Joseph McCann: Suspect probed over more attacks
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Met Police
Joseph McCann was wanted over attacks across the country
A man arrested over the abduction and rape of three women in and around London is being investigated for other attacks involving nine further victims.
Joseph McCann, 34, was arrested in Congleton, Cheshire, after two girls, aged 14, were abducted in the town.
He is being investigated over attacks in Cheshire, Manchester and Lancashire, on victims aged between 11 and 71.
Det Ch Insp Katherine Goodwin, of the Metropolitan Police, said the attacks were “grotesque and horrifying”.
The officer urged other victims to come forward and want to hear from anyone who had been approached by Mr McCann or in contact with him between February and May.
Suspect Joseph McCann was seen in the back of a police car following his arrest
Mr McCann was found in a tree in Smithy Lane on Sunday evening and arrested after a stand-off with police negotiators.
He had been spotted in the town after two girls were forced into a car that afternoon.
Met detectives are now investigating him in connection with a number of other attacks earlier that day.
These include the false imprisonment of a woman in Haslingden, Lancashire, in which a teenage girl and a boy, 11, were raped and the abduction and rape of a 71-year-old in Bury, Manchester.
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Met Police
The Met Police released a CCTV image of the suspect
The suspect is also being investigated over the abduction of two 13-year-old boys and the abduction and sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in Heywood, Manchester, at about 15:30 BST on Sunday.
Det Ch Insp Goodwin said the attacks were believed to have taken place between 21 April and 5 May.
“Detectives from the Met continue to lead on this investigation and are working very closely with policing counterparts where he is suspected to have carried out further offences,” she said.
Mr McCann was also wanted for questioning over the abduction and rape of a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the early hours of 21 April.
The Met Police launched an appeal to find Mr McCann after two women in their 20s were snatched off streets in London and raped in a car in London on 25 April.
Wolves 1-0 Fulham: Hosts close in on seventh-placed finish through Leander Dendoncker’s winner
Wolves moved a step closer to a seventh-placed Premier League finish and potentially European football next season as Leander Dendoncker’s volley gave the hosts victory over Fulham at Molineux.
After a largely frustrating 75 minutes, Joao Moutinho played in Matt Doherty down the right for the defender to curl in a fine cross that Dendoncker emphatically smashed inside the near post.
Superb Wolves forward Diogo Jota went close four times, twice sliding wide and twice drawing fine saves from Fulham keeper Sergio Rico, while Dendoncker also hit the bar with a header.
The already-relegated visitors should have taken the lead on 62 minutes but Aleksandar Mitrovic scooped his first-time effort over the bar after he was picked out in the middle by Ryan Sessegnon.
Wolves will be guaranteed of finishing seventh in their first season after promotion if Leicester fail to beat Premier League leaders Manchester City on Monday.
If Nuno Espirito Santo’s side do secure seventh and City subsequently beat Watford in the FA Cup final, then Wolves will land a Europa League spot next season, returning to Europe after a 39-year wait.
Dendoncker ensures rousing end to home finale
Wolves have oddly struggled against struggling sides this season, having lost six of their 11 previous matches against teams in the bottom six heading into that round of fixtures.
For long periods of this game, it looked like a compact but limited Fulham would add a goalless draw to that record but Wolves were determined not to let their last home game be a disappointment after a season of thrilling matches at Molinuex.
Jota weaved his way past Fulham defenders all afternoon, picking up a yellow card for simulation early on, but more often drawing fouls and getting his team surging forward on the counter-attack.
In the first half, a brilliant flick from Raul Jimenez led to Jota forcing Rico to palm it round corner, before he got past his man and slid wide across goal with his left foot.
He similarly slipped a left-footed effort beyond the far post after the break and then saw a brilliant volley pushed onto the bar by Rico as the Portuguese ultimately failed to get the goal his performance deserved.
