A group of retired Gurkhas fighting for the right to settle in Britain have won their immigration test case at London's High Court.
A British couple whose two-month-old daughter was taken into care after a "misguided" suspicion of abuse have been awarded £8,000 in compensation.They were also awarded their costs, totalling £14, 000. Sadly, that isn’t coming out of the pockets of doctors, social workers and judges who dropped the ball in this case:
The girl, from Oldham, was taken into care in 1998 after breaking her leg.In other words, doctors misdiagnosed the cause of the injury, failed to complete proper checks, jumped to unwarranted conclusions and then the panoply of the ‘child protection experts’ swung into action, as ponderous and slow to change course as an oil tanker.
The family was reunited nine months later when another injury revealed that the girl had brittle bone disease.
… their solicitor Emma Holt…said "I think what motivated them was the very strong feeling that they had been wronged.Let’s hope they do.
"In cases like this people always say, 'No smoke without fire' and these accusations stick.
"I think the family were on a quest to find someone to uphold that what happened to them was wrong."
Ms Holt said the judgment opened up the possibility that other families in similar situations could bring human rights claims in the future.
More than 100 prisoners freed under an early-release scheme are on the run after being told to come back to jail, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show.And those are just the ones that refused to come back. Plenty never co-operated with the terms of their early release either:
Under the scheme, introduced last summer to ease overcrowding, 36,661 inmates have been let out early, with 2,486 of these released in August 2008.So once again, the taxpayer (who pays for criminals to be put behind bars and kept there) is paying the salary of incompetents:
But 1,244 were recalled for breaking their licenses, and 111 of these are still on the run, the MoJ told the BBC.
Ministers predicted 25,500 prisoners would be released in the first year, but the actual number was 31,500.‘Broadly in line’? There’s a 6000-prisoner difference!
An MoJ spokesman said: "The numbers released and our projections for the total number of releases over a year are broadly in line with the numbers we originally expected."
Millions of children in the UK are living in, or on the brink of, poverty, a report claims.The definition of poverty they are using? Well, it’s ‘if they are living on under £10 per person per day’.
The Campaign to End Child Poverty says 5.5 million children are in families that are classed as "struggling" - 98% of children in some areas.
The Campaign to End Child Poverty is a coalition of more than 130 organisations including Barnardo's, Unicef and the NSPCC.How much do you suppose these worthy ‘charidees’ spent on refreshments for their little launch party shindig? Bet it was more than £10 per person per day…
Ms Fisher said…"If the government does not allocate £3bn in tax credits and benefits in the next budget, then their plans to reduce child poverty will fail."Yup, more handouts! That always works…
The Campaign to End Child Poverty will stage a rally in London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday 4 October called Keep The Promise, where it will call on Gordon Brown to keep Labour's promises on child poverty.Can’t wait…
A row has broken out at the University of Manchester after its students' union toilets were "de-gendered".So, some institutions aren’t short of cash, then…? And the reason for this bizarre decision?
Temporary signs have made the "ladies" simply "toilets", while the "gents" have become "toilets with urinals".
The changes are in response to an unspecified number of complaints from trans students who are uncomfortable using the men's toilets.An ‘unspecified number’ being how many? More than one? Nice cost-benefit analysis there…
A university newspaper criticised the move but the student union said it was needed to tackle transphobia.Ah, yes, another totally made-up word to describe the not-unreasonable suggestion that biological females would be unhappy sharing their toilet facilities with someone who isn’t female. (I note there’s been no complaints the other way…!).
Welfare officer Jennie Killip told the BBC:"If you were born female, still present quite feminine, but define as a man you should be able to go into the men's toilets - if that's how you define.Excellent! I’m defining myself as a racehorse, then entering the Derby, and I’ll sue if anyone tries to deny me the right!. What, that’s ridiculous, you say? Well, not really any more ridiculous than the above, is it?
"You don't necessarily have had to have gender reassignment surgery, but you could just define yourself as a man, feel very masculine in yourself, feel that in fact being a woman is not who you are."
Asked about the change, some female students questioned the move.Hmmm, more indoctrination needed for these two, I think. Don’t they recognise where they come in the hierarchy of Victimhood Poker? Hint, ladies: it’s not above the ‘needs’ of those who can’t make up their minds if they’re Mark or Martha. ‘Welfare Officer’ Killip is on a mission!
One said: "Girls might not want to use the same toilets as boys, so then you just end up with people complaining about that - so you can't really win.
Another told the BBC: "I personally wouldn't want to be in the same toilet as a man."
The move prompted an editorial in campus newspaper Student Direct last week which criticised the new arrangements.Nothing nicer than seeing lefties turning on each other…
Newspaper spokeswoman Susannah Birkwood said: "The toilets have been provided for men who don't self identify as men and women who don't think of themselves as women.
"Whether or not this is political correctness gone mad.. because it certainly seems that way to some members of our student community."
With his white hair, wax jacket and glasses, 78-year-old Philip Clarkson Webb clearly ticked all the boxes any eagle-eyed policemen would mark as 'danger'.Yup, you heard that right - they confiscated an old man's walking stick. The reason? He was near the climate protest and they thought he might be one of the demonstrators...
And as he shuffled along the pavement towards them there was one thing above all they deemed to pose a threat - his walking stick.
The officers surrounded the retired classics teacher and informed him the 3ft wooden cane was an 'offensive weapon' and had to be confiscated.
Mr Clarkson Webb duly handed it over, but the farce did not end there.Well done, Kent Police. Another triumph for PR...
When he later went to collect it from his local police station in Southborough, Kent, with his police receipt, he was told it had been misplaced.
It took a string of phone calls for Kent Police to finally admit they had lost it and to offer to buy him a brand new one.
A businessman has been arrested after parading an employee he suspected of stealing along a busy shopping street with a sign saying "thief" hanging around his neck.Tut, tut! Fancy humiliating a person like that? It's wicked, so it is. Doesn't he realise that thieves have human rights?
Mr Cremer, 44, took matters into his own hands after discovering that an employee had allegedly stolen a business cheque, forged his signature and cashed it for £845 before going on holiday to Cyprus.Of course, Mr Cremer will have been thinking 'A thief, caught bang to rights! I'm doing my civic duty'.
