Author: Morgan

Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro addressed the UN general assembly Tuesday to call for a “criminal process” to be opened against counterpart Donald Trump for US strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean.

Petro said unarmed “poor young people” died in the strikes that Washington said were part of a US anti-drug operation off the coast of Venezuela, whose president Washington accuses of running a cartel.

More than a dozen people are known to have been killed in strikes on at least three boats in attacks UN experts have described as “extrajudicial execution”.

Swatting away concerns the killings are unlawful, the US president vowed at the same forum earlier on Tuesday to obliterate drug smugglers.

“To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” he told the assembly.

Trump has dispatched eight warships and a submarine to the southern Caribbean, and the biggest US deployment in years has raised fears in Venezuela of an invasion.

Nicolás Maduro has accused Trump – who during his first term tried unsuccessfully to expedite the Venezuelan president’s ouster – of trying to affect regime change.

Thousands of Venezuelans have joined a civilian militia in response to Maduro’s call for bolstering the cash-strapped country’s defenses against the US “threat”.

Petro, whose country is the world’s biggest cocaine producer, has said he suspects some of those killed in the US boat strikes were Colombian.

He argued in New York on Tuesday that Trump must be investigated for giving the order for US forces to target “young people who simply wanted to escape poverty” while many cartel bosses live in the United States.

“A criminal process must be initiated against those officials who are from the United States. This includes the senior official who gave the order, President Trump,” Petro said.

The Trump administration last week decertified Colombia as an ally in the fight against drugs, but stopped short of economic sanctions.

The countries are historical allies, but ties have soured under Petro – Colombia’s first-ever leftist leader.

Several popular brands of laundry detergent sheets are little more effective – and in one case, less effective – than plain water in front loading washing machines, testing by consumer group Choice has found.

A relatively new form of detergent, laundry detergent sheets are usually advertised as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional forms of detergent such as powder and liquid, as they don’t contain single-use plastics.

“In principle, I don’t know why they shouldn’t be able to perform as well,” said Chris Barnes, who manages product testing reviews at Choice, and was involved in this year’s test of more than 50 laundry detergents – including powders, liquids, capsules and sheets. “I suspect they’re not actually delivering as much actual detergent in each dose.”

Choice tests detergents annually to find the best and worst products on shelves for front and top loading washing machines. A score above 70% for front loaders and above 60% for top loaders were what the experts recommended for an effective wash, as top loaders are generally less efficient at washing than front loaders. Front loaders have longer wash cycles, which means they’re able to wash the clothes more thoroughly, Barnes said.

For the second year in a row, Omo products cleaned up, taking out the first, second and third spots for front loaders. Omo powder scored 81%, followed by the Omo Ultimate 3 in 1 capsules and Omo Ultimate 3 in 1 Sensitive capsules with scores of 77% and 76% respectively.

Capsules, which tend to be the most expensive detergent category, were hit or miss for front loaders. The highest scoring capsule, the Omo Ultimate 3 in 1 Sensitive capsules, receiving 77% – at $1.29 a wash – but the lowest scoring capsule, Active Expert 3 in 1 laundry capsules, scored just 52%.

However, in front loaders and top loaders, laundry sheets ranked at the bottom of the list, performing little better than water. For front loaders, Skipper’s laundry detergent sheets scored 46% and Lucent Globe’s scored 45%. Restor’s Fresh Linen laundry detergent sheets scored 44%. Water alone was ranked at 45%.

A Restor spokesperson responded to the score, saying: “We have conducted extensive independent testing on Restor laundry detergent sheets, where the new formula demonstrated incredibly strong performance in both cleaning power and stain removal.”

A Skipper spokesperson said : “The testing focused on stain removal of specific soiling types, not whether the products remove oils and bacteria to keep clothes hygienic and fresh.”

“Comparing our sheets to plain water makes for a catchy headline, but it does not reflect their everyday utility in the household.”

Aldi’s Green Action laundry liquid concentrate was the next lowest non-sheet detergent for front loaders, scoring 45%. “We will investigate this allegation, however we are confident of our stringent processes in place that ensure our product quality meets and exceeds shoppers’ expectations,” an Aldi spokesperson said.

