AV 3rd March 2018

Page 13

UK

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14 ISIS fighters who were recruited from a few streets in west London 'Westway Warriors'

A leader of the British jihadis dubbed the 'Beatles' is suspected of radicalising at least 12 men in just over two square miles of the capital. The Islamic State fighter could have recruited other fundamentalists in West London to wage religious warfare in Syria and Iraq. At least 14 fighters are thought to have been recruited to the terrorist group while living in streets either side of the A40 Westway flyover. The suspects include two set of brothers and a hairdresser from Ladbroke Grove in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, according to a Sunday Times investigation. The men barber was detained while trying to return to the UK recently. One fighter who posed

with a severed head online, along with another jihadi are yet to have their locations pinpointed. But Alexanda Kotey from Notting Hill is believed to by US officials to have been central to their radicalisation. The 34-year-old is one of two Brits who are part of the so-called Beatles beheading group captured by Kurdish forces last month in Syria. Both CIA and MI6 operatives are believed to have had access to Kotey along with fellow West London captive El Shafee Elsheikh. The 29-year-old and Kotey are thought to have been interrogated about their Islamic State contacts. Muslim convert Kotey has been described as 'responsible for recruiting several UK nationals to join the terrorist organisa-

tion'. Experts regard him as 'a natural leader' and he is the oldest of the 14 men who lived around the Westway flyover. Parents of the Beatles gang's American victims James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig - last week pushed for Kotey and Elsheikh to be tried in a US federal court. British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning were also murdered by the group. The youngest of the Westway jihadis is Elsheikh's brother, Mahmoud. He left his family home in White City aged 17 to join his sibling in Syria. two years later he died on the battlefield. Seven others have also died, including 20-yearold Fatlum Shalaku who was part of a suicide mission in Iraq in 2015.

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Asian Voice | 3rd March 2018

To All Businesses: How the New Debt Recovery Protocol Affects You The new debt recovery protocol came into force on 1 October 2017 and applies to any business claiming a debt from an individual. It will not apply to business-to-business debts, unless Rachel Upton the debtor is a sole trader, nor if another protocol applies to the debt. The new protocol aims to ‘encourage early engagement and communication between parties’, including early exchange of information about the matter, thus, avoiding court proceedings wherever possible. Under the new protocol the Creditor must send out a comprehensive letter of claim which must include:l Interest rate charged on the outstanding debt; and l Details of how the debt arose and the type of agreement it relates to. This letter must enclose a statement of account, reply form, information sheet and a financial statement. The debtor has thirty days to reply, during which proceedings should not be issued. If the debtor requires more time to pay, the parties should attempt reaching an agreement to pay instalments based on the debtor’s income and expenditure. Should the debtor return a partially completed reply form this should be taken as attempt to engage with the matter and the creditor should attempt to discuss it further. As with any protocol the Court expects compliance. Should the Creditor not comply they risk costs consequences once proceedings have commenced. Introducing a time-frame for parties to correspond prior to issuing proceedings is beneficial. It allows

time to negotiate and attempt settlement which helps to avoid the need to issue court proceedings. Whilst the new protocol encourages early settlement (by encouraging early disclosure of documents and consideration of alternative dispute resolution) there are issues for Creditors where the debt falls under the £10,000.00 limit. Such claims fall within the small claims track limit where costs are generally not recoverable bar fixed costs and disbursements. It follows that associated costs, in complying with the new pre-action protocol for claims under £10,000.00, are unlikely to be recoverable. The need for creditors to comply with the time-frame set down in the protocol may in certain circumstances mean debtors use the additional time to delay payment. Therefore, it is likely that we will see an increase in the issue of bankruptcy proceedings and the use of the Insolvency Act 1968 for undisputed debts of £5,000.00 and more instead of complying with the new protocol. Author, Rachel Upton, a Solicitor in the Civil Litigation department at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, has extensive experience in debt recovery, insolvency, enforcement and contractual disputes. Contact her on rachelu@duncanlewis.com and 020 3114 1244 Duncan Lewis Civil Litigation Solicitors Duncan Lewis Solicitors is a leading firm offering expert litigation and alternative dispute resolution services in ADR & Mediation, Bankruptcy, Banking & Finance, Company & Commercial, Contentious Probate, Defamation, Debt Recovery, Fraud, International, Property and Professional Negligence. If you have a litigation issue, please call us on 0333 772 0409.

Schools linked to an Abu Hamza 'terror academy' still running

One school shut down after children were taught songs praising terrorists could reopen

Abu Hamza

Schools opened by Islamic clerics linked to an Abu Hamza ‘terror’ school that was shut down are still running. Jameah Islameah was closed ten years ago after a police raid and dire Ofsted inspections. Set in a Victorian mansion in the East Sussex countryside, it was a suspected jihadi training camp. Now it has emerged that other schools set up by the founders are still operating – and they are trying to reopen Jameah Islameah for pupils aged 11 and up. Hook-handed Hamza – now serving life

in a US prison for terror offences – allegedly presided over exercises with AK47 rifles, handguns and a mock rocket launcher. Fellow hate cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed also lectured at camping trips held at the school, where children were taught sick songs praising terrorists, including one that began: ‘Come, mister Taliban, come bomb England.’ After anti-terror police and MI5 swooped in 2006, and following a series of Ofsted inspections, the Government forced the school’s closure in 2007. But now The Mail’s findings highlight how powerless officials are to crack down on breeding grounds for religious intolerance. The new Education Secretary Damian Hinds signalled a war on illegal schools and out-of-hours tuition centres. The Jameah Islameah former

school building has been owned since 1997 by Islamic scholars Bilal Patel, Muhammad Anas and two others. They are a band of Deobandi Muslims – the strict Islamic movement that gave birth to the Taliban in Afghanistan – and have never given up on their mission to ‘educate’ the next generation of Islamic scholars. Mr Patel and Mr Anas have been allowed to establish schools elsewhere. A legal loophole means part-time schools are not required to be registered with the Department for Education nor inspected by Ofsted, making it impossible to monitor its curriculum. At Al-Ashraaf, a secondary boys’ school in East London, the chairman Mufti Shah Sadruddin was filmed in 2013 saying all people who insult Islam should be put to death.

Grenfell Tower first anniversary marked by memorial concert Tickets for a special concert marking one year since the Grenfell Tower fire , which is being held in memory of one of its victims, have gone on sale.

few weeks after Grenfell fire, sold out in 36 hours and raised a total of £41,000 for the RPT. Funds raised by this year’s memorial concert will enable more than 100

children and young people from North Kensington to go on trips to the coast and countryside to try new activities and escape the pressures of everyday life.

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The Hope for Grenfell Memorial Gala takes place on Wednesday 13th June at Opera Holland Park (OHP), and aims to raise £50,000 for the Rugby Portobello Trust (RPT) to support victims. It is being held in memory of the 71 victims of the disaster. Last year a charity performance of Verdi’s Requiem , held just a

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