I Guess Chisels Should Be Banned Now, Kier?

I mean, we can't rely on the sensible approach of not releasing violent recidivists early, can we? 

A 26-year-old man has been found guilty of his part in a fatal knife attack on the day he was let out of prison on the government's early release scheme. Lewis Bell, 26, a father of one, was stabbed to death after an altercation in a drug den in September 2024. Liam Matthews, who had been released from HMP Holme House the same morning, slashed at Bell with a chisel after spotting two other men fighting with him in the street, reports said.

So surely it's time for another knee-jerk reaction? 

His early release came in the first month the emergency measures aimed at freeing up spaces in overcrowded prisons were introduced.

All so Two-Tier can lock up such dangerous criminals as these ones instead. 

Last year, Downing Street said the early release policy had to be brought in to avoid 'unchecked criminality' where the police and courts were unable to lock anyone up because there were no places available. The prisons watchdog warned it was 'inevitable' that some would reoffend.

And yet, we seem to have no lack of unchecked criminality despite this. 

🎵Friend, either you're closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of emojis in your community..🎵

Police and schools have issued warnings to parents about a 'sinister emoji' code used by incel teenagers in the wake of the success of Netflix hit Adolescence.

Is there no end to the ridiculous panic over this TV propaganda? Now every quango and charlatan wants a piece of the 'incel' grift... 

Teachers and police forces have distributed a 'periodic table of sinister emojis' believed to be used by under-18s to conceal disturbing messages about violence, sex, drugs, and extremism.

In case any parents were thinking 'Whew! At last, the police and schools are on OUR side!' then I caution you to think again.  

Merseyside Police have already circulated the emoji table to schools and parents, according to the Liverpool Echo. However, critics have dismissed the warnings as 'moral panic'.

And they are right.  

Amit Kalley, the founder of education charity For Working Parents urged mothers and fathers to 'keep researching and asking the right questions' about their children's digital lives. He told the Telegraph: 'The table I created is far from an exhaustive list, but I wanted to include emojis beyond incel and misogyny, because lots of young people are groomed online into drugs and violence and lots of young people are involved in dangerous sexual behaviours, which they can hide from parents by using emojis and acronyms. '

OK, Amit, I'll ask questions: Why the hell is anyone expected to listen to you and your little grift frightening parents about what their kids might be getting up to? You don't appear to have any qualifications for this, after all.  

As The Speaker Might Say, 'Ordure, Ordure'...

Matt skewers Rachel from Complaints again...

Once, You Could Trust The BBC To Get This Right…

...but times have changed.

Sunday Funnies...

No 1 proves Tripadvisor is older than you think...

Congratulations, Nikita, You've Achieved Nothing...

Calling for an end to knife crime, his sister Nikita said: "We need to do more to stop knife crime. You know how easy it is to acquire a knife. You can just go online and you can just buy a machete.

"I want to call out the MPs. I want to call out the Prime Minister. I want to call out society and say that we need to do more to ensure that not another innocent life gets taken from knife crime.”

That's the sister of the murdered boy that has spurred our Prime Minister to ban a popular decorative item from the 70s, leaving pensioners in fear that should they actually get a police officer to attend a burglary at their house, they must cover up or hide the dust covered samurai swords on the mantelpiece, lest they become subject to arrest.

So now I, a freeborn Englishwoman, must check I don’t have some (purely decorative) item in my house because one member of a subgroup of the imported population killed a member of another subgroup of the imported population? And would have done so with any number of other sharp objects had they not had a 'ninja sword' to hand?

This country is governed by idiots.

We Don’t Want To Watch Propaganda, That’s The Real Issue Facing Television

The UK’s television industry is being hit by a “perfect storm” that risks leading to British stories disappearing from the small screen, Elisabeth Murdoch has said.

Maybe part of that storm is down to the relentless drip, drip, drip of propaganda, when what we really want is entertainment?  

Murdoch, co-founder of the production company Sister, said that a crisis within British television was leading to an exodus of production talent – as well as a danger that British stories were struggling to be told. It follows warnings that cash-strapped British broadcasters are targeting their resources at dramas with international appeal. She said: “British producers are making excellent content for global platforms, with British talent, set in the UK – but those aren’t the same stories that the BBC or Channel 4 seek out. Those stories, from all corners of the British Isles, are struggling to be made in today’s economic reality. The BBC has projects that they have greenlit and provided foundational financing but the gap to budget remains unattainable.”

And of course, the answer is to stick their hands in other people's pockets: 

Some have suggested that tax breaks could be used to help the industry. Peter Kosminsky, the Bafta-winning television director behind Wolf Hall, has suggested a levy on the streamers to help fund local content.

Yes, of course, charge people more to watch the things they like and are happy to pay for in order to fund the things the luvvie mafia think we should watch instead!  

“The question is how much will be addressed by allowing market forces to work and where intervention could and should positively intervene to support all that is great and valuable in the UK TV industry.”

I'm in favour of market forces. Get your fingers off the scales and we'll see just what value you create.  

It Is Strange, Yes, Since We All Now Have Widescreen TVs...

My fatness causes adults to laugh or sneer or hurl abuse in the street, or to say horrible depraved things online. Strangers hate my extra flesh so much that they can’t help but regularly inform me about it as I’m tweeting, walking home, standing in a mall, ordering a drink at a bar – or once, entering my own front door.

They were probably astonished that you could get through it... 

I can’t remember every one of the numerous public incidents but I do remember the first time it happened. I was a (lonely) 14-year-old waiting for the bus with a bunch of other kids at 8:30am, and men drove past and shouted “WHALE” at me. It was humiliating, it was stupid (I am clearly a land animal), and in my memory it was the sharp beginning of my life in a fatphobic world.

Oh, god, here we go... 

The rise of Ozempic in combination with an already extremely thin-obsessed world means that there are almost no fat – or even kind-of-fat – people on any sort of screen.

Why should there be? I mean, yes, screens are bigger these days, but so what? 

This week, Vogue and Gigi Hadid – obviously not people I would rely on for body inclusivity – went a step further in the wrong direction by doing a Hairspray-themed cover and spread, including posting a full lip-sync of the song ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’ online. If you aren’t familiar with Hairspray, it’s one of the only musicals in existence featuring fat leads, and a big part of the story is fatness being spotlighted. Vogue’s cover and lip-sync featured only thin people.

And this is portrayed as some sort of outrage.  

I implore people to start thinking about this, both broadly and specifically. We need people carefully considering how we portray and include different kinds of bodies – and what we are saying when we don’t.

