CBS News
U.K. food delivery driver who bit customer’s thumb “clean” off over pizza dispute pleads guilty
An English woman who was filling in for a friend as a delivery driver in the U.K. has reportedly pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm more than a year after a customer says she bit off his finger during a dispute. CBS News’ partner BBC News reported that 35-year-old Jenniffer Rocha bit the customer’s finger “clean” off in December 2022.
According to the BBC, Rocha was acting as a “substitute” delivery driver for a friend through the Deliveroo service when the incident occurred, meaning she was performing the work under someone else’s account. During her shift on December 14, 2022, 36-year-old Stephen Jenkinson of Aldershot ordered a pizza.
Rocha, however, attempted to deliver the food down the street from his address, and when he went to pick it up, he left his phone at home, leaving him unable to provide the delivery code number. He told BBC News that they then got into an argument, and at one point he raised his hand to Rocha’s motorcycle helmet.
That’s when she bit his thumb – and didn’t let go.
He said he was “shaking her helmet trying to get her off,” and when she finally did, he said he lifted his arm and “sprayed her with blood.”
A photo he provided to BBC News shows his hand covered in gauze and blood – and thumbless above the knuckle.
“The force with which she must have been biting, she’d clean taken it off,” he told BBC News, adding it looked like a chainsaw had taken it off.
In a statement to CBS News, Deliveroo called the incident “awful.”
“We ended the account of the rider concerned immediately and have fully cooperated with the police on the investigation,” the company said.
Doctors were able to graft part of his big toe to help replace his thumb, but Jenkinson is still struggling. He told BBC News that he’s a plumber and has had to relearn basic life skills, such as tying his shoes, and hasn’t been able to work.
“Financially, I’m ruined,” he said. “I’m unemployed. I’m in a massive amount of debt and I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Deliveroo employs people as independent contractors who can appoint substitutes to deliver items on their behalf. But because of this, Deliveroo is exempt from legal responsibility for the incident. Deliveroo told BBC News in a statement that its riders are self-employed and that the act of substitution “is and always has been a common feature of self employment.”
But lawyers for Jenkinson told BBC News that the incident is further proof that gig economy companies should be held accountable.
“The practice of substitution should be stopped and the companies should be required to carry out necessary checks on all people working for them,” attorney Alex Barley said.
A sentencing hearing for Rocha is scheduled for May 3.
CBS News
American man detained in France after “So I raped you” Facebook message can be extradited, court rules
A French court ruled on Monday that the American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, “So I raped you,” can be extradited to the United States.
Ian Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was detained in April in the city of Metz in northeastern France after a three-year search. He has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings since his arrest.
The Court of Appeal in Metz said that Cleary can be extradited. When asked if he wished to be extradited or not, in line with French law, Cleary refused, prosecutors said in a statement Monday. His refusal may delay the extradition process, but it won’t stop it.
The ruling is final. Cleary’s case is now the responsibility of the French Justice Ministry, which must prepare and submit the extradition order for the French prime minister. While he awaits the prime minister’s signature, Cleary remains detained in France.
Justice Ministry officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cleary had been the subject of an international search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant in the case weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.
The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg student at the time but didn’t return to campus.
Chris Carlson / AP
The Gettysburg accuser, Shannon Keeler, had a rape exam done the same day she was assaulted in 2013. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the Facebook messages that seemed to come from Cleary’s account.
“So I raped you,” the sender had written in a string of messages.
“I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.”
“I need to hear your voice.”
“I’ll pray for you.”
The AP doesn’t typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted. The accuser’s lawyer in Pennsylvania, reached on Monday, declined to comment on the development.
According to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Ian Cleary. Adams County District Attorney Brian Sinnett, who filed it, declined to comment on developments when reached Monday.
After leaving Gettysburg, Cleary earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Santa Clara University, near his family home in California, worked for Tesla, and then moved to France for several years, according to his website, which describes his self-published medieval fiction.
Keeler, originally from Moorestown, New Jersey, stayed on to graduate from Gettysburg and help lead the women’s lacrosse team to a national title.
