NEWS

• Every musician needs a hacker fighting for them.

  Jan 26, 2023 Admin 0 Comments

  "Don't break the law, break the label" has always been a mantra of mine for the last 20 years.

  Gooood morning,

  As a musician, one of the most important tools needed to build success is a hacker. A hacker can help take an artist from relative obscurity to stardom in the blink of an eye. By utilizing services such as online streaming platforms, search engine optimization and social media marketing, a skilled hacker can make sure that your songs reach the right audience more quickly than ever before. Not only will this help ensure more plays and downloads for your music, but it could also lead to increased recognition and possibly even major label offers! Remember that the sharks come to me.

  However, if you want to remain ethical while achieving success as an artist, it’s important to know when “cheating” becomes necessary. Many of us have heard the phrase, "it's not what you know, but who you know," and this holds true in many aspects of life. I believe it also applies to how we use the law to our benefit. While I’m not advocating that anyone break the law, what I am suggesting is that we become familiar with it and learn how to manipulate it in our favor...........

  The music industry has been taking advantage of musicians for far too long. It is time to even the playing field and allow every musician to have someone on their side, a hacker in this case. A hacker can use digital tools and strategies to help musicians get more exposure and make money from online streaming services. The traditional route of using a manager is not always the best option for all artists, as it often involves exploitation of vulnerable people in the industry, which results in unequal power dynamics.

  Having access to a hacker can give independent and up-and-coming musicians more control over how they want their music presented, marketed and distributed without having to rely on established labels or managers who are exploiting them.

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• Andrew Tate ‘may have been hospitalised’ after being taken to Romanian prison

  Jan 9, 2023 Admin 0 Comments

  Andrew Tate may have been hospitalised after being taken to prison in Romania in a human trafficking and rape investigation, according to a local report.

  

  Romania Andrew Tate

  The self-proclaimed misogynist, 36, and his brother Tristan Tate, 34, reportedly received a routine medical visit during the first days of their arrest and one of them ended up in the hospital, according to Antena 3 sources.

  Tate reportedly developed a lung nodule in custody. The small lumps of cells are generally harmless and benign but can sometimes turn cancerous. It was reported that Tate requested to see a doctor.

  Tate, a British citizen and former professional kickboxer who has amassed 4.4 million followers on Twitter, was detained along with his brother Tristan in Ilfov, an area north of Romania’s capital, Bucharest. Two other Romanian suspects are also in custody.

   

  Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT said that it has identified six victims who were subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were sexually exploited by group members. One is said to have been violently sexually assaulted in March. 

  The agency said two British citizens in the case lured victims using pretenses of love, and later intimidation, constant surveillance, and other control tactics into performing pornographic acts intended to reap “important financial benefits.”

  Prosecutors seized at least seven of Tate’s fleet of super cars, including limited editions worth up to $300,000, that he was showing off to climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

  DIICOT spokesperson Ramona Bolla also said that more than 10 properties or land owned by companies registered to the Tate brothers have been seized in the investigation so far.

  “If we prove they gained money through human trafficking,” Bolla said, “they will be taken by the state and (will) cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims.”

   

   

   

   

   

   

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• Michelle Mone, (UK Hushpuppi) Stole £29m from the TAX payers.

  Nov 24, 2022 Admin 0 Comments

  Revealed: Tory peer Michelle Mone secretly received £29m from ‘VIP lane’ PPE firm

  
  

  Documents suggest husband passed on money from PPE Medpro, which secured £200m contracts after Mone lobbied minister

  The Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her children secretly received £29m originating from the profits of a PPE business that was awarded large government contracts after she recommended it to ministers, documents seen by the Guardian indicate.

  Lady Mone’s support helped the company, PPE Medpro, secure a place in a “VIP lane” the government used during the coronavirus pandemic to prioritise companies that had political connections. It then secured contracts worth more than £200m.

  The yacht, the wedding and £29m: Michelle Mone’s life during the Covid crisis

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  Documents seen by the Guardian indicate tens of millions of pounds of PPE Medpro’s profits were later transferred to a secret offshore trust of which Mone and her adult children were the beneficiaries.

   

  Asked by the Guardian last year why Mone did not include PPE Medpro in her House of Lords register of financial interests, her lawyer replied: “Baroness Mone did not declare any interest as she did not benefit financially and was not connected to PPE Medpro in any capacity.”

  The leaked documents, which were produced by the bank HSBC, appear to contradict that statement. They state that Mone’s husband, the Isle of Man-based financier Douglas Barrowman, was paid at least £65m in profits from PPE Medpro, and then distributed the funds through a series of offshore accounts, trusts and companies.

  The ultimate recipients of the funds, the documents indicate, include the Isle of Man trust that was set up to benefit Mone, who was Barrowman’s fiancee at the time, and her children. In October 2020, the documents add, Barrowman transferred to the trust £28.8m originating from PPE Medpro profits.

  That was just five months after Mone helped PPE Medpro secure contracts to supply masks and sterile gowns for use in the NHS.

  Contacted about the new disclosures, HSBC said it was unable to comment, even to confirm if the couple had been clients. A lawyer for Mone said: “There are a number of reasons why our client cannot comment on these issues and she is under no duty to do so.”

