Bond Girl 'Kicked Max Clifford Between Legs'

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

A woman who appeared in the James Bond film Octopussy has told a court how she kicked Max Clifford ''really hard between the legs'' after he lunged at her and tried to kiss her.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described how she fought Clifford off after he had taken pictures of her posing in stockings and suspenders.

Publicist Clifford had told the woman he needed the pictures to send to actor Charles Bronson so he could secure her a part in his next film, but he then tried to grab her and pushed her onto a sofa in his office.

She told the jury at Southwark Crown Court: ''He lunged towards me and tried to kiss me. He was on top of me, his hands were all over the place. He was trying to kiss me.

''Then I got very frightened and I kicked him between the legs really hard.''

When asked by prosecutor Rosina Cottage QC if Clifford had said anything, she replied: ''I just remember his smelly breath.''

Earlier the woman told the court how she had secured a part in the 1983 film Octopussy and had gone to see Clifford in his central London office where he wanted to talk about representing her.

She said he told her he could get her a part in a Bronson film but he would have to take pictures of her in her underwear to send him as ''photographic evidence''.

The publicist denies all the charges against him

The woman said Clifford gave her money to buy lingerie and she bought a ''peach coloured bra, knickers, suspender belt and stockings,'' adding they were ''pretty but not too skimpy.''

She then explained how Clifford asked her to ''do the James Bond pose'' with her fingers in the shape of a gun and he took several pictures of her sat down and standing up.

The woman said: ''I had my legs apart but my hands were covering my private parts. He asked me to take my hands away...I felt things weren't quite right at all.''

She then added how she realised Clifford was not using a professional camera but an "instamatic one you wind forward.

"I think he didn't have a film in the camera and he was pretending to take photographs of me."

She said she confronted him, got dressed and left the room.

Minutes later Clifford lunged at her after telling her he had spoken with Bronson on the telephone telling the late actor she was "fantastic".

The woman said she told a number of people what happened, including a photographer friend, other cast members from the Bond film, the film's producer and gymnast Susanne Dando.

Jurors were also told of a contract she had signed with the producers which originally had Clifford's name on it as her agent, but was then crossed out.

During her evidence, Clifford, dressed in a white open-neck shirt and dark suit, passed several notes to his defence team.

The jury was reduced to 11 after a woman revealed she knew one of the witnesses, Bond casting producer Deborah McWilliams.

She told the court she contacted Clifford with a view to hiring extras for Octopussy and in particular how they used him to negotiate for Olympic gymnast Susanne Dando.

Barbara Broccoli, daughter of legendary Bond producer Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli, also testified, describing how her father had been involved in making the 007 films since 1962 when Dr No was released.

She told the court she did not know Clifford, and her role in 1982 in Octopussy had been as an executive assistant to recruit ''incidental and background parts'' for the film.

Clifford, 70, from Hersham, Surrey, denies 11 counts of indecent assault between 1966 and 1984 on seven girls and women.

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday morning.

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Supermarket And Restaurant Bills Set To Soar

By Poppy Trowbridge, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Grocery and restaurant bills are set to rise as food inflation hits 3.8% before the end of the year, according to new research.

That figure, from food service specialist Prestige Purchasing, means food costs are rising faster than other prices.

Consumer price inflation is currently 1.9%, below the Bank of England's 2% target.

Raw materials are traded openly on global markets and commodity prices often fluctuate, sometimes quite wildly.

But right now a specific combination of bad weather, political conflict and increased consumption is pushing up the price of everything from orange juice to cocoa and pork.

Commodity experts say competition for our favourite foods is also an issue.

Brian Smith, a raw materials expert at Mintec, said: "The Russians and the Chinese are putting heavy demand into dairy products and milk products.

The crisis in Ukraine is having an effect on wheat prices

"The likelihood of them dropping in price is slim because of that demand."

