Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores was elected mayor of Queropalca (Picture: Peruvian electoral authority)
A man named Hitler Mussolini Simeon Flores has been elected as mayor of a town in Peru.
The candidate, who stood for the centre-left Ahora Nación party, won 34% of the vote in Queropalca, a remote district in the Peruvian Andes.
In total, 229 residents out of 700 voted for the 45-year-old, with local media reporting that the top three candidates were separated by just 42 votes.
The newly elected mayor, whose unusual forenames are those of two notorious fascist dictators, was born in the central department of Huánuco, 224 miles from the capital, Lima, according to his candidate profile.
In 2018, another Peruvian politician called Hitler won a mayoral election in the district of Yúngar, beating a candidate named Lenin.
Hitler Guesclin Alba Sánchez defeated Lenin Vladimir Rodríguez Valverde in the contest.
Alba told broadcasters during his campaing ‘I’m the good Hitler,’ according to local media.
From L to R: Kye Arthur, 35, Neil Jones, 48, Tobiasz Kozlowski, 38, and Kevin Wooden, 46, (Picture: West Midlands Police)
Four men who killed a dad-of-two by pouring petrol on him and setting him on fire have been jailed.
Tomasz Samel, 45, was kidnapped in March 2019 in Birmingham by three men claiming to be from Interpol.
The 45-year-old was working for an organised crime group, who wanted to ‘teach him a lesson’ over the loss of cigarettes worth £1 million.
The men claimed they were from Interpol, and drove him around the Liverpool area before torturing him.
Mr Samel was dumped in a remote location by the group after being set on fire ‘naked and outnumbered’. He managed to walk to a nearby house where he was given a glass of water and taken to hospital.
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He died in hospital three months later.
Mr Samel’s killing was linked to the seizure of illicit and counterfeit cigarettes which had been smuggled into the UK from Poland.
Tomasz Samel, dad-of-two, who died after being set on fire (Picture: West Midlands Police/PA Wire)
The victim had a unit in Elkington Street, Aston, Birmingham, the court heard, where HM Revenue and Customs had seized cigarettes on February 22 2019.
Neil Jones, 48, and Tobiasz Kozlowski, 38, who were among the main organisers behind the abduction and death of Mr Samel were jailed at Birmingham Crown Court for life today.
Kevin Wooden, 46, and 35-year-old Kye Arthur, were cleared of murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm but were found guilty of manslaughter.
They were sentenced to 23 years and 22 years respectively.
They drove around Liverpool before torturing Mr Samel (Picture: West Midlands Police)
They had admitted conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.
Kozlowski’s wife, Sandra Kozlowska, 38, also of Crosland Road, Kirkby, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, suspended, after she was found guilty of assisting an offender.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Mr Justice Wall told the defendants they had all chosen to involve themselves in a ‘truly horrific series of events’.
He said: ‘You played different parts in what happened. I am sure that you, Kozlowski and Jones, were organisers of these events.
‘You both had a financial stake in the cigarettes that went missing and had a motive to punish the man whom you considered had lost them.
‘You both went to Poland after they went missing. I am sure that this was part of the planning process.’
He added: ‘I am sure that the two of you intended that Mr Samel would die.
‘If you had intended anything short of death, you would have made some arrangement for his being returned to Birmingham after he was assaulted.
‘Rather, you disposed of the van he was brought to Liverpool in and sent the kidnappers away without asking them to wait to take Tomasz Samel home.
‘Your chosen method of inflicting violence was fire. Fire is self-evidently not a weapon which can be controlled to a nicety allowing for the infliction of serious injury rather than death.
‘In any event, even if your intention had been that he should not be killed but be really seriously injured, this affords you no mitigation for an attack carried out as it was.
‘The distinction between an intention to kill and one to cause grievous bodily harm when someone is set alight with petrol is paper thin if it exists at all.’
The judge said life imprisonment was ‘richly deserved’ for Kozlowski and Jones.
He said: ‘There was a very high degree of mental and physical suffering inflicted on Tomasz Samel before he died – both in the period where he was being held hostage and the period of three months while he was in hospital.
‘Your victim was vulnerable at the time he was set alight – he was naked and outnumbered.’
Of Wooden and Arthur, the judge said he accepted that the pair had been recruited to the plan and paid to act as Amazon delivery men and then law enforcement officers to kidnap Mr Samel.
He said: ‘The jury’s verdicts of guilty of manslaughter make clear that you knew that violence was to be meted out to Mr Samel after you had delivered him.’
He added: ‘The kidnapping was committed in the victim’s own home… This was a highly planned activity in which you did not become involved at the last moment.’
