Kenneth Savels, master of Belgian beam trawler Van Eyck (Z53) and owner Irina NV (represented by Steven Savels) were sentenced at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on 26 September 2017 in a prosecution brought by the MMO.

The court heard how the defendants had failed to maintain an accurate logbook by incorrectly recording the area of capture for sole and plaice on several trips in 2015.

On 7 May 2015 the Van Eyck was boarded by MMO officers on a joint patrol with the Isle of Man Fisheries Department in Welsh waters. A diary was found containing details of 12 fishing trips in 2015. The recordings for three of these trips did not corroborate recordings in the logbook.

Both entered not guilty pleas but were found guilty by the judge. Irina NV was ordered to pay a £27,000 fine, £9,115 costs and a £120 victim surcharge. Kenneth Savels was ordered to pay a fine of £3,000 and a £120 victim surcharge.

In sentencing, the judge said:

Taking together all of the evidence for all of the trips, I am satisfied that there are no credible or plausible explanations for the existence of the diary or the inconsistencies between the diary and the log. On each contentious trip there is a clear incentive to misrecord.

A spokesperson for the MMO said:

The court in this case considered these offences to be serious in nature and imposed significant penalties, which recognises the scale of offending that took place in failing to record logbook information correctly.

In these cases the MMO will always take the appropriate action, including prosecution, to ensure offenders do not profit from such illegal activity and to protect fish stocks for the wider fishing industry and future generations.

Do you want to play a leading role in advising the government on a range of issues relating to police pay and conditions?

Remuneration: remuneration is £300 per day along with reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs.

Number of roles: 3

Time commitment: The expected time commitment is around 20 days per annum.

The Police and National Crime Agency Remuneration Review Bodies were established in 2014, and provide independent advice to the government on police pay and conditions and pay of National Crime Agency (NCA) officers with operational powers. These roles will provide an influential and intellectually stimulating challenge for the right individuals contributing to recruiting, retaining and motivating an effective police and NCA workforce.

Membership is of both Review Bodies. There are currently 5 members possessing a range of capabilities and we are looking to develop the team with 3 new members:

• 1 with strategic level experience of and expertise in economics in the academic and/or business world
• 1 with significant experience in staff representation
• 1 with experience in policing

As a member, you would have responsibility for working corporately to assess the evidence and develop our recommendations to the government. You would also need to share our commitment to making the bodies a success in supporting the recruitment, retention and motivation of these most vital public services at a time of significant reform.

You will also have a high level of analytical ability, strong communication skills to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, and an understanding of the issues facing complex organisations.

These appointments will be for a period of 3 years with the possibility of re-appointment.

Further information and details of how to apply

The closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 29 October.

We value and promote diversity and are committed to equality of opportunity for all and appointments made on merit.

Manufacturers in Wales must think global and capitalise on the opportunities presented by overseas markets. That will be the message from the Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns when he addresses representatives of leading manufacturing companies in south Wales today (Monday 9 October).

Speaking at the Barclays Welsh Manufacturing event at SPTS Technologies in Newport, Mr Cairns will say that the “world leading skills and knowledge we have here in Wales is envied the world over”. He will also call on Welsh manufacturers of all sizes to seize the support available from the UK Government to identify opportunities to sell their products in global markets.

The manufacturing sector in Wales is made up of over 5,000 companies, employing around 150,000 people. And the sector is growing with 22,000 more jobs in the sector in Wales than in 2010.

The Secretary of State will take the opportunity to call for closer collaboration between the sector and the two governments in Wales to help address the challenges the sector faces, including resourcing a skilled workforce and the wider economic challenge of productivity.

He will say:

The close relationship between industry and government stand only to benefit manufacturers in Wales. I want Wales and the wider UK to be the best place in the world to do business – and I want the UK Government and Welsh Government to provide as much support as possible for companies in achieving this aim.

With the fourth round of EU exit negotiations underway, the UK Government is stepping up its engagement with businesses across the UK to ensure the voices of British businesses are heard and reflected throughout the exit process.

Mr Cairns added:

Today’s event gives me another great opportunity to hear about various businesses’ priorities for our EU exit.