Wheat prices are vulnerable to the current political uncertainties stemming from the crisis in Ukraine, a key grain producer.

Mr Smith added: "If sanctions stop the Russians from exporting wheat and grains, or if the Russians choose to stop exporting, then wheat prices will inevitably go up."

The cost of fruit has risen more than any other category of food, according to Prestige research.

The price of chocolate has increased by 1%

It is up more than 10%, followed by the price of vegetables and meat, which have risen more than 5% per category.

Even the cost of sugar, jam, chocolate and confectionery is up 1%.

Wine prices have increased by 16% year-on-year.

The average cost of eating out is expected to continue to rise as restaurants pass on the cost of rising food prices to customers.

While more than £19bn will be added to the UK's annual grocery bill by 2018, the equivalent of an additional £850 per family per year, according to figures from retail consultancy Conlumino.

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NHS Staff Who Refuse Flu Jab 'Irresponsible'

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

Patients are being put at risk because so many doctors and nurses refuse to have the flu vaccine, Sky News has been told.

The Department of Health says hospitals should vaccinate 75% of staff to protect patients.

But just 40 of more than 150 hospitals across England met the target, according to official figures.

And at King's College Hospital in London just 30% came forward for the vaccine.

Dr Ben Marshall, consultant chest physician at Southampton General Hospital, said staff who refuse the vaccine are "irresponsible".

"The impact of us being off sick with influenza during a particularly busy time of year, namely winter, is having a huge impact on safe patient care," he said.

The Government has set a 75% target for hospitals to vaccinate staff

"We also need to protect our patients because we may unwittingly carry active influenza at a low grade level and pass on the infection to patients."

Even staff treating highly vulnerable patients refused to have the vaccine in extraordinary numbers.

At Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital vaccination rates were only 40% and at the Royal Marsden cancer hospital - where patients have severely impaired immune systems - they reached just 49%.

The national average was 54%.

Once the virus is on the wards it can spread quickly.

Just last month at the Leicester Royal Infirmary six children in the high dependency unit developed swine flu. Three had to be isolated.

The source could have been a visitor, but the figures reveal just half the staff have been vaccinated.

Birmingham Children's Hospital used boxer Holyfield in its campaign

Failure to hit the 75% government target could prove costly to hospitals.

The Department of Health told Sky News that only in "exceptional circumstances" would they be considered for a share of a £250m windfall to help with A&E pressure next winter.

It added: "Uptake is currently at its highest level ever. However, it is clear there is more to do."

Some hospitals have managed to engage staff.

Birmingham Children's Hospital convinced 86% of staff to have the jab in a campaign that was fronted by boxer Evander Holyfield.

Nurse Ruth Wall, who leads the hospital's flu fighting team, took to the wards to vaccinate staff while they worked.

She said: "We are all here to look after the children. None of us want them to have the flu."

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Shereka Marsh: Teen Charged With Murder

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder over the shooting of teenager Shereka Marsh at a party in east London.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is due to appear at Thames Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Shereka died at a house in Eastway in Hackney on Saturday afternoon after being shot once in the neck.

Shereka (third right) at her school in east London. Pic: Hackney Gazette

Detectives found a gun inside the house.

Two 16-years-olds who had been arrested in connection to the shooting have been released without charge, police said.

Mourners - including members of Shereka's family - visited the scene throughout Sunday to lay flowers and tributes have also been posted on social media.

Chinelle Jennings, 15, a friend and schoolmate of Shereka, visited the scene of the shooting on Sunday, saying: "She was a nice, bubbly girl and she loved to party, loved shopping.

"She was just like the kind of girl that you would have to fall in love with."

Friends and locals left flowers at the scene of the shooting

"She liked PE. Her favourite subject was history. She was good at sports. She wanted to study business."

The teenager added: "She lived with her mum, her dad was in Jamaica. They just had each other, just them two and they lived together. She cherished her mum.

"Her mum was very protective."