For top loaders, Aldi’s Trimat Advanced Laundry powder concentrate emerged as the most effective, with a score of 66%, beating Omo Powder Ultimate by one point.

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While Omo’s top-scoring products cost upwards of $0.83 per wash, three products with scores between 71% and 74% cost less than $0.30 per wash: Active Expert laundry powder, Aldi’s Trimat Advanced laundry liquid concentrate and Coles’s Ultra Concentrate laundry powder.

Barnes said that a typical load of laundry for most consumers is not very dirty, so in those cases a mild or weak detergent will actually do the job.

“It’s encouraging that there is a good mix out there of really good performers, but also decent and cheap performers,” said Barnes.

“It is actually worth doing a little bit of homework just to see what the cost per wash is – it can be quite surprising.”

However, Barnes said buying a better washing machine might be a more sensible use of money than spending more on detergents.

“A large amount of the actual cleaning process … is actually done by the mechanical action of the machine itself,” he said.

“A good detergent will not make up the difference for a really terrible washing machine.”

Donald Trump has said he believes Ukraine can regain all the land that it has lost since the 2022 Russian invasion in one of the strongest statements of support he has given Kyiv.

The US president delivered his upbeat assessment by claiming Russia was in big economic trouble in a post on Truth Social after meeting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in New York.

He wrote: “After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.

“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, Nato, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option. Why not?”

Trump added: “Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years, a war that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win.”

map showing Russian-held territory in Ukraine and its recent and claimed advances in the border regions

The US president said this was not making Russia look distinguished, but instead a paper tiger, pointing to the long queues for petrol inside the country. He added: “Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.” He also promised “to supply weapons to Nato for Nato to do what they want with them”.

Zelenskyy hailed Trump’s intervention, saying it represented a “big shift” from the US president. He added that he thought Trump could help change the Chinese president Xi Jinping’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Earlier, Trump said that he planned to enforce his demand that Nato countries stop importing Russian oil – including Hungary, led by his close ally Viktor Orbán.

In his speech to the UN general assembly the US president renewed his demand for Europe to end its “embarrassing” purchase of oil and gas from Russia, saying until it did so he would not impose his long-promised economic punishment on Moscow.

Trump also said he believed Nato aircraft should shoot down Russian aircraft if they entered its airspace, but later qualified his remarks by saying it depended on the circumstances.

He made his remarks alongside Zelenskyy, whom he described as a “brave man”. Asked if he still trusted the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Trump said he would know in a month’s time.

It came after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, had given less wholehearted support for shooting down Russian planes in Nato airspace, saying this should only happen “if they’re attacking”.

In his speech to the UN Trump mocked Nato allies’ failure to curb oil imports, saying: “China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil. But inexcusably, even Nato countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products … I found out about it two weeks ago, and I wasn’t happy.

“They’re funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one? In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs.

“But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations, all of you … gathered here right now, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures.”

Trump did not specify the measures, but he has been stalling on a package that includes tariffs against countries that do business with Russia, such as India and China. He has already imposed 50% tariffs on India, but is also in the middle of negotiations that could see those lifted.

Regarding Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister, Trump said: “He’s a friend of mine. I have not spoken to him [about importing Russian oil], but I have a feeling if I did, he might stop, and I think I’ll be doing that.”

In response to Trump’s demands, the EU is trying to bring forward the date by which it ends the import of liquid natural gas imports from Russia to 2026 – a year earlier than planned. The EU is opposed to imposing vast tariffs on China or India, but is looking at more targeted measures against Indian and Chinese oil refineries.

Trump said he would be discussing the issue with EU leaders, adding: “They can’t be doing what they’re doing. They’re buying oil and gas from Russia while they’re fighting Russia … They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia. Otherwise, we are all wasting a lot of time.”

The EU’s 19th sanctions package also proposes export controls on another 45 companies that are deemed to be cooperating on sanctions evasion. Those include 12 Chinese, two Thai and three Indian entities that have enabled Russia to circumvent the bloc’s sanctions.

