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| Man jailed for 24 years for murdering ex-wife over Facebook taunts Adam Mann bludgeoned ex-wife to death after receiving child support demands, leaving her body for their son to find, court hearsA chef who murdered his former wife after she taunted him on the social networking site Facebook about child support payments was jailed for life today.Adam Mann, 29, used a hammer to batter Lisa Beverley, 30, before slashing her neck with a knife, the Old Bailey was told.He left his former partner in a pool of blood, where she was found by the couple's five-year-old son, in a scene of "unimaginable horror", the court heard.Beverley had 18 broken ribs and had no chance of survival after being hit repeatedly on the face, head, neck and over her body, the court heard.Mann will have to serve a minimum of 24 years for the murder, which was carried out at their home in Plumstead, south-east London, last September.Sentencing judge Paul Worsley said that Mann had been involved in a dispute with the Child Support Agency (CSA) on the day of the murder, which he described as "a truly dreadful killing"."You desperately tried to avoid responsibility for your son. I have no doubt you wanted to remove any further claim by removing Lisa Beverley," said the judge."You have shown no flicker of remorse. I reject the suggestion that there was any degree of provocation."The court heard Beverley had called Mann "a joke" on the social networking site, after chasing him for child support payments over several years. The couple had been engaged in a bitter dispute since the couple divorced in 2007, and had escalated in the weeks leading up to her death.Beverley was trying to get Mann to contribute towards raising their son, through the CSA. She told the agency he had lied about being unemployed and the agency sent him a letter demanding payments of about £400.The day before her death, Beverley's Facebook profile was updated to say: "Now whose laughing? U've got done big time by the CS, so now leave us alone for good, your son hates u and so do I."She later added: "He is a joke."Hours before the victim's death, Mann telephoned the CSA saying he had no money and would not pay, said Jeremy Donne QC, prosecuting.Beverley's body was found the next day by her son in the living room of her house. The child called his grandfather, Stephen Beverley, as he had been taught to do if his mother went into a diabetic coma."The scene that confronted him, and that had been found by his five-year-old grandson, was one of unimaginable horror," said Donne."His daughter lay in a pool of her own blood on the floor of her living room. She had been savagely beaten and stabbed to death."Mann, of Springfield Road, Welling, Kent, was found guilty in August of murdering Beverley on 15 September last year.The couple's relationship had become increasingly acrimonious after their divorce, added Donne."The relationship had deteriorated sharply. Contact between the two, by 2009, had become increasingly bitter," he said.CrimeAlexandra Toppingguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
No action against Moat Taser firm Police decide it is not in the public interest to prosecute a Northamptonshire firm that supplied Tasers used during the Raoul Moat stand off. bbc.co.uk |
The American – review | Peter Bradshaw This is a stylish vehicle for George Clooney as an ice-cold hitman, but it lacks thrills and spillsGeorge Clooney returns, setting aside the warm and witty persona that his fans love, and giving them instead one of his darkest and most unsympathetic characters: an ice-cold professional killer marooned in loneliness and fear. The director is Anton Corbijn – the former photographer who made his brilliant feature debut with Control, a biopic of Joy Division's frontman, Ian Curtis – working from a screenplay by Rowan Joffe. It is adapted from the 1991 novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth, originally about a reserved Englishman abroad with a brutal and murderous secret.The movie re-imagines this expatriate loner as an American. Clooney plays Jack, an assassin first seen hiding out with a beautiful companion in a Swedish forest cabin. This blissful scene is shattered by violence, and Jack demonstrates his utter ruthlessness both to his attackers, and to his terrified girlfriend, who hadn't a clue what he did for a living. Jack's minder Pavel, played by Johan Leysen, is soon talking to him on one of the film's many untraceable payphones, tersely ordering him to hide out in an Italian village, where he will receive money and instructions for a new, highly specialised job. During his enforced seclusion, Jack finds himself cultivating a friendship with a shrewd, elderly priest (Paolo Bonacelli), falling for local prostitute Clara (Violante Placido) and for the first time he wondering if – and how – he can build a life that doesn't depend on whacking people.It's a calm, watchful movie, underscored with rising and falling levels of anxiety and paranoia, but little or no real action, except at the beginning and very end. The idea of the assassin or criminal forced to lie low somewhere unfamiliar and just wait is a time-honoured idea: other examples are Martin McDonagh's In Bruges and Paolo Sorrentino's The Consequences Of Love.And it's a very old-fashioned film in many ways, with its Frederick Forsyth-style hitman: this self-reliant tough guy designing and building one gun for one particular hit is straight out of The Day Of The Jackal. Clooney's character is obviously in middle age, but very much in shape. His character has tattoos showing him to be ex-Special Forces, and Clooney is shown doing some impressive overhand pull-ups and sit-ups as he religiously works out in his austere Italian cottage.It's an interesting film, beautifully shot by cinematographer Martin Ruhe, but not many thrills and spills and not much new to say about the figure of the lonely assassin. Clooney himself can't help but be charismatic as he broodingly orders drinks in cafes, takes his sunglasses on and off, unfolds Italian newspapers and casually glances at them with every appearance of comprehension and interest. But there's not a lot for him to do, little interesting character development, and an uneasy feeling that much of Clooney's presence and power is going to waste. This is a film with plenty of pretty shots, potent moods and nicely composed images, all heading … well, nowhere in particular. Still, Clooney's natural star quality makes it a watchable and stylish interlude.Rating: 3/5London film festivalDramaFestivalsPeter Bradshawguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Portsmouth future looks assured Portsmouth look set to avoid going out of business after lawyers representing former owner Sacha Gaydamak reach an agreement with the stricken club. news.bbc.co.uk |
Katy Perry and Russell Brand are married in private Hindu ceremony Katy Perry and Russell Brand have married in an exotic Hindu ceremony under heavy security in the heart of India's leading tiger park. telegraph.co.uk |