I think we're saying 'No ugly fat dollops, please!' aren't we? 

Ah, This Must Be The 'Enrichment' We Are Always Promised...

Police have released images of 22 men they want to trace after a large-scale fight in Sheffield. The disorder took place on Woodbourn Road on 25 May last year, South Yorkshire Police said.

Last year? Why has it taken so long to put out the appeal?  

Oh. I think I can guess. I'm assuming it wasn't a disagreement over the finer points of building dry stone walls?

A force spokesperson said officers believed it involved two groups from the Eritrean community, with one faction supportive of Eritrean independence and the other in opposition.

Lovely! Just what we need to spice up our boring old Yorkshire towns, internecine conflict imported from foreign countries! That'll please the Yorkshire Tourist Board!  

According to police, the group opposing independence travelled into the area to target an Eritrean Independence Day celebration taking place at the Pakistan Muslim Centre. A group of about 200 people gathered at the location, where violence involving weapons erupted both inside and outside the centre and on the surrounding streets. The centre was damaged along with vehicles parked nearby.

Perhaps this will wake up a few people to the vipers we've nestled in our bosom? 

Signs That Nothing Of Value Was Lost...

...when the pic the cops release of the victim is a mugshot.

His family are being supported by specialist officers as the murder investigation continues.

What a waste of resources.

Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie, leading the investigation, said: "My thoughts are with the victim's family and friends at this devastating time.

"I understand the shock and concern this incident will have on the Brixton community. My team are already working diligently to gather evidence and establish what led to this tragedy. I would ask any local residents with concerns to speak to officers at the scene, or to their local neighbourhood policing teams."

If the local residents were the type to speak to officers, and not settle their beef with knives in broad daylight, Brixton wouldn't be a shithole, would it, Brian? 

How Many More Must Pay The Price?

A man has been charged with the murder of two pensioners after they were found stabbed to death in the street.

Yes, the perpetrator is exactly who you'd imagine it to be.  

Mouhamadou Fall, 23, has been charged over the deaths of Sidy Fall, 75, and Norman Scott, 68, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed today. Fall, of Milverton Road, Manchester had previously been detained under the Mental Health Act following the stabbings.

And out police farce?  

Chief Superintendent David Meeney, district commander for the City of Manchester division said: 'This morning, two lives have been lost in our community, and our thoughts go to their families who have lost a loved one today.

'We are treating this as an isolated incident with no threat to the wider public.'

How many 'isolated incidents' do we have to suffer before someone draws some connecting lines on a whiteboard? 

Which Is It Then?

Property advertising with the 'Mail' brings up this gem:

  

Which is it, 'Mail'? Reptiles or amphibians? Your staffers do know they aren't interchangeable? 

They Might Actually Manage This...

...they've not managed to broker peace anywhere else for long, as Matt knows only too well..

Sunday Funnies...

It's no doubt how they'd have wanted to go...

Entertainment Or Propaganda?

Stephen Graham has revealed the two harrowing real-life incidents that inspired his new Netflix hit Adolescence, recalling that they made his 'heart hurt'.As an executive producer on the show, which aired on Thursday, Stephen, 51, said the idea for the series came to him from looking at the epidemic of knife crime in the UK.

Did it really?  

'Look, it started when I read an article, and it was an article about a young boy who'd stabbed a young girl to death, and it just, you know, it made me feel cold.

'And then a couple of months later, there was a piece on the news, and it was about a young boy who'd stabbed a young girl to death, and if I'm really honest with you, they hurt my heart.

’Young boy’ is all the description of the perpetrator you’ll get. Note that. 

'And these two incidents were opposite ends of the country. And I just thought, "Why? Why is this happening?"'Not just because I'm a father, but I think any kind of human being with an ounce of moral compass can look at that kind of situation and think, "What's happening? What's going on with society today that we're in?"'

Well, it's certainly made him a few pennies. And the critics are raving about it.  

Co-stars and critics alike have praised Owen, 15, for his chilling performance, and Stephen was so impressed at the young British actor's first audition, that he's since revealed he turned to co-writer Jack Thorne when Owen left the room and said 'I think that's him'.

Strange then, because this is him: 

 So, why cast him? 

And yes, I've had a progressive idiot on FaceBook say he was cast so Graham could play his father, but I thought mixed race families were usually all the rage in TVland? 

So that feeble excuse hardly holds water, does it?

It’s as if Netflix decided to do a film on the brutal mauling death of Ian Price, and showed him being savaged by a pair of cocker spaniels…

Because You're Not Laying Down The Law, Your Honour....

In fact, you're letting them off lightly.

...during sentencing this week, District Judge Stephen Apted found himself pausing proceedings and telling the couple off for laughing as a summary of their offending was read out in court.

He said he could not understand why the couple found their court appearance amusing and were seen laughing and shaking their heads.

'You fail to understand and appreciate how appalling and disgraceful your behaviour was,' he told them, The Telegraph reported.

Because they are receiving no proper punishment for it. At leaset we have the 'Mail' to tell us how much their house is worth, though: 

The couple - who live in a house worth more than £800,000 just a mile from the pub - faced charges of racially or religiously aggravated harassment and assault, which they denied, claiming self defence.

A likely story.  

Mr Sayer was handed a fine of £1,204, while Mrs Sayer was fined £1,554. The couple must also complete 15 sessions of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Pathetic. No wonder they weren't cowed by the awesome majesty of the justice system... 

Alphonsus Doran, Mrs Sayer’s defence lawyer, said the couple had been 'effectively ostracised' since the incident. Mrs Sayer has lost her job, while Mr Sayer reported a 'massive impact' on his business.

Good. Maybe that will teach them the lesson they deserve.  

Another Nail In The WFH Coffin?

A London employee who was sacked from his job for working from home over the summer at his parents' house in Cornwall has won a claim for unfair dismissal despite being found to have completed no work.

Could he have got away with that in the office? Probably not. So, if there were concerns about his work rate, why was he allowed this? 

Now, the London-based employee has won his case for unfair dismissal after a judge found that the company's investigation into him had not been carried out fairly. The central London tribunal heard that Mr Kitaruth had verbally agreed with Mr Stride that he would work from home, but the line manager insisted that nothing about Mr Kitaruth working out of London had been firmed. Employment judge Tamara Lewis said that Mr Kitaruth had 'misled' his managers by not doing any work, but the tribunal found that the security manager 'genuinely believed he had been given permission' to work from Cornwall and that there was possibly some miscommunication between him and Mr Stride.

