Blog

Child killer aristocrat Constance Marten and her lover are to get £1million legal aid… despite her £2.4million trust

Jailed aristocrat Constance Marten and her lover Mark Gordon are set to cost taxpayers more than £1million in legal aid bills, figures reveal.

The wealthy heiress, 38, who was jailed for 14 years for killing her baby, has been granted legal aid for her trial and family court battle for her older children – despite having a £2.4million trust fund.

In a case which raises questions about the legal aid system, Marten has boasted behind bars that she will soon be able to access her trust fund, spending cash on whatever she wants.

She will also benefit from another fund which will mature when she turns 40.

Yet taxpayers have had to foot the bill for the couple’s Old Bailey trial, retrial, family court proceedings and a forthcoming appeal.

Marten and Gordon, 51, went on the run with their newborn daughter Victoria in 2023 to prevent her from being taken into care, sparking a £1.2million manhunt across the country.

The couple’s four older children had already been removed by social services to protect them from harm before they fled with Victoria. They camped in freezing cold weather, causing their baby to die from hypothermia.

Earlier this month, a judge jailed the pair for 14 years as he blasted their arrogance and ‘lack of thought for anyone’. 

Keep reading

Military aircraft ‘incident’ under investigation near Area 51 outside Las Vegas

The U.S. Air Force is investigating an incident involving a military aircraft near Area 51 north of Las Vegas, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

The “incident” concerns an aircraft from Creech Air Force Base, which is located about 40 miles northeast of the Las Vegas valley. Staff at the base administer and pilot military drones.

No one was hurt and no property was damaged in the incident, according to a base spokesperson, who did not provide further information.

On Tuesday, Sept. 23, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a temporary flight restriction (TFR) for a five-nautical-mile area east of Area 51, the classified Air Force facility near Groom Lake. The TFR cites “national security” as the reason for the restriction near Highway 375.

The TFR warned pilots not to fly in the area unless the FAA authorizes them. The restrictions were scheduled to expire on Oct. 1.

Keep reading

Trump to preside over Hegseth’s rare council of generals as Commander-in-Chief reveals purpose of gathering

President Donald Trump will fully embrace his role as Commander-in-Chief of America’s armed forces later this week.

Trump told NBC News Sunday that he will be present at a meeting of the nation’s top military leaders organized by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, which will take place this Tuesday in Quantico,Virginia.

Speaking with NBC News over the phone, Trump shared the following about the forthcoming meeting:

‘It’s really just a very nice meeting talking about how well we’re doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things. It’s just a good message,’ Trump noted.

‘We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps.’ You know the expression ‘esprit de corps’? That’s all it’s about. We’re talking about what we’re doing, what they’re doing, and how we’re doing,’ the Commander-in-Chief added.

News of the meeting being called by Hegseth last week raised some alarm, as attendees were initially not told of the reason why they were being summoned to Washington, DC, from their respective posts across the globe.

Daily Mail reported Friday that Hegseth’s order to pull leaders into a meeting was kinglike.

‘He is playing mind games and wants to let them know who is boss. There is nothing big going on. They will just go over future strategies, posturing and policies. After the meeting, you might even report on some firings that will happen,’ a defense official told the Daily Mail.

Keep reading

Vance Says Trump Is Considering Supplying Ukraine With Tomahawk Missiles

Vice President JD Vance said in an interview that aired Sunday that President Trump was considering the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, a step that would mark a significant escalation of the proxy war, as the missiles have a range of over 1,000 miles.

“You asked this question about Tomahawks. It’s something the president is going to make the final determination on. What the president is going to do is what’s in the best interest for the United States of America … I know that we’re having conversations this very minute about that issue,” Vance said in an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

It’s unclear how Ukraine would use the Tomahawk missiles if they were supplied, as they are designed to be fired by US Navy warships and submarines. Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, previously said that Ukraine lacks the naval infrastructure to use sea-launched Tomahawks.