But Dendoncker broke through. Having seen his header from a corner rebound off the bar in the first half, the Belgium midfielder showed excellent technique to volley the ball from just behind his body and edge Wolves towards the highest finish for a promoted side since Ipswich came fifth in 2000-01.
More to follow.
Hither Green burglar told ‘my knife’s bigger’
Richard Osborn-Brooks was initially arrested on suspicion of murder but later released without charge
A 79-year-old man who killed a burglar picked up a kitchen knife and warned him his weapon was “bigger than yours”, an inquest has heard.
Richard Osborn-Brooks stabbed Henry Vincent to death in Hither Green, south-east London, in April last year.
He told Southwark Coroner’s Court the 37-year-old had threatened him with a screwdriver, then “rushed forward” and “ran into the knife I was holding”.
Coroner Andrew Harris ruled Mr Vincent was lawfully killed.
Mr Vincent’s sister told the hearing her brother was “not a violent person”.
“He was a father, he was a son, he was a brother. No one deserves to die,” Rosie Vincent said.
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PA
Henry Vincent and another man broke into the 79-year-old’s home in Hither Green
Speaking by videolink, Mr Osborn-Brooks told the inquest he still believed the intruder was “intending to do me harm” during the break-in on 4 April 2018.
He said two men had knocked on his door, grabbed him and pushed him inside.
Both then demanded money as one then shoved him toward the kitchen and the other ran upstairs.
He told the hearing that when he grabbed the knife, Mr Vincent’s accomplice fled out of the front door but the intruder came down the stairs holding the screwdriver and saying “get out of my way or I’ll stick you with this”.
Mr Osborn-Brooks said he had then warned him his weapon was “bigger than yours” as “I thought he would look at my knife… and he would take the opportunity to run out the front door which was open”.
“He definitely didn’t try to get out of the front door, he came towards me,” he said.
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PA
Mr Osborn-Brooks said Mr Vincent threatened him with a screwdriver during the raid
Mr Vincent’s cause of death was given as an incised wound to the chest.
In a statement, the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination said a toxicology report indicated “a recent use of both cocaine and heroin”.
He said Mr Vincent “may have been experiencing the effects” at the time of the raid.
Wimbledon postal ballot is abolished & prize money increased
Fans will no longer need to use pen, paper and a stamped addressed envelope to apply for Wimbledon tickets after the grass-court showpiece announced an end to a 95-year tradition.
The move to an online ballot from 2020 was among several changes confirmed by the All England Club on Tuesday.
Prize money will increase by 11.8% this year, with the total pot at the Grand Slam standing at £38m.
The men’s and women’s singles champions will win £2.35m, a rise of £100,000.
Prize money for early-round losers will increase by more than 10%, while there is also a double-digit increase for men’s and women’s doubles.
The new retractable roof over Court One will be in operation this year but the shot-clock – used at January’s Australian Open – will not be.
But the device, which counts down the seconds allowed between points, is “very likely” to be introduced from 2020, All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) chief executive Richard Lewis told a news conference.
Meanwhile, the wheelchair event has been expanded to include quad singles and doubles after a trial last year.
This year’s grass-court Grand Slam runs from 1 to 14 July.
Going digital
Since 1924 Wimbledon has sold the majority of its tickets through a postal ballot, which requires fans to send a stamped addressed envelope to receive an application form, which they then need to post back to the All England Club to enter the ballot.
The completed forms need to be returned by the end of the December before the July championships and fans cannot apply for specific dates or courts.
The system is set to remain the same for the online application, just without the paper and stamps.
The new online ballot does not affect the popular queue – where people often camp overnight to buy on-the-day tickets.
Prize money increases
Wimbledon has once again announced higher percentage increases in prize money for players who go out in the first three rounds of the main draw or in qualifying.
“It is a clear demonstration, once again, of our continued commitment to do what we can for players for whom it will have the most impact,” AELTC chairman Philip Brook said.
