Roberto Mancini gets chance to become big spender

ROBERTO MANCINI has had his eye on a job in the Premier League for some time. “If,” he told this reporter several seasons ago, “I ever get the chance to go and work in England, I’d take it.”

At the time he was coach at Lazio, admired for what he could do on a shoestring. His career stepped steadily upwards to successive Serie A titles with Internazionale but his enthusiasm for a gig in English football remained. He got his wish last night when a City statement announced: “We can confirm the appointment, with immediate effect on a permanent contract, of Roberto Mancini and are also pleased to announce that [technical director at the club’s academy] Brian Kidd, inset, will join Roberto as assistant manager.”

Mancini has been at a loose end since he left Inter in the summer of 2008, fresh from winning the Italian league, and he has made it known over the past two months that he felt ready for the next gig. If he was bound to be on City’s radar anyway, he would not have been shy at placing his name near its centre. His son, Filippo, had a trial at City last year.

Eighteen months off the touchline has not damaged his standing; at 45, he is bracketed among the brightest younger coaches in Europe. He left Inter as champions of Italy and also-rans in Europe; his replacement there, Jose Mourinho, is in charge of an Inter who remain leaders domestically and lacklustre internationally. In other words, only in small details can Mancini be said to have been bettered by his successor. And what Mancini initially achieved at Inter had been a true watershed, delivering to the club their first championships for 18 years. Under Mancini, they were awarded the 2006 scudetto after Juventus had been disqualified from it for their involvement in the calciopoli affair.

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They triumphed again in the next two seasons. Before that, Mancini repaired a Lazio regularly obliged to fire-sale the superstars accumulated in the free-spending 1990s. He did likewise as head coach at Fiorentina, with whom he won the Italian Cup. These were demanding assignments and Mancini, 36 when he started coaching, undertook both amid suspicions he was too much of a novice. Fabio Capello took a dim view of the fact Mancini was promoted to a Serie A post without serving his apprenticeship. Mancini and Capello would go on to have a spiky relationship as coaches, respectively, of Lazio and Roma and then as adversaries at Inter and Juventus.

Among others who have enjoyed success in the Italian game, though, he had backing. In Sven-Göran Eriksson, once a Manchester City manager, he has always had a strong ally. Eriksson took Mancini the player, an inside-forward who won 36 caps for Italy, from Sampdoria to Lazio, and made him a confidant and an on-field lieutenant.

Later, as England manager, Eriksson helped arrange for Mancini to have a brief spell in England, at Leicester City, as his 20-year playing career came to a close. That left Mancini with an enthusiasm for the English game. “England seems more fun, both for players and managers,” he told me. “Italy’s the hardest place to be a coach, because it’s always the results that count. It doesn’t matter if you play well — if you don’t get the right result, they crucify you.”

The challenge of breaking up the established hierarchy of any league appeals. As a player, he won his two Serie A titles with upstart clubs, Sampdoria — for whom he played more than 500 games and with whom he won a silver medal in the European Cup — and Lazio, neither of them among the Big Four of Juventus, Milan, Inter or Roma.

As a coach, he returned Inter to a summit dominated by Juve and Milan. He carries himself with self-confidence and his sense of humour is appreciated by his friends, among whom Gianluca Vialli was a close one during their playing days, though his departure from Inter included some falling-outs. He appeared to have resigned in March 2008 after defeat by Liverpool in the Champions League and then apparently changed his mind after talks with the president Massimo Moratti. The team and coach went on to win the league but that marked the end of the four-year relationship. Severance disputes were only resolved at the end of October. Promptly, Mancini started job-seeking in earnest.