  A lawyer who represents both Barrowman and PPE Medpro said that a continuing investigation limited what his clients were able to say on these matters. He added: “For the time being we are also instructed to say that there is much inaccuracy in the portrayal of the alleged ‘facts’ and a number of them are completely wrong.”

  Mone, 51, and Barrowman, 57, have over the last two years repeatedly insisted they had no “involvement” in PPE Medpro, and “no role” in the process through which the company was awarded its government contracts. PPE Medpro has repeatedly refused to identify its mystery backers, but denied it was awarded contracts because of “company or personal connections” to the UK government or Conservative party.

  The Guardian has previously reported how those claims seem to be at odds with documents appearing to show the couple were secretly involved in PPE Medpro’s business, and emails suggesting Mone repeatedly lobbied the government on its behalf during the nine-month period after she helped secure its place in the VIP lane.

  However, the Guardian’s latest revelation – that the peer and her husband secretly amassed an offshore fortune on the back of PPE Medpro profits – could prove the most consequential for Mone, who has already been placed under investigation by the House of Lords commissioner for standards.

  Separately, PPE Medpro has become the subject of a potential fraud investigation by the National Crime Agency. In April this year, NCA officers searched several addresses, including the mansion Mone and Barrowman occupy in the Isle of Man. At the time, lawyers for PPE Medpro declined to comment on the NCA investigation.

  The controversy over Mone and PPE Medpro threatens to embroil the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who has pledged to make “integrity and accountability” pillars of his leadership. David Cameron, who was himself embroiled in a lobbying scandal last year, was the Conservative leader who appointed Mone the baroness of Mayfair in 2015. The former owner of a lingerie business, she has proven to be one of the party’s most high-profile and controversial peers.

  Michelle Mone founded the lingerie brand Ultimo. Photograph: SWNS.com

  HSBC INVESTIGATION

  The leaked documents setting out HSBC’s understanding of the offshore distribution of PPE Medpro’s profits were produced by the bank, which held several accounts linked to the Tory peer, her husband and children.

  The Guardian understands that HSBC launched its own investigation following media reports about Mone’s apparent links to PPE Medpro, which raised potential concerns for the bank. A report produced by HSBC on the couple and their links to PPE Medpro stated that it did “not manage to corroborate” those concerns.

  In the process of investigating the couple, however, HSBC pieced together a money trail showing that Barrowman had transferred tens of millions in PPE Medpro profits through a network of offshore entities. About £29m ended up in the trust benefiting Mone and her children, the report indicates.

  The bank’s investigation noted that “large value inter-account transfers” originating from PPE Medpro were being routed through Barrowman’s offshore accounts, often crediting and debiting within minutes of each other.

  The internal bank report described the money flows as “unusual activity”, noting a concern that Barrowman “may be attempting to conceal the true origins of the funds through multiple layers of transactions creating a distance between the receipt of PPE funds and the final beneficiaries”.

  Referring to Mone, it concluded that the transfers “suggest a UK peer in the House of Lords has benefited from a contract with the UK government”. Barrowman is understood to have told HSBC that his wife had “no involvement” in the business activities of PPE Medpro, and the onward transfer of its profits via his personal bank account had been made “in his personal capacity”.

  HSBC was unable to corroborate any concerns of wrongdoing by the couple, but it did identify a number of “risks” related to retaining Barrowman and Mone as clients – including what it saw as potential reputational damage to the bank. Multiple sources have told the Guardian that HSBC then decided to drop the couple as clients.

  MESSAGE AND MONEY TRAILS

  Mone and Barrowman have long denied any involvement in PPE Medpro, or any role in the process through which it was awarded government contracts. However, over the last two years the Guardian has ascertained multiple instances in which the couple appear to have been involved in the business.

  The Tory peer first approached ministers in May 2020, before PPE Medpro had even been incorporated as a company. She contacted Michael Gove, who was then a Cabinet Office minister, and Theodore Agnew, then a minister for procurement, using their personal email addresses.

  Mone told her fellow Conservative politicians that large quantities of PPE could be procured via “my team in Hong Kong”.

  Cabinet Office officials then added PPE Medpro to the VIP lane, which was used by the government early in the pandemic to prioritise referrals from politically connected companies.

  The government has consistently defended the VIP process; spokespeople have maintained that contracts were awarded “in line with procurement regulations and transparency guidelines, and there are robust rules and processes in place to prevent conflicts of interest”. However the VIP procurement process has been ruled unlawful by the high court.

  Within weeks of Mone’s referral, which led to PPE Medpro being added to the high-priority channel, the company had received two government contracts worth a total of £203m to supply millions of face masks and sterile surgical gowns.

  Around that time, Mone and her then fiance appear to have been secretly involved in PPE Medpro’s business, according to previously leaked documents. Barrowman appears to have been personally involved in setting up PPE Medpro’s deals with a supply chain partner, Loudwater Trade and Finance, in which PPE Medpro committed to using its “extensive network” to seek contracts with the UK government. Barrowman also participated in a meeting between the Cabinet Office, PPE Medpro and Loudwater.

