British woman, 21, faces life in jail after leading gang who murdered teen falsely accused of rape

[The Straight Story]

Two men and a woman have been found guilty of the murder of a teenager whose body was found in a playing field in east London.

Luke Harwood, 18, from Havering, was found near Broadmead Fields in Woodford Green in May last year.

The teenager had been beaten after an 18-year-old woman accused him of rape, the Old Bailey jury heard.

Emma Hall, 21, James Danby, 27 and Tony O'Toole, 30, all from Romford, had denied murder.

...

"He should still be alive to share his life with us and to be a father to his son, as well as his daughter whom he never met.

"Instead he was falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit and killed in the most violent way."

The court heard the 18-year-old woman who accused the victim of rape had reported it to the police but she later withdrew the complaint.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22062516

[MattBaggins]

1. Why do you have a false title

Did you edit it yourself?

[Poll_Blind]

2. The original article's title doesn't explain what the article is about and the only...

...forum here which requires exact article titles is LBN.

"Luke Harwood death: Three guilty of playing field murder" doesn't give people much of an idea what the background on the slaying is.

PB

[MattBaggins]

3. No it's a misleading title. Libelous

As you pointed out, the website does not use the title but that does not excuse the false alteration.

From the OP title

faces life in jail after LEADING GANG who murdered teen

from the linked article

The woman involved was in no way to blame for the extreme and sustained attack that they then carried out and subsequently tried to cover up: she could not have predicted what would happen.

The woman was clearly involved in the murder of this poor man, but she manages to go from culpable to being the mastermind and ring leader?

[The Straight Story]

5. The mail online uses that title, but I don't like to link to them:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2310601/Luke-Harwood-murder-Baby-faced-woman-21-faces-life-jail-leading-vigilante-gang-murdered-teenager-falsely-accused-rape.html

Baby-faced woman, 21, faces life in jail after leading vigilante gang who murdered teenager falsely accused of rape

Emma Hall, 21, convicted of murdering 18-year-old Luke Harwood
Her two friends were also convicted of murder
They battered and then murdered the teenager on wasteland in May
18-year-old had pointed him to Hall during chance meeting and claimed he sexually assaulted her TWO YEARS earlier


A woman is facing a life sentence for leading a vigilante gang who tortured and brutally killed a teenager wrongly accused of rape.

Emma Hall, 21, of Romford, showed no emotion as she was found guilty of murdering Luke Harwood, 18, at the Old Bailey.

Her friends James Danby, 27, and Tony O’Toole, 30, were also convicted of murder.

Mr Harwood was savagely beaten to death in May last year after an 18-year-old girl pointed him out to Hall during a chance meeting and claimed she had been raped by him two years before.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2310601/Luke-Harwood-murder-Baby-faced-woman-21-faces-life-jail-leading-vigilante-gang-murdered-teenager-falsely-accused-rape.html#ixzz2QlwnbF7v
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[MattBaggins]

6. OK the title started with another post. Very bad title though.

The story of what happened is a far cry from her LEADING a gang.

[Poll_Blind]

8. Matt, you've been here since 2001. Do I have to tell you that if you think...

....the post is inappropriate in some actionable way, all you need to do is Alert on it?

I realize some of us old timers remember when we'd just call Skinner up on his home phone and complain about but Elad or somebody put a little button in that you can click, fill out a form and a jury will be empaneled to look over the matter within a few minutes.

Very handy.

PB

[MattBaggins]

9. Umm take your pretentious attitude elsewhere

I am fully aware of the rules and the alert button.

This is a DISCUSSION FORUM and I felt that the title was glaringly misleading and is itself, worthy of discussing.

[Poll_Blind]

11. So...Have you alerted yet? If you're slinging this kind of mud about an op (i.e. "libelous")...

...then you should be alerting. This is DU 101. You may feel I'm being pretentious, but I'm literally repeating the simple yet sage advice that every moderator, Skinner, etc. has dispensed to those who have problems of this sort with an OP.