Remember, folks, a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's not printed on! 

Ms Lewis said if Mr Stride had been interviewed formally before a decision to dismiss Mr Kitaruth was made, it would have shown how informal the arrangements were and that such a system 'always had the potential for misunderstanding'.

But he didn't, and hence, the tribunal has no option but to uphold the verdict. Though it makes its opinion pretty clear: 

However, the tribubal had doubts that Mr Kitaruth 'did any work' and ruled that his total compensation would be deducted by 50 per cent. '[OCS] dismissed [Mr Kitaruth] because it believed he had gone to Cornwall without authorisation from Aug 14 to 17 in 2023, and that not only was this unauthorised working from home, but that the claimant had misled his managers and was not in fact working in that period, and had not completed tasks he had been given in that period', Ms Lewis said.

So he might win but he won't get much.  

But The Laws We Already Have Worked?

...the proof being that the perpetrator is in jail for life:

A new offence to cover lone individuals planning non-terrorist mass killings should be considered in the wake of the Southport attacks, the UK's terror watchdog has said. However the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall KC, says the definition of terrorism should not be expanded or changed.

Why does it need to be? Surely it simply needs to be applied, as it wasn't in this case.  

Mr Hall considered whether the definition of terrorism itself should be changed to include mass violence without a political, religious, racial or other ideological motivation, but concluded it should not. "Redefinition would alter the landscape. It would risk major false positives – the prosecution of people who by no stretch of the imagination are terrorists – and extend terrorism liability into novel terrain," Mr Hall said.

"People swapping violent war footage would be at risk of encouraging terrorism, resulting in unacceptable restrictions on freedom of expression."

And we all know why he stopped short - not so acedemics could have online discussions about violence without the fear of plod breathing down their necks, but so the idiots that support Hamas and other Islamic terror organisations can spread their propaganda unaffected. 

However, Mr Hall said there was a clear risk to the public of people who are interested in carrying out acts of mass violence, including school massacres. Currently there is no law against preparing for such an attack which "means that no prosecution would be available if the police raided an address and found careful handwritten but uncommunicated plans for carrying out a massacre". As a result, he is recommending the government considers creating a new offence, similar to the offence of preparing an act of terrorism.

The lack of such a law didn't seem to hinder this arrest.  

As part of his report Jonathan Hall KC considered what should happen with young people like Axel Rudakubana, who are referred to the counter-terrorism Prevent programme, but are not taken on because they do not have a clear ideology. "If they are not to be managed by counter-terrorism police, who will 'own' the risk?", he asked.

We will. We always do.  

When The Worm Finally Turns, It Isn’t Pretty

The first time I went to Hanau, I was creeped out by how ordinary it was.

Imagine being 'creeped out' by something ordinary? 

This mid-sized city of 100,000 people right in the geographical centre of Germany, looked and felt like many other places in western Germany I had been to: built around a bombed and reconstructed old town, expanded by a soulless mall with a multiplex cinema, surrounded by a vast industrial area and neighbourhoods separated along class lines. What the city prides itself on is that the Brothers Grimm grew up here in the late 18th century before they started publishing folk tales such as Cinderella and The Frog Prince. Since 2020, however, Hanau stands for something else: it’s the place where a far-right gunman killed nine people he assumed to be immigrants, and afterwards killed his mother and himself.

Ah. Not something 'ordinary' at all, then... 

Emiş Gürbüz, mother of one of the Hanau victims, spoke at this year’s official commemoration, attended by the city’s highest-ranking politicians as well as Germany’s federal president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “This event is a stain on the history of Hanau and of Germany,” Gürbüz said, close to tears. “If everyone had carried out their duties, these nine people would still be alive.” Gürbüz’s son, Sedat, was killed during the attack at the shisha bar he had previously owned. He was 29 years old.

It's a familiar refreain, if the cast of victims is different this time.  

But what followed this year’s commemoration – which, unfortunately, coincided with the anti-immigrant and racist discourse of the final week of the federal election campaign – was frankly shocking. The coalition of mainstream parties that runs Hanau’s city government issued an extraordinary statement laying into Gürbüz, accusing her of political agitation, disrespect and of “exploiting” the atrocity. It said that no such future commemorations would be held in Hanau to mark the victims. Citing another speech that Gürbüz made at the Berlin film festival, the statement further alleged that she had publicly expressed hatred for Germany and Hanau. “Why she applied for German citizenship in such a state of mind will probably remain her secret,” the statement added.

Are they not supposed to mention the fact then? Is she supposed to be allowed to complain about anything she likes, and no one ask awkward questions, stifled by her victim status? 

But why would it be inappropriate for a grieving mother whose son was murdered by a racist and who now has to witness almost every political party campaigning on anti-immigrant manifestos, to express hatred for what Germany has become?

It's not. She's perfectly entitled to her free speech. But so is everyone else. And if they have decided they've had enough of the whining from someone given everything they didn't have in their home country, and the ingratitude shown for having been given it, then they'll exercise their own free speech to express it. It's unfortunate, but when you try to bottle it up this is what happens.  

At a time when far-right support has reached historic levels, it’s a peculiar take on the term “respect” to treat survivors of a racially motivated right wing terrorist attack in this way. Is this to be the fate now of anyone of migrant heritage who criticises public failings?

Well, nodding silently and never asking questions hasn't worked so well up to now, has it? 

And What Did It All Cost?

I'd completely forgotten about this fiasco until this article in the 'Guardian' reminded me!

C’mon Abrdn, abndn the silly name, urged this column and many others when Standard Life Aberdeen decided to shorten its name to that of the granite city, just without three-quarters of the vowels. Now – four years and one chief executive later – the nonsense has been stopped. Aberdeen it is, albeit the group still can’t manage an upper case “A”.

What an absolute joke. Thankfully, a new broom swept clean. 

“One of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make,” said its new boss, Jason Windsor, undoing the handiwork of his predecessor, Stphn Brd. One doesn’t doubt it.

Quite! 

Abrdn executives seem to have spent half their time explaining the pronunciation, or inviting fresh ridicule by grumbling about the wicked media’s “childish jokes”.

And still it took a new guy in the Big Seat to junk the idiocy. 

Other companies take note: if you have to ask how to pronounce a new name, you’ve got the wrong one. The only exception is Relx, the brilliantly performing (and two syllable) analytics business that is now the UK’s fifth largest listed company.

Never heard of it! 

Are You The Only Person Left In The UK, Polly..?