Mancini's CV
Roberto Mancini, 45, was capped 36 times for Italy, scoring four goals, in a playing career that spanned 19 years with Bologna, Sampdoria, Lazio and Leicester City. As a player he won two Serie A titles, five Coppa Italias and two Cup Winners' Cups. As manager he won three Serie A titles, four Coppa Italias, two Italian Supercups

Target players
Will have unlimited finances, although that would be made up of money for players leaving the club. Among his targets would be: Fernando Torres (Liverpool forward, £80m), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich winger, £65m), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, forward £40m), Angel Di Maria (Benfica winger, £35m), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool midfielder, £20m), Yaya Toure (Barcelona midfielder, £15m*), Matthew Upson (West Ham defender, £12m), Thierry Henry (Barcelona forward, £10m*)

*Possible part-exchange with Robinho

Playing career
1981 Bologna
1982-1997 Sampdoria. Wins one Serie A title, four Coppa Italias and Cup Winner's Cup
1997-2000 Lazio. Wins one Serie A title, Coppa Italia and the Cup Winners' Cup Cup
2001 Plays five games for Leicester City

Coach
2000 Joins Lazio coaching staff as assistant to Sven-Goran Eriksson but quits after the Swede resigns and resumes playing career at Leicester
2001 Becomes coach at Fiorentina. Wins coppa Italia
2002 Resigns as Fioretina coach and joins Lazio. Wins Coppa Italia
2004-08 Inter Milan wins two Coppa Italias and two Italian Supercups. Wins Serie A after Juventus and AC Milan are stripped of points in match-fixing scandal. Successfully defend title in next two seasons.
2008 Sacked as Inter coach and replaced by Jose Mourinho
Dec 19 2009 Appointed manager Man City

Hughes's CV
Mark Hughes, 46, was capped 72 times for Wales, scoring 16 goals, in a 20-year career with Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Southampton and Blackburn. As a player he won two Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, two League Cup and two Cup Winners' Cup. He has not won anything as a manager

Major transfers
Spent £244.5m on players such Robinho (32.5m), Carlos Tevez (£25.5m) Emmanuel Adebayor (£25m), Joleon Lescott (£22m), Roque Santa Cruz (£17.5m) and Craig Bellamy £14m)

Player
1978-1985 Signs schoolboy forms with Manchester United. Wins PFA young player of the year award and FA Cup
1985-88 Plays 28 games for Barcelona and is loaned out to Bayern Munich
1988-1994 Re-signs for Man Utd for £1.8m. Wins PFA player of the year, two Premier Leagues, One FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners' Cup
1995-1998 Chelsea. Wins FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup
1998-2000 Southampton
2000-02 Blackburn. Wins League Cup

Manager
1999-2004 Appointed manager of Wales
2004 Blackburn
2008 Man City
Dec 19 2009 Sacked as manager of Man City

Whisky hangover 'worse than vodka, a study suggests'

Drinking whisky will result in a worse hangover than vodka, according to research by US scientists.

The reason might lie in the number of molecules called "congeners" which it contains compared to vodka, the Brown University team said.

But the study also suggested that sticking to vodka all night rather than whisky would not improve your performance at work the next day.

The study is published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Drinking too much of any alcoholic drink can have a number of undesireable short and long-term effects Chris Sorek, DrinkAware

The 95 volunteers for the research, all healthy alcohol users, had one night of "acclimatisation" before drinking either whisky or vodka the following night.

They were given enough alcohol to put them a third over the legal driving limit for the UK.

On the third night they were given a "placebo" drink containing no alcohol.

On each occasion, they were then asked how they felt the following day, and were tested on how well they could concentrate on tasks.

The volunteers who drank whisky reported far more hangover symptoms such as headache nausea, thirst and fatigue compared with those who drank vodka.

However, the overall performance at the concentration task was roughly the same between the two groups.

Professor Damaris Rohsenow, who led the research at Brown University in Rhode Island, said: "While people felt worse, they didn't perform worse after bourbon (a type of whisky made in the US) than after vodka."

He said that the study also showed that workers in "safety-sensitive" roles could be impaired by drinking - long after the alcohol itself had disappeared from the bloodstream.

Chemical trace

The study, which also monitored sleeping patterns in the volunteers, found that disrupted sleep was no worse in either group.

