Day: February 13, 2017

    You might want to rummage through your pockets as your change could be worth a small fortune. The London Olympic 50p coin changes hands for £3,000 now while a 1983 ‘New Pence’ 2p coin would get you £650 (enough for 32,500 standard 2p pieces). They are among a host of coins, of which hundreds of thousands are in circulation, which have a value that belies the price on it. Elsewhere, a special 50p piece featuring Kew Gardens is now changing hands for more than £50. Experts estimated one in 300 people currently have a Kew Gardens 50p. However, they are expected to disappear quickly into private collections now the Royal Mint has declared the coin as the rarest in general circulation. Here’s a run down of the loose change which could bolster your pocket... Dateless 20p piece -...

    Two fraudsters netted £1.3 million after ordering huge quantities of wholesale goods using false identities. Malik, 31, and Ahmed, 24, were both jailed at Manchester Crown Court on Friday after admitting the crimes. Safi Ullah Malik and Mirzar Israr Ahmed hijacked the identities of businesses and ordered alcohol, food, soft drinks and other items from suppliers across the UK. Taking advantage of the credit system used by businesses, the pair charged the goods to the company accounts of legitimate businesses. They then arranged for hauliers to collect the goods and deliver them to various locations across Greater Manchester. The items were then sold on to pre-arranged buyers. Malik, of Pytha Fold Road, Withington, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representatio...

    Police forces across the UK are ramping up intelligence gathering and putting protection in place for vulnerable communities ahead of a projected spike in hate crime when Theresa May triggers Article 50 next month. The move follows a dramatic rise in the number of racially and religiously-motivated crimes reported to police following the June referendum result in favour of Brexit, including assaults and arson. Community groups representing EU nationals in the UK have warned about the potential for an undercurrent of xenophobia to spread after the talks with Brussels get underway. The head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Rebecca Hilsenrath, has also said he is hugely concerned about a backlash against European citizens once the Government’s EU withdrawal negoti...