 

...who hasn't realised that Starmer's a stone liar?

The claim is that the two ousted members “demonstrated the type of support for the Liberal Democrats that is incompatible with chapter 2, clause I.5.B.vi of the Labour party rule book”. In principle, that’s a necessary rule: members can’t back parties standing against Labour, or the multitude of prohibited anti-Labour groupuscules. But, as Wafer wrote to party officials in his defence, many had “worked together during the election campaign to do everything we could locally to help secure a Labour government, by ridding the country of as many sitting Tory MPs as possible. In Lewes, Labour couldn’t win, but the Tories could lose. Getting the Tories defeated in Lewes made a direct contribution to Labour’s victory in July.”

Did you expect gratitude, then, Polly? It's a human emotion, but do we have a human prime minister? 

Next time Labour may well be in coalition, and electoral reform will be the price. As Ford warns them: “Be nice to people when you’re on top, as you’ll need them on your way down.” Treating near-allies as the enemy looks arrogant. Lewes’s sensible tactical voters are not Labour traitors.

Perhaps they aren't worried about what happens when they aren't on top anymore, because they will have already feathered their nests? 

If You Want The Public's Help, Show Their Faces!

A CCTV camera behind the counter caught the two horrific incidents on camera, and he reported it to the police.

A Met Police spokesperson said: 'We are investigating following two reports of robbery at a shop near Leicester Square, WC2.

'If you were a witness or have any information which might help police, please call 101 quoting 7996/5MAR.'

Great, CCTV, that'll help immensly! Show us the pictures!  

 Wait, what? FFS!

The Weekly XL Bully Attack...

They pretty much are a weekly occurrence but for all those pitiots wailing that this means the ban isn't working, it's mostly the morons that own these mutts that are at the sharp end of the teeth now, and that's got to be a plus, hasn't it?

A man is fighting for his life after being attacked by a dog believed to be an XL Bully in the back garden of a home. Armed police and a specialist dog unit were called to scene on Ripon Drive, West Bromwich, at around 4.40pm yesterday following reports of a dog attack. An injured man was treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital, police have said.

Police Tasered the mutt to get it to release its victim, and it died, so at least kennel staff aren't at risk again.  

Over on Facebook, amongst the 'poor doggies' and 'don't bully our breed!' loons, someone claims the man was 'bullied into looking after the dogs for someone else'. 

What a ghastly subculture we've allowed into this country, all so people can own a fighting breed dog as a 'pet'. 

The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round...

An elderly driver has avoided jail after killing an 83-year-old woman as she crossed the road.

No, this isn't another story about elderly car drivers - the missing words here are 'in his London bus'. Because if you think this story has the ring of familiarity, Reader, you're not wrong.... 

Partially deaf Ozdemir Zia, 77, hit Edna McLean when she was crossing Vincent Road outside Woolwich Arsenal station in southeast London on September 11, 2021.

Zia, who uses a hearing loop, had been allowed to continue work despite a previous conviction for crashing into another bus and six other incidents of bad driving.

Incredibly, it seems being deaf and having an appalling record behind the wheel is no bar to being a London bus driver! 

The jury was not told about Zia's previous conviction for careless driving in 2018 when he injured passengers by crashing into another bus. He was fired by Stagecoach, one of the operators of Transport for London buses, because of his conviction. But he was back behind the wheel again after he applied for a job with Go Ahead, a different provider.

If this was America, a host of sharp-toothed lawyers would now descend on Go Ahead and strip it bare.  

Public Service Announcement

If you're short of things to do in the Capital (or just want to avoid getting stabbed) you could do worse than visit the 'War of the Worlds Experience' in Leadenhall Street. 

I spent a very happy couple of hours there being scared out of my wits last night (birthday gift) and I recommend it highly! Great music and great atmosphere!  

Even Better, Actually...

 

Always relevant, is Matt....

Sunday Funnies...

It's really a miracle we've survived as a species...

'Sustainability' Is A Humpty Dumpty Word...

...it means whatever the ecomentalists want it to mean. How else to explain this sort of thing?

 

The state government touts the highway's "sustainable" credentials, but some locals and conservationists are outraged at the environmental impact. The Amazon plays a vital role in absorbing carbon for the world and providing biodiversity, and many say this deforestation contradicts the very purpose of a climate summit.

And they'd be right. We had to give up plastic straws and  plastic bottle tops that you can remove fully for this abomination? 

H/T: Ian J via email 

Why We Can’t Have Nice Things Pt 542867

Free libraries and book exchanges are one of life’s little joys. So we’re sad to say that all book swaps at London Underground stations have been removed.

Apparently, they are a fire hazard. Which is strange, because I travel by Tube, and every station has a little container of free newspapers, the 'Metro', which despite being made of paper, don't appear to be the same risk.

Maybe because TfL employees count as newspaper staff? Who knows? 

Why Not, Gaslighting Works Even When There's Video...

 ...after all, we've all seen video of men in womanface and been told they are female, so they clearly think it works.

The track star seen hitting her opponent in the head with a baton in a shocking incident has remarkably claimed it was an accident.

And why not? These days, when caught out, just tell the most outrageous lie!  

The indoor track championships in Virginia were marred when Alaila Everett was seen striking Kaelen Tucker during the 4x200m relay event of the VSHL Class 3 State Indoor Championships. Tucker was running the second leg of the relay for Lynchburg's Brookville High School when she passed Everett of I.C. Norcom High School on the outside. Everett, who claimed she has since been on the receiving end of death threats and racial slurs, broke down in tears as she gave her version of events on the viral incident.

Ah, the modern way - when caught out and it’s impossible to deny what you did, make yourself the victim! 

She told Wavy.com: 'Nobody is going to believe me because I can admit from the video it does look purposeful. But I know my intentions and I would never hit anybody on purpose.' She added: 'After a couple times of hitting her, my baton got stuck behind her back like this, and it rolled up her back. I lost my balance and, when I pumped my arms again, she got hit.'

She dindu nuffin’, right?

She added: 'Everybody has feelings, so you’re physically hurt, but you’re not thinking of my mental (health).'

Well, no, we're thinking of the assault victim with the fractured skull. We did, after all, see it happen.  

Do You Want People To Just Let Illegal Immigrants Go Free?

A couple who discovered a boy hidden on the back of their motorhome after their journey from France to Essex have been fined £1,500 by the Home Office.

Adrian and Joanne Fenton called the police when they found the person zipped inside the cover of a bike rack after pulling up on their drive at their home in Heybridge.