Hungary’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, told the Guardian that Hungary could not wean itself off Russian energy supplies. He said: “We can’t ensure the safe supply [of energy products] for our country without Russian oil or gas sources,” while adding that he “understood” Trump’s approach.

“For us, energy supplies are a purely physical question,” he said. “It can be nice to dream about buying oil and gas from somewhere [besides Russia] … but we can only buy from where we have infrastructure. And if you look at the physical infrastructure, it’s obvious that without the Russian supplies, it is impossible to ensure the safe supply of the country.”

Budapest relies on the Druzhba oil pipeline and the TurkStream gas pipeline to receive Russian hydrocarbons.

Slovakia, the second EU country still importing Russian oil, said it had already spoken to the US about the issue, and received a sympathetic response. “As long as we have an alternative route, and the transmission capacity is sufficient, Slovakia has no problem diversifying,” said the economy minister, Denisa Saková.

Hungary and Slovakia are the two countries that have most frequently called for the EU to reduce its support for Ukraine.

Former NSW police deputy commissioner Mal Lanyon has been named the state’s new police commissioner, replacing Karen Webb.

The appointment of the 38-year veteran of the NSW police is due to be announced by the premier, Chris Minns, on Wednesday.

Lanyon is currently the acting chief executive of the NSW Reconstruction Authority. He is expected to move to the new role on 1 October.

Webb announced her resignation in May, stepping down almost two years before her contract was due to end, and officially retires from the force on 30 September. Peter Thurtell is currently acting in her role.

Since Webb’s resignation Lanyon has been considered the frontrunner for the role despite media reports on a 2021 incident in which he was found collapsed near Goulburn’s “Big Merino” sculpture, and his admission to taking his wife and another couple aboard an operational police boat for New Year’s Eve in 2023, following a complaint to the police watchdog.

On Friday, Minns was again asked when the government would reveal Webb’s replacement, and whether Lanyon had been ruled out of the running.

Minns said “people do make decisions, sometimes they’re bad decisions, me included”, but said the final appointment would consider the “totality of someone’s career”.

“My experience is that senior police, like our senior public servants in the big portfolios, are eminently professional and just focused on public service,” he said.

More details to come…

A top official at the Department of Justice (DoJ) who is directing aggressive prosecutions of minor crimes in Washington DC pleaded guilty to driving under the influence four years ago, the Guardian has found. His subsequent elevation to a high-ranking post is unusual in light of that arrest, experts said.

Aakash Singh, 33, became an associate deputy attorney general this year and has been instructing attorneys to prioritize charges against protesters and people committing misdemeanors, even allegedly advising them to call new grand juries if they fail to get felony indictments.

Singh received the promotion from assistant US attorney after Trump took office, following a relatively brief legal career. While serving as an assistant US attorney in North Carolina in 2021, police in Raleigh arrested Singh and charged him with driving while impaired, according to police records obtained by the Guardian. That month, Singh was prosecuting several high-profile cases for the US government, including violent robberies and fentanyl trafficking.

The role of associate deputy attorney general is typically staffed by a handful of senior career attorneys advising the deputy attorney general.

Promoting someone who has a criminal history to associate deputy attorney general is not typical, Ken White, a former federal prosecutor, said.

“The DoJ tends to be super harsh about criminal background. I was told if you ever smoked pot, forget [being hired as an assistant US attorney] and DoJ is even more strict.”

Former federal prosecutor Mark Rasch told The Guardian that a DWI isn’t necessarily career-ending at the justice department, but that an offense like that would typically be vetted and investigated internally. “It’s unusual, but could be survivable,” he said.

Singh did not reply to multiple requests for comment. A justice department spokesperson said: “Aakash is a valued member of the Department who plays an important role in ensuring the President’s America First agenda is carried out. That includes standing firmly with law enforcement and making sure our streets are safe from rampant violent crime. We are proud of the work he and this Department do every day to restore law and order for the American people.”

Singh has emerged as a vocal enforcer of directives from the US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, and Donald Trump to aggressively charge people amid the federal crackdown in Los Angeles and Washington DC.