The US could potentially provide Ukraine with its new ground-based Typhon missile launcher, which can fire Tomahawks and was developed after the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. The INF prohibited land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles.

Vance didn’t address the risk of escalation that comes with providing Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. Moscow has previously made clear that US-backed missile strikes on its territory risk nuclear escalation, as it changed its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons after the Biden administration gave the green light for Ukraine to fire US-provided ATACMS missiles into Russia.

When asked about his previous opposition to the US arming Ukraine, the vice president pointed to the fact that the US is now having European countries fund the weapons shipments. However, last month, the administration announced a deal that will arm Ukraine with Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) air-launched missiles, which can hit targets up to 280 miles away, that will be partially funded by US military aid.

Tomahawks would put Moscow in range of Ukrainian missile strikes, and Vance’s comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened that Kremlin officials could become targets if the war continues. “They have to know where the bomb shelters are,” Zelensky said in an interview with Axios. “They need it. If they will not stop the war, they will need it in any case.”

In the same interview, Zelensky said that he had the explicit backing of President Trump to hit Russian energy infrastructure and arms factories and warned that if the US provided additional long-range capabilities, “we will use it.”

Russia, which hasn’t targeted Ukrainian leadership, has dismissed Zelensky’s threat. “Zelensky is trying to demonstrate to the Europeans, who now act as the breadwinners, that he is such a brave soldier,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Meanwhile, the state of affairs at the front indicates the opposite. With every passing day, the situation for Ukraine is inexorably deteriorating.”

Keep reading

Inside the mystery of missing Wyoming WWII airman’s B-17 bomber after it’s found in the jungle after 82 YEARS

Hidden in a remote, moss-covered mountain forest lay the remains of a World War II hero for 82 years, until loggers discovered his B-17 bomber by chance.

Sgt. Thomas L. Cotner, from Casper, Wyoming, was a Silver Star recipient during World War II. In September of 1942, Cotner, aboard a B-17 Bomber on a night mission in Rabaul, Japan, was never heard from again until researcher Justin Taylan identified the hero in New Guinea, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

Cotner served as a radio operator and gunner during his service and was a member of the notorious 30th Squadron of the 19th Bombardment.

He was on a mission to destroy the Vunakanau Airfield with the secondary target of Lakunai Airfield.

Three hundred and sixty-seven anti-aircraft weapons defended the area, and Allied intelligence referred to it as ‘the most heavily defended target in the South-West Pacific Area,’ according to pacificwrecks.com.

Cortner and seven other Flying Fortresses left from Mareeba Airfield, each armed with four 500-pound bombs.

‘The weather was extremely bad with rain, lightning and thunderstorms and no moon,’ according to mission records found by the outlet.

Each bomber flew individually in radio silence, but the weather was so catastrophic that only two of the seven reached the target.

Taylan said to the source: ‘This plane was never heard from after takeoff. We know now, based on where it crashed, that it reached the target and likely bombed and probably was lost returning from the mission in bad weather.’

Cotner’s hometown paper broke the news of his disappearance in October of that year: ‘Word was received in Casper on Monday night from the War Department that Sergeant Tom Stoutenberg, son of Mr. and Mrs. Emma Stoutenberg, is reported missing in action since September 16th. No details were contained in the message.’

For more than eight decades, Cotner and the missing bomber plane remained a mystery until a logging company cutting down trees in the mountains of New Britain Island discovered the plane by accident while building a road.

‘This plane was discovered by accident and some pictures were posted online. I saw them and realized, ‘Oh my God, this is an American airplane. It’s a B-17.” said Taylan to the outlet.

The site of the crash was high up in the mossy mountain forest, where Taylan said that, although the climate is tropical, the elevation of the area causes a person’s breath to form condensation from the chill.

Taylan learned about the mysterious wreckage while researching a separate missing incident in Papua New Guinea in 2023.

