A Hat Trick!

A woman has died after being attacked by two dogs at a house in Wolverhampton. Emergency crews were sent to Willis Pearson Avenue, in the Bilston area of the city, at about 23:30 BST on Wednesday after reports a woman in her 70s had been injured. She died at the scene, West Midlands Police said.

And at least the taxpayer won’t be on the hook until any trial of the owner this time:

The dogs, not believed to be a banned breed, were later destroyed and had continued to be aggressive towards emergency services at the scene, the force added.

A 37-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury resulting in death. He was taken to hospital after receiving hand injuries.

The breed hasn’t been established, but there are clues: 

Mr Wright said the two dogs were 'Rotweiller-like' and very powerful. 

'They were really big dogs,' he said. 

'The other day a bloke was walking down the road with his kid and they turned back because of the dogs. 

'I used to see the guy who lived with Carol walking them, but it was more like them walking him, they would drag him down the road. 

'He had no control over them whatsoever. 

'The two dogs had been there about two or three months.

Maybe Rottweilers, maybe the new monster on the block, the Cane Corso. Maybe some crossbreed. But undoubtedly a risk to the neighbourhood. 

If only neighbours felt confident that the authorities would act on reports of this, the tragedy might have been avoided. But clearly they didn’t. 

This Is Why We Love Social Media!

And why politicians don’t. Stella Creasy is upset. The peasantry are mean to her:

The slogan “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution” holds new meaning in a world where an MP simply singing along to Robyn is labelled a sign of national decline. A tweet celebrating a Saturday night in my own constituency has now been viewed by almost 1 million people – and many more have offered an opinion.

Oh noes! The great British public shouldn't be allowed an opinion! Shut it down!  

Egged on by political opponents and the presenters of GB News, these have included death threats, vile commentary on my appearance and accusations that I’m not fit for office, all because I went to a silent disco.

No, it's because your party is loathed for good reason, as are you yourself. Not for your dancing, for your policies. 

Joy is now seen as something that should shame politicians – as though having frazzled and miserable people in our parliament is good for decision-making.

Your decision making?  It's awful, no matter what emotional state you're in at the time. 

Underlying this is more than just embarrassment about seeing a middle-aged MP dance, it’s a concerted attempt by some to drown out their opponents’ voices through character assassination.

Infamy, infamy, that've all got it in for me!  

Abuse and violence towards politicians is at an all-time high. Every day, MPs trade stories and sympathies about criminal proceedings against those who have harassed them, offices being attacked and poison pen letters, and fears they have for their families and staff.

Yet they do nothing about the causes of it. What did you do when Southend's MP was hacked to death in his office by one of your imports, besides import more of them, while ensuring his daughter's pleas for a public enquiry were ignored!  

It’s not hard to see why making rage-baiting statements is appealing in a world where the next generation will end up poorer than the last. Frustration and fear about the future are widespread and understandable. Politics seems incapable of offering answers at a time when they are needed.

Maybe then we should stop looking to politicians to provide them? 

It is also why dismissing the social-media cesspit misses how behaviour online feeds the real world, as it sets the expectation that we politicians deserve what we get. Since Elon Musk took over, X has promoted conservative material and demoted alternative perspectives.

You've got Bluesky for those.

But public debate and good policy-making only thrive when people can speak freely and listen carefully...

Then stop locking up people for doing just that, and start to argue that people shouldn't be allowed to use the law to silence people arguing against woke policies!  

... it is noticeable that attempts at public shaming are disproportionately handed out to women and people of colour.

Oh, give it a rest!  

If we want to stop politicians being punched, we need to stop using them as punchbags.

Nobodies punching you, more's the pity. We, the public, however, that's another matter... 

This'll Shut You Peasants Up!

Detectives have said they are yet to find evidence that an alleged rape outside a church took place as reported or that any immigrants or asylum seekers were involved. Surrey Police previously received a report that a woman in her 20s had been followed and assaulted outside the church in Ashley Road, Epsom, after leaving Labyrinth Epsom nightclub on Saturday between 2am and 4am.

And the refusal to issue a description (after the Southport affair, supposedly a lesson learned) led to big trouble in little Epsom... 

In a statement released today, Assistant Chief Constable for Local Policing Sarah Grahame said: 'Over the past week, there has been widespread speculation and commentary following a report of a rape in Epsom in the early hours of Saturday. 

'We are aware of the strength of feeling this has created, and of the frustration caused by our limited public comment on the matter. 

'During this time, we have been investigating in depth to establish the sequence of events and to clarify the circumstances surrounding the reported incident. We have reviewed an extensive amount of CCTV footage from the area. 

'We have also been interviewing potential witnesses, carrying out forensics investigations and conducting house-to-house enquiries. 

'To date, we have not found any evidence of the offence as reported but the investigation is ongoing.'

Interesting phrasing, implying something went on - are the police so utterly captured now that they feel confident in publicly labelling a woman a liar, or a slut, rather than admit that there may be a problem with illrgal ethnics from Third World cultures?

Of course, they feel safe to do so because the woman has anonymity. If she chooses to forgo that, this story may not go away.

Professional Journalism...

 Don't expect it from 'The Guardian' where they can't even agree on the name of the whale...

Timmy? Or not?