  Meanwhile, Mone appears to have sent a WhatsApp message from a private jet in which she discussed specific details relating to PPE Medpro’s contract for sterile gowns. The message was sent to a person in PPE Medpro’s supply chain who referred to her as “Lady Michelle”. The couple were also included in correspondence between PPE Medpro’s suppliers about the cost price of gowns.

  

  Masks in the PPE Medpro product catalogue. Photograph: PPE Medpro

  When the Guardian reported on their apparent secret involvement in the company, Mone’s lawyers said its reporting was “grounded entirely on supposition and speculation and not based on accuracy”, while lawyers for Barrowman said the Guardian’s reporting amounted to “clutching at straws” and was “largely incorrect”.

  In September 2020, Barrowman was paid at least £65m in “profits” from the PPE deal, the HSBC report states. It states that money was transferred in two instalments to the Warren Trust, one of Barrowman’s Isle of Man trusts, using the reference “Distribution”.

  From there, transfers totalling £45.8m were made to Barrowman’s personal HSBC Isle of Man bank account. That account, in turn, transferred £28.8m in October 2020 to the Keristal Trust, the beneficiaries of which, bank records indicated, were Mone and her children, the report states.

  The Keristal Trust’s “settlors” – a reference to the individuals who created or funded it – were Barrowman and another individual linked to PPE Medpro, the document indicates. The document adds that the Keristal Trust’s bank account was opened in May 2020. That was the same month Mone recommended PPE Medpro to Gove and Agnew.

  The HSBC report states that smaller sums – ranging from £5,000 to £200,000 – originating from PPE Medpro profits were passed to some employees of the Knox Group, Barrowman’s financial services firm, who were involved in the PPE business. According to the report, one of those employees told the bank the transfers were “gifts”.

  HONEYMOON PERIOD

  Like his wife, Barrowman has repeatedly distanced himself from PPE Medpro, although neither of them have explicitly denied that he benefited financially from it. Previously, his lawyers have also insisted that Barrowman was never an “investor” in PPE Medpro.

  However the leaked HSBC report suggests that another Barrowman trust in the Isle of Man made an investment of £3m in PPE Medpro in June 2020, using the reference “PPE Transfer”. The £3m capital injection was later repaid into Barrowman’s trust by PPE Medpro, along with interest, the report states.

  Contacted this week, PPE Medpro declined to comment about whether Barrowman had invested in the company, citing a continuing investigation. Barrowman also declined to offer further comment citing live investigations, but his lawyer said he disputes the Guardian’s “claims and accusations”.

  Barrowman will now be under pressure to explain why he received at least £65m in PPE Medpro profits, and apparently passed on around half of that to his wife and her children, all via offshore payments.

  Barrowman and Mone’s huge windfall from PPE Medpro’s profits appears to have landed at an auspicious time for the couple: a few weeks before their wedding in the Isle of Man and honeymoon in the Maldives.

  Their extraordinary enrichment from the profits of PPE Medpro may explain why Mone continued to lobby the government for further business for the company, months after it had been awarded £203m in PPE contracts.

  Around the time Mone’s trust received tens of millions in profits originating from PPE Medpro, she appears to have lobbied another then Tory minister, James Bethell, this time promoting the company’s sale of Covid-19 tests, leaked emails suggest.

  PPE Medpro ultimately failed to persuade the government to buy its antigen tests, despite Mone’s continued efforts to pull strings with her political contacts.

  In February 2021, back from her honeymoon, Mone appears to have been lobbying again, according to an email sent by Jacqui Rock, the chief commercial officer for NHS test and trace.

  The senior civil servant told colleagues that Mone was angry at the treatment of PPE Medpro, whose products were being subjected to tests. The Tory peer believed PPE Medpro had been “fobbed off”, Rock told colleagues. “Baroness Mone is going to Michael Gove and Matt Hancock today as she is incandescent with rage.”

   

   

   

   

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• Migos: Takeoff shot dead in Houston age 28. Very sad news

  Nov 1, 2022 Admin 0 Comments

   

  The Georgia rapper was known for creating hits such as Versace and Bad and Boujee alongside fellow rappers Quavo and Offset

  

   

  Takeoff, the third member of Migos alongside the rappers Quavo and Offset, has died, TMZ reports. The 28-year-old rapper, real name Kirshnik Khari Ball, was fatally shot at a bowling alley in Houston where he and Quavo were playing dice around 2.30am; Takeoff was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other people on the premises were shot and taken to hospital. Quavo was unharmed.

  On Twitter, friends and admirers paid tribute to the late rapper. “I remember Takeoff being a very down to earth, cool dude,” wrote boxer Chris Eubank Jr. “Can’t believe I’m having to say this again about another young black star being killed for no reason, something really has to change in the industry.”

   

  Takeoff was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 1994. He began rapping with Quavo and Offset, his uncle and cousin, respectively, in 2008 under the collective name Polo Club. In 2011, the trio released Juug Season, their debut mixtape as Migos.

  In 2013, Migos released Versace, their first mainstream hit. The song was notable for popularising the triplet flow – Migos’ signature rapid-fire cadence – within modern rap, and was eventually remixed by Toronto rapper Drake, who would go on to have a long-running association with all three members of the group.