Although he believed the stunt, designed to shame the man, constituted a form of citizen's arrest, he found himself under arrest himself alongside three other fitters who helped him.
A flu virus more deadly than any seen in two decades is threatening Britain.But it could potentially do some good, removing those stubborn older people who won’t heed the words of the wise and compassionate:
The strain originates in Australia where it has claimed hundreds of lives, including those of children.
Hugh Pennington, professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, said: 'If this flu has been busy in Australia, it is reasonable to suppose that we may get a similar situation in the UK. Viruses travel round the world very quickly now.
…
'There is no doubt that elderly people are more at risk. It can tear through an old folk's home and cause a lot of harm.'
Social networking websites and major technology companies are joining the government in an organisation designed to improve children's safety online.Well, how could a scheme launched by those two intellectual giants possibly fail?
The UK Council for Child Internet Safety is to be launched by Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
The council will promote responsible online advertising and will seek to shut down "harmful" websites.Firstly, how are they going to ‘shut down’ websites, especially those hosted overseas? For that matter, what does ‘harmful’ mean? Who gets to define it? And if it’s a voluntary code, what happens if you aren’t signed up to it?
It will also develop a voluntary code for websites featuring users' content.
The council, which will report to the prime minister, will have a membership of over 100 organisations, including technology companies such as Microsoft and Google, websites such as Facebook and mobile phone companies such as O2.And if the procedures aren’t complied with by the site in question? What then, given it’s supposedly voluntary?
It promises to create codes of practice in protecting children from "illegal internet sites that promote harmful behaviour" (Ed – ‘illegal’ how?) and will address issues such as online bullying.
There will also be an examination of how websites handle videos or messages posted by users - and what the procedures should be for removing offensive or inappropriate material.
A grandmother was knocked down and killed by a speeding police car whose driver was racing back after delivering a birthday card to his sister while he was on duty. Sandy Simpson, 61, was only yards away from her home when she was run down by the unnamed officer travelling at nearly twice the speed limit and using his blue lights.So much for the 'urban myth' that police on blues and sirens are just racing to the fish and chip shop. Sometimes it isn't even that.
He had been given permission to leave the station to deliver a card to his sister.
It was on the way back, where a mobile data terminal recovered from his car showed that he was doing 57mph on a 30mph road when he hit Mrs Simpson in Bromley, Kent.
At one point on his drive from his home in Swanley, Kent back to the station he topped speeds of 100mph.
Legal sources say he could be charged with causing death by dangerous driving, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, or manslaughter charges, which can lead to life behind bars.'Could' be....?
Homes could be plunged into darkness this winter as the nation faces the shocking prospect of power cuts.Looney lefties infest local councils:
Tower Hamlets Community Housing denied it was glorifying police killers.Runaway costs squeeze taxpayers:
Home owners face paying up to £500 a year more on the average mortgage as some of Britain's largest lenders raised rates in the wake of the economic turmoil of the last two weeks.Oh, well, at least we haven't got the prospect of constant striking from the public sector...
Britain's biggest union for government workers will ballot 270,000 members over strike action as it pressures Prime Minister Gordon Brown to improve pay.
A paedophile vicar built up a collection of almost 57,000 indecent images of children - and his wife approved, a court heard yesterday.Pretty vile. But it gets worse:
The couple even looked at some of the pictures together before having sex.
Prosecutor Ieuan Morris, who called her attitude 'bizarre', said that when police arrived at the vicarage she said she was not surprised to see them.Even viler. But it gets worse still:
After her husband was arrested she told police: 'We occasionally looked at images of teenage girls, sometimes leading to sexual intercourse.'
She added: 'If parents were happy to have their children on the internet in this manner it wasn't anyone else's business.
'It was a matter for them and no one else.'
The court heard Mrs Hart was cautioned by police for possession of pictures in category 1 - the least serious.Two years...? Two years! And only a caution?
She has also been disqualified for two years from working with children - she worked part-time at Beguildy Church in Wales school where her husband was a governor.
Teenagers are snubbing healthy school dinners as local takeaways undercut canteens with buy-one-get-one-free deals, according to a study.And the problem with that is....?
It follows claims that schoolchildren are being driven away from canteen food by the Government's campaign to put healthy meals on the menu.So, you put up costs and decrease customer choice, and people say 'No thanks, I'll go elsewhere' as a result. A valuable economic lesson. But not to this government:
High-fat and sugary food is now banned, while schools are forced to serve at least two portions of fruit and veg per child every day.
Many schools have been forced to put up costs to pay for more expensive ingredients.
The Government's School Food Trust (SFT) - which promotes healthy eating - admitted that the rise in price was an issue but insisted that parents should be prepared to spend more.The perfect NuLabour apparatchik - her only response is to stamp her feet and whine that the dumb proles just won't do what their betters tell them to..!
Speaking at a conference in central London, Judy Hargadon, chief executive, said: "We need people to be changing their minds about whether this is important. When computer equipment was terribly important for schools we didn't think of the expense of it, people worked out ways to fund it.
"Each of us who believe in this have to start fighting back about this, they are not unreasonable sums to pay to feed children properly at lunchtime."
A patient held up an ambulance at gunpoint and threatened to kill its crew before taking the emergency vehicle and crashing it into five cars.Apparently, he was upset at the thought of being taken to Queens Hospital in Romford.
The man allegedly pulled a gun on the terrified crew before crashing the ambulance into the cars, one of which was shunted into the front of a house.
Burglars are targeting the homes of Muslims in Lancashire who are visiting mosques during Ramadan.Typical, coming over here, burgling the houses our native scum don't have the work ethic to be burgling... ;)
Homes in Brierfield have been burgled by the men, who are believed to be Asian, during special prayer times.
Insp Russ Procter, of Lancashire police, said: "If we are right in thinking that these offenders are specifically targeting homes during prayer times then their actions are despicable.So, if they were burgling the homes of football fans while they were down the pub or watching the match at the grounds, that'd be somehow less terrible?
"Using the holy month as an excuse to steal from homes is terrible. I am appealing for anyone with any information to come forward so that we can catch these callous thieves quickly."