Oh! No-one told the photo editor!

Assuming He Has That Long...

 

Well, Matt's hopeful, at least...

Sunday Funnies...

 It's easy to see where real creativity went...

When The Politics Of Envy Creep Into Journalism

 

How awful, a luxury car no less. Is that the most salient fact about the vehicle? Well, no...

John Bell, 74, was hit by the Maserati Quattraporte - which was allegedly stolen - at the property on Forthill Road in Broughty Ferry at about 13:00 on Monday. 

The driver, 55-year-old Fraser Garden, was taken to hospital for treatment and released before being charged over the collision. 

Garden faces a total of nine charges including causing death by dangerous driving. He is accused of stealing the car before losing control of the vehicle, entering a garden at speed and trapping Bell against a house. 

He is also accused of failing to stop to give his name and address, refusing a blood test and failing to report the collision. 

Garden appeared in court on Tuesday, made no plea and was remanded in custody.

At least he was remanded. In the Met , he'd probably be freed on bail.  

The Answer’s In Your Own Hands…

Police spending on kennels and veterinary bills in England and Wales has more than tripled since the XL bully ban came into force, with some forces recording an almost 500% spending increase since the new law was enacted in 2024.

There's a simple answer, and it’s ‘when you rock up to an attack, shoot the mutts then and there!’ You don’t need a live dog to determine the breed, a dead one will do just fine.

West Mercia police reported the biggest increase, with annual costs rising from £92,383 in 2022-23 to £715,349 in 2025-26, a 674% increase.

Wales again? What is it with that place? 

John Campion, the Conservative police and crime commissioner for the area, said: “Policing is already stretched, and rising costs and growing demand are pushing resources to the limit. The added burden, created by the government and public, of paying for kennelling illegal dogs places even more pressure on already tight budgets.“Kennelling is essential for public safety, but without proper government support these costs risk impacting frontline services.”

No, what’s essential for public safety is the removal of the danger, and that can just as easily be in a garbage bag as in a dog van. It should be already be SOP for any incident where a person or pet has been killed by these things.

Patrick O’Hara, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) tactical lead on dangerous dogs, said he had “not known this type of demand in my 26 years’ service”. “Our kennelling needs have gone up by about one-third since the ban came into force and the demand isn’t slowing down so we’re having to really concentrate on threat, harm and risk,” he told the BBC. “In the short term I think we will continue to see dog attacks as these dogs start to come of age and reach maturity. So I think it’s going to probably get worse before it gets better.”

Or maybe you’ll only have to shoot one or two to get the rest of owners to comply? 

“It does seem like the dogs being kennelled are the dogs which are more dangerous, but it is obviously the case that they’re stuck in kennels and we don’t want that from a dog welfare perspective, and it’s also something that’s sad from an owner perspective,” said Benedict Treloar, co-founder of the Campaign for Evidence-Based Regulation of Dangerous Dogs (CEBRDD).

Why is the welfare of mutts that have killed people and pets even a factor in your deliberations? There are other agebcies to worry about that:

The RSPCA, which did not support the XL bully ban, wants to see compulsory recording of dog bite incidents to help understand the scale of the problem and its causes, with a greater focus on education and prevention, rather than seizing animals.

Yes, they really are suggesting that killer animals be left with the useless owners. Another reason not to give them any money, as if one was needed.

Oh, To Be A Fly On The Wall...

...when someone has to tell The Donald who she is!

Rachel Reeves has stepped up her criticism of Donald Trump’s war on Iran, describing it as a “mistake” that has destabilised the global economy and damaged living standards around the world.“I think it was a mistake to end those [talks with Iran] and to enter into conflict, because I’m not convinced that we are safer today than we were a few weeks ago,” she told an event in Washington.

'So, she's Defence Minister, right? 

'No Mister President, Chancellor!' 

'Well then, what does she know about military matters?'

'As much as she knows about monetary ones, sir...'

“Friends are allowed to disagree on things,” Reeves said. “When you are friends you can speak your truth and deliver that fair message,” she said.

I think you’re about to discover some well deserved ‘truthful speaking’ for the first time in your entirely undeserved life.

Does ‘Set A Thief To Catch A Thief’ Translate Into Greek?

Police in Greece have been recruiting migrants to violently push other migrants back across its land border with Turkey, according to wide-ranging evidence uncovered by the BBC.

Well, they do come to take on the dirty jobs that citizens don’t want to do, after all… 

Our findings reveal allegations of brutality, with witnesses reporting migrants being stripped, robbed, beaten and even sexually assaulted. It has been claimed that mercenaries have been unofficially employed on the border since at least 2020.

That’s a risk factor of being involved in a criminal enterprise like trying to enter a county illegally, the people you are mixing with have no morals, like yourself. 

The Greek prime minister told the BBC he was "totally unaware" about allegations of the use of migrants for pushbacks, while the country's authorities have not responded to our written detailed requests for comment.

You can just feel the simmering rage in the copywriter that those filthy dagoes are refusing to answer the allegations, can’t you? 

Pushbacks - forcing migrants and asylum seekers back across borders without due process - are generally considered illegal under international law.

Ah, international law! And we all know that wrong ‘uns love to rely on that, even though its unenforceable, don’t we, Reader?