Chinelle Jennings said Shereka was "a nice, bubbly girl"

Another of Shereka's friends, Drew Percival, said: "She had a good mindset, she was very funny. She was more of the business type. She liked her clothes, it was all designer. She was very sociable, a lot of friends.

"She was good at sports. She was always that person who was making everyone laugh."

Shereka had last week been pictured in the local press for helping to host the Jamaican High Commissioner when she visited The Urswick School.

Shereka was one of four pupils at the school who led the visitors on a tour, the Hackney Gazette said.

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'Desperate Plight' Of Girls Involved In Gangs

By Afua Hirsch, Social Affairs And Education Editor

Thousands of girls are being subjected to sexual exploitation, weapons and drug running at the hands of male-run gangs, a new report warns.

A brutal gang culture is increasingly seeing girls and young women passed around different male gang members for sex, with rape used as a weapon in conflicts between rival gangs, and initiation ceremonies in which both girls and boys suffer sexual abuse, the report adds.

Edward Boyd, deputy policy director of the Centre for Social Justice, which co-wrote the report together with the charity XLP, said: "We are often unsighted about the desperate plight of girls embroiled in gangs.

"They live in a parallel world where rape is used as a weapon and carrying drugs and guns is seen as normal."

The report's authors say that despite previous reports on the vulnerability of girls in gangs, the Government lacks a coherent, long-term vision for dealing with the issue.

The report cites estimates that 12,500 girls and young women could be involved in gangs, but says too little is known about how gang life affects girls' education, families, friends and communities and their own offending.

Former gang members speak to Sky News about their experiences

One 16-year-old gang member, who is being helped to rebuild her life, told Sky News she was let down by adults when she first became involved in gang activity.

"At that time I had no mother, no one to depend on. At that time my mother was a drug addict, I was on my own," said Charlene (not her real name).

"The people that came into my life, they would come into my life and just leave again.

"The main reason I wanted to associate with people around me was that I wanted to be protected. But I was wrong. To this day I'm having trouble with police because of it."

"With the school that I was in, they didn't really help," Charlene added.

"If I went to school and something was bothering me, they didn't even help me with that.

"They would be quick to move me out of the school because of the reputation of the school, they didn't want to ruin it. So they wouldn't help, they would just send you to an alternative school."

The report also claims headteachers have turned a blind eye to gang activity to protect their school's reputation.

But one former gang member said problems in the home and widespread family breakdown was a root cause of the problem.

An estimated 12,500 girls and young women could be involved in gangs

Mona, who now works with charity St Giles Trust to help gang members change their lives, said her own experience of involvement and sexual exploitation in a gang as a teenager was also linked to problems in her home life.

"I had two different types of initiation (into the gang)," said Mona.

"There's one where I had to fight the girls that were gang members, to prove my worth to them. And then there was being passed around by the boys, and that happened to me.

"I wanted to be accepted, and they fed on that acceptance. I had issues at home with my schooling, with my behaviour, I'd run away from home, I was out by myself, hooking up with a load of older people, and they abused me."

Today's report comes after several previous attempts to reveal the extent of girls' involvement in gangs since the issue first came to prominence a decade ago.

But some warn that social pressure and the increasing sexualisation of young women has changed the nature and severity of the problem.

The sexualisation of women adds to the problem, according to Isha Nembhard

"When I was in school we was more boisterous. It was a girl gang. There was no boys in our gang," said Isha Nembhard, 25, a former gang member who now works with Foundation 4 Life which helps girls currently involved in gangs.

"We had male affiliation, but they was in their own group. What we went out and done, it was for ourselves ... Girl rap was more tomboyish. Nowadays girl rap is more sexualised. People like Nicki Minaj and Rihanna sexualise themselves a lot more.

"That makes a girl in a gang weak because they look at these girls only as a sex object."

Former gang members describe exposure to sex on social media, the desire for material wealth, and the lack of parental or community support as a counter-influence as key factors in driving young girls into relationships with male gang members.

