Stabbing accused: 'I'll take Jeremy Kyle lie detector test'
"reports this is Devon"
THE defendant in a stabbing trial says he will 'go on Jeremy Kyle' after the case to prove his innocence on a lie detector.
Former Torbay Council employee Richard Lindsey says he is not responsible for the stabbing of drug associate James Jones over an heroin debt.
The trial, which has been running for several weeks, is now in its later stages with all of the prosecution and defence evidence heard.
Yesterday, during cross examination by prosecutor Malcolm Galloway, Lindsey repeated his defence that a gang of Liverpool drug dealers, led by an 'enforcer' called Michael McDonagh, had carried out the attack on Mr Jones.
Mr Galloway said Lindsey's account of what had happened on April 11 last year had changed a number of times since his arrest and he had not initially blamed Mr McDonagh, known as Mick Mac.
He said in one statement Lindsey had 'sworn on his mother's life' he had never visited Briseham Road in Brixham where the attack took place.
He asked Lindsey: "Is there any way we can tell the difference between when you are swearing on your mother's life and lying and when you are not?"
Lindsay said: "I will take a lie detector test on this. When I get out of this I will go on Jeremy Kyle and I will prove it. That's what I'll do."
He said he had lied when arrested because he did not want to implicate members of the Liverpool gang and he hoped James Jones, known as Bagger, would change his story.
He said: "If you want me to plead guilty to lying I will plead guilty now. I am ashamed of myself for saying that about my mother. I love my mother."
Mr Jones was left with life-threatening injuries when two masked men burst into the house in Brixham on April 11 and stabbed and slashed him across the body. In his own evidence Mr Jones pointed out a long cut down the side of his face that has been described in court as a 'Mars bar' wound of the sort inflicted by Liverpool drug gangs.
The court has seen CCTV surveillance evidence of what is alleged to have been a dummy run for the attack on April 9. The images show Lindsey passing two other men, James Steel and Gary O' Conner, a knife and golf club outside his house.
However Lindsey, who was described in court as a drug dealer who once worked for the council removing graffiti, says he was clearing his house because he feared a police raid.
Steele has already admitted his part in the attack. Mr McDonagh has not been charged.
Mr Galloway asked Lindsey why O'Conner had 'done the decent thing' and also admitted playing a role.
"Gary is going to prison for something he's not done because of these Scousers. All he's done is moved the car for them."
He added: "He won't name no Scousers because he's scared."
Lindsey denies conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent and inflicting GBH with intent and the trial continues on Monday where it is expected to hear closing arguments from defence and prosecution counsels followed by a summing up from the judge.
Smuggler who flunked lie detector when he denied aiding terror group gets time served
By Matthew Barakat (CP)
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — This much is known about Anthony Joseph Tracy: He told government agents he helped 270 Somalians illegally enter the United States through Cuba. He flunked a lie detector test when he denied helping members of the Somali terror group al-Shabaab. He was some sort of informant for the federal government going back at least as far as 2002.
And on Friday, the Winchester, Virginia, man was sentenced to roughly four months in jail, equal to time served, and walked out a free man.
The case against Tracy, who spent significant time in Kenya running an illicit travel agency, is shrouded in secrecy. His sentencing hearing Friday was held in open court, but lawyers and the judge talked around the specifics of what he actually did.
In fact, his guilty plea, apparently entered earlier this year, remains under seal. So the exact nature of Tracy's misconduct remains unclear.
The few court records that are unsealed indicated that federal agents have been working feverishly for months trying to find the people that Tracy said he helped enter the U.S.
Tracy, 35, told government agents that members of al-Shabaab, a group seeking to impose strict Islamic law in Somalia that has claimed responsibility for suicide bombing attacks on United Nations facilities and other targets, were among those who contacted him for help securing phoney travel documents. Tracy denied helping them but flunked that portion of a polygraph test.
"There have been around-the-clock attempts to locate individuals through certain methods, and we are working tirelessly to corroborate some of what the defendant has said," prosecutor Jeanine Linehan told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, according to a redacted transcript of a pretrial hearing that was unsealed this week.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Cori Bassett said Friday that the agency has investigated Tracy's claims. "At this point, ICE does not have any evidence that links individuals who fraudulently obtained documents or visas from Tracy to any terrorist organizations," Bassett said in an emailed statement.
