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‘He took off like a shot’: Hamilton gym manager recalls day she sprinted after teenage vandal — and caught him
It is not easy running in black dress shoes.
Especially when it is January and the sidewalks are a slushy mess, and especially when you are 36-years-old and wearing dress pants in addition to dress shoes, and not merely out for a casual jog but sprinting, flat-out, like Florence Griffith Joyner, circa 1988, in hot pursuit of a teenager with the physique of a high school football player who had just kicked in a glass door at the fitness club where you work as the manager.
And being a responsible manager, as Lindsay Geddes at the Lime Ridge Mall GoodLife fitness club in Hamilton most definitely is, there simply wasn’t time to fret about footwear choices. There was only time to either stay put or take action on that January day in 2012. Ms. Geddes, a once-upon-a-time high school soccer star, with shoulder length blond hair and a Dad who was a cop, isn’t your sit tight and call 911 type.
“He was a bigger boy, a lot taller than I am,” Ms. Geddes tells me. “I came out of the gym and said, ‘Hey, you kicked our door in.’ And he started to walk away. Then he bolted.”
He took off like a shot.
“I thought, you know what, that’s just not right — you need to take responsibility for what you did — and so I followed him,” Ms. Geddes says. “I was on a mission. I could have run all day.” (Glenn Lowson for the National Post)
‘Reliving his fantasy’: ‘Dexter Killer’ still allowed to watch ultra-violent TV series in maximum-security prison
Would-be serial killer Mark Twitchell has been given unlimited access to the blood-soaked television series that inspired his killing, despite being held in one of the country’s highest-security prisons.
The 33-year-old former Edmonton filmmaker, who modelled the luring, murder and dismemberment of a complete stranger on the Dexter TV series, is continuing to watch the ultra-violent program inside the maximum security wing of Saskatchewan Penitentiary.
A National Post investigation has found that while Twitchell was prevented from watching the show while awaiting trial in the Edmonton Remand Centre, he has not faced similar restrictions at the federal prison.
He has purchased a flat-screen television for his own private cell and now has access to over 60 cable TV channels, including one that broadcasts Dexter reruns and new episodes, according to sources familiar with the prison and the inmate’s movements.
‘Stay strong’ posters in support of Rehtaeh Parsons’ alleged attackers cause storm of controversy in Halifax
Pink posters supporting the boys accused of sexually assaulting Rehtaeh Parsons have cropped up in Halifax and are being promptly torn down by those vowing justice over the 17-year-old’s death.
The posters read ‘Speak the Truth: There’s Two Sides to Every Story. Listen Before You JUDGE’ and have appeared in numerous Halifax neighbourhoods, including near Rehtaeh’s mother Leah Parsons’s home.
“The Truth Will Come Out, Stay Strong and Support The Boys,” the poster, which doesn’t identify the boys, goes on to say.
RCMP Cpl. Scott MacRae says the posters don’t break any laws, but authorities have received a slew of complaints from residents about the flyers.
Don Jail has done its time: After 150 years of controversy, notorious Toronto facility to be shut down
The Don Jail is full of ghosts. Ghosts of the executed, of the murdered, of the suicides; ghosts of their countless victims, whose legacies are forever tied to these men. The terrible history hangs heavy in the hallways, reveals itself in the etchings on cell walls, still preserved beneath layers of thick paint.
But after casting its shadow over east-end Toronto for a century and a half — surviving a raft of controversies and repeated calls for reform — the city’s most notorious jail is preparing to ship out its final inmates and shut down for good. The oldest section, featuring the iconic limestone image of Father Time above its entrance, has already morphed into administrative offices for the new Bridgepoint hospital next door, which begins treating patients this weekend. The rest of the Don, attached to the east end of the original building, will be decommissioned and torn down once the province opens its replacement, the Toronto South Detention Centre in Etobicoke, this fall. (Tyler Anderson/National Post; Illustrations: Richard Johnson/National Post)
Three teens charged in ‘savage’ sex assault of 15-year-old who hanged herself after photos spread online
Eight days after allegedly being sexually battered while passed out at a party, and then humiliated by online photos of the assault, 15-year-old Audrie Pott posted on Facebook that her life was ruined, “worst day ever,” and hanged herself.
