Friday 18 November 2011

Taser, Taser, Taz... Oh, Ooops!

Duncan Schwab had driven past a burning car when police suddenly smashed his van window with a baton and fired the electrical stun device at his shoulder.

The shocked 45-year-old vintner was still reeling from the blow when he was taken to a police station in Totnes, Devon.

He was breath tested but charged with failing to stop when asked and the matter ended up in court a year on.
A year. A whole year, with the experience and the threat of a court case hanging over him...
But at the start of the trial no evidence was offered and the court case was dropped.
Wha..?

Given it must have been a very serious crime to have used a Tazer, as we are always assured, what gives?
Devon and Cornwall police said officers had been investigating an incident when a car hit a house and burst into flames.

They had been on the look out for culprits and were 'in a heightened state of alert'.
Translation: 'too dumb not to shoot at anything that moves'.

Oh, yeah, let's give all these cretins Tazers, rather than restrict it to the professionals, shall we?
His solicitor Nigel Butt made a request for defence costs to be paid.
'Made a request'..?

He shouldn't have needed to! The police farce involved should have immediately suspended the officers involved, taken away their shiny toys and sold them to pay Mr Schwab's court costs.

And then put the cops on wine-stamping duty while he has a foreign holiday at the Farce's personal expense...

17 comments:

A salt and battered said...

Risking PC Twerp's displeasure, Julia?

JuliaM said...

Where the police do something right, they'll get praise. When they screw up - as they did here - they'll get condemnation.

I could care less for anyone's 'wrath'...

MTG said...

IMHO the element of malfeasance appears in yet another glaring case of police misconduct. Twelve months of callous dogma is totally unacceptable.

We must hope that lessons will be....oh, wait....

Anonymous said...

Melvin you must have popped from the Daily Mail comments page straight to hear to repeat yourself!
This is an odd story and i'm not rushing to defend these officers as I know nothing more about it than published by the Mail.If the person was innocent-as decreed by the CPS-then he seems to be taking it very well.The CPS often drop cases to the polices displeasure.
I have been called much worse than twerp on a regular basis,it's almost a term of endearment in my neck of the woods!
Jaded

Anonymous said...

"...straight to hear to repeat..."

Sadly, so revealing.

Gallovidian said...

"in a heightened state of alert"

Aggressive then, eh!

Dirk Diggler said...

No doubt he'll be in line for some compo - perhaps a Binyam or maybe an Albattikhi then ?

Oh, just looked at the name - sorry mate, all bets are off.

dr cromarty said...

odd story ...If the person was innocent.... seems to be taking it very well.

Nice line in innuendo, there Constable.

pc dummer said...

he wus waring a warm koat drivin passed a hot burnin car like.i identifide this shwab dickhead and chalenged im. he f****** drove of didnt he.i feered he mite av a bomb under his koat so i let him av it, didnt i.thats all

Pavlov's Cat said...

Pavlov the Pedant here, there is no Zed in Taser

That's because it's an acronym it actually stands for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle"

Not a lot of people know that

Uncle Badger said...

I wouldn't even let the buggers have pea-shooters, personally. A taser is far too dangerous a weapon to be issued to the average copper.

Inspector Gizmo said...

Aw...no...aw. Whiney whiney, yadda yadda yadda. Does all this mean we won't get magnums for Christmas?

JuliaM said...

"This is an odd story and i'm not rushing to defend these officers as I know nothing more about it than published by the Mail.If the person was innocent-as decreed by the CPS-then he seems to be taking it very well."

Jaded, I have to agree with Dr Cromarty - 'if' he was innocent?

*tuts*

"Oh, just looked at the name - sorry mate, all bets are off."

Quite!

"Pavlov the Pedant here, there is no Zed in Taser "

I know, I noticed that when I'd published!

*shame*

Perhaps I can get that job in local news media I've always coveted..? ;)

" A taser is far too dangerous a weapon to be issued to the average copper."

Sadly, we seem to have a preponderance of average coppers...

"Does all this mean we won't get magnums for Christmas?"

No, you still will, but an adult will take the wrapper off for you, and ensure the stick is safely disposed of when you've eaten it...

Anonymous said...

It could have been much worse:
"Inspector Gadget supports the routine arming of all UK frontline police officers "
He may have had no life instead of no case to answer !

John

Anonymous said...

My daughter is a Cop, in Australia.
She is armed with a baton, capsicum spray, Taser, 9mm Glock.

That way, she can protect herself, and reduce her chance of being injured, when dealing with some of the scum that she encounters regularly, when working.

Anonymous said...

People like you, Julia M or whatever your name is, really irritate me. What are you proposing then? That we have no police? Or that our existing police continue to operate unarmed in a society becoming increasingly violent with the threat of guns and knives?
Imagine trying to push a really big rock up a hill only for it to get pushed down to the bottom.again as soon as you got to the top. That is the situation for most police and any arrests they make. The court isn't interested. Would you feel like always doing your job properly if you never got anywhere and were constantly belittled and undervalued?
You are a fool. Society without the police would be an awful place. I personally give a big thumbs up to any move to give police more power or weapons. It makes me feel safer when I'm in bed at night.

JuliaM said...

"People like you, Julia M or whatever your name is, really irritate me. "

That really is my name. Well, part of it.

And I can't see where you got he impression I don't want to see any police at all.

"I personally give a big thumbs up to any move to give police more power or weapons. It makes me feel safer when I'm in bed at night."

Well, yes, I'm sure it does. The unimaginative never do work out that that force they so eagerly suggest be used on others may one day be turned on them...