The couple had been travelling in France with friends and returned to the UK by ferry on 15 October.

Because if you really did, what would you do differently?  

Joanne Fenton, 55, said border officials in Calais and the UK had not inspected the bike rack or the cover before or after the crossing.

The Home Office said penalties were “designed to target negligence rather than criminality”.

Clearly, not the negligence of the BF staff, who have the duty to deter these people, not a duty that should ever be laid on the innocent holidaymaker. 

This is not the first such case, either:

In October, a retired ambulance driver and his wife were fined £6,000 after UK Border Agency staff found a man in a trailer attached to their mobile home in France. Peter Hughes and Anne Lawton, from Droylsden, Greater Manchester, told the BBC they had no idea a young Sudanese man had concealed himself.

The government has shifted the duty to deter illegals to you, the public.  

Why Focus On The Familial?

The thought of mothers being abused or killed by their own children – the people they have carried, cared for and nurtured since birth – is something of an underexamined and almost taboo issue in Britain. There is a slowly growing body of research into why children under 18 use violent behaviour towards their parents. There is an even smaller body of research showing why adults – nearly all of them sons – do the same.

Is it because they can get away with it? Or is it because we take the threat from the mentally ill less seriously even than we do the threat from dangerous dogs? 

“It is still incredibly hidden, very taboo,” said Prof Rachel Condry, who along with Dr Caroline Miles has been researching violence towards parents for 15 years. “When we started, practitioners and police officers knew about the problem and had to deal with it, but it wasn’t something that was named, or really talked about. Over the years it has become more of a familiar, known problem, but so much is still hidden.”

But the 'Guardian's' keeping count: 

The Guardian’s Killed women count project, which documented every woman allegedly killed by a man in 2024, identified at least seven cases of mothers alleged to have been killed by their sons. A new Femicide Census report puts the figure at 173 over the last 15 years. Some of the key drivers are clear. Issues around lack of housing, substance misuse and, most often of all, mental health problems are key factors behind many of the tragic stories of the women killed by their offspring.

I think I can guess which of those is the real driver.  

Prof Amanda Holt, the chair of criminology at the University of Roehampton who completed the first national analysis of parricide (the killing of a parent) in England and Wales, said a failure to consider parents as potential victims was leaving people vulnerable. “There’s so little understanding around violence towards parents it’s harder for practitioners to know what the red flags are,” she said. “They tend to see parents as carers, not as potential victims. I think a lot of services are just thinking, thank God there’s someone for this person.”

'Someone for this person to murder instead of us' might be more accurate.

Protect The Public? Nah, Costs Too Much..

It seems Police Scotland are plumbing new depths of incompetence:

The message on January 7 from a senior officer also confirmed a seized XL bully called Blue was returned to its owner – despite still not having an exemption certificate – after spending four months in kennels.

Isn't transferring one of these mutts without a certificate a crime then? Should they not investigate themselves? They seem quite happy to do so in other - equally ridiculous - circumstances, after all....

H/T: ProtectOurPets via Twitter

Cover Me! 'Hallelujah'

And now it's the turn of lugubrious dirge-creator Leonard Cohen's repertoire to get an absolute stand-out cover of 'Hallelujah' by the sadly short lived Jeff Buckley.

Technology Is Just Showing Us What Was Always There

Here’s an unexpected addition to our 2025 bingo card: young women across the internet have been devastated by the demise of a nightmarish fanged fish. A black seadevil anglerfish (unflatteringly described by one marine biologist as “pretty much evolved to be a giant head”), usually a deep-sea dweller, was recently caught on camera swimming close to the surface by a shark research group near Tenerife. Sadly, apparently sick or injured, it died. This, however, was only the start of the anglerfish’s journey in the hearts and TikToks of young women. The fish’s story has triggered an outpouring of emotion. The narrative they have adopted is that the tiny anglerfish, who lived her life in darkness, wanted to feel the “sun on her face”, so swam alone through the vast ocean to do that before expiring. There have been tattoos, poetry and oceans of tears.

Anthropomorphism. It has for years been the preserve of airhead women (and the occaisional man). 

What catharsis is this creature providing? Yes, she was small and female, but males are even smaller – a tenth of the size. I wonder whether anglerfish parasitism (the teeny males are absorbed into females’ bodies, serving solely to provide sperm as needed) might appeal at a time when women’s reproductive autonomy is existentially threatened, but not only is that a massive stretch, but this particular species is non-parasitic.

And sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, Emma. Just because you can't stop thinking about a thing doesn't mean no-one else can.

So that leaves me with lots of young, especially American, women really not being OK right now.

Ah, now you might be onto something. 

I’m almost certainly reading too much into it.

A peep of self awareness? 

Good For Him...

Elon Musk's social media platform refused to hand over details of hundreds of accounts to authorities in the wake of last summer's far-Right riots. At the time, the billionaire accused the Government of 'censorship' for imprisoning Britons over their online posts.

I knew I admired the man already, Starmer, no need to give him an opportunity to consolidate that... 

Musk previously goaded Sir Keir Starmer online by accusing the PM of presiding over 'one-sided' policing of protests breaking out across the UK - even using the hashtag 'TwoTierKeir' in a tweet to 196million people.

As did pretty much the entirety of Twitter. 

Cabinet ministers blamed social media for allowing hate and fake news to be spread, leading to violent riots by the far-Right which saw migrant hotels and mosques attacked in the wake of the Southport stabbings. False claims spread rapidly on X and other social media platforms that the suspect was a Muslim asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat a year previously. The person responsible was Axel Rudakubana, of Banks, Lancashire, who pleaded guilty in January to 16 offences, including three counts of murder.

The way this article is written makes it seem that all the predictions were wrong, doesn't it? But were they? Not so very much, his parents appear to have been granted some sort of shadowy 'asylum' here following a massacre in Rwanda, and there's a lot of obfuscation around statements he's supposed to have made at the time of his capture about his faith.

So who do I trust more, should this happen again? It's not going to be the government of liars we've got in Westminster, that's for sure.

Not Much Introspection Here…

 

What could prompt this? Are the prospective voters and 'German' people asking themselves why? 

Yes. But they don't appear to have come to the obvious conclusion.