  Migos are best known for their 2016 Lil Uzi Vert collaboration Bad and Boujee, which peaked at No 1 in the US, as well as Top 10 hits MotorSport, with Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, and Walk It Talk It, with Drake. As a solo artist, Takeoff released one album – 2018’s The Last Rocket, which debuted at No 4 in the US – and one record as a duo, last month’s Only Built for Infinity Links, with Quavo.

  More to follow.

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• Queen Elizabeth II has died, Buckingham Palace announces

  Sep 8, 2022 Admin 0 Comments

  Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's longest-serving monarch, has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.

   

  

  Her family gathered at her Scottish estate after concerns grew about her health earlier on Thursday.

  The Queen came to the throne in 1952 and witnessed enormous social change.

  With her death, her eldest son Charles, the former Prince of Wales, will lead the country in mourning as the new King and head of state for 14 Commonwealth realms.

  In a statement, His Majesty The King said: "The death of my beloved mother Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.

  "We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world."

  In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

  "The King and the Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."

  All the Queen's children travelled to Balmoral, near Aberdeen, after doctors placed the Queen under medical supervision.

  Her grandson, Prince William, is also there, with his brother, Prince Harry, on his way.

  • Obituary: A long life marked by a sense of duty
  • Moment her death was announced on the BBC

  Queen Elizabeth II's tenure as head of state spanned post-war austerity, the transition from empire to Commonwealth, the end of the Cold War and the UK's entry into - and withdrawal from - the European Union.

  Her reign spanned 15 prime ministers starting with Winston Churchill, born in 1874, and including Liz Truss, born 101 years later in 1975, and appointed by the Queen earlier this week.

  She held weekly audiences with her prime minister throughout her reign.

  At Buckingham Palace in London, crowds awaiting updates on the Queen's condition began crying as they heard of her death. The Union flag on top of the palace was lowered to half-mast at 18:30 BST.

  The Queen was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, in Mayfair, London, on 21 April 1926.

  Few could have foreseen she would become monarch but in December 1936 her uncle, Edward VIII, abdicated from the throne to marry the twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson.

  Elizabeth's father became King George VI and, at age 10, Lilibet, as she was known in the family, became heir to the throne.

  Within three years, Britain was at war with Nazi Germany. Elizabeth and her younger sister, Princess Margaret, spent much of wartime at Windsor Castle after their parents rejected suggestions they be evacuated to Canada.

  After turning 18, Elizabeth spent five months with the Auxiliary Territorial Service and learned basic motor mechanic and driving skills. "I began to understand the esprit de corps that flourishes in the face of adversity," she recalled later.

  Through the war, she exchanged letters with her third cousin, Philip, Prince of Greece, who was serving in the Royal Navy. Their romance blossomed and the couple married at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947, with the prince taking the title of Duke of Edinburgh.

  She would later describe him as "my strength and stay" through 74 years of marriage, before his death in 2021, aged 99.

   

  Their first son, Charles, was born in 1948, followed by Princess Anne, in 1950, Prince Andrew, in 1960, and Prince Edward, in 1964. Between them, they gave their parents eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

  Princess Elizabeth was in Kenya in 1952, representing the ailing King, when Philip broke the news that her father had died. She immediately returned to London as the new Queen.

  "It was all a very sudden kind of taking on and making the best job you can," she later recalled.

  Elizabeth was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, aged 27, in front of a then-record TV audience estimated at more than 20 million people.

  Subsequent decades would see great change, with the end of the British Empire overseas and the swinging '60s sweeping away social norms at home.

  Elizabeth reformed the monarchy for this less deferential age, engaging with the public through walkabouts, royal visits and attendance at public events. Her commitment to the Commonwealth was a constant - she visited every Commonwealth country at least once.

  But there were periods of private and public pain. In 1992, the Queen's "annus horribilis", fire devastated Windsor Castle - a private residence as well as working palace - and three of her children's marriages broke down.

  After the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car accident in Paris in 1997, the Queen drew criticism for appearing reluctant to respond publicly.

  There were questions about the monarchy's relevance in modern society.

  "No institution… should expect to be free from the scrutiny of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don't," she acknowledged.

   

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• DJ Tim Westwood accused of sex with a 14-year-old

  Jul 13, 2022 Admin 0 Comments

  DJ Tim Westwood accused of sex with a 14-year-old

  

  DJ Tim Westwood is facing allegations from a woman who says they had sex several times starting when she was 14.

  She says Mr Westwood was in his 30s at the time and describes him as a "predator".

  The woman is one of several to come forward after an investigation by BBC News and the Guardian, with claims of misconduct and abuse dating from 1990 to 2020.

  Mr Westwood did not respond to a request for comment.

  It is illegal in the UK to have sex with a 14-year-old.

  In April, a number of women accused the former Radio 1 DJ of predatory and unwanted sexual behaviour and touching, in incidents between 1992 and 2017. They also accused him of abusing his position in the music industry.

  BBC News and the Guardian have investigated the stories of 10 women who came forward after the initial revelations. Some of the women told us they encountered Mr Westwood when they were under 18.

  Warning: Some of the stories contain descriptions of sexual violence and attempted suicide

  One says that she was only 14 when she first had sex with Mr Westwood. Another says she was 16 when the DJ, who was in his 40s at the time, began what she says was a "controlling" relationship with her. Both women say their relationships affected their mental health.

