Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Police probe ‘theft’ of soul star’s assets
Three Boost after youths spark trouble
POLICE are investigating the alleged theft of singing legend Aretha Franklin’s assets before she died.
It’s believed a report was filed last June, two months before the Queen of Soul died of pancreatic cancer, aged 76, in her Detroit flat.
It is said to focus on the £800,000 mansion the singer owned in the city.
The inquiry comes as Aretha’s son Edward, 61, is locked in a bitter battle with lawyers for her estate, which is reportedly worth £60million.
He has been trying to get a court order to obtain regular financial updates. However the estate’s lawyers are resisting, saying disclosure would hamper the probe.
Respect singer Aretha died without leaving a will. TEENAGERS involved in mass gatherings are breaking down sectarian barriers thanks to the Glider bus service, it has emerged.
One “positive” aspect of ongoing issues with youths meeting in nationalist West Belfast is many are travelling from the unionist east of the city, a youth worker said.
Keith Mccaugherty will be one of a number of people on the ground this weekend in anticipation of more teenagers flooding the area.
But he said there has been a beneficial trend in recent weeks.
Mr Mccaugherty added: “There’s young people from East Belfast coming over who are hopping on a Glider and they’re in West Belfast in 10 to 15 minutes.
“Before the Glider, they’d have had to have got a bus into town, then wait for another bus.”
He also called for a “cohesive” strategy involving the PSNI, Translink and other agencies after youths hurled bottles and stones at buses last weekend.
Mr Mccaugherty, who is based at the Holy Trinity Youth Club in
Turf Lodge, said: “It is a difficult balancing act for police in terms of wading in and lifting people or sitting back if there’s trouble.
“But we’ll be there again this weekend talking to young people and telling them the council is going to be in, there’s going to be CCTV vans.
“We’ve had meetings with police and the council and we’ll be working together to help keep things calm.”
Mr Mccaugherty said many of the young people gathering in parks are aged 14 to 16.
He added underage drinking goes on but most are not involved in vandalism or violence.
Mr Mccaugherty said: “But Falls Park is just so huge, it’s impossible to really police it.
“We need to do what we can to keep these kids safe rather than criminalising them.”
Number of bulls which were killed in the crash yesterday morning