"James is not a real boy, but he is an accurate composite of the 572 young offenders aged 14 or less highlighted by Barnardo's in their report Locking Up or Giving Up? revealing the barbaric truth about our approach to child criminals in England and Wales..."A composite, eh? Sounds like a game we could all play:
The clowns play trumpets and saxophones during a six-minute act as part of Zippo's Circus, one of the UK's biggest travelling circuses.Bizarrely, this only affects the clowns. Other music during the circus isn’t subject to the same claims:
But Birmingham council officials said the clowns were in breach of licensing laws.
Show organisers had to pull all music from the act, leaving the circus with silent clowns.
Circus owner Martin Burton claimed the clowns were being picked on as other acts can use instruments and a live keyboard throughout was deemed legitimate.They’re not wrong, are they? So, why do the council have a problem with clowns? Can’t they at least show them some professional courtesy?
…
"We had to take the music out. The clowns are from Spain, I explained the situation to them and now they think the English are mad".
The Licensing Act 2003 forbids the playing of any live music without a licence.Can’t see where this falls into any of those categories. I guess the council are just flexing their muscles because they can. And this is why it’s not a good idea to give them powers like this in the first place…
Councils must take into consideration four "licensing objectives" when exercising the powers of the Act, which was designed provide regulated entertainment.
They are the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.
The special 4x4 vehicle is designed to hoist large animals such as horses and cows which get into trouble.John Prescott can shower in safety now…
But a report by Essex Fire Authority's chief fire officer David Johnson said the 'Unimog' 4x4 could be used for the safe movement of "bariatric" people - very large adults.
A road rage woman driver was burned to death after ramming another vehicle and setting her own car on fire by furiously revving her engine until sparks flew from the wheels, it emerged today.Despite a passerby’s courageous actions, opening her door and encouraging her to get out of the now burning vehicle, she refused, threatened him and firmly closed the door. Odd behaviour? Well, yes:
Ms Sutton-Smith, who suffered from drastic mood swings caused by bi-polar disorder, had failed to appreciate the danger she was in because of her mental condition, coroner Alan Crickmore said.Maybe not, but she certainly intended to do serious harm to Mrs Small. What would she have been charged with, had she lived? Probably nothing.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, he said he was satisfied she had not intended to kill herself.
The inquest heard medical evidence that Ms Sutton-Smith suffered from bi-polar disorder and could become extremely agitated.Just the sort of person we want on the roads…
Her mental condition made it likely that she would act impulsively and fail to appreciate when she was in danger.
Social workers failed to spot the risks to a toddler who was tortured to death by her drug addict stepfather, a report has found.Stand by for the usual whining and excuses…
The girl, named as Lois in the report, was killed by Daniel Bishop, 28, four months after he moved into her home in Caerphilly in 2004.
Social workers were concerned about her welfare in the weeks before she died but did not act, said the report.
Neighbours on the Lansbury Park estate in Caerphilly said they had complained about the abuse but the court was told that the couple kept it hidden from social services.Ahhh, professionals, you see. So much better at their job than mere members of the public. Just like in the Victoria Climbié case.
…
Chair of the CSCB David Hopkins said Lois' death highlighted the challenges faced by professionals in dealing with child protection cases.
"This case was complicated by the determined efforts of Sarah and Daniel Bishop to deceive professionals and cover up any signs of abuse or injuries to her," he said.Err, isn’t that why we pay your staff the salaries we do…? Because they are supposed to be able to outwit a pair of drug-addled members of the underclass and check for non-accidental injury?
The resulting Maddocks' Report, published on Monday, found there was a "failure to recognise indicators of risk" and a collective "failure to react with sufficient clarity of purpose".Translation: ‘We were too dumb to force a drug addict mother to show us the injuries caused to her child by her violent live-in boyfriend, and when neighbours pointed that out, we sat on our well-paid backsides holding case conferences and awaiting our public sector pensions….’
It found that "significant changes" to strengthen the safeguards for children in Caerphilly county borough had been made in the four years since Lois' death by all the agencies involved, but it still made eight recommendations.Translation: ‘Ooops! Long-term drug addicts are deceitful, lying scum! Who knew? Our bad, won’t happen again…’
This included mandatory training for staff working with drug abusing parents to help them recognise any disguised harm.
More children are being locked up in England and Wales, according to the charity Barnardo's.Well, you wouldn’t really expect anything else from the ‘children are people too!’ charity, after all. Children are their bread and butter, their cash cow, so looking after their interests (even to the extent of lobbying for them to face no consequences for their criminal actions) is exactly what they are going to do.
There has been a five-fold surge in the use of custody for 10 to 14-year-olds from 1996-2006, said the charity.
Before 1994, under 15s in England and Wales could be sentenced to custody only if they had committed serious or violent offences such as rape, assault or burglary.And why have these legal changes been made? Because of public outcries over the lack of teeth in the legislation concerning feral youth and low-level crime. Which while it might not be ‘serious’ in the strictest sense of the word, is still enough to make the lives of neighbours a living hell.
But successive legal changes have made it easier for children to be locked up, in secure units or secure homes run by local councils, for driving or drunk and disorderly offences, for example.
They can also be given custodial sentences for breaching behavioural orders.
Martin Narey, Barnardo's chief executive, and former director general of the Prison Service, called for a "drastic reduction" in the use of custody for very young children.Youth offending hasn’t been growing…? What planet does Narey inhabit? Because it isn’t this one.
"Barnardo's are not naïve: we recognise that children committing grave crimes need to be incarcerated," he said.
"But the explosion in the use of custody for very young children when youth offending has not been growing is inexplicable, unjustifiable and unnecessary.
Barnardo's wants a change in sentencing thresholds so that a child under 15 cannot be sent to custody unless they have committed grave or violent crimes. It claims this would save the government £27.5 million a year.Ah, I just love the phrasing there – local authorities won’t ‘carry the full costs’, of course. Taxpayers will. Whether out of central government funds, or local government stealth taxes, it’s taxpayers who will bankroll whatever approach to feral youth is taken.
They also want local authorities to carry the full costs for those children sentenced to custody.
The doctor who alleged the solicitor Sally Clark's husband murdered their two children is to be allowed to return to child protection work.Well, of course, that decision was made by other doctors, who are inclined to be protective of their own interests, over and above those of the public. Just like any other union.