Flanked by market stalls selling everything from Turkish borëk pastries to bedazzled iPhone cases, Lina, 53, confessed that she was racked with worry about what may lie ahead for her three children once Sunday night’s election is over. She has lived in Germany for decades, carving out a life for herself and her family after moving from Lebanon.“It’s scary,” she said. Worse still, the torrent of anti-migrant rhetoric had seemingly done little to stem the rise of the Alternative für Deutschland party (AfD), with polls suggesting that the far-right party is poised to vault into an unprecedented second place in Sunday’s election.“They are against Islam, against Arabs,” she added. “Who knows if they will bring in laws against us? It’s really upsetting.”

But why are they against Islam? Why do they revile Arabs? It appears to be a mystery to Lina. And she's not the only one puzzled by the current mood: 

“It’s the first time, I would say, that I really feel like a foreigner in my own country,” said Cihan Sinanoğlu, a social scientist who works with the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research. “Racialised people and groups understand that the whole debate about migration is also a debate about us, about what it means to be German and who’s in and who’s out.”Nobody wants to talk about structural problems,” said Sinanoğlu. “So all of the bad things in the world are projected on to this figure of the migrant or asylum seeker; rents, economy systems, poverty. That’s crazy.”

Because having hordes of Third Worlders invade your country has absolutely no effect on those things..? 

“I’m super scared and many of my friends are scared,” said one 28-year-old, who asked not to be named. She had arrived in Germany from Syria in 2015, as a wave of “welcome culture” swept across the country, transforming Germany into a safe place for more than a million people fleeing conflict and persecution. Now she wondered how many people she knew were gearing up to embrace a far-right party whose ranks include neo-Nazis. “They are our neighbours, they are parents. And they are daring to again choose fascism,” she said.

How very dare they decide to exercise their right to vote in free and fair elections! My god, no wonder you want to remain anonymous! You've clearly no idea what the word 'fascism' really means.  

In September, Germany’s federal anti-discrimination commissioner, Ferda Ataman, linked the rise of the far right to a “discrimination crisis”, citing the more than 20,000 cases that had poured into her office between 2021 and 2023. “Millions of people are afraid for their future,” Ataman said at the time. “In view of the electoral successes of right-wing extremists, it is more important than ever to protect people effectively from hatred and exclusion.”

And that's the exact attitude that's caused this. Shouldn't you be worrying more about protecting people from murderers with cars and knives? 

But What If You Hate Sports?

Criminals could be banned from pubs, sports grounds and social events under proposals being considered as alternatives to prison, a minister has said. Sarah Sackman, the courts minister, told the Guardian that such exclusions, as well as mandatory work for offenders, were “very much part of the mix” under a review of sentencing being conducted by the former Conservative Lord Chancellor David Gauke.

Who's seemingly dedicating his time to proving he never was a conservative at all.... 

Keir Starmer’s government is under pressure to tackle a 73,000-strong backlog of court cases and overcrowded prisons.

Mostly caused by TwoTierKier himself! 

On Tuesday, ministers announced they would immediately end the placement of girls in young offender institutions following soaring rates of self-harm. Instead, they will be placed in secure schools or children’s homes.

Until they discover places there are as scarce as places in prison.... 

The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, on Wednesday confirmed that crown court judges would sit for a collective 110,000 days in the next financial year – which falls 3,000 short of the government’s stated maximum capacity in August last year. The lady chief justice, Sue Carr, has been pushing the Ministry of Justice to use the full 113,000 available sitting days to bring the backlog down. She told the justice select committee in November she had been told by the MoJ “that the funding would not be available” to run at maximum capacity.

Rachel from Complaints strikes again.... 

Step Aside, Dallas Police*!

There's a new bunch of legendary incompetents in town!

Police initially said the couple's German Shepherd named Bear was found dead in its kennel inside the home, but the pup was actually alive and healthy at a pet daycare center in Santa Fe along with their other dog Nikita, a seven-year-old Akita-shepherd mix, according to USA Today.

And that also turns out to have been misinformation, with the New Mexico cops now admitting they aere running around at the house. 

The dog that was actually found dead in the home with the couple was Zinna, their 12-year-old reddish Australian Kelpie mixed breed, Sherry Gaber, a friend of the couple, told the outlet. Gaber, an animal chiropractor, was already thrown off by the news of Hackman and Arakawa's deaths, but when she heard about Bear, she couldn't wrap her head around it.

None of us can... 

It is unclear how the deceased dog was misidentified, but a spokeswoman with the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office told the outlet she wasn't aware of the mix-up.

It's pretty clear, actually - the New Maxico Police Farce is staffed with incompetents. 

Two days after the couple were found police announced that they believe the Oscar-winner died on February 17, after finding that was the day his pacemaker stopped recording his heartbeat. Police saw no signs of foul play but are also investigating the deaths as potentially suspicious. The case is shrouded in the kind of intrigue reserved for Hackman's detective thriller novels and has garnered international attention - with many wondering how their deaths went unnoticed for so long.

An ignominious end for a great artist. One wonders how his family can live with themselves. 

* to explain the title, it comes from a passage in Stephen King's 'The Tommyknockers'. To describe police incompetence.

So..?

Almost twice as many boys as girls routinely cycle in the UK, a pioneering report on young people’s active travel has found.

The study, led by the charity Sustrans...

Oh oh!  

...also found strong support among children for measures to help them cycle and walk, such as dedicated bike lanes, slower traffic speeds and barring motor vehicles from outside schools.

Stopping the school-run madness would be good, but of course if you asked their parents, they'd say something quite different.  

While all active travel is good for long-term heath, long-term studies have shown these benefits are particularly marked when it comes to cycling, especially compared with walking.

Despite walking being safer? Well, sometimes, anyway.  

Lily, a secondary school girl from Swansea, said she used to cycle around her neighbourhood but stopped because “it’s not really seen as cool, and we can be quite self-conscious about that”. A lot of cycling gear was “made for men instead of women”, she added.

Well, just pretend you're a boy, love. It's all the rage now. 

Topical!

Matt always has his finger on the pulse...

It's A Wonder Modern Journalists Can Find Their Offices...

                                            

And this is illustrated by something even more stupid....

So when did Glastonbury move, since I'm pretty sure Stonehenge can't?

H/T: the Meissen Bison via email

Sunday Funnies...

Thank goodness for progress!

Yes Indeed, That’s Why These Things Happen Here

Florence Eshalomi, Labour MP for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, told BBC London she wanted people to feel safe within their community. "Stockwell is a vibrant, diverse, close-knit community. We are going to make sure that there is a visible police presence to reassure people," she said.

It's in such 'communities' that these things happen, Florence.  