Addressing Kozlowska, the judge said her efforts to assist her husband were ‘persistent and varied and they allowed (him) to evade justice for some time’.
A six-week trial was told Mr Samel, who was the subject of an international arrest warrant, was dumped in a remote location in Lancashire after he was set on fire.
He managed to walk to a house and was given water after knocking at the door of a property near Bickerstaffe at 11.10pm on March 27.
He was taken to Whiston Hospital in Prescot but died on June 21 2019 as a result of his injuries.
The police investigation into Mr Samel’s killing saw wider inquiries carried out in Poland, Greece, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Colombia, France, Scotland and Wales, where the gang had operations or had fled to in the aftermath of the kidnap.
The CPS said Wooden was arrested in the Dominican Republic under a false name and had to be extradited before the trial.
Hannah Sidaway, roving liaison prosecutor at the CPS, said: ‘This case shows what can be achieved when prosecutors and law enforcement work together across borders.
‘Support from our partners in Poland, Greece and the Dominican Republic, together with Eurojust, was instrumental in securing evidence, progressing inquiries across jurisdictions, and ensuring those responsible faced justice in the UK.
‘The CPS is grateful to all our partners, and our thoughts remain with Mr Samel’s family.’
Harry revealed he did not cry for almost 20 years after his mother’s death and thinks of her ‘pretty much every night and then most mornings’.
Opening up on his mother’s death, he said: ‘You would think I had the best help in the world. I’m a prince, for God’s sake, but I was still grieving and didn’t have any place to put those feelings,’ he said, describing emotions he bottled up for ’15 or 20 years’.
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Harry said he finally found happiness with his wife before ‘slipping into depression’ after the couple stepped back from Royal duties under the glare of the media.
Prince Harry opens up about grief and depression (Picture: Masterclass)
‘We moved to Canada to get some space away from everything and simply think,’ he said.
‘Within two or three days of leaving that stressful environment, I experienced an adrenaline crash unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
‘It was as though I needed stress for my brain to function. I became useless around the house. I slipped into depression for about two weeks and felt like I couldn’t function without adrenaline.’
Prince Harry spoke candidly of the mental anguish he has gone through since Princes Diana’s death (Picture: Masterclass)
The duke also addressed his grief for his mother, saying for many years he felt like he had to be sad to prove he missed her.
‘The reality is, what I discovered was actually she just wanted me to be happy,’ he said.
Prince Harry feared forgetting his mother’s laugh (Picture: Martin Keene/PA Wire)
After fears he would forget his mother’s laugh, a therapist recommended spraying her perfume to allow vivid memories of Diana to resurface.
‘It was like being transported to another time,’ Harry said. ‘It unlocked everything that had been locked away.
‘Spraying my mother’s scent was almost like knocking certain bricks through so that I could see through and certain memories and experiences could start seeping back.’
Harry also said: ‘Everything I do, everything I put my energy towards, I hope that my mother will be proud of.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, recently returned to the UK (Picture: Paul Davey/SWNS)
‘Trying to continue and protect her legacy, what I didn’t realise was that the work I was drawn to was so similar to the work she was doing.’
Diana’s brother Earl Spencer has spoken of how the treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has ‘echoes’ of what happened to his sister.
‘I think it would be really beholden on people to learn from Diana’s example,’ he told the BBC.
‘I’m not here to speak for Harry and Meghan, but for anyone who’s being destroyed in this way daily, it must be such a cancerous influence in their life.’
Earl Spencer said he had seen Diana’s ‘tears of despair’ over the extensive coverage of her personal life and described her as ‘very, very sensitive to criticism’.
Diana, who married King Charles – then the heir to the throne – in 1981, was subjected to intense public scrutiny throughout her public life.
Earl Spencer said she was ‘really brought low by all that criticism’, adding that it was a ‘pity’ to see ‘echoes of that now’ in the treatment of his nephew and his wife.
The reported former Bentley of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is in ‘flawless condition’ (Picture: AFP/Getty)
A Bentley believed to have belonged to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has gone on sale at a dealership for nearly £125,000.
The luxury Bentley Flying Spur, which has clocked up just 7,000 miles, is being advertised by Portland of Bawtry in Doncaster as an ‘Ex Royal Family Car’.
The asking price is £124,975, which is considerably less than the reported £220,000 it cost when it was bought new around six years ago.
The former Duke of York was previously seen driving a Bentley Flying Spur with the personalised ‘A03 DOY’ number plate to his father’s funeral in 2021 and his granddaughter’s christening the following year.
He reportedly gave up the number plate last October, around the time the King announced stripping him of his titles. It is also no longer listed on the DVLA website.
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The car was reportedly resprayed in Barnato racing green and comes with a linen and Cumbrian green diamond-quilted leather interior.
