The newborn baby found in a park, facial recognition tech fail and other stories from Black, Asian and Arab communities in the UK you shouldn't have missed this week curated by Melissa Sigodo
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With the upcoming election, I hope you are all doing as good as you can considering how normalised racism and Islamophobia has become in the mainstream.
I hope The Thread serves to shine a light on the reality people face amid the gaslighting that we will inevitably continue to see in the run up to the 4th of July.
Without further ado, I've cut through the noise so you don't have to.
Women
The newborn baby found in Newham at the beginning of the year has been confirmed as the sibling of two babies who were also found in East London. A boy found in Plaistow Park in 2017 and a girl found at Roman Road playing fields in 2019. Police are asking for anyone who knows the mother to come forward. Full story.
Politics
Conservative party donor Frank Hester who allegedly said Labour MP Diane Abbott should be shot is now alleged to have said that an individual at a hotel he visited on a work trip was “attractive for a Black woman” and referred to a staff member as the “token Muslim.” He is also alleged to have imitated a Chinese accent and a person of Chinese descent by squinting his eyes. Full story.
Former Labour candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green Faiza Shaheen announced she will stand as an independent candidate after quitting the party when she was deselected over liking social media posts that allegedly downplayed antisemitism allegations. Full story.
7 Labour councillors who accused their party of institutional racism have resigned. The members cited the deselection of Faiza Shaheen and the treatment of Diane Abbott and the handling of Gaza as their reasons. Full story.
Policing
An anti-knife crime volunteer walking back from a shift who was stopped by police and ‘only let go after giving a copy of his passport’ is launching a legal challenge against the Met after he was misidentified as a ‘wanted man’ by facial recognition tech. Full story.
A Met police officer PC Thomas Murray sent a ‘highly offensive, derogatory, discriminatory and abusive’ voicenote which was accidentally played out loud during a meeting about providing support to minority staff. In the note, the officer accused Black staff of “playing the race card” but the Met would not reveal the full racist terms that the officer used. Full story.
Legal
A woman who killed an 82-year-old Alzheimer’s sufferer after pushing her to the floor at a bank has avoided jail. Courtney Richman, 26, was heard saying, ‘hurry up’ but Myra Coutinho-Lopez forgot she had withdrawn money earlier causing a long queue to develop before the pair rowed. Full story.
A man has been found guilty of murder after stabbing mum-of-three Keisha Christodoulou, 32. Leon Murray, 35, then went to pick up their 6-year-old daughter from school where he told a member of staff that he had killed her.
Entertainment
Comedian Lenny Henry has said that “many black dramas only get one series” and that his Windrush ITV drama Three Little Birds which was axed is an example of this. The actor now says he will turn the series into a book instead. Full story.
The BBC has spent over £3 million on a report about the alleged misconduct its former DJ Tim Westwood whom several women have accused of “predatory and unwanted sexual behaviour and touching” between 1992 and 2017. The report has yet to be published and the DJ denies all the allegations.
Crime
A woman who made multiple calls to police and told them she was being stalked by a man was found stabbed to death on Valentines Day. Carl Cooper, 66, is accused of murdering Naomi Hunte, 41, as well as 48-year-old Fiona Holm whose body has never been found. Full story.
A protest is being held after a popular DJ and his pregnant girlfriend were allegedly ‘attacked & left needing hospital treatment’ following a parking dispute which saw the man called the ‘N-word & a Black b*****d before being set upon by about 30 people with weapons.’ Full story.
A man who murdered a woman nine days after being released from prison while she walked home from a night out was classed as medium risk rather than high, in what “may have been an oversight”, an inquest has heard. Jordan McSweeney who was a sexual predator with 28 previous convictions went on to murder 35-year-old Zara Aleena.
Missing People
A body has now been found in the search for two-year-old Xielo Maruziva who fell into a river three months ago on February 18 while walking along the towpath of the River Soar with his family. Police say the body was found while work was being carried out in the area. Full story.
World News
More than 150 people are ‘feared dead’ following a massacre in central Sudan with footage on social media showing bodies wrapped and being prepared for burial. The Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group is being blamed for the deaths but have not commented on being accused. Full story.
A a graffiti-inspired artist from the Ivory Coast who was kicked out of his home by his father after telling him he wanted to paint for a living and went on to surpass Damien Hirst and Banksy by selling the most pieces at auction says he is ‘not surprised to be a best seller.’ Abdoulaye Diarrassouba sold one canvas painting for £504,000 ($640,000).
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