  Two other women say they were in their mid-teens when they were sexually assaulted by Mr Westwood.

   

  

  The testimonies of these and other women feature in a new BBC News documentary, Hip Hop's Open Secret: Tim Westwood, which is available on the BBC iPlayer now and airs on BBC Three at 22:00, and raises new concerns about the 64-year-old's behaviour over three decades.

  One woman, who was 20 when she met the DJ at a student club night, says he sexually assaulted her in his hotel room by pushing his penis into her mouth while she was resisting.

  He previously strenuously denied the allegations of seven women who featured in the original investigation by BBC News and the Guardian.

  In a response at the time to that BBC documentary, a spokesperson for the DJ said he denied the allegations in their entirety. They said: "Our client confirms that there has never been any complaint made against him, whether officially or unofficially, relating to claims of inappropriate behaviour of the nature described."

  After those revelations, the British hip-hop DJ stepped down from his weekly Saturday night radio show on Capital Xtra "until further notice", according to a statement from parent company Global at the time.

  Other than two who are friends, none of the women we spoke to know each other or have met. All are black.

  All but one of the women's names have been changed to protect their identity

  Of all those who have spoken to the BBC and the Guardian, Esther was the youngest at the time that she says the DJ had sex with her. She says she was 14 and the experience later led to her attempting to take her own life.

  She first met him at his club nights at the Arch in Vauxhall in 1990. She and her friends were big fans of the DJ's hip-hop show on Capital radio, and they would often call the programme for a shout-out.

  They became regulars at his club night. "[Tim Westwood] would always see us. He'd let us in for free," says Esther. "Sometimes he'd come and check on us: 'Ah are you guys enjoying yourselves?' And that's how it started."

  She says the DJ knew how young she was because he had asked her her age.

  

  "He didn't look shocked or anything," she says. When she asked him if she could continue coming, he said, "Sure you can."

  "I think we exchanged numbers and he just started, 'Oh are you coming tonight, you know, so I can leave your name at the door.' And then I'd say it was a couple of months after that he asked to meet up with me at Hammersmith Station."

  She says the DJ met her in west London and drove her to a flat. He offered her a drink but she said she just wanted a juice. They sat and talked - and then he kissed her.

  "I was like, OK, I don't have a problem with that. And then, it progressed from there. We had sex."

  This would not be the only time. The DJ, she says, would call her at home - after 18:00 because he knew her mum worked nights - and they would arrange to meet.

  "I never gave consent [to sex], but I never said no either so, I just went along with it," she says.

  

  If you have been affected by any of these issues in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.

  

  Esther, who described herself as a "bit of a troubled teen", says she broke off contact with the DJ when she was 16, and realised the relationship didn't feel right.

  She says it felt like a "dirty little secret".

  "I kind of thought it was normal but that's because I didn't understand the gravity of the situation. It wasn't a relationship and it wasn't about love, it was just a thing, and a thing you couldn't discuss with anybody."

  She says it feels like the DJ had groomed her, and describes Mr Westwood as a "predator", and herself as "prey".

  She didn't tell anyone, she says, because she felt she would "get the blame, not him… because I'm no-one".

  Esther started a new relationship not long afterwards and her then partner told the BBC he had been "repulsed" to learn that the older DJ had had sexual encounters with the teenager.

  Lydia, another woman to come forward, was at college doing her A-levels when she started going to Mr Westwood's night at Caesars club in Streatham, south London.

  She says the DJ saw her one night and asked her for her number. They started a relationship. Lydia says Mr Westwood knew she was only 16. At the time he told her he was 27, though she later discovered he was in his 40s. She lived on her own and describes herself at that time as a "vulnerable young girl".

  

  Sex was consensual, "but it didn't feel like a healthy sexual relationship because he was a grown man and I was a teenager", she says.

  During the 18 months it lasted, he isolated her from friends and family. She says she became depressed and tried to end her own life.

  A friend of Lydia's from the time remembers the impact on Lydia's mental health. Her brother also told us he recalls confronting Mr Westwood about the situation.

  "It was quite controlling in lots of ways," says Lydia. "I had a home phone, and he demanded to have the password to it so he would often listen to my messages."

  If he was travelling he would insist that she came with him, she says, because he didn't trust her to be on her own.

  Lydia said she would sometimes go with Mr Westwood to the BBC, when he "went to pick something up".

  • BBC reveals complaints against DJ Tim Westwood
  • DJ Tim Westwood accused of sexual misconduct

  A BBC spokesperson said it was standard procedure in 1997 for people working in BBC buildings to sign in guests, adding that the BBC introduced a regularly-updated Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy in 2004 and a visitor policy in 2010.

  A spokesperson said: "Today, the BBC's safeguarding arrangements have never been stronger and are regularly updated in line with best practice. Where under 18s are permitted access to BBC premises under our safeguarding policy they will always be accompanied by a chaperone and are never left alone."

  Lydia chose to tell her story to correct what she sees as "a lie". Mr Westwood had previously said in a statement that he could "categorically" say he had "never had an inappropriate relationship with anyone under the age of 18". This was in response to claims made against him in 2020 on social media. He said they were fabricated, false and without foundation.