For the next eight months, her family struggled to figure out what happened to their soccer loving, artistic, horse crazy daughter, with a gentle smile, long dark hair and shining eyes.
And then on Thursday, seven months after the tragedy, a Northern California sheriff’s office arrested three 16-year-old boys on charges of sexual battery. (Audrie Pott Foundation / Facebook)
Nova Scotia premier reveals plan for probe into Rehtaeh Parsons tragedy amid fresh vigilante threats
Already in damage control over the alleged gang rape of Rehtaeh Parsons, the Nova Scotia government has announced further measures in response to the case amid mounting local and international outrage.
Heavily criticized for initially refusing to review the case, N.S. Premier Darrell Dexter today revealed that Marilyn More, minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, will coordinate the province’s response to the tragic suicide of the 17-year-old girl.
Separate impassioned pleas from Parsons’ parents has led public outrage at the Nova Scotia justice system which decided not to prosecute the four boys accused of gang raping the girl when she was only 15. The school system has also been accused of wiping their hands of the situation and not taking any action.
“Nova Scotia will learn from this terrible tragedy,” More said in a statement. “Right now, it is a time to care and be kind to one another. Nova Scotians have pulled together in tragic times in the past, and they are doing so now. (Facebook)
‘For the love of God do something’: Rehtaeh Parsons’ father issues emotional call to action after daughter killed by ‘disappointment’
Rehtaeh Parsons’s heart was so big, sometimes it scared her dad.
A defender of the downtrodden, Parsons was quick to hand out spare change and stand up for neglected animals.
Glen Canning prepared for the worst for his daughter after she was allegedly raped, but hoped he’d never have to face it.
Amid the angry noise generated by thousands of people around the world seeking justice for a Nova Scotia teenager, who was removed from life support on Sunday after attempting suicide a few days earlier, is the voice of a father in agony over the loss of his child.
In a heartbreaking entry posted to his personal website, Canning remembers his daughter and lambasts the justice system he says failed to help her.
“The worst nightmare of my life has just begun. I loved my beautiful baby with all my heart,” Canning writes. “She meant everything to me. I felt her heart beating in my soul from the moment she was born until the moment she died. We were a team. We were best pals.”
Canning explains how he watched his daughter suffer from repeated disappointment.
“My daughter wasn’t bullied to death, she was disappointed to death. Disappointed in people she thought she could trust, her school, and the police,” he writes. (GlenCanning.com)
‘You have zero class’: Anonymous issues blistering attack on N.S. justice minister over lack of charges in Rehtaeh Parsons case
One day after threatening to release the identities of four boys allegedly involved in the gang rape of teenager Rehtaeh Parsons, the hacktivist group Anonymous has issued a blistering attack on Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry and other authority figures over their decision not to prosecute in the case.
“What we have learned is certainly appalling, but it wasn’t the act of rape that shocked us. It was the behavior of the adults in Rehtaeh’s life that we found most disturbing,” the Anonymous group “Operation Justice for Rehtaeh” said in a Thursday morning press release that took aim at “school teachers, administrators, the police and prosecutors.”
“All of you have created a mess and instead of taking responsibility and cleaning it up, the first thing you did yesterday morning was get on television and defend your jobs. You have taught the young men in your community a terrible lesson: rape is easy.” (Facebook)
Anonymous threatens to out boys involved in alleged gang rape of N.S. teen unless RCMP charges them
The “hackivist” organization Anonymous says it knows the identities of at least two of the four boys involved in the alleged gang rape of Rehtaeh Parsons and are threatening to release their names and locations unless the RCMP charges them.
“Our demands are simple: We want the N.S. RCMP to take immediate legal action against the individuals in question. We encourage you to act fast. If we were able to locate these boys within 2 hours, it will not be long before someone else finds them,” the Anonymous group working under the name “Operation Justice For Rehtaeh” said in a Wednesday press release.
The group initially said they knew the names of two of the four boys, but within 30 minutes said on Twitter it knew the names of all of the alleged perpetrators.