Since 2011, the prize money for first-round losers has increased almost four fold, from £11,500 to £45,000.
Meanwhile, if Britain’s Jamie Murray wins the men’s doubles title this year, he would share £540,000 with his partner, which is a rise of 20% compared to last year.
| Selected Wimbledon prize money | ||
|---|---|---|
| Singles champions | £2.35m | +4.4% (compared to 2018) |
| First-round singles loser | £45,000 | +15.4% |
| Doubles champions | £540,000 | +20% |
| Mixed doubles champions | £116,000 | +5.5% |
| Wheelchair singles champions | £46,000 | +15% |
| Wheelchair doubles champions | £18,000 | +28.6% |
| Total prize money | £38m | +11.8% |
What are the other changes for 2019?
Among other changes announced on Tuesday was that play on the outside courts will begin half an hour earlier than previously, at 11:00 BST, and four more courts will offer Hawk-Eye technology for line calls.
The capacity of the grounds will rise to 42,000, an increase of 3,000 following the completion of work to put a roof on Court One.
The cost of the project, which comes 10 years after Wimbledon installed a retractable roof over Centre Court, has not been disclosed but Brook said it had been completed on time and on budget.
The roof will be tested at a tennis and music exhibition event on 19 May, which will be broadcast live on the BBC and raise money for a homeless fund set up by the Wimbledon Foundation.
Organisers also announced plans for a greener championships, by using only 100% recycled and recyclable water bottles and scrapping plastic bags from its racquet-stringing operation.
London Marathon 2019: Eliud Kipchoge wins, Mo Farah fifth
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran the second fastest marathon in history to win the London Marathon for a fourth time as Britain’s Mo Farah finished fifth.
Kipchoge, 34, who broke the world record in Berlin last year, triumphed in two hours two minutes 38 seconds.
Farah finished three minutes one second behind Kipchoge, while fellow Briton Callum Hawkins was 10th.
Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, 25, became the youngest female London winner, with Britain’s Charlotte Purdue 10th.
Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun finished second and third respectively behind Kipchoge, who finished 59 seconds shy of his world record of 2:01:39.
Earlier, American Daniel Romanchuk and Switzerland’s Manuela Schar won the men’s and women’s elite wheelchair races.
More than 40,000 runners, some dressed as giraffes, bells, cars and even Big Ben, took to the streets of the capital as the amount raised by the London Marathon passed £1bn.
‘The wheels came off and I was hanging in there’
Farah’s time of 2:05:39, although outside his personal best, is the second fastest by a Briton.
He was dropped by the leading pack around the halfway mark as the men’s field started to string out with Kipchoge dictating the pace.
Farah was involved in a row with double Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie this week but said it “didn’t distract me at all”.
“I felt great with my start,” the four-time Olympic champion, 36, told BBC Sport.
“My aim was to follow the pacemaker, but after 20 miles when he dropped out, the gap opened up and it became hard to close.
“My aim was to try and reel them back but the wheels came off and I was hanging in there.”
Hawkins, making his return to the marathon for the first time since collapsing from exhaustion in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, set a Scottish record of 2:08:14.
Alongside Farah, Hawkins and Purdue, Dewi Griffiths and Tish Jones also fulfilled the qualifying criteria for the 2019 World Championships, which take place in Doha in the autumn.
‘I only chase one rabbit and that was London’
Kipchoge, who won Olympic gold at Rio 2016, has now won 11 of the 12 marathons in which he has competed, only missing out in Berlin in 2013.
He broke his own London Marathon record – set in 2016 – by 28 seconds.
“I’m happy to win on the streets of London for the fourth time and to make history,” Kipchoge told BBC Sport.
“The crowd in London is wonderful and that spirit pushed me. From the first kilometre to the last, everybody is shouting. I’m happy to cross the line.”
Asked about his next race, he said: “As usual, I do not chase two rabbits – I only chase one and that was London. I have caught that rabbit so I will discuss with my team what follows. The second option is still open.”