The Bentley is being advertised as an ‘Ex Royal Family Car’ (Picture: Mark Worgan/Portland Autos/Cover Images)
The asking price is £124,975 for the luxury car (Picture: Mark Worgan/Portland Autos/Cover Images)
It also has a six-litre engine, four-wheel drive and 22-inch polished alloy wheels.
Dealership owner Clive Watson told The Times: ‘We found it had a very strange service history so made some inquiries and realised it was a royal household car.
‘The Bentley is beautiful, in flawless condition and has just 7,000 miles on it.
The sale comes as Andrew prepares to take legal action against Thames Valley Police and the Central Criminal Court in an attempt to quash search warrants linked to his arrest in February.
Andrew pictured leaving Aylsham Police Station on the day of his arrest (Picture: Reuters)
The 66-year-old was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office (Picture: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
He was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
This came following allegations that he shared sensitive information with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy. Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing.
The warrants allowed police to search his residence on the Sandringham Estate and his former home in Windsor.
A High Court hearing is due to take place on Thursday, when judges will also consider a Thames Valley Police application to restrict access to certain documents.
The force has said its investigation into alleged misconduct in public office remains ongoing.
Longtime Walford stalwart Ian, as viewers know, was devastated when he was sent to prison earlier in the year and, despite being released in the latest visit to the Square, the ordeal has taken its toll on him.
The businessman struggled to adjust to life back in Walford and, after learning that Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) missed an inspection at the chippy, he saw red and punched him.
When he realised what he’d done, Ian apologised and headed back to No. 45, saying aloud that he cannot go back to prison. Mum Kathy (Gillian Taylforth) offered support as he sobbed in her arms.
Over at the B&B, Linda made it her mission to find out what Lee Carter (Danny Hatchard) is hiding about ex Jess, who he claims abandoned him and their unborn child – who sister Nancy (Maddy Hill) is carrying.
Up Next
She made a plot to track Jess down, much to the chagrin of Lee – but will she get the answers she’s looking for? Elsewhere, Ryder Hawkins (Felix Uff) was shown the ropes of Harry’s Barn by Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington), though Ned’s (Jamie Bamber) attitude towards the young lad raised her eyebrows.
For a first look at what tomorrow’s edition of the soap entails, here’s everything you need to know.
What happens next in EastEnders? New spoilers for Thursday, October 8
Ian pushes his loved ones away in the wake of what transpired and things go from bad to worse when he discovers that Beales Eels has been vandalised.
Ned, who showed an interest in Ian earlier this week, comes to the Walford legend’s aid, helping him clean off the graffiti and urging him to face the reality of what happened on the night of the accident.
Ian struggles to adjust (Picture: BBC / Jack Barnes / Kieron McCarron)
Ian subsequently reaches out to Chelsea Fox (Zaraah Abrahams) and later reconnects with Ned, thanking him for his support.
Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine), meanwhile, is left worried when Rose (Marian McLoughlin) and Jodie (Anna Constable) comment that Ethan doesn’t look like Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota).
Elsewhere, Nicola and Ryder continue to bond. Nicola, however, gets a shock when Ryder brings his date to Harry’s Barn. Afterwards, he asks to speak to Nicola alone. But just what does he want to say?
And as for Linda and Lee, the aftermath of their showdown will no doubt take centre stage.
Will Lee be able to talk Linda out of trying to track down Jess? Or will Linda persist and work out what really happened between her son and his ex?
EastEnders airs these scenes Thursday October 8 at 7:30pm on BBC One or stream from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
If you’ve got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us soaps@metro.co.uk – we’d love to hear from you.
A teenager spent hours setting up a plastic-covered ‘kill room’ like his hero fictional serial killer Dexter, before luring a woman and stabbing her 78 times.
Benjamin Day dressed up like his TV hero and copied his tactics stapling plastic sheeting to a bedroom in order to easily clean up the killing and get away with murder.
The forensic student, who changed university course to be more like Dexter, also planned to keep slides of his victim’s blood as a trophy.
Day, who cut open his hand dismembering the body of Maria Saceanu, was caught on camera lying to officers claiming to have been bitten by a wild dog or a fox.
Day, 20, changed his plea at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday to admit murdering 24-year-old Romanian Ms Saceanu.
A trial heard Ms Saceanu was lured to a plastic-lined room at an Airbnb in Tividale, West Midlands, where she suffered 78 knife wounds, many of them inflicted after death.
Maria Saceanu, 24, was lured to the plastic-lined room in Tividale (Picture: West Midlands Police / SWNS)
Day had placed his victim’s possessions into a black bin bag, ready for disposal after taking knives, scissors, a mask, an apron, disposable gloves, plastic sheeting, duct tape, a staple gun and cleaning chemicals to the scene.
