Surge in number of death threats posted on Facebook
POLICE are dealing with a record number of death threats posted on Facebook.
An estimated 670 threats to murder and mutilate are posted on the site every year.
Victims have been threatened with knife and gun murders, torture, arson attacks and even bombs. Campaigners say social media platforms should take more responsibility for the content people post.
In Norfolk a video was sent via Facebook in which the suspect held a knife to his throat and said: “I will slit your dad’s throat.” In Nottinghamshire, a woman posted on her ex-partner’s page: “When I get you I am going to stab you till you bleed to death.” In the same area the mother of a woman’s ex-partner incited people to find the victim, pour petrol on her and set her alight.
A survey of police found there were 498 recorded Facebook death threats in 2020, a 15 per cent rise on 2019. However, not all police forces responded with some saying the number of cases was so huge it would take them too long to locate them.
David Spencer, from the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “These individuals should face the full force of the law. But social media sites also bear some responsibility to ensure people who use platforms in this way are removed permanently from the site.”
POLICE have launched an investigation after a soldier was killed in a live-fire exercise.
Sergeant Gavin Hillier, of
1st battalion Welsh Guards, was shot during a night-time exercise at Castlemartin RAC Range in Pembrokeshire, on Thursday.
The 35-year-old, from Pontypool, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was described as a “stalwart” while being awarded a long service and good conduct medal by the Prince of Wales, the regiment’s colonel-in-chief, in 2019.
Last night, Dyfed-powys Police said its officers are liaising with the Health and Safety Executive and the Ministry of Defence.
MILITARY scientists are genetically engineering a universal man-made blood to save lives on the battlefield.
The project – expected to be warready within the decade – will revolutionise military medicine and raise the survival chances of injured troops.
In the seven-year Afghanistan campaign, 2,600 soldiers – one in three of those injured – required transfusions totalling 15,000 litres of blood.
Currently, injured soldiers are evacuated to a main base where a transfusion is delivered. Traditionally, O negative is used in emergencies but its universality puts pressure on supplies. Sourcing the correct blood type can also lead to fatal delays.
Even medical advances in powdered freeze-dried plasma have not prevented military planners from curtailing the scope of missions, for fear of high casualty rates.
The pioneering research is part of the regenerative medicine programme, which aims ultimately to replace tissue and significant blood loss. For the past two years experts at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory have been working with the University of Bristol to grow red cells using stem cells from donated blood.
Research has progressed to growing a universal red blood cell, minus the antibodies and antigens that determine blood type, independently in the lab without the need for any external blood donations.
Incredibly, the end result, a freeze-dried blood solution, will not require refrigeration and will be ready for reactivation when needed.
Because it will be synthetic and universal, the blood can be readily available in frontline field hospitals, saving more lives.
Dr Abi Spear, technical lead for Regenerative Medicine at DSTL, told Soldier Magazine: “There are many stages to go through and it could take a decade or so before we see it on the front line. But it is undeniably exciting.”