The reason why whisky might cause more unpleasant hangovers might lie in the number of molecules called "congeners" which it contains compared to vodka, said Professor Rohsenow.

These include small amounts of chemicals such as acetone, acetaldehyde and tannins.

Chris Sorek, the chief executive of charity Drinkaware, said that social drinkers should be aware that no alcoholic drink removed the risk of a hangover.

He said: "Christmas is a time to socialise and celebrate, but many people will be drinking excessively - drinking too much of any alcoholic drink can have a number of undesirable short and long-term effects."

While exceeding recommended daily limits might mean hangovers the following day, he said, in the long term, regular heavy drinking could increase the risk of cancer or liver disease.

Swinney calls for investigation into Globespan collapse

Scotland's finance secretary has called for a full investigation into the collapse of the Flyglobespan airline.

Thousands of passengers were stranded abroad and 550 staff made redundant when the Edinburgh-based firm went into administration on Wednesday.

John Swinney said any probe should examine the role of E-Clear, which failed to pass on £35m to the airline.

E-Clear also handled credit card transactions for the Allbury Travel Group, which collapsed on Saturday.

Mr Swinney has written to UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis demanding urgent action so that flight-only passengers can also be covered by a travel protection scheme.

Of the 4,500 passengers stranded abroad, 1,100 customers of Globespan package holidays were covered by the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Atol) scheme run by the Civil Aviation Authority, which guarantees refunds and return flights.

Mr Swinney told Lord Adonis he accepted there would be "complexities" in extending the Atol scheme to flight-only travellers.

Mr Swinney said Atol's scheme should be extended to flight-only travellers

But he said: "The sheer number of travellers involved in non-protected travel arrangements in the Globespan collapse means that this requires to be addressed as a matter of urgency."

Mr Swinney said the UK government was currently consulting on this issue and argued such a change would "give passengers the reassurance they need when booking flights".

He added: "This should be funded, as with the existing scheme, through the industry itself."

The Scottish finance secretary also called for an investigation into the circumstances of the collapse, after administrators claimed that E-Clear, the credit card handling company, owed the airline £35m.

"This is money that should have been in Globespan's account ensuring the company could continue to do business," he said.

"Instead, this Christmas, thousands of passengers have been left stranded across the world and 550 staff are looking for work."

After Flyglobespan went into administration, E-Clear vowed it would work with the administrators to "clarify and address the various complexities around the airline's financial position, so that matters may be resolved as quickly as possible".

Talks took place on Saturday in a bid to "reach an agreement on what is a sustainable minimum fund for E-Clear to hold" to allow it to cover any claims it may have to pay out on from Flyglobespan customers.

'Financial risks'

A spokesman said: "The situation normally is that E-Clear in its dealing with an airline would be covered by business risk insurance.

"Unfortunately it wasn't possible for Flyglobespan to have that kind of insurance.

"That is why the financial risks that E-Clear has been bearing have been very considerable with regards to Flyglobespan."

E-Clear was involved with the Hertfordshire-based Allbury Travel Group, which also operated under the brands Libra Holidays, Argo Holidays and JetLife.

Allbury went into administration on Saturday, leaving some 100 holidaymakers abroad. It also had 4,000 forward bookings.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond told BBC Scotland he believed there was a "case for a serious investigation by the department of business regulation".

He added said it needed to look at "the negotiations and the financial structure of Globespan and if indeed money, as is claimed, was being withheld from the company making worse or perhaps even precipitating its cash flow crisis".

Fine for Google over French books

A Paris court has found Google guilty of copyright infringement in a ruling which could have ramifications for its plans to digitise the world's books.

The search giant must pay 300,000 euros (£266,000) in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere.

It was one of many to take Google to court for digitising its books without explicit permission.

Google was also ordered to pay 10,000 euros a day until it removes extracts of the books from its database.

Google expressed disappointment at the ruling.

