Other UK News In Brief

'Dead Pensioner' Jailed For Fraud

A pensioner was jailed for six years today after he admitted faking his own death in Central America to try to pocket a £520,000 life insurance payout. A judge said Anthony McErlean, 66, committed ''deliberate and calculated fraud'' after he impersonated his wife to claim he had died after being struck by a produce truck in Honduras on December 6, 2009. Police were alerted by the Insurance Fraud Bureau, which had been contacted by suspicious officials at Ace European insurance company.

Rioter Jailed

A 19-year-old from Orpington has been jailed for his part in the Bromley disorder. Codie Farrell from the Ramsden Estate, Orpington pleaded guilty to burglary at Croydon Crown Court on 16 September and has now been sentenced to 16 months in a young offender institution. Farrell had been identified committing the burglary at the Carphone Warehouse, Nugent Retail Park, Orpington on the night of 8 August 2011 through CCTV footage. Four people have previously been sentenced in respect of the investigation into the disorder in Bromley. Another 30 further suspects are awaiting trial in respect of the disorder in Bromley, with a number of additional suspects currently on bail as police investigations continue.

Courting Style

Westminster Magistrates' Court, a new, state of the art building with first class facilities, located on the site of the old Marylebone Magistrates' Court, has opened for business. This 10-courtroom facility has been built as part of a wider strategy to improve the capacity and facilities of the magistrates' courts in London. It will take on the jurisdiction and workload of City of Westminster Magistrates' which has now closed. As well as dealing with the full range of criminal business, the court will deal with extradition cases from across England and Wales and other areas of international work.

(BMcC/GK)