The report's authors said that without more research into the extent of the problem, girls would continue to suffer from abuse and lasting damage to their futures.

"The biggest issue with girls in gangs is that we simply don't know the full extent of the problem," said Patrick Regan, chief executive officer of XLP.

"The data we have is merely the tip of the iceberg and at XLP there is no doubt that we see increasing numbers of girls dragged into this appalling world of exploitation, criminality and hopelessness."

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Hackney Shooting: Three Held After Girl Killed

Three teenage boys have been arrested after a girl, believed to be around 15, was shot dead in east London.

Scotland Yard murder detectives are investigating after the victim was shot inside a building on Eastway, near the Olympic Park in Hackney.

Police were called shortly before 4pm and attended the scene with London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene near Victoria Park, which would have been packed with families at the time of the shooting. 

The shooting happened on the outskirts of London's Olympic Park

Officers believe they know the identity of the victim and are informing family while they await formal identification.

A post-mortem examination will be held in due course.

Three males, all aged under 18, were arrested near the scene.

They were taken to an east London police station, where they remain in custody.

Detectives from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating.

Anyone with information that may assist the investigation should call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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Tape Measure 'Better For Weighing Up Obesity'

By Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent

The current method of judging obesity is so complex it should be replaced by a simple tape measure, according to a leading specialist.

Dr Jude Oben, from the Obesity Action Campaign, said the body mass index, or BMI, is "tedious" to calculate and poorly understood by patients.

He told Sky News that straightforward measurement of waist size was a more accurate assessment of someone's fat - and far more user friendly.

"The fat inside your abdomen is a good indicator of your metabolic risk," he said.

"For example your risk of heart disease, liver disease, diabetes, post-menopausal breast cancer, colorectal cancer. 

"So why not measure it simply? A tape measure does that."

He said studies show men should keep their waist - measured at the level of the belly-button - below 90 cm (35.5 inches). Women should keep it below 80cm (31.5 inches).

At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight

BMI is a complex calculation in which a patient's weight in kilogrammes is divided by the square of their height in metres.

If the result is greater than 25, patients are judged to be overweight.

"By that point most of them have switched off or left the room," said Dr Oben.

BMI takes no account of muscle mass. Athletes can register as being overweight even though they have minimal body fat.

Catherine Dias has had a weight problem for many years. But she still hasn't got to grips with BMI - and much prefers measuring her waist size.

"It's simple, it's easy. You know what you have to get down to," she said.

"To do it the other way it's a lot of calculations. I couldn't do that."

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Ex-IRA Chief Charged In Jean McConville Case

A former Irish Republican Army commander has been charged in connection with the murder of a mother of 10 more than 40 years ago.

Ivor Bell, 77, is due to appear in court in Belfast today accused of aiding and abetting in the murder of Jean McConville and membership of the IRA.

He was detained at his home in the Andersonstown district of west Belfast on Tuesday.

Mrs McConville was abducted by an IRA gang of up to 12 men and women at her home at Divis Flats, Belfast, in December 1972 after being accused of spying for the British.

The 37-year-old was taken at gunpoint and shot in the back of the head.

Her murder was one of the most notorious incidents during the Troubles.

For years she was one of the so-called Disappeared, those abducted and killed by republican paramilitaries during this period and buried in unmarked graves.

Jean McConville's funeral in 2003

Mrs McConville's children were told their mother had abandoned them.

It was not until August 2003 that her remains were found over the border in the Republic of Ireland, on Shelling Hill beach in County Louth - 50 miles from her home.

The IRA had admitted responsibility for her killing in 1999, although no one has ever been charged with her murder.

An investigation by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman rejected allegations Mrs McConville had passed information to the British.

Some of Mrs McConville's children have accused Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams of directly ordering their mother's killing, claims he denies, along with allegations he was involved in the IRA.