Andrew Reid, chairman of the panel, told Dr Southall: "You have acknowledged that you have learnt a lot from these proceedings and that it will impact on all the work you do.So, no regret or remorse about the effect his actions had on the family, just over the effects it had on other doctors? Nice…
"You have expressed regret for the impact that the PCC (Professional Conduct Committee) findings have had on the profession, and remorse that your actions have contributed to the fear that now exists amongst paediatricians involved in child protection work.
"The panel considers that you have demonstrated considerable insight into your previous failings."
Addressing the panel last month, Dr Southall maintained that he still thought he was correct to raise the alarm over Mr Clark after watching the interview given to Channel 4's Dispatches programme in April 2000.Yeah, some insight there, all right…
The paediatrician is currently appealing against a separate GMC decision in which he was again found guilty of serious professional misconduct, for accusing a mother of drugging and murdering her 10-year-old son.Well, naturally.
Dr Southall is allowed to carry on working as a doctor while his appeal continues.
Today Mr Rashid told how the family were left so terrorised by a series of ghostly sightings they handed the property back to their bank, just eight months after being handed the keys.Ghosts. Mmm-hmm...
Frightening indeed, and a largely self-created problem. The current centre-right government – supported by the nationalistic and right wing Danish Peoples party – has since 2001 marginalised and stereotyped immigrants.Let me get this straight - you have a problem with immigrant-derived gangs (mostly second-generation) dealing drugs on the street and fighting a vicious street war with your home grown thugs, and it's the right wing parties that are the problem....?!
Our society is much fairer than the British with far fewer class divisions. As we say in Danish: "Why didn't we fix the roof while the sun was shining?"Well, probably because you didn't have a roof problem. You had a rain problem.
The answer, unfortunately, is that there was no will to do so. An unwelcoming host will usually find he has impolite guests.Then the host, having welcomed them in in the first place, served them food and allowed them to make themselves comfortable, shows them the door when they start to abuse his hospitality. It is, when all is said and done, your house...
The government has decided to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in full, the BBC has learned.Meaning that child migrants and asylum seekers are free to enter the country. And why? For votes, of course:
BBC News home editor Mark Easton says since 1991 the British government has argued that immigration control should take priority over signing the convention.I've not seen anything this blatent since...well, since the last time the Labour Party ran into difficulties.
The move will go down well with Labour's rank and file, he added.
But in her latest interview, given to the Church of Scotland's magazine Life and Work, Lady Warnock goes further by claiming that dementia sufferers should consider ending their lives through euthanasia because of the strain they put on their families and public services.Did I read that right..? The Church of Scotland magazine? They actually printed this Nazi garbage?
Some health trusts in London are resorting to "direct action" to encourage people to stop smoking and to look after their mental and sexual health.I can see how they plan to target smokers, but 'sexual and mental health'?
Not content with warnings for smokers in adverts, posters and on cigarette packets, they are employing people to confront them in the street as they step out for a few quiet puffs.
She works for the marketing firm "Don't Panic", which has also done this type of work for other London health trusts.So, basically, you will be approached in the street and asked intensely personal stuff by the same type of people who try to hand you 'complimentary' tickets for the latest wine bar. Nice...
The company started out in events-promotion, and has brought techniques from that business to public health.
James Gubb, health director of the think tank Civitas, says this is a big step too far.Bit behind the times there, James. They are already doing that...
"I think this is just another road on a very slippery slope.
"What are you going to be doing next? Are you going to be coming up to people in the street and saying why are you overweight?
The local Labour MP in Ealing, Stephen Pound, famously kicked his cigarette habit of 40 years after voting to back the ban on smoking in enclosed public places.Nice use of language there...
He is all for going after smokers on the street.
"You've now got this new phenomenon. These self-affirming groups of outlaws huddled around, outside buildings, and what they do is reinforcing their addiction more and more.
"So I think we need to confront - which is not too harsh a word.
"People are happier having given up smoking, therefore lets spread a bit of happiness and make a bit of a nuisance of ourselves on the highways and byways of west London."
Many people genuinely do not want to be saints, and it is probable that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never felt much temptation to be human beings.
“We are looking at a whole new area of open-source intelligence,” a senior Scotland Yard source told The Times.That last part may not be an actual quote… ;)
“It has a part to play in a number of inquiries. But these social networking sites may also have a role in predicting incidents and helping us prevent them.
And it’s a far easier job than kicking down doors in the middle of the night and brawling with aggressive street youths in the rain. Never mind all that ‘Life on Mars’ rubbish, no-one really wants to be Gene Hunt, we’d all rather be Ferris Beuller…”
Detectives have struggled with their lack of familiarity with the networking sites and teenage slang.Lulz! I’ll just bet…
Gloria Laycock, director of the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, (Ed: For real..? Sheesh…) in London, said that more research was required into why some young people carried weapons. “The messages that young people get influence their behaviour and they get a lot of those messages from social networking sites and the internet,” Professor Laycock said.Which roughly translates as ‘The cops are getting a chance to sit on their backsides in a cozy office all day, drinking coffee and browsing the web? That should be our bloody gig! Where’s our union rep..?’
“They are very susceptible to the message of following the crowd . . . It is worth looking at how we communicate with young people and how they communicate with each other if we want to exert some control over their behaviour.”
A convicted rapist was allowed to walk out of a secure hospital unit because his carers were not authorised to stop him physically, a court was told yesterday.In what way, then, was it a ‘secure’ hospital unit?
O’Keefe, who was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for rape and robbery, appeared yesterday before Inner London Crown Court to plead guilty to one count of escaping custody.Anyone think 18 months for a lifer who escaped is ‘substantial’? Nope, me neither…
Jailing him for 18 months, Judge Simon Davies said: “Escaping from prison or escaping in the circumstances you found yourself in is a very serious offence and it must attract a substantial sentence of imprisonment.
The court was told that O’Keefe had been jailed originally for raping and robbing his girlfriend and then tying her to a radiator with electric wire.So, he’s dangerous enough to demand his detention in a secure unit – until he complains of a medical problem, then he’s promptly accompanied to a public hospital by nurses whose only recourse in the event of an escape attempt is to say ‘Please don’t, there’s a good chap’…?
