‘Stowaway 4’ remanded on affray charge
BGT star is back on US show and recording a new album
DRAMA The Grande Tema FOUR stowaways accused of threatening the crew of a cargo ship in the Thames Estuary appeared in court on affray charges yesterday.
The men, in their 20s – from Liberia and Nigeria – were held after a Special Boat Service team stormed the Grande Tema.
Crew members raised the alarm as the ship approached Tilbury docks in Essex on December 21.
Samuel Jolumi, 26, Ishola Sunday, 27, Toheeb Popoola, 26, and Joberto McGee, 20, appeared before magistrates in Chelmsford, Essex.
Prosecutor Sam Doyle told them that they could face further charges under aviation and maritime law.
The case was adjourned for three weeks and all four the men were remanded into custody. Susan sings again Lost Voice Guy SIMON COWELL is preparing Susan Boyle for a major career comeback next year, a decade after she shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent.
Susan, nicknamed Subo, will take part in a champion of champions competition on the US version of the show that catapulted her to international stardom.
She is also preparing to record a new album. And she is expected to perform live on BGT, on which she first featured in 2009, famously singing I Dreamed a Dream at the Glasgow auditions.
Susan will star in America’s Got Talent: The Champions, which starts on January 7. AGT judge Mel B, 43, let slip that Susan, 57, is already through to the semi-finals of the show, which pits past contestants against each other.
A source close to the singer said: “This is a big year for Susan and she is very much stepping back into the limelight with her AGT champions appearance being just the start.
“The anniversary of her audition Singer Paul Potts
which made headlines around the world is the perfect time to launch a career comeback, and Simon and Susan are both very excited about the year ahead.”
Sources said she recorded her section of AGT: The Champions in October, and will return to the US next month for the next stage of the competition.
Susan – who is signed to Syco, the record label founded by BGT boss Simon, 59 – this week spoke about returning to the stage.
The singer, from Blackburn, West Lothian, said: “I couldn’t walk away from a second chance to prove myself.
“I’m really looking forward to singing – this time, with something to prove.”
Susan has stepped away from the spotlight in recent times, and has not been in a recording studio for around three years.
She released the album Hope in 2014, and then took a break during 2015 to “take a little me time and spend time at home with family and friends”. She released another album, A Wonderful World, in 2016 but since then has largely stayed out of the public eye, giving just a handful of live performances.
The star, who has sold 25 million records worldwide, has had a turbulent few years.
She had a longrunning row with some members of her family, apparently over money.
And Susan did not speak to her brother Gerry for more than two years but the pair have now BIG VOICE Star in 2009 audition and Simon Cowell, left patched things up. In July last year Susan told the Sunday Mirror that a group of yobs had been abusing her in her home town of Blackburn.
But she refused to leave the former council house she grew up in – which she still lives in and now owns – or press charges, saying: “I live in a great community and have the most brilliant neighbours who have always been a great support. “I won’t be driven out of my home - why would I let the bullies win?” But sources close to the singer say she is now “in a good place” and has spent most of the last year preparing for her comeback. Among the other BGT stars taking part in AGT: The Champions are singer Paul Potts, dancing dog act Ashleigh Butler and Sully, illusionist Darcey Oake, magician Issy Simpson and recent BGT winner, comedian Lee Ridley, known as Lost Voice Guy.