A 16-year-old boy who died after being shot in south London has been named by the Metropolitan Police as Lathaniel Burrell. An eyewitness to the killing in Stockwell told the BBC the teenager was shot dead by a man dressed as a food delivery driver on a moped.

Lathaniel - who locals have said was a "very bright" school pupil - died on Paradise Road, near Stockwell Tube station, at about 14:30 GMT on Tuesday. The Met Police has called it an "enormously shocking incident".

Let's have a look at this bright lad whose death was so unexpected, shall we? 

 Oh...

The eyewitness said two boys came down the stairs at a block of flats when the moped rider took out a gun and fired, adding that the teenager who died was well known in the area and was involved in gangs. Police said inquiries were still ongoing, no arrests have been made, and detectives are keeping an open mind about the possible motive for the attack.

So open.... 

What About Mugshots?

Possessing photos of a Muslim woman without her hijab should be made a criminal offence, MPs have proposed. The Commons' women and equalities committee said pictures of a Muslim woman without her headscarf – taken without her consent – should be considered 'non-consensual intimate images'. Such photographs should be treated the same as child sex abuse images, possession of which can carry long prison sentences, the MPs said.

So what if they are arrested and require a mugshot? Oh, wait, we've already seen police cowardice with regard to that, havent we? They'll be delighted to have an excuse. 

The proposals will deepen concerns that Islam is poised to win legal protections which are not afforded to other religions under British law.

Concerns that Labour are doing nothing to dispell. 

It comes after a planned definition of Islamophobia being championed by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was slammed for risking 'a blasphemy law by the back door'.

No, they are planning it via the front door. They've just got that bold. 

 

Is It ‘Thatcher’..? It Usually Is…

The key culprit, in my opinion? Screen time.

Oh. Silly me.  

On a child’s first day at school, it’s normal to expect a few nerves. But they should be able to move around confidently, pick up stationery, make new friends, build a relationship with their teacher and start to feel part of a wider community. Instead, a recent survey reported that some children in England and Wales are unable to sit up or hold a pencil. I have seen kids racked with separation anxiety and unable to form bonds. Upset and confused, they miss instructions and hold back or lash out. To a busy teacher this looks like a lack of ability, or a disruptive child to be managed. Children are simply being set up to fail.

Hmmm, sounds to me like this 'busy teacher' is simply getting her excuses in early... 

For a while, it seemed as if the pandemic might have been the culprit for delayed development. Lockdowns undeniably had an impact on the development of children raised during that period as they were unable to play outside and interact with others, but five years on, it would seem that this was a short-term issue masking a much longer-term trend.

Wow, can't blame the pandemic? I thought that could be blamed for everything. But then I'd reckoned without the modern bugbear: tech. Specifically, tech in the hands of someone they don't like. 

More and more parents relied on smartphones to work, organise their lives, shop, and keep in touch with friends and family. Burnt-out and distracted, they spent less time actively parenting. In turn, they handed their kids a device to keep them entertained. The result has been children growing up with less physical activity and face-to-face social interaction. Imagine spending a year immobilised in a cast – your muscles would weaken and your movements would become awkward. Now, think about children missing foundational years of muscle development, when practice should be natural and constant, because, instead of moving, children have been incentivised to sit quietly with a device.

An expensive device, at that! So at least this won't affect Labour's preferred voting demographic, eh? 

Even more worryingly, these outcomes are not being distributed equally among children; they affect those who already face significant disadvantages due to economic and racial inequality.

Economic inequality? Does anything say as much about the reason for such 'inequality' as buying a £600 babysitting device and then claiming you can't feed your own kids? 

More Police Incompetence

A teenager who was savaged during a dog attack has been hailed a “hero” for shielding his puppy and younger brother during the ordeal. Police were called to Stanley Gardens in Herne Bay on Tuesday afternoon after a 17-year-old boy and a Dachshund had been attacked by an aggressive dog.

I'm getting so very sick of these stories. If the boy had been younger, the consequences could have been so much worse... 

The teenager required medical attention, with doctors creating a body map of his injuries before flushing and dressing his nasty wounds. In the aftermath of the ordeal, his mum Cara told KentOnline Dougie is lucky to be alive and a younger child “wouldn’t have stood a chance”.

And what did the police do? The usual.  

Despite reports of the dog being an XL bully, officers are working under the impression it is a Rottweiler-bulldog cross-breed.

'The impression'? Why is it only an impression? Well, Reader, it's because despite this attack, and all the recent damage caused by out of control dogs, the police action has been...well, it'd be an exaggeration to call it 'action'. 

The offending mutt was secure at its owner’s home when officers attended and police opted not to seize it as it is not a banned breed, offering advice on using a muzzle instead.

A police spokesman has confirmed an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

I wonder if that investigation will include READING THE FUCKING DANGEROUS DOGS ACT.... 

The act specifically beefed up because the useless lazy bastards in the police farces whined they didn't have the powers to deal with dangerous dogs. So they were given more powers. Why aren't they using them?

Why aren't people in the areas these mutts are roaming taking their own measures for public safety?

Slowly, But Surely, Common Sense Returns

A Christian school worker who was sacked after she shared Facebook posts raising concerns about lessons in LGBTQ+ relationships for primary schoolchildren has won her battle in the court of appeal. Kristie Higgs was dismissed from her role as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager at Farmor’s, a secondary school in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 after an anonymous complaint from a parent at the school. On Wednesday, three court of appeal judges ruled in her favour, describing the decision to sack her for gross misconduct as “unlawfully discriminatory” and “disproportionate”. Higgs welcomed the ruling as “a landmark day for Christian freedoms and free speech”.

And it doesn't stop at schools - the world of business is shaking off its DEI chains too! 

Say what you will about Goldman Sachs, the company goes with the current. So when it starts to renege on DEI (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) initiatives, we should, I think, take note. Previously the firm’s policy had been only to take to market companies which had two ethnic minority board members, one of them a woman; now it’s dropping that requirement. One reason, says the company, is that it’s job done; boards are already sufficiently diverse so their diktat isn’t needed to bring about change.

And we can see the results all around us.... 

The reason Goldman Sachs is not giving for the move is the influence of Donald Trump. The President has made clear that the carnival is over for the DEI enforcers; it’s not going to be a reason to recruit or retain staff at government level, and corporate America is joyfully following his lead. Deloitte’s, the London based global accountants, is dropping the insanely annoying policy of requiring staff to provide their preferred pronouns. All small stuff, but all blowing in the same direction.

Hurrah!  

But the question is, will the UK follow suit?

