A rapist has been thrown in jail for eight years after police were able to find his DNA on his victim's teddy bear.
64-year-old Bardhyl Mustafaj's victim used the toy to push him away, which provided the crucial evidence needed to lock him up.
Mustafaj, from Greenwich, was jailed yesterday (Friday, January 19) for four counts of rape, having been convicted at Wood Green Crown Court late last year.
Detective Constable Sam Orchard said: "I would firstly like to commend the victim for her bravery in reporting this crime so quickly; she went through the most horrendous ordeal.
The teddy bear used to push Mustafaj away
"This allowed officers to promptly get to work, forensically analysing the crime scene, gathering a range of DNA evidence, interviewing potential witnesses and locating the suspect.
“Their relentless attention to detail meant that no stone was left unturned. A key piece of evidence was the presence of Mustafaj’s DNA on the teddy bear which the victim used to push him off when he tried to kiss her.
“Mustafaj is now behind bars for a considerable time and will not be able to prey on other vulnerable women.
“We would encourage any victims of sexual assault to come forward to the police. You will be listened to and we will work hard to support you while we investigate what has happened.”
Our London Court & Crime newsletter brings you the latest major court updates and breaking news straight to your inbox. You can sign up HERE.
Sixty firefighters are attending to a blaze at a home in East London this morning (January 19). A mid-terraced house on Bournebrook Grove in Romford is alight.
Part of the roof is on fire and crews deployed in eight fire engines from different stations are trying to tackle the blaze. The fire broke out at 9:53am and is yet to be under control.
A spokesperson for London Fire Brigade said: "Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters have been called to a fire at a mid-terraced house on Bournebrook Grove in Romford. Part of the roof is alight.
"The Brigade was called at 09:53 and is still on scene. Fire crews from Dagenham, Romford, Leyton, Harold Hill, Ilford, Barking and Poplar fire stations are in attendance. The cause of the fire is not know at this stage."
Follow below for our live coverage of this incident.
Beauty boxes are a great way to try out new products, but for a fraction of the price. And if you're a skincare enthusiast, I'd recommend checking out Cult Beauty.
One of their bestsellers is the Skin Essentials Edit Box, priced at £45 and filled with skincare staples perfect to complete your AM and PM routines. According to our calculations, it's worth £224 of products.
And if you're a new customer, you can get 15 per cent off your first haul with the code FIRST15 at checkout. Most of the products included in the box are full size, including the viral Glow Recipe Guava Vitamin C + Ferulic Dark Spot Serum.
Boots also has a great range of skincare boxes, including their winter edit (Image: Boots)
A deluxe size of the celebrity favourite Dr. Barbara Sturm Hyaluronic Serum can also be found inside. Here's the full list of all the items comprised in the bundle:
The edit box scores 4.99 out of 92 reviews, with the lowest rating being four stars. A very pleased shopper wrote: "Absolutely incredible box for the price. So far I absolutely love the Sunday Riley cream and the Ren Essence. I'm yet to try the others, but it really feels like a luxurious experience using any of these products. A real treat."
Get the best deals, sales and bargains sent straight to your phone
You can now join MyLondon's new WhatsApp Community to get the best deals, sales, bargains and much more.
Through WhatsApp, we'll send the latest exciting new products and bargains straight to your phone, both across London and online.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the MyLondon team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
"Just WOW!!! What an amazing box for a fracture of the actual cost of these amazing products! I absolutely love it, thank you so much!" another added, while a third said: "This may be my fav beauty edit so far, I’m so happy with all of the products inside. I will always purchase the edits as cult beauty know how to make a great beauty box."
On the cheaper side, there's the £29.99 Boots Winter Skincare Edit Gift Set. Worth £139, it features seven full size skincare products and brands such as No7, Bioderma and La Roche Posay.
Containing cleansers, serums, moisturisers and more, it has a 4.7 rating from across 62 reviews. "Absolutely incredible value inside this skincare bag. Suitable for all year round not just winter. The best of products including Serum and Niacinamide. I would recommend this for the lady's in their 30's up , though it's never too early to start taking care of your skin," commented a customer.
