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Day: 26 September 2012

Man reveals drug empire during murder trial

Written by Jonathan Breen on . Posted in News.

A man who revealed details about his drug dealing empire during a murder trial has been jailed.

Milad Finn, 24, made extensive admissions regarding his drug dealing activities in a trial for the murder of Junaid Khan, for which he was charged but later acquitted.

Finn admitted to conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine, the production of cannabis, converting criminal property and encouraging or assisting the commission of offences.

He was jailed for six years at Minshull Street Crown Court on 24 September.

Detective Sergeant Mark Lucas, said: “By his own admissions Finn started dealing drugs at 15 before expanding and setting up on his own.

“He quickly established himself as a prominent dealer across our region and is worryingly at ease sourcing and distributing large amounts of class A drugs and adulterants.”

Following the first trial, court transcripts were obtained and detectives from the Major Incident Team launched a thorough investigation.

The transcripts revealed how Finn told the court his first contact with illegal drugs was at the age of 15 when he had dealt heroin and crack cocaine on behalf of someone else.

Finn explained how he went on to set up his own drug dealing empire, going into detail about mixing agents he would buy to maximise his profits.

As his orders grew, Finn told the court how he imported large quantities of caffeine and Benzocaine from China to be used as mixing agents, as well as sourcing similar products from within the UK.

He did not disclose how much cash he had made from is criminal enterprise, but told the court he earned and spent large amounts of money. The figures he gave during his testimony put the amount he received from his criminal endeavours at more than £340,000.

Following his acquittal, detectives were able to corroborate the details provided by Finn during his testimony.

An investigation into Finn’s financial affairs is ongoing.

DS Lucas added: “While we can’t quantify the amounts of drugs or cash that passed hands while he ran his criminal enterprise, the figures for both are undoubtedly substantial.”

US universities increase efforts to recruit UK students

Written by Anthony Organ on . Posted in News.

Universities in the United States are seeking to recruit greater numbers of British students now that higher tuition fees have come into effect.

Around 9,000 UK students studied in the US last year, but experts predict that this number will increase this autumn and then again in 2013.

Although US universities tend to be regarded as expensive, the tripling of UK tuition fees has reduced cost differences. Coupled with more generous scholarships and grants than British equivalents, studies in the US could become cheaper than in the UK.

The UK applicant website for Harvard College demonstrates that total fees involved for a UK student can reach £36,000 a year, but financial aid can reduce this to as low as £1,500. They estimate that total costs for a UK undergraduate course are now £15,000 a year.

Dr. Natalie Zacek, a US born lecturer in American History at the University of Manchester, stressed that Harvard have more money to spend on grants than other universities and also warned that American student loans have higher rates of interest than British ones.

But she sees the US education system as “more flexible” than in the UK where “sometimes secondary school students get steered in particular directions.”

She argues that because American students spend their first two years at university doing a wide range of subjects, they have “more of a free hand” when they specialise in later years.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, J Robert Spatig, assistant vice-president for admissions at South Florida University in Tampa, saw this as a “carpe diem moment for recruitment of UK students” and a “once in a generation opportunity to attract prospective British applicants across the Atlantic.”

Seven marathons in seven days in memory of Manchester student

Written by Ellen Conlon on . Posted in News.

A 180 mile fundraiser run took place last week in memory of Natalie Kate Moss, a former student at the University of Manchester.

Natalie studied Textile Design and Design Management at the University from 2004-2008, but died suddenly of a brain aneurism in December 2011, at the age of 26.

Last Sunday her brother Sebastian Moss and family friend Ashley Collins began the trek to raise funds for a trust set up in Natalie’s name.

The 180 mile challenge, which started in Manchester and ends in London, is the equivalent of running a marathon every day for a week.

The trust aims to support individuals who have suffered a brain injury through university life and the family hopes to use the proceeds of this fundraiser to award two undergraduate scholarships to new students suffering from injuries brought on by stroke or brain injury.

They hope that the Natalie Kate Moss Scholarships will be awarded on an annual basis and that the fund will also be able to aid further research at Manchester into brain injuries.

Sebastian said: “The Trust will offer students who have suffered a brain injury financial support, providing them with the opportunity to complete a degree at the University.

“Many people with such disabilities are unable to attend because they cannot afford the additional support they require due to their condition, anything from help taking notes to specialised accommodation.

“The Natalie Kate Moss Trust looks to give people a chance to fulfil their potential.”

“The route from Manchester to London was chosen because that was the path that Natalie had taken just before she died. She went to The University of Manchester and then spent many happy years living in Manchester before moving down to London to progress her career.”

Sebastian and Ashley have so far raised £7,737, close to their £10,000 target and are being sponsored in their challenge by top clothing brand Karen Millen, where Natalie was working as a Brand Manager when she died.