Last month, the justice department attempted to bring harsh charges against people protesting the military and federal police presence in DC, along with people simply swept up in the crackdown who were arrested for offenses typically prosecuted as misdemeanors. A grand jury rejected felony assault charges for a man who allegedly threw a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer last month. The man, Sean Dunn, was fired from the justice department after the incident, where he worked as a paralegal.

Singh encouraged US attorneys to not be dissuaded by widespread criticism of those attempts, according to the New York Times. The number of felony cases prosecutors in DC have dismissed has increased to 11, causing a magistrate judge to warn prosecutors “That’s not the way it’s supposed to work, and it has real-world consequences.” At least six DC grand juries have failed to return federal indictments–a result called a “no bill” – since August, an unprecedented number in a short time, legal experts say.

Singh met with federal prosecutors in August and advised them that if grand jurors refused to indict on those aggressive charges that they should impanel new grand juries, according to the New York Times.

In June, amid widespread protests against Ice actions in Los Angeles, Singh instructed all 93 federal prosecutors to not only prioritize prosecuting protesters, but to publicize those cases. Some of those ensuing federal charges also failed to get California grand juries on board.

Federal prosecutors failing to win indictments is historically highly unusual, Rasch said, considering the advantages the federal government usually enjoys.

“That’s a warning sign that there is something wrong with the case, if the jury says you didn’t even meet the threshold for probable cause.” Rasch also said that trying to maximize charges by stacking crimes in these recent justice department high-profile cases in DC is “abusive”.

“The idea isn’t to throw the book at someone, it’s to charge appropriately.”

White agreed, saying that Singh’s reported instruction to keep calling grand juries was “ludicrous”.

“That’s way out of line and completely unlike anything I ever heard at the DoJ,” he said.

The justice department disputed the Times’ account of Singh’s comments: “Aakash never said ‘simply impanel new grand juries’. The context was what should AUSAs [assistant US attorneys] do when they have a case that meets the elements of the crime, but grand jurors refuse to say yes to probable cause when they swore an oath to be impartial in evaluating a case. Aakash’s advice to them was to flag those issues for the US attorney who can discuss with the district court judges so the courts can remind the grand jurors that they swore an oath to be impartial in evaluating a case.”

In September 2021 the Raleigh police department arrested Singh in downtown Raleigh at approximately 10 pm, and he scored a .11 on a breath test, according to police records. Singh’s eyes appear bloodshot in a mugshot posted by Wake county.

Singh was charged with a level 5 DWI, which is a standard charge based on his intoxication level with no aggravated factors under the state’s DUI laws, North Carolina attorney T Greg Doucette said. Singh pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a total of $393, serve 24 hours of community service, undergo a substance abuse assessment and his license was revoked for 30 days. His defense attorney was a former assistant district attorney in the county.

Controversial US attorney Ed Martin, Trump’s original pick for DC US attorney and now director of the DOJ’s “Weaponization Working Group,” appears to be a fan of Singh, calling him “The Great One” in a May X post.

Mike Davis, a staunch Trump ally who previously served as Chief Counsel for Nominations to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, called Singh a “a close friend” in a January X post supporting Martin’s then-appointment. He hailed Singh and a colleague as helping Martin “kick down the door” of what he viewed as an office corrupted by “lawfare and political persecution.”

Singh graduated George Washington University Law School in 2017.

Rasch said that a 2017 law school graduate being promoted to such a high-level political appointment at the justice department is unusual.

“Normally these political appointees are chosen not only for political reasons, but because they have credentials that are impeccable, with extensive prosecutorial and managerial experience. But political fealty seems to be the single qualification now [under the Trump administration].”

“And what about the hypocrisy,” Rasch said. “Why did someone who threw a sandwich get fired [from the justice department] while someone convicted of drunk driving get promoted?”

A convicted killer who stalked Cheryl Tweedy has been jailed after turning up at the singer’s home for a fourth time.

