£8m lottery man clear in child sex trial
CASE Mold crown court
A LOTTO millionaire has been cleared of sex attacks against young girls.
Edward Hughes-Jones, 69, who won £8.2million in 1999, was accused of offences dating back to the 80s.
The girls, both under 12 at the time of the allegations, said Hughes-Jones attacked them in Cornwall and North Wales.
But he said he was working in Germany at the time of some of the claims.
The two women only came forward with their allegations in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Hughes-Jones, of Guernsey, denied nine charges of indecent assault, indecency with a child and rape. The crown court at Mold, Flint, took under three hours to clear him.
Group found in back of van
A GROUP of 29 scared and confused people are found in the back of a van as they are smuggled into Britain by an unscrupulous gang.
Police who made the discovery said it is “heartbreaking” that human beings are being exploited like this.
Channel 4 show Call the Cops follows officers as they track down the van after a resident reported seeing a large group get off a boat in Newlyn, Cornwall, and into the back of the vehicle.
Sgt Olly Tayler pulled it over on the M5 in Devon and found the Vietnamese people, including children, who had travelled for a year to get to the UK.
Sgt Tayler said there were “29 terrified individuals who have no idea where they are, where they’re going or what’s going to happen to them”. He said: “I can only begin to imagine what that journey must have been like, and the conditions they endured, how horrific that must be.”
Sgt Tayler added: “People are exploiting the vulnerability of others – they are just a commodity to be traded.
“And the United Kingdom is part of that process. It’s heartbreaking.”
The operation in April last year involved dozens of officers – taking them away from dealing with other
Officers after stopping van on motorway
crimes. Four British people were jailed over smuggling the group.
The longest sentence was four-and-ahalf years. Judge Robert Linford said the gang were motivated by profit and “traded in human misery” with the victims “carted around like freight”.
■ A new series of Call the Cops begins on Tuesday at 9pm on Channel 4.