"French readers now face the threat of losing access to a significant body of knowledge and falling behind the rest of internet users," said a spokesman for the firm.

Serge Eyrolles, head of the French publisher's union Syndicat National de l'Edition, said he was "completely satisfied with the verdict".

"It shows Google that they are not the kings of the world and they can't do whatever they want," he said.

Google wants to scan millions of books to make them available online.

This court case will be seen as a victory for critics of the plan who fear Google is creating a monopoly over information.

Publisher Herve de La Martiniere launched his court case three years ago but Google continued to scan books during this period.

La Martiniere, the French Publishers' Association and authors' group SGDL who started the court battle initially demanded that Google be fined 15m euros (£13.2m).

The book publishers claimed that scanning books was an act of reproduction and, as such, was something that should be paid for.

Google's plans to establish a digital library have hit several buffers.

It agreed to a settlement with US authors and publishers but is renegotiating after the US Justice Department concluded that the deal violates anti-trust law.

Eurostar suspends services for third day

Eurostar has said there will be no services for a third day on Monday while further tests are carried out on its fleet of trains.

But commercial director Nick Mercer said engineers have now pinpointed the cause of electrical problems and he hoped services would resume shortly.

Thousands of passengers were trapped on five trains in the Channel Tunnel on Friday and Saturday in wintry weather.

The company is transporting 500 of its "most vulnerable" passengers to France.

Flights grounded

Mr Mercer said severe snowy conditions in northern France has caused snow to be ingested into trains in a way never seen before.

He said tests would be carried out on Monday with new modifications and it was hoped there would be an announcement later in the day that services would be able to resume.

On Sunday evening an emergency plan was introduced to put 'vulnerable' stranded passengers on Javelin trains to Dover to catch ferries and then coaches on to Paris and Brussels.

The company ran test trains without passengers on Sunday after five trains broke down in the tunnel on Friday when condensation affected electrical systems.

Another train, which had been laid on to try to clear the backlog, suffered the same fate on Saturday night.

Those stranded complained of a lack of food and drink, power supplies and information and there were further problems when some rescue trains themselves broke down.

A Eurostar spokeswoman said: "We have managed to get 500 passengers on to a Javelin high-speed train to Dover Priory and from there we bussed then on to a ferry to take them on to Paris and Brussels.

"They were the most vulnerable people, who needed to get back home to France and Belgium."

No arrangements were in place for Britons stuck in France, she added.

Meanwhile, severe weather warnings remain in place in northern parts of the UK and freezing conditions have continued to disrupt travel.

Snow fell in Northern Ireland, western Scotland and north-western parts of England, and temperatures are expected to remain below freezing.

Ambulance services have urged people to take extra care walking and driving and to wrap up warm.

At Bristol International Airport hundreds of people were stranded when Easyjet scrapped five flights.

Flights were grounded for 90 minutes at Manchester Airport on Sunday morning as staff moved snow and de-iced a runway.

There have been delays at Belfast International Airport after it closed but later reopened, and Inverness Airport has also been disrupted.

'Out of touch'

Eurostar passenger Claire McKinney Williams, who is 35 weeks pregnant and unable to fly, was stranded at a hotel in Brussels.

She told the BBC: "It's been very disruptive. We haven't had any help, we've been over to Eurostar in the station, and they've not been very helpful, they haven't given us any help on alternative ways home or anything."

Clearly, if you're on a train stranded in a tunnel, it is a distressing experience Richard Brown Eurostar chief executive

Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown asked people not to travel unless it was essential.

He said: "When we resume service it's going to be very busy, we're not going to be able to carry everyone who's booked yesterday, today and during this week."

Passengers who have suffered delays will be offered a full refund, £150 compensation and a free return ticket.

The compensation would be offered until the backlog of passengers was cleared and the service was back to normal.

Nirj Deva, Conservative MEP for the South East of England, said he wanted the Eurostar chief executive to step down.