Keep reading

Democrats Rage, Leftist NGO Mobilizes After ICE Arrest Of Iowa’s Top School Superintendent

Democrats expressed “national outrage” after the ICE arrest of Ian Roberts, an illegal alien from Guyana who somehow became the Superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, the largest school district in Iowa. Roberts competed as an Olympic athlete and distance runner for Guyana 25 years ago, but this apparently didn’t help him escape immigration enforcement and his active warrants.

At the time of his arrest, Roberts was working as the Superintendent despite being an illegal alien with a final order of removal and no work authorization. He was caught with a firearm in his possession (which is illegal to carry for a non-citizen), as well as a hunting knife and $3000 cash. Roberts had previous warrants for weapons possession charges in February of 2020.  

Democrats claim that these ICE arrests and Trump’s deportation policies are directly to blame for the now numerous shootings committed by leftist activists. In other words, conservatives who are enforcing constitutional immigration laws are to blame when leftists try to kill them.

During a targeted enforcement operation on Sept. 26, 2025, officers approached Roberts in his vehicle after identifying himself, but he sped away. Officers later discovered his vehicle abandoned near a wooded area. State Patrol assisted in locating the subject and he was taken into ICE custody.

“This suspect was arrested in possession of a loaded weapon in a vehicle provided by Des Moines Public Schools after fleeing federal law enforcement,” said ICE ERO St. Paul Field Office Director Sam Olson. “This should be a wake-up call for our communities to the great work that our officers are doing every day to remove public safety threats. How this illegal alien was hired without work authorization, a final order of removal, and a prior weapons charge is beyond comprehension and should alarm the parents of that school district.”

The arrest spurred a protest outside the federal courthouse in Des Moines.

Keep reading

Iraq War veteran Thomas Sanford ID’d as gunman who attacked Grand Blanc LDS church, killing 2 and setting it ablaze

The deranged madman who killed at least two people and wounded nine others at a Michigan Latter-day Saints church, torching the building and opening fire on fleeing congregants and their families, has been identified as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, The Post can confirm.

Sanford, a US Marine veteran, according to his mom’s Facebook page, rammed his Chevy Silverado truck into the building before unleashing the assault on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, armed with a semi-automatic rifle.

An old Facebook post by Sanford’s mother says the gunman — who died at the scene in a shootout with cops — who served in Iraq from 2004-2008.

Law enforcement sources confirmed that Sanford, from nearby Burton, Michigan, is the line suspect.

The source of the blaze was not immediately known, but sources told The Post authorities found several improvised explosive devices on church property which a bomb squad was investigating.

Keep reading

Utah Church That Uses Marijuana, Psychedelics And Vapes As Sacraments Sues Over Police Raids

Months after Utah’s ban on flavored vapes, Blackhouse, a former Sugar House vape shop, became a sanctuary and a safe haven for those searching to get flavored cartridges—for spiritual and religious practices.

The electronic cigarettes joined other sacraments that have been at the center of religious legal challenges in the state like psychedelic mushrooms and cannabis. But, after Utah law enforcement agencies raided the Sugar House location, as well as the Salt City Sanctuary in South Salt Lake in August, all of these sacraments have been put into legal question, with the Sugarleaf Church, the institution overseeing both sanctuaries, initiating a lawsuit to keep them.

“Officers arrived using riot gear, AR-15s, pry bars, and battering rams, forcibly entered both sanctuaries, and immediately began disabling the security systems and surveillance cameras with a crow bar,” the church said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City in August.

During the raids officers confiscated cannabis and psilocybin products, which the church called “sacramental property,” as well as thousands of flavored vape cartridges, blank checkbooks, waivers, clergy rosters, cash donations, tablets and membership records.

The church is asking a judge to order law enforcement to stop interfering with members’ free exercise of religion and to award compensatory damages. The institution is also asking the South Salt Lake Police Department and the Utah State Bureau of Investigation to undergo mandatory religious sensitivity training and for the immediate return of property.

At Salt City Sanctuary the agents seized “4.24 kilograms of packaged marijuana flower; over a kilogram of ‘fresh flower’ marijuana; 956 1-gram pre-rolled marijuana joints, 8 display jars of marijuana flower, 152.5 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, mushroom gummies and sample packs, numerous edibles with THC, and rolling papers,” according to a motion to dismiss filed by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.