Shop the £45 Cult Beauty Skin Essentials Edit Box here.
To see all the best Deals, Sales and Bargains in London, check out our Facebook group.
Humane mouse traps on Amazon have been hailed by shoppers as ones that 'actually work' - and mice can't chew through. Getting rid of mice is a tricky business because they're so smart - the only way I could get rid of one in my flat was with the help of my cat Theo, who evolved to do this job - but the Motel Mouse humane traps appear to work very well, according to the review pictures.
Currently there's a 10 per cent sale on them, bringing the traps down from £18.99 to £16.99 for a pack of two. They are also available from eBay from £12.50 while stocks last. These work by setting a lure inside the tube trap, such as peanut butter. When the mouse steps on a pressure trigger, the door clamps closed and you can release them outside.
Pest control company Clear First recommend releasing the mouse at least a mile away from your property with a small bit of food. This means it will survive and is less likely to navigate its way back to your home.
The Motel Mouse human trap has a 4.3 out of 4,075 ratings with many photos showing mice trapped inside. One person wrote: "Great trap(s) Easy to use and set up. Catches mice easily and keeps them safe for release. Decent size trap. Works brilliantly." Another added: "These are the best mousetraps I have had. Very effective and easy to clean under a tap. Great at catching mice and unlike the cheap ones the mice can’t chew their way to freedom. Three of the mice I found were dead though - more likely hypothermia rather than the traps fault."
After triggering a pressure plate, the door shuts and you can release mice from the humane mouse trap a mile away from where you live (Image: Amazon/Motel Mice)
A third remarked: "Easy to set up. And the suggested use of jam worked a treat with the mice we have. Both mice we have caught so far happily scurried away into the hedgerows where we released them….. hopefully sufficiently far away from our house! Product also simple to clean and reuse. Now to see if we get any more!"
However, one customer complained: "Trap works as it should, needs more air holes. I had drill a number in the roofs. Caught 1 mouse and realised it was suffocating. Trap was really warm full of moisture and when releasing the mouse it wasn't in a good way, it must of been in there a few hours but it took it out of the poor thing. Other than that it will catch the little rascals but it really does need more air to breath. Cleaning is OK, I just rinsed it out, the brush did and didn't work and drying it it's impossible in the centre unless you have mouse size hands. It is sturdy and traps snaps quickly and quietly."
To see all the best Deals, Sales and Bargains in London, check out our Facebook group.
Get the best deals, sales and bargains sent straight to your phone
You can now join MyLondon's new WhatsApp Community to get the best deals, sales, bargains and much more.
Through WhatsApp, we'll send the latest exciting new products and bargains straight to your phone, both across London and online.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the MyLondon team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
Another said: "Good size. However after less than 7 days of use both have been thrown away owing to squirrels totally destroying the units by, somehow or other, being able to remove the bait chamber at the rear and taking it away. I actually saw one running along my fence with the chamber in it's mouth. Probably ideal for indoor use but useless outdoors."
The family of the 21-year-old man, Anojan Gnaneswaran, who died at Strawberry Hill railway station on Monday, January 8 have released a tribute for their "much-loved son and brother". Anojan was found by police with a serious stab wound just before midnight and died at the scene.
The family said: “Anojan was a much-loved son and brother, and we are devastated that his young life has been ended in this way. He was in his third year at university studying accounting and finance and he was so excited for his future.
“He excelled at all sports and had achieved first-dan black belt in karate – he competed in the World and European championships in karate, and we will all miss him so much.” The family have asked that their privacy is respected in this difficult time.
Strawberry Hill station was closed while an investigation was carried out (Image: David Nathan/UKNIP)
Two men - aged 19 and 21 - have been arrested following his death. Their arrest comes after three others, a 15-year-old boy and men aged 19 and 20 were released under investigation.
A 16-year-old boy has also been released on bail. Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Paul Attwell said: “My thoughts are with Mr Gnaneswaran’s family and loved ones at such a difficult time.