Daniel Bannister, 50, who breached a restraining order after showing up at Tweedy’s rural home in June, had already spent time in prison for the same offence. At Reading crown court on Tuesday, a judge sentenced him to 12 months in jail after he admitted a single charge of breaching a restraining order. He was also handed a fresh restraining order not to contact Tweedy.

Bannister arrived at her home for the fourth time on 19 June, coming in a taxi just before 10pm, and rang the intercom system twice before peering over the gate, the court heard.

Bannister claimed the singer had invited him to her home over Microsoft Teams, the court was told. In a victim impact statement, the singer said she was “stunned” when Bannister visited her home yet again, and that she had been forced to hire personal security.

“Each time he returns the worry of his intentions intensifies,” she said. “I’m worried, nervous and on edge every time I open my gate. No person should have to feel this way.”

“Daniel has made my young child scared,” she added.

Judge Alan Blake said: “She does not wish any contact with you and you are causing her anxiety. You have shown defiance to the court order. You need to draw a line under that behaviour.”

Bannister was initially jailed for four months in September last year when he was handed a three-year restraining order, but breached it by turning up at her home in December.

In March, he was jailed for 16 weeks for repeatedly turning up at Tweedy’s home while under a restraining order. During this hearing, the court heard Tweedy “immediately panicked” and was “terrified” when she saw him outside her home, fearing for the safety of her eight-year-old son.

In 2012, Bannister killed Rajendra Patel, 48, who died as a result of an injury to his leg, at a south London YMCA shelter and pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The Duchess of York allegedly sent an email apologising to disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein after he threatened to “destroy her” in a “Hannibal Lecter-style” phone call, according to reports.

Sarah Ferguson sent the message in April 2011, describing Epstein as a “supreme friend”, after she had publicly disowned him in the media.

James Henderson, her spokesperson at the time, said the email was sent after a “really menacing and nasty” phone call from the sex offender, in which he had a “Hannibal Lecter-type voice”, the Telegraph reported.

Henderson said that Epstein was incensed by her description of him as a paedophile and made a “chilling” phone call in which he threatened to take legal action, the paper said.

Several charities severed ties with the duchess, 65, on Monday after the emergence of her email.

Her apology to Epstein followed an interview published in the Evening Standard in March 2011 in which she said that she had made a “terrible, terrible error of judgment” in accepting £15,000 from the financier, a convicted sex offender, to pay off her debts, adding: “I abhor paedophilia.”

In her apology email to Epstein, reported by the Sun, she described him as a “steadfast, generous and supreme friend”. She also “humbly apologised” for criticising him in public and told him she was aware “you feel hellaciously let down by me”.

Describing the phone call that prompted the email, Henderson told the Telegraph: “People don’t understand how terrible Epstein was. I can remember everything about that call.

“It was a chilling call and I’m surprised anybody was ever friends with him given the way he talked to me.

“He said he would destroy the York family and he was quite clear on that. He said he would destroy me. He wasn’t shouting. He had a Hannibal Lecter-type voice. It was very cold and calm and really menacing and nasty.

He added: “The pressure she was put under to protect her family must have been huge. I am sure there were legal actions.

“And this was long before the duke’s life had been ruined by his association with Epstein. It was 14 years ago and everyone will do what they have to do to protect their family. Her family and children will always come first for her.”

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Henderson has been contacted for comment.

Ferguson had told the Evening Standard in her 2011 interview: “I abhor paedophilia and any sexual abuse of children and know that this was a gigantic error of judgment on my behalf. I am just so contrite I cannot say. Whenever I can, I will repay the money and have nothing ever to do with Jeffrey Epstein ever again.”

Among the organisations to end their relationships with the duchess after the 2011 email came to light this week was the Teenage Cancer Trust, which dropped her as patron after 35 years.

Similar announcements came from the Wiltshire and Dorset-based children’s hospice Julia’s House, Prevent Breast Cancer, the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation and the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals, which all cut ties with the duchess on Monday. The British Heart Foundation also said Ferguson was no longer a serving ambassador for the charity.

Epstein was found dead in his cell at a federal jail in Manhattan, in the US, in August 2019 while he awaited trial on sex-trafficking charges. The death was ruled a suicide.