“We do not approve of vigilante justice as the media claims. That would mean we approve of violent actions against these rapists at the hands of an unruly mob. What we want is justice. And that’s your job. So do it.” (Facebook)
British grandmother to be executed by firing squad for smuggling cocaine after Bali court rejects appeal
An Indonesian court upheld the death sentence against a British woman convicted of smuggling $2.5 million worth of cocaine into the resort island of Bali, a court official said Monday.
The Bali High Court rejected an appeal from Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, who was convicted in January by a district court and sentenced to face a firing squad, said court spokesman Makkasau.
Sandiford was arrested last May when 3.8 kilograms of cocaine was discovered stuffed inside the lining of her luggage at Bali’s airport. During the trial, she said she was forced to carry the drugs by a gang that threatened to hurt her children. (Sonny Tumbelaka / AFP / Getty Images files)
‘Shameless Mick’ gives obscene gesture as he’s sentenced to life for killing six of his children in house fire
A father of 17 who killed six of his children in a house fire was jailed for life Wednesday after a judge said he cared about no one but himself.
Mick Philpott, dubbed Shameless Mick by the British press for his jobless lifestyle which he bragged was paid for by state benefits, remained defiant to the end, giving spectators in court an obscene gesture after he was sentenced.
Philpott, his wife, Mairead, and a friend, Paul Mosley, set the fire while six of the couple’s children slept. The plan was for Philpott to rescue the children and emerge a hero. The blaze would also be blamed on Philpott’s former mistress so he could gain advantage in a bitter custody battle over five of his other children.
But the fire quickly got out of control and Jayden, Jesse, Jack, John, Jade and Duwayne, aged five to 13, all died. (Mark St George / Rex Features)
School officials found a Toronto-area teenager with a handwritten manifesto detailing a plan to abduct, torture, rape and kill a girl in the school’s “sound-proof music room.” The disturbing discovery came after a schoolmate was threatened with outrageous sexual violence in an online chat.
Quick intervention by a teacher and a call to police may have averted tragedy; a judge has declared the young man, who was 17 at the time, “a sadist” and found him guilty of threatening bodily harm.
Ever wonder what can happen when everyone does the RIGHT thing in the face of scary school violence?
My exclusive story in the National Post shows you: http://natpo.st/10f6HLD
(Photo: Paul Sakuma / The Associated Press)
Italian high court overturns Amanda Knox’s acquittal, orders new trial for murder of British student
Italy’s highest criminal court on Tuesday overturned Amanda Knox’s acquittal in the slaying of her British roommate and ordered a new trial, prolonging a case that has become a cause celebre in the United States.
Knox called the decision “painful” but said she was confident that she would be exonerated.
Italian law cannot compel Knox to return for the new trial, and her lawyer said she had no plans to do so. The appellate court hearing the new case could declare her in contempt of court but that carries no additional penalties. (Tiziana Fabi / AFP / Getty Images files)
This will go over well: Oscar Pistorius wants to start training again while on bail
While a representative for the Olympian says he has no immediate plans to return to the track while he is in “mourning,” it is something South Africa officials need to be aware of to track his movements while he waits for a trial in June.Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day. Despite being charged with murderm the athlete claims it was an accident, saying he thought she was an intruder.
Steenkamp’s parents want him to come clean.
“It’s only Oscar, Reeva that know the true story,” Barry Steenkamp said on Sunday. “And all I want, whether it will help me or it won’t, he must just come out with the honest truth.”
(Photos: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images; Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images; Handout)
French police don’t know who to charge after DNA evidence leads to arrest of identical twins over sexual assaults
Police hunting a serial rapist in the French city of Marseille have used DNA evidence to arrest two men, but are unable to say which is the culprit because the pair are genetically identical.
After tracking down a suspect with help from video surveillance and a victim’s traceable cellphone, investigators discovered he lived with his identical twin brother, and now face the prospect of lengthy and expensive scientific testing to distinguish between their genetic codes, if that is even possible.
Identified only as Yohan and Elwin, 24-year-old brothers of mixed ethnicity, the suspects deny assaulting six women, aged 22 to 76, between September and January. The victims identified their attacker from photographs, but could not tell the brothers apart.
“It’s a rather rare case for the alleged perpetrators to be identical twins,” said Emmanuel Kiehl, the chief investigator in the case. “We must determine the exact role of each one.” (Fotolia)
