Killer James Tomkins, 61, lived in exile under an assumed identity on the Costa del Sol, Spain, after the "brutal execution" of 24-year-old Rocky Dawson.

Killer James Tomkins, 61, lived in exile under an assumed identity on the Costa del Sol, Spain, after the "brutal execution" of 24-year-old Rocky Dawson.

Mr Dawson was shot several times in the back as he put the children, aged two and six, in his Fiat Punto on the drive of the family's home in Hornchurch, Essex in 2006.

After several years on the run, Tomkins, who was named as one of Britain's 10 most wanted criminals in 2008, was traced near Marbella and extradited.

He was found guilty of murder by a jury at Woolwich Crown Court.

Tomkins shot Mr Dawson from a dark-blue Land Rover Freelander vehicle which drove past as the attack took place. The children were unharmed during the incident.

Tomkins' accomplice Christopher Pearman, of Waltham Abbey, received a life sentence for the murder at the same court in 2007.

Detective Inspector Mark Lawson said: "This was a brutal execution of a totally innocent young man in what we believe to have been a case of mistaken identity.

"He was gunned down in front of his two children who were lucky to have escaped uninjured. Aged just six and two years at the time they undoubtedly still carry the scars of that fateful day in 2006.

"Despite the arrest and subsequent conviction of Christopher Pearman we knew James Tomkins was a key player in this murder.

"He sought to distance himself from the investigation by fleeing to Spain where he lived for four years. Since his extradition and return to the UK he has shown no remorse for his callous actions."

Candy Dawson, Mr Dawson's mother, added: "Rocky will always live on in our memory and our hearts."

Tomkins will be sentenced on Monday.

Bulgaria - Interpol Director Commends Bulgaria - Standart

Bulgaria - Inerpol Director Commends Bulgaria - Standart: "Robert Wainwright, director of the European police organization (Interpol)
may come to Bulgaria to extend personally his gratitude to the Bulgarian colleagues for a successful police operation that resulted in busting a workshop for making counterfeited euro and US dollar bills, said chief of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime in Stara Zagora, Stanimir Florov. He qualified the operation as an “example of team work that might be cited in police academy textbooks in the future.”
According to the Europol data, starting from 2007 the police of the EU member states have busted fake 100 euro bills worth of over 1.5 million euro. Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, the countries with the largest Bulgarian immigrant communities, are the countries where this type of crime is most widespread."

Spain, which has been hit particularly hard by economic crisis, has cut back on bullfighting

Pain in Spain « Liveshots: "Spain, which has been hit particularly hard by economic crisis, has cut back on bullfighting festivities around the country. 'Tis the season of the “Corrida” or bullfight, in Spain, which is always preceded by the running of the bulls through the center of town. A run that is not without hazards.
Pamplona is in the midst of the San Fermin festival, but due to the crunch, it’s not drawing its usual numbers. Hotels have rooms left. The streets are not packed.
But Pamplona is the jewel in the crown of that controversial sport. The number of bullfights in Spain is down by 20%. Festive season fiestas have been scaled down in many locations because municipalities simply can’t afford to put them on.
But these parties bring cash to the economy. Some estimates are that the bullfighting industry brings in $1.5 billion annually, employs hundreds of thousands of people, and that 1000 farms are dedicated to raising bulls.
Some in Spain would like to see the violent sport banned. But it is a tradition that goes back centuries, lasts a week, and has become the centerpiece of summer celebrations.
Ernest Hemingway piqued the curiosity of people around the world with vivid scenes in “The Sun Also Rises”."

Drug traffickers brought cocaine in by air in suitcases handcrafted for that purpose and with a special system of concealment and transportation.

Thirteen people, mostly of South American origin, have been arrested in the dismantling of a drug-trafficking organization that had been operating in several Spanish provinces.In the so-called Operation Alvagar, the Civil Guard seized almost 10 kilos (22 pounds) of high-purity cocaine that on the black market could have provided 400,000 doses, the Spanish Interior Ministry said.The group basically operated in Madrid and Catalonia, although it moved easily throughout all of Spain and used as its center of operations a house in the central city of Toledo.The organization's kingpin, according to the ministry, is also accused of conspiring to murder, since he was planning to call on hired killers to settle a number of scores.
Thanks to the cooperation of Ecuador's National Police, it was discovered that the gang leader lived in Spain under a false identity and that he had a long record in his country for holdups, illicit bearing of arms and four murders, three of them attempted murders.Through the use of hired gunmen he was planning the deaths of three people of the same family, one of them his previous partner.
The agents charged with dismantling the group spoke of the "complications, compartmentalization and complexity" of the operations the criminal organization carried out.The drug traffickers brought cocaine in by air in suitcases handcrafted for that purpose and with a special system of concealment and transportation.