He had a personality disorder diagnosed and was held in a secure unit in Lambeth Hospital, South London. In February he complained of chest pains and was taken to King’s College Hospital.
During the time that he was missing, O’Keefe became a suspect in the murder of David Kemp, 73, in his flat in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on March 12. He was subsequently interviewed twice by police after evidence was found linking him to the scene.Unless he has chest pains again, that is…
Detectives in Norfolk are still waiting for prosecutors to decide if there is enough evidence to charge O’Keefe, and Mr Kemp’s death was not mentioned in court yesterday. But Judge Davies said that O’Keefe was a dangerous man and a risk to the public.
Motorists could face £20 spot fines if they leave their engines running while stuck in traffic.This isn’t actually ‘a bid to cut down on pollution’ - as any fule know (and the AA points out in the article), stopping and starting the engine produces more emissions.
Traffic wardens will be able to issue the penalties - after a warning - in a bid to cut down on pollution.
Cabbie Roger Turner, 30, said he was disgusted with the idea, adding: 'Who gave them the right to tell us to switch off our engines?’Anyone who buys into the ‘it’s for the
Gordon Brown has sacked Labour MP Barry Gardiner as his special envoy for forestry after he joined the list of MPs calling for a leadership challenge.But Barry seems to be so keen on getting rid of dead wood…
Leaked video footage showing barrister Mark Saunders being shot by police raises serious questions over the handling of the investigation into his death.If true, it puts a different complexion on things, particularly the IPCC’s recent condemnation of the family for their actions in talking to the media.
The tape appears to corroborate his family's claim - first made in the Evening Standard - that the lawyer was not aiming his shotgun directly at officers when he was killed.
The IPCC claimed the video incident should have been kept confidential and claimed in the High Court that the family's 'aggressive' questioning and 'regrettable' conduct had hindered its inquiry.First rule of glass houses – when in one, avoid throwing any stones…
But the IPCC will come under fire over the leaked footage. The family has never had a copy of the tape and cannot be blamed for it being passed to a newspaper.
If the Sun's version of events is correct, it raises serious questions over why the IPCC attacked the family in open court and in an official statement released last week.The key word there being ‘if’. But if it is true, then questions will need to be asked, not just over the actual shooting itself, but over the security and handling of police film...
A bus driver admitted hurling an astonishing tirade of four-letter words at an OAP passenger - but denied calling him old.I think the bus company should rethink its customer service training...
Passenger John Bustin asked driver Juan Jose Zepeda if his bus went from Victoria Place, Bright-lingsea, to Colchester.
The pensioner was stunned when dad-of-four Zepeda replied, “Are you f****** blind?”, a court heard.
Mr Bustin asked him to repeat what he had said, but the driver then swore again, said Lucy Miller, prosecuting.
Zepeda stood up clenching his fists in anger, the court heard.
Zepeda still drives the route for the same bus company...Huh..?
A couple let an 18-month-old-toddler wander the streets while they went on a drinking spree.I can't link to the picture of this couple that the 'Mail' has printed. Not that I'm technically unable, you understand, I just can't bring myself to look at it again. Once was enough...
Glenn Ellidge, 38, and Lisa Zykowski, 29, were so drunk they allowed the little girl to fend for herself and left her with a drunken stranger.
The court heard that Ellidge had 129 offences against him - 88 for theft, while Zykowski has been convicted of 26 offences - 11 for theft-related offences.Why did two alcoholic drug takers with criminal records as long as your arm, and several alarming incidents witnessed by members of the public, have care of a child anyway? Beats me! Still, now at least the law has finally caught up with them...
At Manchester Crown Court, Zykowski who is seven months pregnant and Ellidge, both of Westcott Avenue, Withington pleaded guilty to child cruelty.Best comment comes from 'john, london, 12/9/2008 19:29' -
They were both given an 18-month community rehabilitation order and made subject to a 12-month drug rehabilitation order.
I will pay for the operation and chuck in 24 cans of special brew if they both agree to be sterilised.
A judge yesterday condemned social services for failing to protect a baby girl who was shaken to death by her violent father.It's the usual story of the underclass - unmarried mother meets unemployed man, is 'in fear' of him but goes on to have a child with him and marry him (the only surprising aspect of the case!), then he shakes the child to death.
...
He spoke out after hearing how she was removed from the at risk register by social workers only weeks before she was shaken 'like a rag doll' by her father Gary Allen, 26.
Gail Hopper, chairman of Durham Local Safeguarding Children Board, said: 'Shortly after Alisha's death, we initiated a serious case review.Ah, the old excuses are the best, aren't they Gail..?
'The agencies involved have taken lessons learned from this process and have instigated any improvements to their practice and procedures or other action they deemed necessary.'
Some Year Seven pupils were left crying in fear that they may have the disease until it was revealed that it was just a role play for a creative writing class.‘Welcome to school, drones! We feel free to lie to you and scare the pants off you, just for fun! What, you thought the bullies were just going to be among your classmates…?’
They had been told there was a local typhoid epidemic and if they were suffering they would be locked in the school for 48 hours.
The head teacher at Bower Park School in Romford had to explain to angry parents that it was part of a push to 'eradicate passive learning and replace it with exciting creative lessons'.Note that ‘apologise’ doesn’t factor into it, merely ‘explain’…
The school defended the role play saying it was part of the national curriculum active learning in English which puts children in real life situations to put them in touch with their feelings so they can write about them.Never mind the facts, feel the feelings…
The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, reacted with fury when Mr Miliband and he spoke on the telephone. Mr Lavrov objected to being lectured by the British.
Such was the repeated use of the "F-word" according to one insider who has seen the transcript, it was difficult to draft a readable note of the conversation.
One unconfirmed report suggested that Mr Lavrov said: "Who are you to f------ lecture me?"
All 11-year-old schoolchildren are to receive a free cookbook under a new scheme aimed at promoting healthy eating and tackling obesity.Yup, that’s worth doing, don’t you think? In an age when grinning Cockney chefs are never off the telly, gameshows based on cooking litter the daytime TV schedules, there’s two satellite TV channels dedicated solely to cookery shows, and everyone but the family dog has access to billions of recipes from all over the world on the Internet.