  "I'm probably one of the few girls that he couldn't deny being with because there was quite a lot of witnesses," she says.

  "I wish more people had stepped in, I wish the adults who were around him, the bodyguards, the secretaries, the people who I would say were bystanders."

  Two others who were under 18 have also come forward with allegations.

  Paige was in Year 9 - so 13 or 14 years old - when Mr Westwood performed at an under-18s night at the Oceana club in Cardiff. Paige, who lived in south Wales, went along.

  "I was excited that Tim Westwood was gonna be there. For me as a kid that was like awesome."

  Paige won a dance competition and was invited to the DJ booth to pick up her prize. She asked Mr Westwood to sign her shirt and says he then grabbed her breasts and said, "Woah look at these".

  

  "It's difficult because I didn't necessarily see it at the time as a violation," she says. But reflecting on it now, as a mother, she is angry.

  She added: "Young black women are hyper-sexualised from a very young age" - which is partly why she didn't recognise what happened as assault at the time.

  Paige's mum recalls picking up her up from the club that night, and says Paige told her what happened a few years later.

  Like Paige, 15-year-old Emma was a big fan of Mr Westwood's music, calling herself a real "hip-hop head". So when she heard a call out on his BBC Radio 1 show for people to work on his "street team", she saw it as "the greatest opportunity".

  She and other teenagers would hand out fliers and work backstage at gigs. She says she first met Mr Westwood at his office in Carnaby Street, London. At some point, she says he asked to meet up with her. "I think it was a drink or a dinner or something."

  She says she didn't think it was going to be anything more than that given the age gap - Mr Westwood was 26 years older than her. "So in my head he was like - not my dad - but he's like an older guy, so just asexual to me in a way."

  Mr Westwood picked her up from her London home in a large, American car. But they ended up at a flat, where he told her he needed pick something up.

  

  There they talked about music. He put hip hop on - before switching to RnB. "[It was] getting kind of slow jammy and I was like, 'Hmm, OK, I don't feel good about this.'"

  When he then got closer, she made her excuses to leave.

  "We're in the car […] he leans in very fast, like he's talking to me, he's like 'Yeah, I really like you,'" she says. "And then sticks his tongue down my throat."

  Emma told him she was only interested in working with him. Soon afterwards she was dropped from his team.

  Sophie also worked on the street team, She told the Guardian she worked with Mr Westwood when she was 18 and was trying to break into the music industry.

  She says people would drink together after his show. One night she says he offered to take her home, but - as with Emma - instead drove to a flat.

  She said she wasn't immediately worried because he was her boss. Sophie says she was "intoxicated" and remembers "certain parts of the sex happening" but "I don't remember it in full". She does remember that it was unwanted.

  Talia was 20 when she met Mr Westwood in 2012. She says she was left completely shocked by her encounter with the DJ and thought of going to the police. But she didn't think they would take it seriously.

  Mr Westwood was at the height of his career. He had been at Radio 1 for 16 years and was in demand as a club DJ, particularly for student nights. Talia was studying at Nottingham and went to his club night at a venue in the city called Oceana.

  She recalls the DJ pointing her out to someone she took to be his bodyguard. He came over and told her Mr Westwood wanted her to stay behind at the end of the night. She and the DJ posed for a photograph together. He then offered to drop her and her friend back at their university halls.

  

  But the plan changed and they ended up at Mr Westwood's hotel. "Maybe this was just me being naïve," she says, "because [my friend] and I thought it was just gonna be a chat and that would be it and you know, I'd go back to halls."

  Then Talia and Mr Westwood went to his hotel room, where they began kissing. But very quickly he had removed all his clothes.

  "I still had my clothes on because I just wasn't expecting that to happen," she says.

  She says she told him that she didn't want to "do anything like that" because they hardly knew each other.

  "I kept saying, 'No, you know we've just met, let's just talk.' I remember saying, 'Oh, why don't we just have a conversation?' Then obviously the struggle started and I kept saying no."

  She says he was then straddling her on the bed and was trying to get her to give him oral sex.

  "I was just thinking, 'ah God, this can't be happening.' Here is this tall like man like just towering over me and I just felt you know, caged, like I couldn't get out. And I was saying no. So I felt really like, really powerless I'd say in that moment."

  She says he then forced his penis into her mouth.

  Talia left the hotel and returned to her university halls.

  According to the 2003 Sexual Offences Act, the intentional penetration of a mouth with a penis without consent could meet the legal definition of rape.

  Reflecting now, Talia says she feels "dirty".

  "I feel like I shouldn't have gone with him and maybe it's my fault that I did that. At the time I didn't know that it was happening to all these other women, I thought it was just me."

  Talia's friend Tatiana told the BBC that she bumped into Mr Westwood at a bar in Nottingham a month or two later. She asked him about Talia, and was shocked when he said he didn't remember her. Shortly afterwards he touched the friend's bottom - "smacked it almost" - and when she turned to challenge him he sipped on his drink "like nothing had happened".

  Two other women, Josie and Isla, say that Mr Westwood behaved inappropriately after brief encounters with him in public. Josie had been shopping in London in 2018 when she recognised the DJ and asked to have a photo taken with him. But she says he started messaging and calling her regularly, "pestering" her to come over to his house. She says during a FaceTime call he unzipped his trousers and moved his phone down before she hung up. She says he messaged afterwards saying he was sorry and had been joking.

