following the devastation of Hurricane Melissa which has caused an estimated $8.8 billion in damage. Read the full story by TRT Afrika.
Claudette Colvin who was arrested, charged and convicted at the age of 15 in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama, bus months before Rosa Parks did the same has died aged 86. Claudette helped in sparking the modern civil rights movement, but it wasn’t till 2021 that her motion to expunge her juvenile court records was granted. Read the full story by CNN.
At least seven people have been killed after Uganda’s presidential election turned violent. The opposition party the National Unity Platform says their leader has been ‘taken away’ by an army helicopter while President Yoweri Museveni’s looks set to govern for a fifth decade. The election which has been hit with allegations of corruption took place during a mass internet blackout. Read the full story by Yousra Elbagir at Sky News.