It will be given to all 11-year-olds in England as part of a package of measures announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls, who urged parents to get their children, especially boys, into the kitchen at home.£150..million…! Words fail me.
…
More than £150 million has been earmarked to build new teaching kitchens in schools and Mr Balls said the funding paves the way for compulsory cooking lessons for pupils aged 11 to 14, which are due to be introduced for the first time from 2011.
The funding drive will see £750,000 earmarked for training and recruiting 800 new specialist teachers.
HMRC lose discs containing the details of 25 million child benefit claimants – big payout for sacrificial lamb, yet losses continue unabated.
EDS lose a hard drive containing 5,000 prison staff members (putting them potentially at risk) yet fail to tell anyone for a year – an inquiry is ordered.
PA Consulting lose prisoners’ data – immediate sacking for the company and a review into its other contracts.NuLabour – only concerned over some data losses. The ones that might impact on their dwindling voter pool…
But a council spokesman said: ‘We do reserve the right to ask people what they are doing in the park.Make no mistake – this is what really irks the petty little gauleiters that have slowly but surely taken over our councils. And they are winning in their efforts to ensure that we no longer have the right to come and go and do as we please. Plus, we’re paying their salaries and inflated pensions while they do it.
Otherwise it’s a free-for-all where they can come and do what they want.’
There were at least 116 escapes from medium and low secure psychiatric hospitals and escorting staff last year, a BBC investigation has found.Yet they still met the requirements to be housed in these establishments. Sounds a little odd, doesn’t it, in a country where the morbid fear of ‘risk’ can shut down a bar over its staircase ...?
Some of the units held patients who had committed serious and violent crimes.
Four patients remain at large. That compares with just five escapes from prisons and escorting staff in 2007.Four…? That’s the official figure, naturally. Perhaps they haven’t escaped at all. Perhaps they are posing as staff…?
Two other cases which have raised security concerns at the Hayes, included an incident in which patient Tamer Mahmood was taken to St Werburghs City Farm - a place popular with families and schoolchildren.You take a sex offender to a petting farm?
The farm said it was not informed he was on the sex offenders register and despite being accompanied by staff Mahmood absconded for 17 hours.
The Hayes Hospital admitted they may have been wrong not to inform the farm of the patient's criminal history on this occasion. Even so they said they might in future withhold such information depending on individual circumstances.They need to be told what their priorities are - and safety of the public comes first, particularly if they wish to sup from the public teat – which shouldn't include covering their blushes when yet another dangerous loon skips to freedom.
Earlier in March another patient from the Hayes, who was allowed a pint at a local pub every week under supervision, became aggressive.What was…? Hugs ‘n cuddles? It seems the lunatics really are running the institution!
Following these three incidents Carol Povey, head of adult services at the National Autistic Society, was asked whether security should be stepped up, but said this was not necessarily the best course of action.
"The Hayes is not a prison. It is a hospital which specialises in working with people with autistic spectrum disorders. Our primary aim is therapeutic, to help people grow in their independence," he said.Oh, spare me! What was the 14 year old, a ‘less-complex person’, and so of less importance that the ‘right’ of your precious inmate to watch all the porn & horror he could get his hands on?
"People who live here are here because they've been assessed.
"There has been an incident which was absolutely tragic, but we're working with complex people. We try to get the balance between therapy and security and it's extremely difficult to do that."
One senior nurse from a medium secure unit who has worked in the field for more than 10 years expressed his concerns about security.If hospitals such as this one consider that their priorities are the comfort and self-esteem of the patients, regardless of the danger they pose, then they are not the right places for anyone deemed a danger, and any patients deemed to pose a danger should be transferred to high-security hospitals forthwith. If there aren’t enough, build more. Immediately.
"One of the units I worked in recently was not fit for purpose.
"We said to our trust that we wanted to have bars put on windows that patients could possibly escape from and managers didn't do it because they said it was aesthetically unpleasing and could stifle the therapeutic nature of the unit and they didn't have the finances - until three people broke out and then they had the finances to sort it out."
A 92-year-old school governor has been told he can no longer give chocolate to children at a Cornish school, because of a drive to promote healthy eating.Naturally, the killjoys and box-tickers can’t have that…
Head teacher Randall Brook said the school had no choice because of government guidelines on healthy eating.I guess Mr Brook has never heard the expression ‘a little of what you fancy does you good’. Let’s hope if there’s a Mrs Brook, she helps him understand that.
He said: "On one side we are educating children about the importance of healthy eating so we could not be seen to be providing chocolate which is obviously not healthy eating."
Pupils at the school appeared to be resigned to the new food regime.*pat, pat* There’s a good little drone! And when you grow up, the government will be so proud of you…
"I don't miss it very much," said one as he tucked into his raisins.
An innocent couple were dramatically arrested by armed police who thought they were about to hold up a bank with a gun.The ‘gun’..? Turned out to be a wheelbrace that some passer-by took to be a gun and phoned police, who followed them for a while before stopping them outside a bank, presumably believing they were about to rob it.
Another witness, Robert West, said: “I’d just pulled on to Ness Road and was following the Peugeot south towards Campfield Road when two police cars, with just their lights flashing, hurtled past.Well, there’s another two innocents on the DNA database for no good reason at all, eh? Job well done, officers! Keep it up, there’s lots more people in the country to go.
“The Peugeot pulled across the road, into a kerbside parking bay, and the police jumped out of their cars, guns in hand.”
A shop owner, who asked not to be named, said: “The first I knew about it was when I heard lots of screaming and shouting.
“There were at least two police cars and three or four armed officers, pointing their guns.”
The couple were led away, questioned and released without charge within half-an-hour of the incident.Now, the newspaper may be paraphrasing for space, but note the complete lack of any apology there. Or embarrassment, for that matter.
Essex Police spokeswoman Helen Cook said: “A member of the public reported seeing a firearm.
“We sent the armed response unit there and a couple were stopped and questioned.
“There was no firearm. It turned out they had a wheelbrace with them.”
Reading Crown Court heard the mentally-ill patient had been taken by Hayes Hospital staff to watch horror films.It gets better:
…
The court heard that Harkin, who also suffers from autistic spectrum disorder, was allowed to build a vast collection of horror and pornographic DVDs while being detained.