The company had not been adequately prepared for the situation, and Mr Brown should therefore "do the decent thing" and resign, he said.

Mr Brown told BBC Breakfast he was "very, very sorry" for the inconvenience and described events as "unprecedented".

He admitted it had taken a "very long time" to evacuate people from the trains.

"Clearly, if you're on a train stranded in a tunnel, it is a distressing experience," he said.

He conceded it took too long to get trains out to people and said while trains had spare water, it ran out.

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said the disruption was a "catastrophe" for people trapped trying to get home for Christmas.

She said: "After a reprieve from BA strikes, it is a huge concern to see travellers hit so hard by this crisis."

On Sunday, all ferry services from Dover to Dunkirk, Boulogne and Calais were running, and traffic queues had eased.

The Port of Dover said traffic was running freely on the A2 and A20 into Dover, and freight traffic stuck on the M20 was being called forward in batches to be shipped across the Channel.

Ed Balls accused of sidestepping MPs on Ofqual decision

Children's Secretary Ed Balls has been accused of sidestepping Parliament by naming a new education watchdog chief before MPs had a chance to quiz her.

Kathleen Tattersall was named chair and chief regulator of new exams watchdog Ofqual without being vetted by MPs.

Barry Sheerman, chairman of the House of Commons Children's Select Committee, said it was a "shabby" act.

Mr Balls' department said she had been interim head before the policy of involving MPs in decisions came in.

Former education minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry said Mr Sheerman had got the wrong end of the stick.

She said: "Not having a pre-appointment hearing when she [Ms Tattersall] was already in post seemed the right decision to me and is also what my officials advised.

"By trying to personalise things in this way, I'm afraid Barry has totally misunderstood what's happened."

Pre-selection hearings by cross-party select committees were introduced with the intention of giving MPs greater say over appointments to senior public jobs.

They were part of a package of constitutional reforms launched by Gordon Brown shortly after he became prime minister.

Opinions 'ignored'

Ms Tattersall had been chairing an interim Ofqual since it began work as part of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority last spring.

Earlier this year, Mr Balls clashed with the Children's Committee when he dismissed its rejection of his choice as children's commissioner for England. On that occasion Mr Sheerman accused him of being "a bit of a bully".

On the latest decision Mr Sheerman told the Guardian: "This is a shabby way to treat Parliament. For the first appointment [Mr] Balls ignored our judgment, for the second one he's sidestepped us altogether.

The permanent secretary advised ministers that - since this is not a new appointment - it need not be subject to the pre-appointment hearing process DCSF spokesman

"If pre-selection hearings, which were supposed to strengthen parliamentary powers, are to mean anything they've got to at least happen."

In a letter to Mr Balls, he wrote: "As most parliamentarians had understood that pre-appointment hearings were a significant part of the prime minister's determination to strengthen parliamentary democracy, I am rather at a loss to understand the logic in the appointment of the chief regulator with no reference to the committee and no pre-appointment hearing."

A DCSF spokesman said: "Future appointments to the post of chief regulator will - rightly - be subject to pre-appointment hearings.

"But we have always made clear, following her appointment last year after a full public appointments process, that Kathleen Tattersall would be the first chief regulator following the passage of the Act.

"The permanent secretary advised ministers that - since this is not a new appointment - it need not be subject to the pre-appointment hearing process."

Former education minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry told Parliament in February there would be no pre-appointment hearing for Ms Tattersall, said the spokesman.

Teacher suspended in prayer row

A Christian supply teacher has been suspended from her job teaching ill children at home after offering to pray for a sick pupil.

Olive Jones, 54, from Weston-super-Mare, said the girl had been too poorly for a lesson. The teacher then decided to speak about her belief in miracles.

But the girl's mother said they were not believers and made a complaint.

Mrs Jones, who did not have a formal contract, was told by Oak Hill Short Stay School she would be suspended.

Mrs Jones, who is originally from Llanteg in Pembrokeshire, visited the child at her home on 25 November and said she was told of the decision just hours after the incident.

