3 d. ago Chicken Town review – endearingly daft Fenland crime caper has a shedful of charm

Sparky performances lift this British crime comedy about a pair of young drug dealers who forge an unlikely alliance with a retired busybodyThere are echoes of Shane Meadows and the Coen brothers in this cheerful crime comedy set in the Fens in eastern England. It’s endearingly daft and unexpectedly charming for a film about small-town drug dealers full of knob jokes – and contains no actual violence from criminals who are more crap than nasty. There are some sparky performances from the young cast, and it manages to pull off natural, easygoing laughs without the cringe that often seeps into British comedies.Ethaniel Davy is brilliant as Jayce, who has just been released from 10 months in a young offenders’ institution – wrongly convicted for crashing a stolen car. Now that he’s out, he wants answers. What everyone except Jayce knows is that it was his best mate Lee (Ramy Ben Fredj, also terrific) behind the wheel of the car. Lee is the heir to a battery-chicken farming empire with ...

Events

4 d. ago Outback killer Bradley John Murdoch transferred from prison to palliative care

The ruthless drug runner spent 20 years in jail for shooting British backpacker Peter Falconio and tying up Mr Falconio's girlfriend Joanne Lees before she made a harrowing escape.

Events

3 w. ago British drug mules warned of "excellent technology" used to snare traffickers in Europe

The Foreign Office has issued a fresh warning to British criminals vying to smuggle drugs through Germany and said the crime carries "severe penalties"

Events

3 w. ago British woman jailed in Sri Lanka on drug offences could be months from bail hearing, lawyer warns

Charlotte May Lee is ‘coping’ with prospect of spending months longer in jail in Sri Lanka, her lawyer tells The Independent

Events

3 w. ago British pensioner 'drug mule', 79, arrested in Chile claims Mexican gang promised him £3.7million to carry suitcase with 5kg of crystal meth

A British pensioner has been arrested in Chile after a Mexican gang allegedly promised him £3.7million to smuggle a suitcase of crystal meth.

Economics

4 w. ago Worried about weed: should London follow New York and decriminalise cannabis?

Almost 25 years after an experiment was ditched to caution rather than arrest those carrying small amounts of the drug, a rethink is on the cards – but the British government remains cautiousThe last time London dabbled in decriminalising cannabis, it brought one part of the capital to a brief but giddy high. In 2001, an enterprising Scotland Yard borough commander empowered his officers in Lambeth to caution rather than arrest those carrying small amounts of the drug for personal use – freeing them, according to the scheme’s proponents, to concentrate on more serious crimes.The softly-softly approach was controversial in some political and policing quarters, but wildly popular in the borough – and some of its results were dramatic. Over six months, more than 2,500 hours of police officers’ time were saved on processing cannabis arrests, while arrests for dealing class A drugs rose by almost a fifth. Continue reading...

Events

last month Glam drug mule mum's warning to Bella Culley and Charlotte Lee held in hellhole jails

Levi-April Whalley, who recently avoided jail time for attempting to smuggle cannabis into the UK, believes Bella Culley and Charlotte Lee are 'victims' adding they should 'tell the truth and be honest'

Events