Footage released by police on Wednesday shows Day bleeding onto the ground from a hand wound and falsely claiming to be unable to remember where he had parked his car, which was outside the house containing his victim’s body.
An officer can also be heard questioning Day’s account in the footage, filmed near the junction of Highview Street and Brewery Street in Dudley.
In a further clip released by police, Day is seen wearing a Dexter-style khaki top as he nods towards the officer arresting him at 3.42am on December 21 last year, while lying on a bed at Dudley’s Russells Hall Hospital.
He is also heard saying: ‘I have got four fingers thankfully.’
Benjamin Day pleads guilty to murdering woman in copycat ‘kill room’ he created in Airbnb (Picture: West Midlands Police)
Benjamin Day was arrested in hospital after Maria’s body was discovered (Picture: West Midlands Police)
Opening the Crown’s case on Monday, prosecutor Rachel Brand KC said the defendant spent several hours preparing the so-called kill room.
Day had been expected to claim self-defence, asserting that he set up the room to film a ‘tribute’ to Dexter which he could post on TikTok.
But after an hour-long delay to proceedings on Tuesday, Day returned from the cells to the dock and appeared to smirk as he nodded towards the court clerk and entered a guilty plea.
Dexter killed other serial killers in the TV show (Picture: Showtime/Everett/Shutterstock)
The change of plea came around three hours after jurors were shown footage of Day claiming to have been attacked by a dog or fox ‘near a bush’.
The court heard Day left the Airbnb at about 12.30am on December 21, walked some distance away and then called 999 at 12.50am asking for medical help.
During his conversations with police, Day said he had driven over to the Dudley area to look for a ‘random girl’ in a bar.
Asked by an officer if he had been set up and attacked, Day said he had been injured by an animal that ‘might have been a fox’.
Ms Saceanu died as a result of wounds to her neck causing damage to her carotid arteries or jugular veins, with a number of wounds to her hands ‘consistent with efforts to protect herself’.
Explaining the Crown’s case at the start of what was expected to be a two-week trial, Ms Brand said of Day: ‘He lured Maria Saceanu to a room that he had rented via Airbnb.
‘He had prepared himself to kill her.
‘He had planned to dispose of her body without leaving signs of what had happened and he planned to get away with it.
‘But it all went wrong and he was caught.’
Day passed his first university year studying journalism, the court heard, but then transferred to another course in applied biology and forensics.
Ms Brand told the jury: ‘We don’t pretend, ladies and gentlemen, to be able to give you the deep-seated psychological reasons why he decided to kill another person – that’s not our remit.
‘But what we can tell you is that he had become fascinated with a particular television drama series – an American series – and his actions were those of a copycat, imitating the things he had seen in that programme.’
Teen killer Benjamin William Day calmly told cops he had been attacked by a wild dog or fox
Listing what she said were ‘similarities’ between the death and the Dexter TV series, Ms Brand told jurors: ‘Dexter Morgan works as a forensic scientist in a police department – and the broad premise of the programme is that he is a serial killer who knows how to cover his tracks.
‘The defendant changed his university course … to study applied biology and forensics.
‘Dexter wears a khaki T-shirt. The defendant had purchased just such a T-shirt and was wearing it when he was arrested.
‘He had changed into “Dexter” clothing before Maria Saceanu arrived at the house.
‘In the TV series Dexter prepares a “kill room” when carrying out his attacks, lined with plastic sheeting which he fixes using a staple gun or duct/gaffer tape.
‘And this is exactly how the defendant had prepared the room.
‘Dexter wears an apron, a plastic visor and gloves when killing his victims – all such items were found in the bedroom (at the Airbnb).’
Other similarities with the TV series included a canvas roll containing knives found in the bedroom, the dismemberment attempts and microscope slides containing blood thought to be a ‘trophy’ from the killing, Ms Brand said.
Detective Inspector Matt Marston, of the West Midlands Police Major Crime Team, who led the investigation, said: ‘Day had an obsessive personality and had become obsessed with the character Dexter.
‘He planned this murder in meticulous detail.
‘It was a pre-planned brutal attack on a defenceless woman lured to the room he had rented.
‘Day had flagged down officers where he offered them a fabricated story about the reason why he had received an injury to his hand. Officers were suspicious and he was quickly detained.
‘The details of this case shocked experienced officers and our thoughts continue to go out to the heartbroken family of Maria at this time.’
Day, of Yeadon Close, Redditch, Worcestershire, has been remanded in custody and faces a mandatory life sentence when he is sentenced on December 4.