The fundraising Facebook page – 180 miles for Degrees, currently has 134 likes and is being used both by Sebastian and Ashley to keep supporters updated with their progress during the training and the run itself and by well wishers to offer good luck and advice to the long distance runners.

Wearing matching t-shirts and armed with Haribo starmix, multipacks of lucozade and boxes of cod liver oil tablets, the pair hope to finish the run on Saturday 29th September, ending in Hyde Park.

Nothing left untouched

Written by Sophie James on . Posted in Film.

In Hollywood, an established star can often save a weak plot from financial meltdown. But when you’ve got the likes of Emma Watson playing a “wallflower”, you know it’s all gone a bit mad – perhaps the film industry is in need of a wake up call.

This came on 21st September with the release of the French film Untouchable, which tells the real-life story of a quadriplegic millionaire and his ex-convict carer.

The film is not what you might expect. Whilst topics such as these have been deemed ‘untouchable’ in the past, it doesn’t beat about the bush, confronting the issues head on with full-frontal comedy.

This approach seems to have done the trick. The film has already had huge success all over the globe, grossing higher than the last Harry Potter installment in some countries. Picked as France’s next entry for the 2013 Academy Awards, it has even inspired no less than Harvey Weinstein and Colin Firth, who are set to make an English language version of the film. Judging by the rave reviews, it’s going to be huge in England too.

Quite clearly, this story has already touched millions, marking cinema’s growing ability to challenge, inspire and teach; and showing audiences’ willingness to go to the cinema and learn something new. It’s all well and good for the film to go on and for us to switch off, but sometimes we’re looking for something more- and for our eyes to be well and truly opened.

Although Untouchable might be the first film to tackle such issues and hit the mainstream, it’s not the first to bring life with disability into the spotlight and onto the big screen.  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in 2007 moved audiences with its depiction of the true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby and his life with locked-in syndrome.

Arguably even more exciting and powerful is the emergence of films that have gone even further by casting actors with special needs and disabilities. Watch Girlfriend, Yo También, or The Memory Keeper’s Daughter– films about people with Down’s Syndrome, starring actors with Down’s Syndrome.

Films like these and like Untouchable are a welcome sight to the film industry and to us, proving that film can not only be watched by everyone, but include everyone too.

Hollywood loves time-travel

Written by Nihal Tharoor-Menon on . Posted in Film.

The legacy of time-travel in Hollywood films is constantly growing. It’s no surprise when you consider this idea conceptually and how it can be employed to accustom any plot line, however ridiculous. Each film tends to set its own rules and structure for the phenomenon. In Terminator, time-travel is a one-way street in which you arrive indecently exposed in some kind of electrified sphere. Back to the Future on the other hand, has a more reasonable form of transportation, allowing you to freely to travel back and forth fully-dressed and in the comfort of your own car. One of the first time-travelling films, Planet of the Apes (1968) probably holds the most ‘scientific’ explanation; astronauts who are travelling at light speed end up progressing thousands of years in a matter of months.

One actor who is no stranger to the idea is Bruce Willis, who starred in the critically-acclaimed box office smash 12 Monkeys (1995). In it he travels from a post-apocalyptic future back to the ’90s to save the earth from a deadly virus outbreak. Clearly Willis is a fan of time-travel, as he revisits the concept this autumn in Looper, accompanied by Hollywood’s new golden boy Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Whilst the film’s plot may sound ridiculous – future crime syndicate disposes of rivals by sending them back 30 years to face Levitt’s shotgun – it is already set to be one of this year’s most successful films. It seems that no matter how many years go by, time-travel always resounds well in cinema.

RAG

Written by Kate Bullivant on . Posted in Societies.

RAG (Raise and Give) is a fundraising organisation that has been active in Manchester since 1965, and year after year raises thousands of pounds for charity by sending students out on hair-raising adventures across the country and the world.

I caught up with Jo Mortimer the publicity officer who explained how RAG works, and some of the exciting events they have on offer this year. “It’s a student based organisation so we’re all third and second year students. Then there is one fully paid member of staff Lauren, she is amazing and sorts us out when we get stressed and cry!”

The organisation is definitely growing in size. Last year they raised £471,000 for their various charities, and this year they are aiming to raise a whopping £500,000. ‘It’s awesome how much money we raise, and soon we’ll have to start increasing the size of our committee to keep the ball rolling’. Although Rag is ever growing, there are still lots of people who don’t know about RAG especially in student halls and within societies themselves. ‘Our aim is to get every fresher to think that RAG is a normal thing to do, so at some point everyone will have been involved in one of the events and challenges we have to offer’.