Harkin, a schizophrenic who killed his stepbrother, was jailed indefinitely.A low-security hospital? And he’s getting more and more disturbed? Well, clearly the thing to do is leave him there.
He was at the low-security Hayes Hospital, in the village of Pilning near Bristol, for repeatedly stabbing his six-month-old stepbrother to death in his cot.
His behaviour became increasingly disturbed and he eventually fled the institution on 2 February.
The Recorder of Cardiff, Nicholas Cooke QC, raised concerns over why Harkin, who had a history of absconding, was moved to a low-security unit.Well, no need to be hasty, is there? He might come back on his own, after all. And what’s he going to do, anyway? Rape some schoolgirl?
He also questioned why staff waited nearly half an hour before informing police and why they had previously let him watch violent films.
Scientists who are preparing to 'switch on' the most powerful particle accelerator ever built, have received death threats from critics who fear it could destroy the Earth.Ummm…..
The time has come to apply that equality rule by its original meaning. No quotas. If that means the entire civil service is staffed by Asian women, so be it. If they are best suited to the job then give them the job. Don't pass them over because there's a reformed drug addict just out of jail who happens to be a Falun Gong practitioner and your office doesn't have any of those. Employ people, don't collect them.
"Question 12: Do you believe that more should be done by the Government to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke within private dwellings or in vehicles used primarily for private purposes? If so, what do you think could be done?"Now, I don't smoke, but should I give a lift to a friend or relative who does, then what business is it of the government that I allow them to smoke in my car? And 'private dwellings'? That's up to the owner to set smoking policy, not Big Nanny!
Almost half of all schoolchildren cannot name a single mental health condition, a study of 500 young people has found.A big 'so what' from the majority of people? Tut! Don't you know it's the role of schools to do the bidding of mental health charidees now..? What, you thought it was to teach them to read, write and do sums?
And fewer than half of those surveyed felt that schools provided enough information about mental health, a third preferred to trust the internet.
An analysis of 2,000 confidential enquiries to Great Ormond Street's "Children First" website found that "psychosocial" problems were the most common topic.Yes, I can't think of a better 'treatment' for teenagers with mental health problems than that. Government-sponsored YouTube for the fragile...
The hospital has responded by setting up a new section on the site, complete with information and audio diaries recorded by teenagers with mental health problems.
Child mental health charity Young Minds said the website would be a "vital resource".
Police say the summer trial in the Cornish town of Redruth, which comes to an end with the resumption of the school term on Monday, led to a fall in anti-social behaviour in the town.So, never mind that it was unjust, it 'worked'. So they are, naturally, planning to do more of it:
That has encouraged police and councillors in other parts of Cornwall to consider adopting the scheme in their own areas, particularly during the forthcoming half-term and Christmas holidays. Police in the South Wales town of Barry are also looking to introduce a similar curfew to cope with gangs of youths on the street.And Shami Chakrabarti has finally woken up:
But civil rights groups say such curfews unfairly target the young. Shami Chakrabarti, of Liberty, said: "The police have enough powers bursting off the statute book to deal with troublemakers regardless of their age and without a blanket curfew. I have seen anti social behaviour on the streets of this country and it comes often from people of all ages."Well, yes Shami, but it's too hard. And they're too busy persecuting their own who spill the beans on the sorry excuses for 'policing' that pass muster with HQ these days. In fact, things just like this...
A murderer and serial rapist deported to Britain from Australia faces life in jail for a sex attack on a frail pensioner.I remember the fuss made when he was flown back, and it transpired that he could not be made to sign the register. I also remember thinking 'Oh, well, at least they'll be keeping a very close eye on him'. I was wrong:
Simon Wilson, 50, pleaded guilty yesterday to a sickening assault on a 71-year-old woman within weeks of being back in the UK.
He had slashed his victim across the face before his vile abuse.
British-born Wilson, who emigrated when he was two, raped six women in Australia before killing an elderly woman in a frenzied assault with up to 100 punches.
Described by one Australian police officer as an "uncontrollable freak", he spent 16 years in prison for murder but was released from custody in January and put on a plane back to Britain.
But police in London could not force him to sign the sex offenders' register because his offences were not committed in the UK. When asked to do so, Wilson refused.
Wilson was deported despite Australian police believing he should spend his life in prison.I guess I'll need a new tag again...
On arrival here he was put under surveillance by Mappa - the multiagency body which is monitoring paedophile Gary Glitter.
Children as young as eight have been recruited by councils to "snoop" on their neighbours and report petty offences such as littering, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.The difference is, these kiddies get paid, too:
The youngsters are among almost 5,000 residents who in some cases are being offered £500 rewards if they provide evidence of minor infractions.What a wonderful society we are building, eh...? Did anyone ever believe that in the UK, local councils would be taking lessons from Nicolae Ceausescu?
One in six councils contacted by the Telegraph said they had signed up teams of "environment volunteers" who are being encouraged to photograph or video neighbours guilty of dog fouling, littering or "bin crimes".
The "covert human intelligence sources", as some local authorities describe them, are also being asked to pass on the names of neighbours they believe to be responsible, or take down their number-plates.
Ealing Council in West London said: "There are hundreds of Junior Streetwatchers, aged 8-10 years old, who are trained to identify and report enviro-crime issues such as graffiti and fly-tipping."
Harlow Council in Essex said: "We currently have 25 Street Scene Champions who work with the council. They are all aged between 11 to 14. They are encouraged to report the aftermath of enviro-crimes such as vandalism to bus shelters, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping etc. They do this via telephone or email direct to the council."
Other local authorities recruit adult volunteers through advertisements in local newspapers, with at least 4,841 people already patrolling the streets in their spare time.
Some are assigned James Bond-style code numbers, which they use instead of their real names when they ring a special informer's hotline.
A supermarket cashier came face-to-face with a deadly South American spider when she found it nestling in a bunch of bananas she was unpacking.Not the brightest tool in the box, bless her…
Kate Whitmore, 25, picked up the bananas along with the highly venomous Phoneutria nigriventer.
"I held it close to my face and thought, 'What is that?' she said.
It was only after it was taken away to be put down…Eh?
