Rapist jailed for 'nightmare' attack

A vagrant dubbed "the Millennium night rapist" has been jailed for 12 years.

Paul Reynolds was found guilty of a series of sex attacks on a student in Hove in the early hours of New Year's Day.

The judge described the attack as "horrific" adding that a night of celebration for the victim turned into a "nightmare".

Reynolds was arrested after DNA tests were carried out on a relative.

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Search for missing schoolgirl

Police are searching for a missing 12-year-old girl from Brighton.

Sarah Jane Scott disappeared while on a camping holiday in Talybont near Aberystwyth.

She was on holiday with her mother and sister and was last seen boarding a bus in Talybont on Wednesday.

The hunt has now moved to Swansea where police say Sarah has connections.

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Arrests in European drug inquiry

Four people have been arrested at a motorway services station near Reading in connection with a European drug trafficking ring.

Detectives seized more than 300 ecstacy tablets and more than £400,000 in cash.

Three men and one woman were taken into custody and are being questioned by officers in Wales.

The investigation was assisted by the National Criminal Intelligence Service and is part of a long running-inquiry into the supply of cocaine and ecstasy across Europe.

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Pensioner dies during burglary

A pensioner has died of a heart attack after thieves claiming to be from a water company stole cash from his home in Kent.

David Wardlaw, 78, of Struttons Avenue, Northfleet, was found collapsed in his garden by his wife Betty, 74.

One man spoke to the elderly couple while two more men rummaged through upstairs bedrooms and stole £200.

Police are treating the death as suspicious and have linked the incident to a series of burglaries in north Kent and London.

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Restaurants evacuated during fire

Restaurants and homes in Kent were evacuated on Thursday night after fire swept through a nearby empty building.

Forty firefighters were called to the fire in the four story derelict premises in Gravesend high street.

Police asked diners and residents nearby to leave until the incident was over.

Firefighters described it as a major operation.

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Hitman 'sting' leads man to jail

A husband who tried to hire a hitman to murder his wife before discovering he "contracted" a police officer has been jailed for more than seven years.

Tariq Darwish, from Southampton, wanted a local "hard man" to execute wife Wafaa, so he could get custody of their children.

Inner London Crown Court was told Darwish offered £10,000 to his contact, to make the killing look as if it was robbery gone wrong.

However, a detective was sent instead, which led to 42-year-old Darwish, of Cranberry Avenue being sentenced to seven and a half years.

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Road race security alert

The route of the Great South Run has been altered away from a naval base because of security concerns.

Organisers of the race, which takes place on Sunday in Portsmouth, Hampshire, are now trying to work out a new course, altering a 1,400 metre section of the route

"I got a phone call from the dockyard to say they couldn't let us in on race day," said race director Colin Goater.

Up to 10,000 runners are expected to take part in the 10-mile race.