Farah said: “Congratulations to Eliud and the better man won today. He is a very special athlete and he is humble.
“If Eliud can run those sort of times it just gives us another level of possibility. It’s a different mindset chasing someone and it takes the pressure off me.”
Kosgei wins maiden women’s title in London
Kosgei beat defending champion and compatriot Vivian Cheruiyot to win for the first time in London.
She crossed the finish line in 2:18:20, almost two minutes ahead of Cheruiyot as Roza Dereje of Ethiopia finished third.
The top three had left three-time London Marathon winner Mary Keitany behind at the 30km (18.6-mile) mark. She finished fifth, two minutes 38 seconds behind Kosgei.
Kosgei is 25 days younger than Aselefech Mergia, the previous youngest winner, when she won the 2010 race.
Purdue, 27, beat her personal best by almost four minutes to record the third-quickest time by a British woman of all time.
Her time was also within the qualifying time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
She told BBC Sport: “I am over the moon with that. To smash my personal best is all I could to ask for.
“I always get tempted to go with the leaders, but now I run better in the second half so I held back and that worked for me.
“I always promise myself in the last mile that I would never run another step. But this is not my retirement.”
And finally…
Premiership: Wasps v Saracens – BBC Sport
| Gallagher Premiership |
|---|
| Venue: Ricoh Arena Date: Saturday, 27 April Kick-off: 16:30 BST |
| Coverage: Live score updates on BBC local radio and on the BBC Sport website |
Wasps have centre Jimmy Gopperth in their 23-man squad for the first time this season following his pre-season anterior cruciate ligament injury.
But they are without locks Joe Launchbury (Achilles/calf) and James Gaskell (calf), so Will Rowlands and Kearnan Myall deputise, while Kieran Brookes returns at tighthead prop.
Champions Cup finalists Saracens make two changes from the win over Munster.
Nick Tompkins returns at centre, while Calum Clark is in at openside flanker.
Sarries are in action at the Ricoh Arena for the second weekend running after their 32-16 Champions Cup semi-final victory.
That was the fourth time in five visits that they have won in Coventry, but they have only won five of their last 10 Premiership matches, while Wasps have won their last two and beat leaders Exeter at Sandy Park last time out.
Wasps start the weekend in fifth, knowing that they could potentially be overtaken by any of the chasing sides immediately below them if they lose.
Victory for second-placed Saracens could guarantee another home Premiership semi-final, if Gloucester fail to win at Worcester on Sunday.
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young:
“Our goal is to win our two remaining games at the Ricoh and finish the season strongly. We’re not talking about top six or top four, we’re just talking about the next game.
“Nothing short of a big performance will do. Sarries were excellent in their semi-final win over Munster.
“They never really looked under pressure against a very good Munster team so we know how good we’re going to have to be to get a result.”
Wasps: Le Roux; Watson, Daly, Lovobalavu, Bassett; Sopoaga, Simpson; Zhvania, Johnson (capt), Brookes, Rowlands, Myall, Shields, Carr, Hughes.
Replacements: Cruse, McIntyre, Cooper-Woolley, Matthews, Morris, Hampson, Gopperth, de Jongh.
Saracens: Goode; Strettle, Lozowski, Tompkins, Williams; Farrell (capt), Spencer; M Vunipola, George, Lamositele, Itoje, Kruis, Rhodes, Clark, B Vunipola.
Replacements: Gray, Barrington, Koch, Skelton, Burger, Whiteley, Morris, Lewington.
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter.
Maurizio Sarri: Chelsea boss charged by FA after Burnley draw
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has been charged with misconduct after he was sent to the stands at the end of Monday’s 2-2 draw with Burnley.
Tensions boiled over at the end of the match at Stamford Bridge.
David Luiz and Ashley Barnes were involved in an altercation on the pitch and a scuffle took place near the tunnel entrance at the final whistle.