MAPPA is to now tighten up its policies having found "the response by the agencies operating under MAPPA in relation to managing the risk posed by Summers could have been more robust".Hmmm, really? Let’s see:
The couple began a sexual relationship in late 2005, but by January 2006 Ms Edwards had ended their relationship.Fair enough, first offence after all.
She repeatedly told him it was over, but he began threatening her and was handed an injunction.
Summers was then given a suspended sentence rather than jailed for flouting the order.Gosh, no? No further punishment for flouting the order? How unusual…
He removed his electronic tag to get round restrictions which were meant to stop him visiting her home.And the punishment for this…? Err, well, nothing. Which led to:
David Summers, 23, plagued Diane Edwards, 53, for weeks, before killing her at a house in Blyth, Northumberland, in October 2006.He then had sex with her corpse, apparently…
The review published on Friday by MAPPA, the multi-agency management scheme for violent offenders, said Summers had no regard for the law.Well, of course he had no regard for the law! It wasn’t, after all, doing anything to stop him doing exactly as he wanted.
The heroin addict had "ignored or actively breached all restrictions placed upon him which were designed to protect Diane Edwards", according to the report.
Dave Gardiner, the Northumbria MAPPA Strategic Management Board chairman, said: "Realistically, we can never completely eliminate risk and sometimes, sadly, this has tragic consequences.Ah, yes. The ‘Ok, we screwed up, but look at all the times we don’t screw up!’ excuse… I bet it doesn’t have ‘tragic consequences’ for anyone employed in the probation industry, though.
"But there are many more individuals successfully managed through MAPPA who do not reoffend."
The director reveals that he had to sharpen his movie's ending after observing young audiences giving the salute at test screenings. "They thought it was cool and iconic. The Wave is about fun and creating a community and I believe that's still appealing. There is a strong urge today for a big idea that is bigger than yourself. Not necessarily fascism; it could be, say, the Green movement."Yes. It could indeed…
MEPs want TV regulators in the EU to set guidelines which would see the end of anything deemed to portray women as sex objects or reinforce gender stereotypes.And this is worth someone’s time? This is of such earth-shattering importance that our legislators feel a need to implement more rules and regulations?
This could potentially mean an end to attractive women advertising perfume, housewives in the kitchen or men doing DIY.
The new rules come in a report by the EU's women's rights committee.Tell the silly cow to get back in the kitchen and leave governing the country to the men in future! There, that ‘sexist’ enough for you, sweetie?
Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson urged Britain and other members to use existing equality, sexism and discrimination laws to control advertising.
She wants regulatory bodies set up to monitor ads and introduce a "zero-tolerance" policy against "sexist insults or degrading images".
Ms Svensson said: "Gender stereotyping in advertising straitjackets women, men, girls and boys by restricting individuals to predetermined and artificial roles that are often degrading, humiliating and dumbed down for both sexes."Yep, because you watched the nuclear family in the ‘Bisto’ ads, you’re going to grow up with a skewed idea of gender. According to some barking-mad boot-faced Swedish harridan, that is. Yeah, I can see why she’d throw her toys out of the pram at the thought of ‘attractive women advertising perfume’….
She added: "Gender stereotyping in advertising is one of several factors that have a big influence in efforts to make society more gender equal. When women and men are portrayed in a stereotypical way the consequence may be that it becomes difficult in other contexts to see women and men's resources and abilities."
The Advertising Standards Authority however had said there are already checks in place to prevent "discriminatory or harmful" material.Quite. We’ve already got laws – we don’t need any more. And we certainly don’t need to implement them to satisfy some Nordic Green MEP who has found a homely woman’s ideal revenge on her prettier sisters…
A spokesman said: "Although the ASA supports the overall objectives of the report... the approach suggested is inflexible and impractical."
Radio presenters have been criticised for promoting heavy drinking so as to be seen as "cool" by their listeners.What a fantastic job! Sitting on your arse all day, listening to the radio, and the government pays you to do it! Where do I sign up?
Researchers from the Bristol-based University of the West of England looked at 1,200 hours of output across six BBC and commercial stations.
…
The research, which was funded by the Department of Health and Home Office, is to be presented to the British Sociological Association in Brighton.
"Alcohol was frequently positioned as a marker of the weekend, and a hangover as a marker of a good night out," said lead researcher Professor Norma Daykin.Oh, noes! People are enjoying themselves at Christmas! Civilisation is doomed, I tell you, doomed!!
"The notion of not drinking alcohol to enjoy yourself, particularly at times of celebration such as Christmas and New Year, seemed unthinkable."
In one radio segment noted by the report, Radio 1's breakfast show presenter Chris Moyles tried to encourage TV chef Gordon Ramsay to go for a drink.“Radio presenter invites TV chef for a drink, on air! Questions asked in the House.”
Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said: "It's disappointing that so many of our radio stations glorify being drunk.Really..?
"I'd urge DJs to come up with more creative ways of engaging with their listeners."
A family who hung up posters of their missing cat were reduced to tears after a council worker threatened them with an £80 fine for being anti-social.Oh, yeah, let’s give ‘people’ like this a few more powers, shall we….?
One of their local council's community wardens soon contacted them to say they should remove them or face an on-the-spot fine for anti-social behaviour.Needless to say, the council claims to be in the right, because they are working for ‘the communidee’, ignoring the fact that I doubt they have a mandate from same to take this action:
Bus driver Stephen said: 'My wife took the call and was told quite sternly that we were going to be fined. When she got off the phone she was in disbelief and just broke down. There were a lot of tears.
'Although we love the cat we decided that £80 is a lot of money and reluctantly had to go out and take the posters down.
'It's unbelievably petty and it has made us so furious. This person was a real job'sworth. Milly is a member of our family, we're devastated she has disappeared.
A spokesman for Canterbury City Council said: 'Strictly speaking it is fly-posting, but of course we are sympathetic to someone who has lost their pet.Yes, you read that right – the people who run the council really believe that a child’s poster for his lost pet is not only the same as flyposters for ‘DJ Scum’s Bangin’ Tunez Nite’ and ‘Ali’s Minicabs – Drivers Wanted’ but it will actually attract them….!
'The problem is that left uncontrolled, fly-posting can get out of hand very quickly. Other posters advertising less emotive subjects soon go up and the place begins to look untidy.'