 

MT KILIMANJARO

Photo:Jamie Oliver

 

The challenge most people have heard of is the Mt Kilimanjaro climb. Each year students are flown out to Tanzania in East Africa to overcome extreme weather conditions, altitude sickness and fatigue in order to raise money for either the Meningitis Research Foundation or Practical Action. ‘It’s the best and worst thing that I have ever done in my life’, says Ella Tyler who completed the climb this summer, ‘as it’s mentally and physically rewarding but it was quite tough at some points. The reason I loved it was because you get so close to the group you do it with, you’re together every step of the way. The porters were fantastic and they were so supportive even though some of them couldn’t speak English!’

Chris, also from Practical Action, explained how vital the money raised by Manchester students is. ‘Last year, student’s  raised over £70,000 for Practical Action, this is an absolutely colossal amount of money, and helps Practical Action make a genuine difference to the lives of the world’s poorest women, men and children. With this Practical Action could build six solar powered water pumping systems in communities in northern Kenya with no access to basic sanitation, and teach these communities basic hygiene skills, changing the lives of thousands of people. We spend 89p in every £1 donated directly on our project work.’

It’s such a great opportunity and you’ll probably never get the chance to climb Kilimanjaro once you leave university. It’s organised during the summer holiday, which means after the climb you can take time to travel round Eastern Africa – you’ll definitely deserve a break having climbed a 19,341ft mountain (technically it’s three volcanoes, two that are extinct but the third and highest summit is dormant so could erupt again).  A few people may read this and think they wouldn’t have the fitness to face such a challenge, however the main feat is altitude sickness and this you can’t train for. All you need is enthusiasm and determination.

BOGLE

Photo:Katherine Lawson

If the thought of climbing Kilimanjaro or attempting the other challenges doesn’t appeal then RAG runs a host of smaller events. However, don’t underestimate them because they are still challenging! One of these is Bogle, a 55mile walk around Manchester on the 1st and 2nd of March. It was started in the 1950s by people who got stranded in the Lake District, instead of paying for a taxi they decided to walk back to Manchester and get sponsored to do it. It has now evolved into Bogle.

Walkers meet at the RAG office in north campus at 7pm, and then walk through the night. The route takes you all around Manchester so you get to see parts of the city that students would never normally see.  It is extremely challenging – nearly half end up dropping out as half way as the route loops back through Fallowfield and for many right past their doorstep.

Kat Lawson did the Bogle Ramble last year; this is a 26mile walk that takes ten hours. She explained how it was no walk in the park.

‘In all honesty it nearly killed me doing 26 miles. I had the worst blisters they were the size of cherry tomatoes, we now have a personal joke whenever we do anything that nothing is as bad as Bogle! Although it was tough we ended up having so much fun, and finishing was just the best feeling!’  However don’t let the blisters put you off because it isn’t just about the walk, especially if there is a large group of you.

If you do it in two or threes it’s hard to keep up morale, its much better and a lot more fun to attack the walk in a group. So if you are a member of a society that supports a charity, then getting involved would be a perfect way to raise money and to raise your society’s profile. With the money raised half will go to the selected charity by Rag (yet to be announced) and the other half will go whichever charity that is special to you.

‘In the end we managed to raise £200 for Childreach International which we are so proud of.’ So get talking amongst your friends to be walking and raising by the 1st and 2nd March.

For more information on Bogle then visit the website: http://www.manchesterrag.com/bogle/

 

JAILBREAK and LOST

Photo:Lauren Neal

 

Another really popular event is the Jailbreak, the aim of which is to see how far away from manchester you can get in thirty hours, without spending a penny. It may seem impossible but you’d be surprised how far you actually get. In previous years people have made it as far as Dubai and Hong Kong, and the furthest destination last year was Croatia. People blag their way onto all means of transport from buses, taxis, planes, cars and sometimes just do some good old fashioned walking.

The Publicity Officer Jo told me how she had taken part in Lost, which is Jailbreak’s sister event. ‘Everyone meets at Owens Park at midnight, and clamber onto the coach which has its windows taped up with bin liners. You are then driven through the night for three or four hours, chucked out and told to find your way back without spending any money’.  It’s a crazy idea, but great fun and perfect for raising money. On previous years students have been taken as far as Newcastle and Oxford. ‘When you’re dropped off everyone looks at each other thinking the same thing: where the hell am I.’ It seems that there maybe some safety issue that need to be addressed for both Jailbreak and Lost, but Jo assured me that RAG keep a close eye on its participants. ‘It’s not dangerous, because we make people text us the moment they get into a car giving us the registration number and again when they get off, this goes the same for trains and buses. This way we can keep track of everyone’s progress and don’t lose any students.’

If any of these challenges have caught your attention then look online to find out more, plus see all the other challenges that are on offer. These range from Everest Base Camp to Beer Fest.

Rag website: http://www.manchesterrag.com/