Mr Bell and Mr Adams were part of an IRA negotiating team which headed to London for ceasefire talks in 1972.

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Single Punch Killer's Sentence To Be Reviewed

A man who killed a stranger with a single punch has had his sentence referred to the Court of Appeal for being "unduly lenient".

Lewis Gill, 20, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for manslaughter after knocking Andrew Young to the ground in Bournemouth last November.

The sentence was widely criticised and Attorney General Dominic Grieve has now sent the case to the Court of Appeal.

CCTV images of the assault show Mr Young challenging a cyclist who was riding on the pavement.

Gill, an acquaintance of the cyclist, arrives at the scene and watches the discussion before lunging at the 40-year-old.

Gill then walks away, glancing back momentarily at his victim lying on the street.

The attack occurred outside Tesco Metro in Charminster Road, Bournemouth.

Lewis Gill pleaded guilty to manslaughter

Mr Young sustained a serious head injury and died the next day at a hospital in Southampton.

Gill, of Sutton in Surrey, will have his case reviewed at the Court of Appeal in five to seven weeks.

The victim's family described his sentence as an "absolute joke".

Speaking after the sentence was passed in February, Mr Young's mother, Pamela, said her son had Asperger's syndrome, which affected his social skills.

"He was very precise and particular because of his Asperger's, and he wouldn't have liked seeing someone riding a bicycle on the pavement because it was dangerous," she told the Dorset Daily Echo.

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Road Death Sentences 'Are Not Tough Enough'

By Lisa Dowd, Sky News Correspondent

Some 82% of motorists think sentences should be higher for drivers who kill people on the roads, according to a survey by road safety charity Brake.

Latest government figures show only 62% of those convicted of killing someone through risky driving were jailed, and only 9% received sentences of five years or more in prison.

Bereaved relatives are backing a campaign calling on the Government to ensure motorists are not "let off" on lesser charges, which carry lower penalties.

Mandy Stock was walking home with her husband Paul when he was knocked down and killed by a motorcyclist in Gloucester two years ago.

Paul Stock was killed while walking home with his wife

Graham Godwin had been speeding, had a passenger illegally riding pillion and was disqualified from driving. His criminal record included 45 previous traffic offences.

A judge described him as "an absolute menace".

"He was actually charged with causing death while disqualified not dangerous or careless driving," said Mandy, 51.

"The maximum sentence for causing death while disqualified is two years, which he got, but he got six months knocked off for pleading guilty, and only spent nine months in prison, as he was allowed out half way through the term. I'm angry, very angry."

Campaigners say if someone has been killed or seriously injured on our roads, and risks were taken by those responsible, those actions should never be called "careless" in the eyes of the law, but always "dangerous", meaning judges could give maximum sentences of 14 years.

Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: "We want the Government to acknowledge how inadequate current charges and penalties are and take action to prevent traumatised families suffering further insult.

"Denying justice to victim families often has a terrible impact on their ability to rebuild and move forward with their lives.

Bereaved relatives want tougher sentences

"Brake bears witness to the consequences for these vulnerable families every day through its support services for bereaved and injured crash victims.

"Our justice system should make clear that risky, illegal behaviour on roads is no accident: it's selfish, destructive, and unacceptable."

The Ministry of Justice is currently considering whether to make changes to charges and penalties for serious driving offences.

Justice Minister Jeremy Wright said: "Road traffic offences can have very serious and sometimes devastating consequences for victims and their families.

"That is why we are looking closely at the law and giving careful consideration to all the representations received on this complex and emotive subject - and why we have asked the Sentencing Council to review their sentencing guidelines on death by driving offences.

"Judges already have some tough sentencing options available to them for driving offences - causing death by dangerous driving already carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison, as does causing death by careless driving when drunk or drugged.

"We also introduced a new offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in 2012. But the sentencing in individual cases is always a matter for the judge."

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