PB

[MattBaggins]

14. I would rather discuss it

I am not slinging mud. The title is extremely loaded.

Three people brutally murdered someone which is horrific but withdrew a complaint is not falsely accused nor did the girl lead the attack. I would rather discuss this then alert on it. As these words came from the linked articles it would seem fair to discuss them rather than suppress them.

[MattBaggins]

15. This is the internet

I get paid 6 figures to sniff peoples farts and diagnose them for colon cancer.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. No, the woman "in no way to blame" was the 18 year old who had at first made the rape accusation

Read it again. The full paragraph you quoted:

"The defendants acted in the belief that the victim had previously attacked one of their number. The woman involved was in no way to blame for the extreme and sustained attack that they then carried out and subsequently tried to cover up: she could not have predicted what would happen."

"The defendants" are Hall (the 21 year old) and the 2 men, all found guilty of murder. "The woman involved" is the 18 year old. Since she didn't do anything, her anonymity has been preserved, so he just calls her 'the woman'.

From another article:

On the night he died, Sunday, May 27 last year, he moved to the room at the council bungalow at Crow Lane - where Danby and the others lived.
...
By chance an 18 year-old girl visiting the house that evening saw Luke and claimed he had raped her two years before.

Her complaint had been dropped after she was interviewed by police, who found her accusation was untrue.

But when the girl repeated her claims, Hall vowed: “I’m going to f***ing kill him.”

http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/crime-court/three_convicted_of_murdering_harold_hill_teen_luke_harwood_1_2022120

[The Straight Story]

4. Same reason I do others one, like:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022696074

The titles are not always clear when posting world news as we may not be as aware of cases (or in the case of McD's what freedom food means).

I am guessing you don't post a lot of articles?

[MattBaggins]

7. I am aware that titles are not always clear but,

it is a far cry from

The woman involved was in no way to blame for the extreme and sustained attack that they then carried out and subsequently tried to cover up: she could not have predicted what would happen.

to being a gang leader. I hardly believe she is innocent but three people murder a man and the woman is the mastermind?

[The Straight Story]

10. If it bothers you that much, look at some other accounts:

But when the girl repeated her claims, Hall vowed: “I’m going to f***ing kill him.”

...

“Hall then drove Danby, O’Toole and Luke to a secluded place nearby where the beating continued until they had killed Luke.

“After committing this shocking act of violence Hall, Danby, O’Toole and their friend Billy Duggan burnt their blood-stained clothes and cleaned up the blood from the house.

“The following evening they planned to further destroy evidence of their horrific crime by mutilating Luke’s body. However, the police were alerted and they were stopped and arrested.

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/10361960.Three_convicted_of_murder_of_teen_in_Woodford_Green/

She along with the rest were convicted of murder.

Now how was she in no way to blame? And why was she driving them? She fabricated a story, assisted in the murder, and was convicted of it. It started with her

[MattBaggins]

16. I did not say she was innocent

The detective seems to have said that. The article uses a paragraph break for that section without proper quotation, but it would seem it is a continuation of his analysis from the previous paragraph.

She is clearly culpable for driving them and from the information in the articles at least, she should be going to jail for murder.

My concern is with the misleading phrases that are not supported by the evidence.

"Falsely accused" and "gang leader" are not supported by the article.

[MattBaggins]

17. What story did she fabricate?

[MattBaggins]

13. Also.."falsley accused"

This is an extremely loaded description. She withdrew her complaint but that is not necessarily "falsely accused". She may or may not have. The deceased family said falsely which no one could fault them for doing given the tragic circumstances.

These individuals deserve to go to jail for killing this man if the facts given are true. The titles (which I did in fact come from a news source not you) are still wrong though. The use of "falsely" and "leading a gang" though are cringe worthy.

[Comrade Grumpy]

18. I think somebody's just pissed because this sheds a bad light on anti-rape vigilantism.