  The previous summer, August 2017, Isla went to a Capital Xtra event at Boxpark, Croydon, where Mr Westwood was handing out flyers. He approached Isla and her friend. Isla took a snapchat video with him, and says he immediately afterwards started rubbing his genitals against her. She froze and says the incident was "unsettling and traumatic".

  Like many of the women, Elizabeth says she met Mr Westwood at a club night in 2019. She was 19 and he was in his 60s. She says over the next year they met several times and had two sexual encounters which she describes as consensual but "uncomfortable" - partly because of the age difference and partly because he put pressure on her to drink a lot. She recalls telling him she was about to turn 20, and he replied saying he wished he had had more time to have sex with her when she was a teenager.

  IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

  Mr Westwood worked at Capital Radio between 1987 and 1994. He went to work for Capital Xtra in 2013. For this latest investigation, the BBC asked Global, who own Capital Radio and Capital Xtra, whether it had received any complaints about Mr Westwood.

  A spokesperson said: "If Global is going to provide comment we will let you know."

  Mr Westwood worked at the BBC for 19 years.

  BBC Director General Tim Davie, speaking as the corporation unveiled its annual report on Tuesday, said the claims against Mr Westwood would be investigated and a report published within two weeks.

  "We have an internal audit separate to myself working to the senior independent director, Nick Serota, going through now, responding to anything that is coming into us.

  "We have no objective apart from to ensure everything is flushed out and we understand exactly what happened with regards to the BBC and also to do the right thing and [ensure] any cases are looked at."

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• DJ KAY SLAY HAS PASSED AWAY FOLLOWING COVID-19 BATTLE

  Apr 18, 2022 Admin 0 Comments

  DJ Kay Slay has passed away after a long battle with Covid-19, reveals Wack 100.

  Wack was the first to reveal the news of the legendary DJ battling the virus back in January. The 55-year-old had been on a ventilator according to him and the family asked for positive energy so he could get better. A few days ago, Wack gave an update on Kay Slay, saying that he was still fighting.

   

   

   

   

  Wack 100 initially suggested DJ Kay Slay was moments from dying in an Instagram post from December 2021. But Kay Slay’s biological brother Kwame Grayson told DX that was far from the case, explaining, “He’s definitely not going to die. That right there…I’m not going to lie, I was jumping around. I was definitely happy. Kay Slay is a private dude and he didn’t tell anybody in the hospital who he was, and we was kinda getting average treatment. When they found out who he was, that’s when everybody stepped up treatment.

  “He was slowly fading away, but God didn’t let that happen. Everything in time and when they found out who he was, they got him powered up again. So he’s up and going. He’s like in a recovery state, but he’s definitely not going to die. You can trust me on that.”

  

  RELATED NEWS

  DJ KAY SLAY'S BROTHER PROVIDES PROMISING UPDATE ON HIS COVID-19 BATTLE

  JANUARY 6, 2022

  Last week, Wack 100 said he was “still fighting” and needed all the prayers he can get, writing on Instagram, “He’s been off the #ECMO machine for a couple weeks now. Let’s continue our prayers as our brother continues to fight.”

  Sadly, he didn’t pull through. HipHopDX sends our condolences to DJ Kay Slay’s family and all those who loved him. Check out a few of the reactions below.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

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• The UK government admits that vaccines have damaged the natural immune system of those who have been double-vaccinated. Source report included.

  Apr 4, 2022 Admin 0 Comments

  The UK government admits that vaccines have damaged the natural immune system of those who have been double-vaccinated. The UK government has admitted that once you have been double-vaccinated, you will never again be able to acquire full natural immunity to Covid variants - or possibly any other virus. So let's watch the "real" pandemic begin now! In its Week 42 "COVID-19 Vaccine Surveillance Report", the UK Department of Health admits on page 23 that "N antibody levels appear to be lower in people who become infected after two doses of vaccination". It goes on to say that this drop in antibodies is essentially permanent. What does this mean? We know that vaccines do not prevent infection or transmission of the virus (indeed, the report elsewhere shows that vaccinated adults are now much more likely to be infected than unvaccinated ones). The British now find that the vaccine interferes with the body's ability to make antibodies after infection not only against the spike protein but also against other parts of the virus. In particular, vaccinated people do not appear to form antibodies against the nucleocapsid protein, the envelope of the virus, which is a crucial part of the response in unvaccinated people. In the long term, the vaccinated are far more susceptible to any mutations in the spike protein, even if they have already been infected and cured once or more. The unvaccinated, on the other hand, will gain lasting, if not permanent, immunity to all strains of the alleged virus after being naturally infected with it even once.

   Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1027511/Vaccine-surveillance-report-week-42.pdf 

  The first insurance companies are backing down because a huge wave of claims is coming their way. Anthony Fauci confirms that the PCR test cannot detect live viruses. Anthony Fauci confirms that neither the antigen test nor the PCR test can tell us whether someone is contagious or not!!! This invalidates all the foundations of the so-called pandemic. The PCR test was the only indication of a pandemic. Without PCR-TEST no pandemic For all the press workers, doctors, lawyers, prosecutors etc. THIS is the final key, the ultimate proof that the measures must all be lifted immediately must be PLEASE SHARE" Please copy and paste this in as many comments as you can do not try and post this on your main Facebook page as it will be taken down by Facebook let’s spread the word

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• Chris Rock’s statement regarding last night’s Academy Awards #Oscars

  Mar 28, 2022 Admin 0 Comments

  Chris Rock’s statement regarding last night’s Academy Awards #Oscars

  

  “As a comedian it can be difficult to understand which lines are to be crossed and which ones aren’t. Last night I crossed a line that I shouldn’t have and paid the enormous price of my reputation as a renown comedian. Comedy is never about poking fun at or making lite of people with major ordeals happening in their lives. Comedy is about using real life circumstances to create laughter and bring light to an otherwise dark world. With that said, I sincerely apologize to my friend’s Jada Pinkett-Smith, Will Smith, and the rest of the Smith family for the disrespect and disregard I displayed which was unfortunately broadcast for the world to see. I hope that, with time, forgiveness can come of this situation and we can all be better, more considerate people in the end.” - Chris Rock

   

   

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• Black schoolgirl strip searched by police while on her period

  Mar 17, 2022 Admin 0 Comments

  A safeguarding review found that ‘racism (whether deliberate or not) was likely to have been an influencing factor’.

  A

  black schoolgirl was strip searched by police while on her period after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis.

  The “traumatic” search by Metropolitan Police officers took place at the girl’s school without another adult present and in the knowledge that she was menstruating, a safeguarding report found.

  It concluded that the strip search should never have happened, was unjustified and racism “was likely to have been an influencing factor”.

   

  According to the report, the impact on the secondary school pupil –referred to as Child Q – was “profound” and the repercussions “obvious and ongoing”.

   

  Family members described her as changing from a “happy-go-lucky girl to a timid recluse that hardly speaks”, who now self-harms and needs therapy.

  Scotland Yard has apologised and said the incident “should never have happened”.

  I need to know that the people who have done this to me can't do it to anyone else ever again

  The Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review, published in March, was conducted by City & Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership (CHSCP) following the incident at the end of 2020.

  It said police arrived at the school after being called by teachers, who said they were concerned that the teenager had drugs in her possession because she smelt of cannabis.

  She was taken to the medical room and strip searched by two female officers, while teachers remained outside.

  During the ordeal her intimate body parts were exposed and she was asked to take off her sanitary towel, according to the review.

  No drugs were found. She was then sent home by taxi, later sharing her distress with her mother.

  Her family strongly believe the strip search was a racist incident, and the review found that her experiences are “unlikely to have been the same” had she not been black.

  It said it is highly likely that ‘adultification bias’ was a factor – where adults perceive black children as being older than they are because they see them as more ‘streetwise’.

  It reads: “The disproportionate decision to strip search Child Q is unlikely to have been disconnected from her ethnicity and her background as a child growing up on an estate in Hackney.”

  We recognise that the findings of the safeguarding review reflect this incident should never have happened. It is truly regrettable and on behalf of the Met Police I would like to apologise to the child concerned, her family and the wider community.

  In a written statement to the review, the girl said she cannot go a single day “without wanting to scream, shout, cry or just give up.”

   

  She said: “All the people that allowed this to happen need to be held responsible. I was held responsible for a smell … but I’m just a child.

  “The main thing I need is space and time to understand what has happened to me and exactly how I feel about it and getting past this exam season.”

  She added: “I need to know that the people who have done this to me can’t do it to anyone else ever again, in fact so no one else can do this to any other child in their care.”

  Councillor Anntoinette Bramble, deputy mayor and cabinet member for Hackney Council’s Children’s Services, and the mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville, said they were “appalled” by all aspects of the review.

  In a joint statement they said: “Child Q was subjected to humiliating, traumatising and utterly shocking treatment by police officers – actions that were wholly disproportionate to the alleged incident to which they had been called.

  “This is exacerbated by the fact that the strip search was carried out at school – a place where the child had an expectation of safety, security and care.

  “Instead, she was let down by those who were meant to protect her.”

  The police must “stop inexcusable behaviours and mindsets in order to properly serve all our diverse communities”, they added.

  They have asked for a report in six to nine months on progress made regarding the review’s eight findings and 14 recommendations.

  These include calls for the Department for Education to make more explicit reference to safeguarding in its guidance on searching, screening and confiscation, and for police guidance on strip searching children to clearly outline the need for a focus on safeguarding.

  The Metropolitan Police said the Independent Office for Police Conduct was investigating, following a complaint in May 2021.

  Detective Superintendent Dan Rutland of the Met’s Central East Command said: “We recognise that the findings of the safeguarding review reflect this incident should never have happened.

  “It is truly regrettable and on behalf of the Met Police I would like to apologise to the child concerned, her family and the wider community.”

  The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “This is a shocking and deeply disturbing case. I am extremely concerned by the findings of this report and no child should ever have to face a situation like this.

  “It is entirely the right that the incident is being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and I will be following the outcome of that closely.

  “It is absolutely vital that our police service is able to gain the trust and confidence of all the communities it serves so that every Londoner, regardless of background or postcode can feel safe, protected and served.”

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