|
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beckham plot suspects in court
LONDON, England -- Five men, arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap ex-Spice Girl and wife of England star David Beckham, Victoria, appeared in court on unrelated theft charges. The men were remanded in custody at Horseferry Road Magistrates, London, on Monday on charges of theft and conspiracy to rob the auction house Sotheby's of a £60,000 jewelled turban. They are due to appear again on November 11. All five have also been bailed to return to police stations later this month over the kidnap allegations pending further inquiries. Four others, initially arrested in connection with the kidnap plot over the weekend, have been freed. One of the alleged kidnappers, a woman, has been released without charge. Two men and one woman are on police bail pending inquiries unconnected to the alleged theft and kidnap plot. The Manchester United midfielder and England captain says he is reviewing his family's security arrangements after the British tabloid News of the World newspaper reported a gang were planning to kidnap Victoria Beckham for a £5 million ($7.75 million) ransom. The five who appeared in court included Azem Krifsha, 30, from Kosovo but who lives in London, charged with "theft and handling of a jewelled turban valued at £60,000 pounds, belonging to Sotheby's." Another was Joseph Rivas, 24, of Brixton, south London, charged with theft and handling of the jewelled turban and "conspiracy to rob an employee of Sotheby's of an unknown amount." Rusu Sorin, 31, born in Romania, but living in Croydon, south London, was charged with theft and handling the turban. Two other Romanians, Adrian Razvan Pasareanu, 28, of south London, and Alin Turcu, 18, of Sutton, Surrey, were both charged with conspiracy to rob a Sotheby's employee of an unknown amount. Victoria Beckham, 28, was told of the kidnap threat during united's 2-1 win over Premiership League team Southampton on Saturday, but did not tell her husband until the game was over. David Beckham, 27, said in a statement later: "The first role of a father and husband is to keep his family safe.
"Because of this incident we will be reviewing our security arrangements again with help from both the police and the security experts at Manchester United." Police arrested the seven men and two women after launching a series of raids in London on Saturday and Sunday after a tip-off by the News of the World, which said its reporters had infiltrated the gang. The newspaper said the gang planned to ambush Victoria at her home in Hertfordshire, north of London, and use a chemical spray to sedate her and her young sons Brooklyn and Romeo, if they were with her. Victoria Beckham described her feeling of shock following the reports. She issued a statement after learning of the plot. "I'm stunned by what has happened," she said. "It has scared the life out of me." She said she would be talking to her security team, adding: "But if people want to do this to my family how can you be 100 percent sure you'll prevent it? "If someone is that mad -- that sick -- what can you do? I don't think this will really sink in for a while. I'm just so shocked." David Beckham is one of Britain's biggest sports stars and the Beckhams are among the country's most popular celebrities. Victoria shot to superstardom in the 1990s as part of the Spice Girls. The band has sold about 40 million albums and 25 million singles worldwide and has had nine No. 1 singles in Britain alone. This year, the former "Posh Spice" has been seeking to revive her solo career with a new single, "A Mind of its Own." The alleged plot to snatch Victoria Beckham is not the first kidnap threat the Beckhams have had to deal with. An elite police organised crime unit reportedly helped foil a plot in November 1999 to snatch Victoria and baby son Brooklyn, then 10-months-old, while David played for England against Scotland at Wembley.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