The part-time maths teacher had worked for the Oak Hill Short Stay School and Tuition Service North in Nailsea, near Bristol, for almost five years.

I am amazed that a country with such a strong Christian tradition has become a country where it is hard to speak about your faith Olive Jones

She said: "If I had done something criminal, I believe the reaction would have been the same.

"It is like a black mark against my name and character when it comes to getting a reference for another job, just because I shared my testimony, as if I committed a criminal act.

"I simply wanted to encourage them to be open to prayer but if they did not want to then I would never force it down their throat."

She said she had been called to her manager's office and told that sharing her faith with a child could be deemed to be bullying.

Mrs Jones added: "I was in complete shock, I was trembling.

"I am amazed that a country with such a strong Christian tradition has become a country where it is hard to speak about your faith."

'Their loss'

Nick Yates, of North Somerset Council, said: "Olive Jones has worked as a supply teacher, working with the North Somerset Tuition Service.

"A complaint has been made by a parent regarding Olive. This complaint is being investigated.

"To complete the investigation we need to speak to Olive and we have offered her a number of dates so this can happen.

"At the moment we are waiting for her to let us know which date is convenient for her."

In February a community nurse, Caroline Petrie, also from Weston-super-Mare and a friend of Olive Jones, was suspended from her job for offering to pray for a patient.

She was later reinstated by the health trust.

Speaking about her friend's case, Mrs Petrie said: "All Olive wants to do is help, she sometimes cries over those children and calls me to pray with her over the phone for them.

"This is a total shock, she is an amazing maths teacher so it really is their loss."

Mrs Jones, who has been a teacher for more than 20 years, trained at Aberystwyth University in Wales.

US repatriates 12 Guantanamo men, including 6 Yemenis

The US has transferred 12 detainees from its Guantanamo Bay prison camp to Afghanistan, Yemen and the Somaliland region, the Justice Department says.

Six Yemenis, four Afghans and two Somali detainees were sent to their homelands over the weekend, it said.

President Barack Obama acknowledged in November that he would miss his January deadline to close down the camp.

The US plans to send 116 detainees to their home countries or to third countries willing to accept them.

Security fears

"These transfers were carried out under individual arrangements between the United States and relevant foreign authorities to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures," the Department of Justice said in a statement.

"Consultations with foreign authorities regarding these individuals will continue."

Yemenis account for almost half of the 198 detainees who remain at the US military base in Cuba. But officials fear many could re-join militant groups if sent back to Yemen.

The Washington Post reported last week that the Yemeni transfers were the result of months of high-level talks with the government in Sanaa.

It said US officials are prepared to repatriate more Yemenis if the transfer goes well.

President Obama has pledged to shut the controversial detention centre in 2010, and announced last week that many of the detainees would be sent to a prison in the US state of Illinois.

Some will face trials in US criminal or military courts, while others are expected to be transferred abroad.

Massive US snowstorm heads north to New England

One of the worst US blizzards in decades is continuing north, with parts of New England likely to record up to 16in (41cm) of snow.

Long Island has suffered whiteout conditions and New York City saw nearly 11in of snow by Sunday.

The slow-moving monster - known as a nor'easter - has sprawled 500 miles (800km) over a dozen states, affecting about a quarter of the US population.

It has sparked emergencies in a number of states and cities.

Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky and Delaware, along with Washington and Philadelphia, at some stage all declared them.

Stranded train

Blizzard warnings are still in place in some parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

For those looking for a white Christmas, this certainly will stick around Bruce Sullivan US National Weather Service

Washington DC earlier saw the largest snowfall ever recorded in a single December day and southern New Jersey its highest single-storm snow in almost four years.

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty expressed confidence that most city streets would be cleared by Monday.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said thousands of workers were out clearing streets on Sunday.

He remained upbeat, saying the snow fell too late on Saturday to affect Christmas trading severely.

"Hopefully, we'll have a little bit of a white Christmas," he said.