The old saying goes 'America sneezes, and Britain catches a cold' so...yes! And it can't come soon enough. 

Goldman Sachs has a collective policy on governance for the US and Europe, so the UK is on this front, simply being drawn into the US current. Jason Tarry, the chairman of John Lewis, told my colleague, this paper’s business editor, Jonathan Prynn, that he has no intention of backing down on the diversity and inclusion stuff, because it’s part of what he sees as the company’s identity.

Which is why even a mighty company like John Lewis is no longer what it once was. 

Me, I can’t wait to see public bodies, including the BBC and publicly funded arts bodies, follow suit and abandon their stupid email signoffs, which does nothing except to annoy recipients (well, me). I would be very glad if every institution appointed people to jobs on that old metric, merit, rather than on the basis of DEI. In short, I think Donald Trump is onto something. But it’ll take far longer for the cultural rollback to happen here.

But every movement has to start somewhere.... 

As Feral As Their Mutts

A couple reportedly punched and kicked a woman who asked them to put their dogs on a lead.

Police are investigating the assault following the incident in the Cotswolds on Sunday, February 16. It was reported that a man and woman were walking two Rhodesian ridgeback dogs on a footpath near Eyford House in Upper Slaughter at around 12.25pm. A woman, who was walking her dog in the area with her partner, asked the couple to put their dogs on a lead after one of the ridgebacks reportedly bit her dog.

Ridgebacks are nothing to mess with, but sadly, the owners are worse. 

The man then reportedly punched the woman in the face, before the woman grabbed her from behind. They pulled her to the ground and kicked her in the ribs, Gloucestershire Police said.

Lovely people.  

Gloucestershire Police are asking the man and woman to get in touch and give their account of what happened. They are also appealing for information from witnesses.

What could they possibly say that would excuse that behaviour? 

The couple are described as being white and were both wearing matching black wax jackets. The woman had blonde hair in a ponytail and was wearing a pink cap and the man had short, cropped hair and a grey goatee beard and moustache.

Chavs. It's always chavs.  

And What’s Wrong With That?

Labour MPs said that while they strongly supported breakfast clubs, it was clear that the emphasis on the clubs helping to end child poverty was evidence of a wider initiative to “soften us up” to be told that the two-child benefit cap would remain.

Well, yes. If government (in reality, the taxpayer) has to feed other people's children, limiting them seems sensible, surely?

They said there were now signals that ministers would reject scrapping the cap this summer despite the fact that most experts and charities say it would be by far the most effective way of reducing poverty. Introduced by the Tories in 2017, the two-child limit prevents families from claiming child tax credits or universal credit for more than two children.

Proof the Tories did get a few things right, if only by accident.  

A group of Labour MPs has been pressing for the government to meet them halfway by extending the cap from two to three children, which they claim would cost very little. But government insiders suggested that the idea had already been rejected by the government’s own child poverty taskforce which is chaired jointly by Phillipson and the work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall.

Principled of them to decide not to encourage the breeding of more voters, though maybe it's because Rachel from Complaints is too worried about the so-called Black Hole in the finances. 

Last July seven Labour MPs were suspended from the whip for voting in favour of scrapping the two-child limit which has been criticised by several senior figures in the party as punitive and indefensible. But while ministers have suggested they would like to see it lifted they have said this can only be done if the public finances allow.

And they don't.  

Do You Hate The MSM..?

Reader, I don't think it's possible to hate them enough:

This was sent out before police had confirmed a cause of death, and while they were still working on a theory of carbon monoxide poisoning, which they are now rowing back on. 

Remember when the MSM  tried to tell everyone that bloggers on social media were poisoning the news well by jumping to conclusions, unlike the seasoned and responsible professiona journalists in the MSM? I do. 

And then we have headlines like this, from those fearless guardians of the truth:

If you're thinking something along the lines of 'Don't fancy yours much!', Reader, you'de be right. It's not a woman. 

Another Sacrifice To The NHS...

...and no-one will face a single day of jail time for it:

A schizophrenic man brutally killed a Travelodge receptionist after a string of errors saw him moved into a hotel without medication, a coroner has ruled. Stephen Cole, then 32, savagely attacked Spanish national Marta Elena Vento, 27, who was working at the Travelodge in Christchurch Road, in Bournemouth, with a set of hair clippers on December 9 2020. Cole attacked her during a psychotic episode and struck her with a grooming appliance in a 42 minute assault.

Cole, described as 'completely disengaged' had been released from jail despite the reservations of a prison psychiatrist. He had left prison with just a four week supply of the antipsychotic drug that kept his condition stable. He was later seen by several health care professionals and police officers before the fatal attack.

Today, Dorset coroner Rachael Griffin ruled that Ms Vento was unlawfully killed.

But not, Reader, by those medical staff and police officers who utterly failed in their job. Of course.  

He was later moved into the Travelodge on Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, with staff not told about his condition or his violent outbursts. On December 7, a police offender manager for sexual or violent offenders, visited Cole at the Travelodge and described him as 'completely disengaged' and 'almost blank'.

However, he failed to inform Travelodge staff of the danger he posed to them or guests and simply left.

I think he didn't really understand the term 'manager'. 

The coroner said there was a 'systemic failure within PPG care' which created a chain of events which led to her death.

You don't say? 

Benjamin Burrows, the lawyer representing the family, said: 'The clear conclusion is that Marta's death aged just 27 would have been avoided.

'If Practice Plus Group had provided continuity of care to Stephen Cole on his release from HMP Winchester it would have probably meant that he stayed on his medication and he would not have relapsed into psychosis.'

'The same would have happened if Dorset Police had properly assessed and managed Cole's risk.

'Either of those steps would have prevented Cole killing Marta. This is very difficult for the family to come to terms with, but finally gives them the answers they have been waiting for.

And hopefully a good reason to take Practice Plus Group to the cleaners in a civil suit. 

Without Human Agency..?

Of all the MSM, the 'Guardian' was the only one to admit to human agency behind this latest atrocity.

President of the State Criminal Police Office, Andreas Stenger, said at a press conference that the suspected driver - a 40-year-old German man - shot himself in the mouth when he was arrested, local newspaper Mannheim24 reports.

A German man? Or one of the 'new Germans' we are left to wonder. 

The man reportedly used a blank round and is currently being treated in hospital. His condition is thought to be stable. The public prosecutor told local media that there are indications that the perpetrator is mentally ill.

He has a record: 

His latest conviction was in 2018, when he had to pay a fine for a hateful comment on Facebook.

Interesting...