Cops conned - Hackney in the news

The News of the World reports that a Stoke Newington con man conned the cops to become a Community Support Officer for four months. But this more detailed piece in the The Romford Recorder says the man was actually a resident of Romford. More importantly though, he worked in Stoke Newington. How did he do it? The Romford Recorder reports: "Oluwagbemiga Oshin, 42, managed to circumvent security vetting for the Metropolitan Police, simply by changing his first name, a court heard." He changed it to Christopher.

According to this piece in UTV News the most likely candidate to become the next Prime Minister of Canada was one-time Hackney resident, Michael Ignatieff... The piece says: "But he had found new love with a Hungarian-born publicist Zsuzsanna Zsohar. Life was good. After his second wedding, which took place at Hackney Town Hall in 1999, there was a party at the couple's minimalist Hoxton loft. It was attended by, among others, Jonathan Miller, Michael Palin and Simon Rattle." Was he paying attention to volatile Hackney politics at the time?

BBC reports postal strike could hit small businesses using Hackney-based company Carvery Cuts - "London’s leading vinyl dubplate and online mastering service" - as an example.

Hackney's controversial army recruitment centre gets a mention in a Guardian piece about a surge in recruitment.

Also in the Guardian - sorry, probably Observer as it's Sunday - about bees in Hackney. says: "While beekeeping sounds like a lovely idea for those with a garden, what about the rest of us? "You really don't need much space to keep bees," says John, who points to the example of 14-year-old Philip Schilds, who has made his name producing Hackney Honey from hives on the roof of his inner-city home.