Police pay out for photo error

16 April 2014 Last updated at 15:17 The incorrect image was released by Thames Valley Police A man has received "substantial compensation" after police wrongly sent his photograph to the media with a press release about a convicted rapist.

A photo of Daniel Rodriguez-Lay, 33, was shown on TV and in newspaper reports after it was mistakenly issued by Thames Valley Police in October.

He received an apology from the force and settled his claim out of court for an undisclosed amount of compensation.

The image should have been of Daniel Rodriquez, who had been jailed.

BBC television, the local newspaper and online media showed Mr Rodriguez-Lay's image with a report of how another man, Daniel Rodriquez of Morton Avenue, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, admitted to raping a woman, firearms offences, and being involved in an armed stand-off with the police while he held his two-year-old twin girls hostage.

The correct photograph was later sent to the media.

Mr Rodriguez-Lay, who is originally from Oxford and now lives in Bristol, said he was "deeply upset".

"The first thing I knew about this was when I started receiving calls and text messages from my family and friends back in Oxford. They were asking what I had done.

"They thought I was a rapist. I was sickened by what that man had done and that people thought it was me," he said.

Media outlets published and broadcast clarifications saying the picture had been supplied by police and published in good faith.

Mr Rodriguez-Lay's solicitor Kevin Donoghue said: "The fact that the press reports were local to Daniel's family and friends, and described such brutal, grotesque, and deeply immoral crimes, means that the damage to my client's reputation and the distress, hurt, and humiliation he suffered were significant."

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: "We immediately apologised to Mr Rodriguez-Lay and subsequently followed this up in writing.

"We are pleased that this matter has now been fully resolved for him.

"...measures have been taken to mitigate against the possibility of this happening again," he added.

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4 Bahrainis sentenced to death in police killings

MANAMA, Bahrain — A military court in Bahrain on Thursday convicted four Shiite protesters and sentenced them to death for killing two policemen during anti-government demonstrations last month in the Gulf kingdom, state media said.

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Three other Shiite activists, who were also on trial, were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the police officers' deaths.

The ruling came as tensions between Bahrain's Sunni Muslim ruling family and its Shiite majority continued to rise in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests that the kingdom crushed last month with military help from its Gulf Arab neighbors.

Government officials have said that a total of four policemen were killed during the unrest that gripped the country in February and March, at least three of whom were run over by cars around March 16.

The verdicts were the first related to Bahrain's uprising, which was inspired by revolts in the Arab world.

The kingdom's Shiite majority has long complained of discrimination and is campaigning for greater freedoms and equal rights in the tiny Sunni-ruled island nation.

Faced with an unprecedented political unrest, Bahrain's king declared martial law and invited troops from Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-ruled Gulf countries to help quell dissent after weeks of street marches and sit-ins in the kingdom's capital, Manama.

The seven opposition supporters sentenced Thursday were tried behind closed doors on charges of premeditated murder of government employees.

In an earlier hearing this week, Bahrain state media said the military prosecutor presented evidence that showed the defendants killed the policemen "on purpose" by running them over with a car.

Their lawyers denied the charges.

Hundreds detained
Hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders and human rights activists have been detained since emergency rule was declared March 15.

Earlier this month, the authorities banned media from covering legal proceedings in the country's military courts.

Among those detained are also dozens of Shiite professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, including a lawyer who was to defend some of the seven opposition supporters in the military court.

The attorney, Mohammed al-Tajer, is one of Bahrain's most prominent human rights lawyers.

He has represented hundreds of clients against the state, including Shiite activists accused of plotting against the Sunni monarchy that has ruled Bahrain for more than 200 years.

At least 30 people have died since Feb. 15, when anti-government protests erupted in Bahrain. Four opposition supporters have also died in police custody.

Bahrain is the home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Bahrain last issued a death sentence in 2007, and prior to that had condemned only one person die over the preceding three decades.

That verdict came in the mid-1990s, during the greatest unrest Bahrain had seen before this year's protests.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Sex-on-duty police officer jailed

8 February 2011 Last updated at 13:13 Fletcher was sent to the woman's home to ensure she was out of harm A former Greater Manchester Police constable who had sex with a vulnerable woman while on duty has been jailed.

Michael Fletcher, 31, of Blackwood Court, Bacup, Lancashire, admitted misconduct in a public office at an earlier hearing.

The court heard that he had sex twice with the woman at her Rochdale home after responding to a welfare call.

He was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to 32 months.

The court was told that Fletcher first had sex with her while on duty on 21 July 2010, when he attended her house in Littleborough to make sure she was safe.

His duties in responding to a welfare call to a vulnerable adult were to contact social workers and ensure the woman was not in danger of being harmed.

He returned to her house later the same evening while off-duty and had sex with her again, the court heard.

'Abused position'

Speaking after the sentence Chief Constable Peter Fahy said: "As soon as this was reported we took swift and decisive action, started an investigation and immediately suspended the officer from duty.

"Fletcher was sent to help this woman, ensure she was safe and arrange appropriate support from other agencies.

"Fletcher abused his position and disgracefully took advantage of the situation and such behaviour within Greater Manchester Police will not be tolerated.

"What this officer did has a huge impact on how the public view the police and the hard work and dedication of the majority of officers has now been undermined by his disgraceful and appalling behaviour."

"Because we dealt with this so robustly, the officer had no choice but to resign and due to the evidence presented before him he also pleaded guilty to the offences.

"No one is above the law, and officers who commit crimes will, quite rightly, be treated exactly the same way as everyone else."

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Joanna Yeates police get more time

1 January 2011 Last updated at 08:36 Help

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Police probe sex attack on woman

1 January 2011 Last updated at 10:23 A woman was sexually assaulted while walking alone in Epsom.

The woman was attacked by a man in West Hill between 0130 and 0230 GMT on Friday.

Earlier, at 0930 GMT, two teenage girls called police after being followed by a man in Chantilly Way. Police believe the two incidents may be linked.

The suspect is described as a white man aged in his 50s or 60s, who spoke with a London accent. He was wearing a dark tracksuit with a yellow logo.

Det Con Tracy Maclean, of Surrey Police, urged people not to walk home alone following a night out.

She said: "Think of alternatives to walking home, would ordering a licensed taxi be a better option?

"Or could someone you know and has not been drinking alcohol give you a lift or pick you up?"

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