“I know this loss will impact the wider community and I would like to reassure them our investigation continues at pace. I urge anyone with information that hasn’t been in touch already to reach out as soon as possible, by texting 61016 or calling 0800 405040 quoting reference 630 of 08/01/24, or via this link.
"Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
Covent Garden's shopping and dining district is giving away freebies throughout January to people whose birthdays fall in what many feel is the most depressing month of the year. January is famously viewed as one of the year's gloomiest months.
A study by The Yards revealed that 76 per cent of Brits consider January the worst month to celebrate their birthdays. To make things a little better, select venues at The Yards are offering free gifts to people who can prove their birthday is in January.
To claim them, all you have to do is show up to a participating venue with your ID. Townhouse is handing out a complimentary Townhouse Cream #1 30ml. It's free for anyone booked in for a treatment, and keeps skin smooth and hydrated in cold weather.
There's free food, drink, and skincare up for grabs (Image: The Yards)
At members club The Conduit, you get a complimentary Royal Flush mocktail when you dine at the Rooftop Restaurant for Friday dinner and Saturday lunch or dinner. The mocktail is a Darjeeling-based sparkling non-alcoholic tea.
There are also some venues giving out freebies without the need to buy anything first. Steakhouse and barbeque restaurant temper is offering a complimentary Momma’s Margarita. All you need to do is prove you're a January baby.
Get the most exciting London events and new bars and restaurants sent straight to your phone
You can sign up to get the most exciting events to the new bars and restaurants in London sent straight to your WhatsApp from the MyLondon team.
Our What's On WhatsApp Community features everything from the .
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the MyLondon team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Luci is treating people born in January to a complimentary coffee and a pastry. The Italian bakery's offerings includes their famous pistachio-filled croissant, available from the 18-metre long counter.
And at Pan Asian restaurant Gura Gura, you can get free desserts if you're born in January. The offers are available until January 31, and all you need is your ID to prove your birthday. You can find The Yards at Martin's Courtyard, The Yards, 17 Slingsby Pl, London WC2E 9AB.
Stay up to date with London's most exciting events, newest restaurants and latest deals with our What's On newsletter, Going Out Out. You can sign up HERE.
A killer has been sentenced to 30 years after shooting a man dead at a party and then fleeing to the Caribbean. Chase Griffith, 22, of Ashfield Parade, Southgate, shot dead Sam Brown, 28, at a party on Cheney Row Park, Walthamstow, on July 23 2022.
About 150 people went to the party, and at some point during the early hours of July 24, a man was stabbed. Griffith believed Sam had committed the stabbing, and shot him dead as a result.
The Old Bailey heard that Sam managed to stagger to his car and drive a short distance before collapsing. Griffith fled to St Lucia on July 27 from Gatwick Airport, having changed his appearance by cutting his hair.
Sam Brown, 28, was shot dead by Chase Griffith in July 2022 (Image: Met Police)
However he was tracked down and extradited on December 8. In a statement following the trial Sam’s family said: “We will never have any closure to what actually happened to our son that night. We all have to move on with our lives as we know that’s what Sam would want us to do. He will always be our angel and never forgotten.”
Detective Chief Inspector Kelly Allen who led the investigation said: “This sentence brings an end to a long and painstaking investigation by officers from the Met assisted by colleagues at the National Crime Agency. I am very grateful for their assistance with the extradition of Griffith."
He added: “Sam Brown was gunned down in the street by Chase Griffith in an act of perceived revenge following a stabbing that had taken place earlier that night. Griffith then fled the country to Saint Lucia, while Sam’s family grieved his brutal murder.
“Thanks to diligent detective work, using CCTV and other forensic evidence, a watertight case was built against Griffith allowing his arrest and extradition back to the UK to face justice. My thoughts today are with Sam’s family who have my deepest sympathy.”
Got a story? Please get in touch at rafi.benady@reachplc.com
Our London Court & Crime newsletter brings you the latest major court updates and breaking news straight to your inbox. You can sign up HERE.