Errol Musk, the 79-year-old father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The outlet said those allegations could be why the entrepreneur, who temporarily served as an adviser to the second Trump administration, rarely mentions his father – and that family members of Elon Musk have reached out for help, prompting him to sometimes take action to intercede.

Errol Musk dismissed the allegations reported by the Times out of hand, telling the publication they were “false”. Asked for comment by the Guardian, Errol Musk provided a list of answers to queries from the Times, including replies that read “this is nonsense” and “this is absolute rubbish”.

Citing personal letters, emails and interviews with family members, the Times said that Errol Musk, who has at least nine children and stepchildren and has been married to three women, “maintains a powerful grip over much of the family”.

The Times said Elon Musk did not respond to the publication’s requests for comment.

Judging from court records, personal correspondence, social workers and interviews with family members, the Times said the earliest accusation against Errol Musk was in 1993, when his four-year-old stepdaughter told relatives he had touched her at the family house.

A decade later, the stepdaughter said she caught him sniffing her dirty underwear, the Times reported, adding that some family members have also accused him of abusing two of his daughters and a stepson.

Three separate law enforcement investigations were opened, the outlet said, citing police and court records, as well as family members’ accounts. Two of the inquiries ended without action, while it is unclear what happened in the third investigation.

“There was no evidence because this is nonsense,” Errol Musk said in a statement to the Times, saying “the reports are false”. He accused family members who were “putting the children up to say false things” and that they were trying to extort Elon, his eldest son.

Elon Musk has described a difficult relationship with Errol on the rare occasion when he has commented on his father. He told Rolling Stone in 2017 that his father had done “almost every evil thing you could possibly think of”.

In the profile, Musk said he had gone to live with his father at age 10 while his younger siblings, Kimbal and Tosca, stayed with their mother.

“I felt sorry for my father, because my mother had all three kids. He seemed very sad and lonely by himself. So I thought, ‘I can be company,’” he said.

He continued: “I didn’t really understand at the time what kind of person he was … It was not a good idea.”

Without going into specifics, he told the publication, “My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil.”

The Home Office has lost its appeal against a high court ruling granting an Eritrean asylum seeker a temporary block on being deported to France under the new “one in, one out” scheme.

In a highly unusual move, three appeal court judges rejected the home secretary’s application for permission to appeal against a high court ruling granting the man 14 days to gather further evidence in support of his trafficking claim.

The ruling was made after judges heard arguments from the home secretary’s lawyers but not from lawyers representing the Eritrean asylum seeker.

The Eritrean man, who arrived in the UK on a small boat on 12 August, was due to be deported on an Air France flight to Paris last week, but Justice Sheldon delayed his removal in a high court ruling.

His lawyers had argued in the high court that he was entitled under UK trafficking rules to more time to gather evidence about his trafficking claim before being sent back to France.

Although the decision on Tuesday by the three appeal judges, Lord Justice Arnold, Lord Justice Lewis and Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing, does not jeopardise the Home Office’s controversial “one in, one out” scheme overall, it deals a significant blow to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

Under the deal, the UK can send back any migrant who crosses the Channel illegally in return for accepting the same number of migrants in France who have a valid asylum claim here.

Government lawyers put forward arguments that it was imperative to remove the Eritrean man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, as part of the scheme to prevent dangerous crossings. They said he could pursue his trafficking claim in France but this was rejected by the judges.

So far only three people have been removed to France under the new deal. The first people from France were due to arrive on Saturday but this has been delayed.

Kate Grange KC, for the home secretary, told the court of appeal on Tuesday that there was “considerable urgency” to make “one in, one out” work. She said the scheme was needed to break the business model of people-smuggling gangs.

Grange told the court: “Winter is coming. Over the next few weeks temperatures will drop and journeys will become more hazardous.

“We submit that the public interest in preventing and deterring these journeys could not be more serious or acute.”

Rejecting permission to appeal, Lord Justice Arnold said: “The judge made no error of law or principle making the decision he did. None of the four grounds of appeal are sufficiently arguable to have a realistic prospect of success.”