Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Children 'hid' during Moat attack
Samantha Stobbart had been in a six-year relationship with Moat A jury has been told how two children were hidden in an attic when gunman Raoul Moat turned up to confront his former girlfriend and her new partner.Lesley Stobbart told Newcastle Crown Court she fled with the youngsters when Moat, 37, shot at her daughter Samantha and killed her boyfriend Chris Brown.
Moat went on to shoot and blind Pc David Rathband last July.
Mrs Stobbart was giving evidence at the trial of two men accused of helping Moat, who later shot himself.
Karl Ness, 26, of of Brookside in Dudley, North Tyneside, denies the murder of Mr Brown, attempting to murder Pc Rathband, one charge of conspiracy to murder, one charge of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and one of robbing a shop.
Qhuram Awan, 23, of Rowley Street in Blyth, Northumberland, denies the attempted murder of Pc Rathband, one charge of conspiracy to murder, one charge of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and one of robbing a shop.
Mrs Stobbart said she was at the house in Gateshead when Moat, armed with a sawn-off double-barrelled shotgun, began shooting.
She watched from an attic window as Moat gunned down karate instructor Chris Brown, 29, then turned the weapon her 22-year-old daughter, leaving her critically injured.
Moat went on the run after killing Chris Brown It was not until the former doorman ran from the murder scene that Mrs Stobbart realised her daughter had been hurt.
Moat, who had been in a six-year relationship with Samantha Stobbart and was released from Durham Prison two days before the shootings.
Mrs Stobbart told the court: "I ran upstairs to get the children. I put them in the attic and I told them not to come out no matter what they did.
"I could see Chris lying on the grass. Then Raoul shot him again.
"I did not know Samantha had been shot at the time. I went down to see where everyone was and she was lying on the floor."
Under cross-examination earlier, Samantha Stobbart said she had been terrified Moat would "flip his lid" when he was released from prison.
She had said her new boyfriend was a police officer in an attempt to ward off trouble.
On the night of the murder, she said she had urged Mr Brown to spend the night at his own flat, knowing Moat was seeking a confrontation.
But Mr Brown opted to remain at the house in Gateshead.
She said she told Moat their relationship was over, but that he "would not take no for an answer".
The trial continues.
Monday, 7 February 2011
Attack hits Anonymous activists
The 4Chan homepage is available but the main discussion boards have been hit hard The notorious message board 4Chan has been taken offline by an overwhelming web attack.Because of the attack, the discussion boards of the site have been hard to reach or offline for almost 24 hours.
The attack might be retaliation for similar attacks that some 4Chan members, as part of the Anonymous group, mounted in support of Wikileaks.
It is not yet clear who is carrying out the attacks and no-one has come forward to claim responsibility.
News about the large-scale web attack, known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, came to light via a message posted on Twitter by Moot, the founder of 4Chan.
He wrote: "Site is down due to DDoS. We now join the ranks of Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, et al - an exclusive club!"
A DDoS attack involves bombarding a server behind a website with data in an attempt to knock it offline.
Many members of 4Chan work together in the guise of a group called Anonymous to carry out attacks on websites they deem to be enemies of freedom of speech.
Most recently, Anonymous members took action in support of whistle-blowing site Wikileaks. Anonymous used a DDoS tool to hit the corporate websites of Mastercard, Visa and Paypal because the firms had cut off payment connections to Wikileaks.
Paul Mutton, a security analyst at site watching firm Netcraft, said the attack on 4Chan was ongoing.
"For most of the past 24 hours, the site has either been very slow to respond or has been completely unreachable," he said.
Statistics gathered by Netcraft show 4Chan was hit hard early on Wednesday but that it recovered towards the afternoon.
A blog showing the status of the various elements of 4Chan suggests the image boards, the most heavily used part of the site, have been down for hours.
Early reports suggested that a hacktivist known as the Jester was behind the attack. Before now, some members of Anonymous said they would target the Jester with DDoS attacks after he declared an ambition to knock Wikileaks offline.
However, in a Twitter message, the Jester denied any involvement in the attack.