We are absolutely committed to achieving a deal which works for every region in the UK which is why it is vital that we continue to speak with businesses and organisations from across the country to ensure their views are fully represented as we move through the negotiations.

Notes to editors:

• The UK Government has developed the Wales Export Guide – a document that sets out the full range of support available to Welsh businesses from the UK Government and contains inspiring stories of companies based in Wales that are successfully exporting.

• You can download a copy of the guide here

As the round pound enters its final week, shoppers are today being reminded they have just seven days to use these coins before they swap the high street for the history books.

From midnight on Sunday, the round pound will lose its legal tender status and no longer be accepted in shops and restaurants.

HM Treasury and The Royal Mint are calling on people to hunt down any remaining coins and spend, bank or donate them to charity.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Jones, MP, has paid tribute to the fantastic effort of the British public who have returned more than 1.2 billion old coins in the past six months.

He said:

The hard work of the British public has paid off and I am delighted that more than 1.2 billion round pound coins have been returned. Added together, these coins match the weight of around 3,500 elephants or 900 double-decker buses. That is a lot of coins!

There is still time to get involved and with just a week to go, I would encourage anyone who is yet to do so to dig out their remaining coins before Sunday.

CEO and Deputy Master of The Royal Mint, Adam Lawrence, said:

The round pound has been in circulation for over thirty years but, as the deadline approaches, we are keen to encourage everyone to track down their final coins and use them.

After the 15 October, the 12-sided £1 coin will be the only £1 coin being spent in the UK. As the deadline is triggered, we are proud that the security features on the 12-sided £1 coin will help to safeguard our currency for years to come.

Further Information

First introduced in 1983, the old coin has become vulnerable to sophisticated counterfeiters, with as many as one in thirty thought to be a fake. To stop the financial burden this places on taxpayers and businesses and prevent counterfeiters from continuing to profit, it is crucial that as many old round pounds are returned as possible before the 15 October deadline.

With the deadline fast approaching, if after the 15 October members of the public and businesses continue to find round pound coins stashed away, they can still be banked or donated to charity.

HM Treasury and The Royal Mint have partnered with Children in Need and are encouraging the public to donate any old coins to Pudsey’s Round Pound Countdown.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has announced a new national hub to tackle the emerging threat of online hate crime. It will ensure better support for victims and help drive up the number of prosecutions.

The hub, run by police officers for the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), will work to ensure online cases are managed effectively and efficiently.

It will clearly set out the force responsible for further action in each case, removing any uncertainty which could arise when, for example, a victim is located in one area, with the alleged perpetrator in another.

Specialist officers will provide expert case management and better support and advice to victims of online hate crime. The hub will ensure all online cases are properly investigated and will help to increase prosecutions for online hate crimes.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said:

Online hate crime is completely unacceptable. What is illegal offline is illegal online, and those who commit these cowardly crimes should be met with the full force of the law.

The national online hate crime hub that we are funding is an important step to ensure more victims have the confidence to come forward and report the vile abuse to which they are being subjected.

The hub will also improve our understanding of the scale and nature of this despicable form of abuse. With the police, we will use this new intelligence to adapt our response so that even more victims are safeguarded and perpetrators punished.

The hub’s primary aim is to improve the police response to the problem of hate crime online. Following referral to the national hub via Truevision, the police website to report hate crime, individual complaints will be assessed, and relevant cases will be assigned to the appropriate local force for investigation. As such the hub will streamline and simplify current processes, avoid duplication, make full use of expertise and reduce the burden of online hate crime investigation on local forces.

Victims will be kept updated throughout, as police forces seek to bring perpetrators to justice.

The national online hate crime hub will:

• assess whether the circumstances relate to a crime or non-crime incident
• combine duplicate reports
• seek to identify the perpetrator
• refer appropriate cases to online platforms hosting external content, such as social media companies, so that hateful material can be removed
• feed any intelligence into the wider National Intelligence Model, the police data base which gathers intelligence on a wide range of crimes, to guide policing strategies and inform forces’ priorities
• produce an evidence package for local recording and response where there is a positive line of enquiry
• update the complainant with progress and explain where there is no enforcement action possible
• advise local police colleagues on effective responses. The hub could develop and drive best practice through the network of hate crime leads in individual forces

It is expected to be operational before the end of the year.