Blues assistant coach Gianfranco Zola said Burnley’s backroom staff “offended” Sarri.
“I think there will be a follow-up on that. Maurizio felt very unhappy,” Zola said after the match.
“We understand it’s a football game. You say words because of the adrenaline, but he wasn’t particularly happy.”
Sarri did not take part in the post-match media conference and Zola said Chelsea were unhappy with Burnley’s time-wasting during the game.
The Italian, 60, has until 18:00 BST on Friday to respond to the Football Association charge.
Holyhead crossbow shooting: Potential London witnesses sought
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Family photo
Gerald Corrigan was struck outside his home
Witnesses from as far afield as London are to be interviewed by police investigating the crossbow shooting of a man on his Anglesey doorstep.
Gerald Corrigan, 74, was left with “horrendous injuries” outside his home in a remote area near South Stack Road in Holyhead.
North Wales Police said their appeal had attracted “a superb response”.
The crossbow bolt narrowly missed Mr Corrigan’s heart and he is “stable but heavily sedated” in hospital.
Doctors at Royal Stoke University Hospital found the bolt had travelled through his upper body and right arm.
- Family’s appeal to find Holyhead crossbow shooters
- Man suffers ‘horrendous injuries’ in crossbow shooting
Senior investigating officer, Det Ch Insp Brian Kearney told BBC Radio Wales’ Good Morning Wales the force has traced “many of the thousands of visitors” who were staying in Anglesey last weekend.
“We have completed house to house enquiries at four campsites and visited numerous homes and we will continue to do so,” he said.
“We have completed the forensic examination of the scene and the fingertip search of the ground has also concluded.”
Investigators were at the house on Saturday
Det Ch Insp Kearney added the force was “satisfied we are doing everything possible to identity the person or persons responsible”.
ATP Finals moving from London to Turin from 2021 to 2025
The ATP Finals will move from London to Turin after the Italian city was named as host of the event from 2021 to 2025.
Manchester, Singapore and Tokyo were also on a five-city shortlist to stage the season-ending tournament.
It has been held at London’s O2 Arena since 2009 but will move to the Pala Alpitour stadium.
“We believe that Turin has all the ingredients to take the event to new heights,” said the ATP’s executive chairman Chris Kermode.
The ATP Finals feature the world’s best eight singles players and doubles teams of the season and will boast a record prize fund of $14.5m (£11.2m) in 2021.
Turin will be the 15th city to host the event, and first in Italy, since it was first staged in 1970.
A cumulative total of more than 2.5 million spectators have watched the ATP Finals at the O2 Arena, which will host the event in 2019 and 2020.
The Pala Alpitour stadium, which was opened in 2005, has a capacity of around 15,000 and is Italy’s largest indoor sporting arena.
World number one Novak Djokovic, who lost to Alexander Zverev in last year’s final, said: “The ATP Finals is the biggest and most prestigious event that we have at the ATP.
“It’s a tournament that has historically moved around and so I’m very excited to see it move to Turin from 2021.”
Italy also hosts the Next Gen ATP Finals, with Milan staging the first five editions of the tournament for 21-and-under players from 2017 to 2021.
Analysis
BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
With the exception of New York’s Madison Square Garden, no other city has hosted the ATP Finals for as long as London.
The event does need to move around, and the world number one and ATP Player Council president Novak Djokovic has been making that argument for some time.
The O2 Arena’s 12-year run has been a phenomenal success, consistently attracting more than 250,000 people with style and panache. The departure of the Finals robs British tennis of a prime spot – at a traditionally fallow time – to showcase the sport.
Turin has a very hard to act follow. But there is a lot of money behind this bid.
Prize money will increase by more than 50%, and put men on a par with women.
The current disparity had not gone unnoticed by ATP players. The prize fund in London this year will be $9m; in Shenzhen, at the start of a 10-year run in China for the WTA Finals, it will be $14m.