Some tourists were happy. Briton Kevin Sanders said: "We just came off the Statue of Liberty when it came down last night, and look this morning. It's amazing. It gives it the Christmas feel as well."

Others suffered more difficulties - about 150 people were stranded for five hours on a Long Island train.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled into New York airports but they are now trying to return to normal.

Airports in Washington, Baltimore and Boston were also still experiencing severe problems.

Snowstorm blankets US East Coast

The storm has also brought wind gusts of up to 60mph (96km/h).

Hundreds of thousands of householders earlier lost power in West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina.

The Greyhound bus firm cancelled services on nearly 300 routes across the eastern seaboard, while Amtrak trains experienced major delays.

HAVE YOUR SAY

The people who were driving small cars were slipping and sliding and crashing into parked cars

Steve, Arlington, Virginia

In Virginia, several hundred motorists were earlier stranded in their vehicles and had to be rescued by the National Guard. Some 500 people sought refuge in emergency shelters.

Three people died in Virginia. One was killed when a car hit a tree, a second died of exposure and a third was also apparently killed in a road traffic accident.

In Ohio, two people died in accidents on snow-covered roads hit by the same storm system.

The system originated over the Gulf of Mexico, unleashing flash floods in much of the US south-east.

The rain turned to snow as the storm tracked north-eastward into sub-freezing temperatures.

Toddler taken from police found

An 18-month old girl who police mistakenly allowed to be taken by an impostor from a station has been found.

Audrey Kessie Nyanor's mother, Cynthia Boakye, 36, was arrested on Thursday in Southwark, south London, over alleged immigration offences.

A woman claiming she was a friend of Ms Boakye went to Walworth police station and took the toddler.

The child was found in Harlesden, north London. A woman, 31, has been arrested on suspicion of abduction.

A Met spokesman said officers were called at 1400 GMT by a member of the public and that the toddler and the 31-year-old woman were found 55 minutes later on Harlesden High Street.

The woman remains in police custody at a west London police station.

Another six people were arrested during the investigation. One has been released and the other five are bailed to return to south London police stations in February next year.

'Great mistake'

The spokesman added: "While we are pleased to have found Audrey safe and well.

"We are working closely with colleagues in our Directorate of Professional Standards to investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident, to look at how it happened, and to ensure that any lessons are learned.

"In the meantime, the matter has also been voluntarily referred to the IPCC."

Earlier, Audrey's grandmother Agatha Owsuah, 54, of Peckham, south-east London, said the police made a "great mistake".

She said Audrey's mother should have been asked to confirm the woman's identity before the toddler was handed over.

They should have asked for ID before handing over a human being to someone Agatha Owsuah

"All the time in this country they check your identity," she said.

"They ask for my ID when I take money from the bank, they ask for ID before you can get a job.

"They should have asked for ID before handing over a human being to someone."

The child went missing after officers went to an address in Walworth to make inquiries about a man wanted for failing to appear at court.

He was not in, but police arrested Ms Boakye and took the pair to Walworth police station.

Mrs Owsuah said an officer asked her daughter who they could call to look after the toddler.

Phone call 'overheard'

"Cynthia gave them a relative's number but the officer would not let her call and went outside the room to make the phone call," the grandmother said.

She thinks someone overheard that phone call and then came back to the police station pretending to be the relative and was given Audrey.

She said the woman who took Audrey gave a different address to the one the relative gave over the phone.

A police spokesman said: "The details she gave to police corresponded with the name of the woman Audrey's mother had told police would pick up her daughter, and as a result she left the police station with the child."

Mrs Owsuah's husband, Eric Obeng, 48, said police arrested him and several other relatives and friends the day after Audrey was taken but later bailed them without charge.

He said: "They thought we had taken the child. Why would we do that?

"Why would we take our own child? The police were wasting time."

Audrey's mother was later released on bail.

The Metropolitan Police has begun an internal inquiry into what happened.