/ AP
By 2023, two years after the warrant was filed, Keeler and her lawyers wondered how he was avoiding capture in the age of digital tracking. The U.S. Marshals Service thought he was likely overseas and on the move, even as he was the subject of an Interpol alert called a red notice.
Across the U.S., very few campus rapes are prosecuted, both because victims fear going to the police and prosecutors hesitate to bring cases that can be hard to win, the AP investigation found.
Keeler, when the warrant was issued, said she was grateful, but knew it only happened “because I went public with my story, which no survivor should have to do in order to obtain justice.”
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There are many reasons to consider investing in gold right now. With high inflation, geopolitical unrest and the coming election, having a healthy safe haven allocation in your investment portfolio makes sense. And, gold is an effective way to protect your portfolio from risk.
Gold’s price has seen strong growth this year, too. After starting the year off at $2,063.73, the price of gold climbed to $2,439.98 by May 20. But that price has since cooled. Today, gold is trading at around $2,380.00 per ounce. Although that’s significantly lower than gold’s May record high, it still represents more than 15% growth year-to-date.
While there are many reasons to invest in gold, it’s important to make the right moves when you do, particularly this July.
Invest in gold now to give your portfolio a boost.
3 gold investing moves to boost your portfolio this July
You can use gold to improve your portfolio’s performance in a few ways this July. Some of the most effective include:
Focus on allocation
Gold’s price has grown quite a bit this year. And, the safe haven properties of the precious metal are valuable given the current economic, political and geopolitical climates. So, you may want to add quite a bit of the yellow metal to your portfolio. But, you shouldn’t overdo your investment.
While gold is an attractive safe haven, the stock market’s performance has been strong this year, too – the S&P 500 is up around 17% year-to-date. And, it’s important to balance your portfolio with a healthy mix of safe havens and traditional assets like stocks and bonds.
Most experts say you shouldn’t allocate more than 10% of your portfolio assets to gold. Some suggest that a 5% gold allocation is more reasonable. So, consider your investment goals, the other assets in your portfolio and how gold relates to those assets when choosing your allocation. But, in any case, keep your holdings to a maximum of 10% of your portfolio’s assets.
Take advantage of gold’s safe haven and inflation protection properties today.
Invest now
Gold’s price is down but it may not stay there for long. Gold’s price tends to go through cycles. Upward cycles are typically followed by downward cycles and vice versa. Based on the cyclical nature of gold’s price, there are two reasons why waiting to make your investment could be a mistake:
- The discount could disappear: If you buy gold now, you’ll do so at a discount to its most recent high. But, if you wait too long, that discount could disappear.
- You could be priced out: Gold isn’t a cheap commodity, even considering the current discount. And, if history is any indication, gold’s price will continue to produce long-term gains – regardless of the short-term cycles it experiences. So, if you wait too long, gold’s price could become cost-prohibitive – making it difficult to add the commodity to your portfolio later.
So, add gold to your portfolio now to take advantage of the current discount in its price and avoid any issues with being priced out of the market later.
Look for discounted options
Gold’s spot price is typically the price that’s quoted online. But, that’s not usually the price you pay when you purchase the commodity. In most cases, dealers add a markup to the spot price to generate a profit. So, it’s possible to overpay for the commodity if you’re not careful – but it’s also possible to find discounted options.
Many online gold dealers buy second-hand precious metals and resell them at a discount to their freshly-minted counterparts. And, while these products may have some imperfections and may not be the particular design you want, their value is in the weight of the gold they’re made with. So, when you look for these discounts, you could cut the cost of your gold investment while you take advantage of the benefits of adding the precious metal to your portfolio.
The bottom line
Gold is a compelling asset with valuable inflation protection and safe haven qualities. But, when you invest invest in the precious metal this July, it’s a good idea to make your investment strategically. In particular, invest now and be sure that when you do, you maintain a healthy allocation representing 10% or less of your portfolio’s value. Also, look for opportunities to buy gold at a discount. Doing so could cut the cost of your investment. Compare your options among leading gold dealers now.