At Blackhouse, officers confiscated “significant quantities of raw marijuana; psilocybin mushrooms; THC vapes, cookies, gummies, candies, syrups, oils, and similar products; psilocybin cookies, gummies, and similar products; and over 3,000 flavored vape cartridges and order receipts,” the district attorney’s office said in its motion.

Joshua Robers, a church reverend, was also arrested and booked into Salt Lake County Jail during the Salt City Sanctuary raid. He faces multiple charges in 3rd District Court, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a third-degree felony.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit this month and declined to comment because the litigation is ongoing.

Keep reading

Trump-Hating Michael Cohen Shocks MSNBC Hacks by Admitting Comey Likely Committed a Crime and Will Be Found Guilty

MSNBC’s smug panelists were left stunned on Saturday when Michael Cohen, the disgraced former Trump attorney who has spent the last several years trashing President Trump, admitted on live TV that James Comey “likely committed a crime” and “will be found guilty.”

The left-wing network’s anchors weren’t prepared for Cohen’s blunt assessment.

Cohen, once weaponized by Alvin Bragg and Joe Biden’s DOJ in Trump’s sham New York trial, now says evidence in Comey’s case will prove that he broke the law and weaponized the FBI.

Cohen’s remarks were so unexpected that they left Elise Jordan gasping for air.

Elise Jordan:
You predicted this. Not that it’s a great development for the rule of law in our country. Did you think it would be this fast, though? And who do you think is next?”

Michael Cohen:
Well, is it about the rule of law? Do any of us actually really know whether or not Comey is or is not guilty of the charges? I know that they parade out all of these pundits — they have the great titles in the chyron: former prosecutor, former FBI. Who’s seen a single document that’s in the possession right now of the DOJ? The answer is nobody. Who has the crystal ball? Still nobody.

I will tell you, from my investigation — which I used Brian Karem, who’s a 30-year White House correspondent, to speak to people inside government because they wouldn’t talk to me — I’ve learned that Comey was actually very much involved in the Russia investigation in a very negative way. Chances are this DOJ has every single email, every text message, every communication. I believe, likely, he will be found guilty.”

Elise Jordan:
“Oh, well, that’s interesting, because a lot on the right —

Michael Cohen:
I think he likely committed a crime.

Elise Jordan:
What specifically?

Michael Cohen:
I believe, likely, he committed a crime. I don’t know what that crime is, but there are hundreds of thousands of documents, and the government has each and every one of them. All they need to find is that one. Remember, James Comey, when he was the head of the FBI, was so used to punching down. Well, now you have the FBI that’s going to be punching up. I’ve been through this system. I know better than anybody what a weaponized DOJ looks like and feels like. It is insurmountable.

Keep reading

Anson man arrested for threatening Pride parade to ‘send a clear message’

A man from Anson was arrested by the Abilene Police Department for threatening to shoot participants in the Abilene Pride parade for “taking out Charlie Kirk.“

Court documents state Joshua Cole posted the threats on a Facebook post regarding the Abilene Pride Parade & Festival.

“I say we lock and load and pay them back for taking out Charlie Kirk.” the comment said in part. In the next comment, Cole adds “theres only like 30 of em we can send a clear message to the rest of them.”

Abilene police were made aware of the threats on Sept. 18 and federal agents attempted to speak to Cole the following day.

The FBI agent visited his workplace and was told by Cole’s boss that he just quit and angrily stormed out of the building. Cole’s coworkers described him as a “hot head.”

Court documents state his comments were true threats because they were specific and not conditional.

The threats were also specific to a particular set of victims: people participating in the gay pride parade tomorrow. With this level of specificity, [Cole’s] comments were not mere idle of careless talk, exaggeration, or something said in only a joking manner.

Cole was eventually detained following a traffic stop Sept. 19, just one day before the Pride parade.

Keep reading