The unredacted portions of the transcript indicate that Tracy, while living in Kenya, served as an informant for ICE and at least one other government agency as far back as 2002. In a 2010 email to an associate, Tracy wrote, "i helped alot of somalis and most are good but there are some who are bad and i leave them to ALLAH...."
In the transcripts, Tracy's lawyer, federal public defender Geremy Kamens, called the al-Shabaab issue "a red herring." He said the government could not produce any proof that Tracy helped al-Shabaab, or that any of the people Tracy allegedly helped ever actually made it to the United States.
Kamens said after the sentencing that "we believe justice was served" by the sentence of time served, and that Tracy still has the right to appeal his conviction. He declined to comment on the details of the case.
Tracy, who has a wife and five children in Winchester, also married a woman in an Islamic ceremony in Kenya, according to transcripts.
Peter Carr, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment Friday because so much of the case, including the plea itself, remains under seal.
Wokingham candidate wants election lie detector tests
Reported by bbc News
An independent Berkshire parliamentary candidate has called for all politicians to take lie detector tests during the run-up to the election.
Mark Ashwell is standing against Tory MP John Redwood in his local constituency of Wokingham.
Mr Ashwell, who runs a windows and conservatory business, said he has used lie detectors to "demonstrate his company's honesty to customers".
When the BBC contacted Mr Redwood he refused to comment.
His other opponents for the seat all said they disagreed with his suggestion.
Mr Ashwell said many politicians "have become fluent in the frivolous and often highly deceptive language of politic speak".
Mr Ashwell said: "After the expenses scandal and the latest cash for questions revelations, the electorate deserves 'proof of the truth' and to be reassured that politicians are being totally straight with them.
"If you've nothing to hide, there's no reason to be concerned about taking the tests. But the system and the operative must be of a professional and credible standard."
However, Labour candidate George Davidson said: "I think someone's got too much time on their hands.
"British politics should not be turned into a version of the Jeremy Kyle show. Politics is about being straight and decent over five years, not for a five minute test. The electorate get the chance to vote out those who lie or cheat once caught, so the test is an irrelevance."
Lib Dem candidate Prue Bray said: "The problem with lie detector tests is that you can fool them - and there are plenty of people who will show you how to do it.
"Plus, they are not guaranteed accurate even if you are not setting out to fool them. I think having a good track record is the best way for politicians to show voters whether they are honest and trustworthy, whether they work hard, and what they stand for."
Candidate Marjory Bisset, from Reading Green Party, said: "It sounds like an unworkable gimmick to me. You would have to get the lie detector gear out every time a politician made a statement.
"That said, I would have no qualms myself about taking such a test."
Arizona Couple Takes Polygraph Test in Missing Baby Case
Associated Press
PHOENIX — An Arizona couple who police named persons of interest in the case of a missing baby took polygraph tests on Friday, MyFoxPhoenix.com reported.
Jack and Terri Smith spent hours at the Tempe, Ariz., police station answering questions as part of the police investigation into the disappearance of 8-month-old Gabriel Johnson.
Police said Thursday they believe the Smiths, who had wanted to adopt Garbriel, may know more about the missing child's whereabouts than they're telling investigators.
The baby was last seen in San Antonio in late December with his 23-year-old mother, Elizabeth Johnson.
Johnson was arrested last week in Florida on suspicion of custodial interference after she didn't show up for a custody hearing in Arizona. Her car was later found by the FBI in San Antonio.
She has since told a Phoenix television station that she gave the boy away in San Antonio. She made the statement after she sent a text message to her ex-boyfriend telling him she had killed the baby.
Police believe the baby has not been harmed.
"We are getting some indications that Gabriel is alive," Carbajal said Thursday. "We can't say specifically just what those are, but we are getting some indications that those are correct."
The Smiths have given numerous media interviews in recent days where they said they met Johnson at an airport during a long layover and befriended her. Terri Smith said the young mother wanted to give up her baby for adoption but the ex-boyfriend wouldn't go along.
Terri Smith told KTVK-TV in Phoenix on Thursday that the couple has cooperated fully with police and have nothing to hide.
The baby's father, Logan McQueary, has said Johnson tried several times to get him to sign away his parental rights but that he refused.
Tempe police have been inundated with tips and are now directing callers to the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children.
Carbajal urged anyone who has the baby to bring him to a safe place like a fire station or a hospital if they are afraid to come forward.
"Our focus has always been the same, and that is locating Gabriel," he said.
