This is bizarre!
Burglars leaving marks for each other? Who knew Lefty and Fingers had such a trade union spirit? It's not like there's a whole community of felons travelling round the country, is there?
Kevin Hurley, the newly elected police and crime commissioner for the county, said he would investigate the case.
‘It seems that if someone has admitted 113 further offences then there ought to be an additional sanction for this,’ he added. ‘ I've never known a burglar who is locked up in D Wing break into someone’s house.’Oh. Right. I get it now. They can't blame this one on the CPS or 'soft judges', can they?
Officers could have chosen to prosecute but opted instead for a ‘retrospective caution’.
Cautions appear on a criminal’s record but do not result in any further punishment. At the same time they allow the force to declare a crime ‘solved’ and improve its conviction rate.Whoops!
A spokesman for Surrey Police said: ‘Cautions for a large number of offences were only given out in exceptional circumstances and only when a specific set of criteria had been applied and met.
‘The criteria would include the offender having already received a significant custodial sentence and having the support of the victims.’ He said it brought closure for some victims.You got the support of all 113 victims, did you? Why am I not convinced?
Neighbours have spoken of their shock after a 26-year-old man died after a disturbance at a house in west Hull.Isn't it more of a shock when there isn't a murder in Hull?
James Myers, 22, said: "I didn't really know who lived there. They moved in a couple of weeks ago and kept themselves to themselves.
"I saw the man being pulled out on a stretcher so I knew it must be something serious.
"It is quite a shock. You don't expect something like this to happen on your doorstep."I'd have thought you did if you lived in Hull...
Humberside Police Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Donald praised the officers involved in the case. Yesterday morning, Mr Donald posted on Twitter: "Excellent detective work overnight following death of man in Hull."Really? Gosh. I doubt it took the detecting skills of Sherlock Holmes, somehow:
Yesterday, his father Stephen Hall, 52, appeared before Hull Magistrates' Court charged with murder.Though I suppose all the DNA's the same, so...
Hull Business Improvement District (Bid) is aiming to improve safety in the area after investing in 500 alarms.
The devices are available to workers via their employers as part of a scheme introduced to offer protection, especially to women.Well, that's Hull for you...
Matthew Wright, Hull Neighbourhood Network Co-ordinator, said: "This is our first foray into the retail of security goods.
"We were very pleased to help Hull Bid because equipment like this is not easily available from anywhere else and it does make a difference to personal safety."Oooh! If you are championing 'equipment that helps personal safety', can they have these?
The problem is, that wasn't what happened.
The Daily Caller posted a full video (included here) of the hearing, and the true context of the incident (at the 15 minute mark of the video) is shown. Heslin was not speaking of his son, but rather about the idea of passing restrictive gun laws. He then asks the panel moderating the discussion if they have a good reason why certain guns shouldn't be outlawed. He waits for a response, but no one speaks. He then asks the same question of the audience several times, insisting if anyone in the room has a reason, to speak up.
After several moments of silence, and more insistence from Heslin, several people do respond, mentioning the Second Amendment.
As the video shows, the respondents did not mock or heckle, and responded as respectfully as possible given the emotional situation. The moderator then asks for the audience not to speak up, or the room will be cleared.But should anyone be surprised at this? Really?
An antisocial behaviour mediator abused a lesbian couple and stuck her finger up one of their friends' noses during a heated row in a school playground.
Diana Marquis, 51, of Songhurst Close, Croydon, who works with the Wandle Housing Association, must now attend diversity awareness classes as a result of the outburst at West Thornton Primary Academy.This is Diana Marquis:
It also involved her telling a teaching assistant: "I will kill everyone. I will go to prison for my children. I will protect my children."Blimey! Taking Diane Abbott's words about 'fighting hard for your children' to heart a little bit too much, there?
Neighbours of Dr Dow’s in Beeston, Nottingham, described how the tenants had made her life a ‘living hell’.
They were named as Daryl Robinson, 45, his twin sister Gaynor Robinson and her son Liam Peach, 20.
One neighbour said: ‘Daryl hasn’t worked a day in his life and neither has Gaynor. But they treat it as a joke. They’re both scum. They cut her electric cables and phone wire because she kept on calling the council and police.’They needn't have bothered...
The inquest was also shown an email from Nottinghamshire police officer Sam Astle to Miss Marshall concerning Miss Dow’s letters in which the PC wrote: ‘You just can’t win with some people can you?’And we should worry about cuts to the police service...why, exactly?
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said the comments in the email were ‘regrettable’.No, I think - since she's not apparently even been disciplined for them - what's so 'regrettable' for you is that she was stupid enough to put them in an email and thus get found out...
But the mystery motorist, who has painted the words ‘fix me’ next to a number of the craters in Swanage, Dorset, could face prosecution if caught.
Martin Hill, maintenance manager for highways at Dorset County Council, said: ‘We have found several potholes marked in this way. It is illegal and anyone caught doing it could be prosecuted.
‘We haven’t received any enquiries about these potholes and our local inspection team had already identified them before the markings were made.
‘They have been added to the work schedule for the next week. It’s important to note the roads in Swanage are in no worse state than the rest of the country.’So, you're as crap at your job as all the other maintenance managers around the country?
A taxi driver, who raped a Basildon teen who fell ill during a night out, has been jailed for eight years.If she was 'ill' shouldn't an ambulance be called?
The 17-year-old victim passed out after drinking too much while out with friends in Romford.And to think, poor Joanna Lumley's getting stick from the feminist whackjobs for pointing out this very thing...
She was helped into a cab by street pastors and door staff in February 2012.
But little did they know the cabbie, Nicolae Talaba, was a predator who took advantage of the girl’s drunken condition and raped her after stopping the car near her home address in Basildon.Whoops! Clearly, they've not seen all the posters up everywhere...
We now know, thanks to the current government, that papers pivotal to the case will not be released for another 10 years – a decision that was taken by the Ministry of Justice without consulting any of us who have survived.'Survived'..? Good grief, hyperbole much? Hey, Ricky, it's not like you have to wait 100 years, after all.
A muslim who raped a 13-year-old girl he groomed on Facebook has been spared a prison sentence after a judge heard he went to an Islamic faith school where he was taught that women are worthless.I wonder why the feminist whackjobs aren't as keen to put the boot into this judge - or this culture - as they are to put the boot in to poor old Joanna Lumley?
Earlier Nottingham Crown Court heard that such crimes usually result in a four to seven-year prison sentence.
But the judge said that because Rashid was ‘passive’ and ‘lacking assertiveness’, sending him to jail might cause him ‘more damage than good’.*speechless*
CCTV footage captures the scantily clad girls attacking a bus station with a hammer. In one image, one of the girls even appears to use her chest to cause damage.Errr....
The world’s first domestic aquarium designed specifically for the translucent medusas is available from Jellyfish Art and comes fitted with LED lights to brighten up the tank and its colourless occupants.
The seven-gallon tank is circular in shape and uses a unique pump system to circulate water in a controlled swirl, nudging the fish gently away from the sides of the tank and clear of the dangerous filter valves.
The specially designed jelly keeping kit costs $382 (£238) plus VAT and shipping charges, and includes the tank, a small family of moon jellyfish and a three ounce bag of specialist jellyfish food.As always, there's a catch:
Although the website is based in America, it will FedEx the jelly kit to the UK, although it won't ship live jellyfish abroad.But fear not! You don't have to wade into the sea with a net!
British would-be jellyfish owners can pick up theirs from Aquarium Architecture, which will happily source moon jellyfish (£65 each plus £95 overnight delivery charges) and other marine life for British clients.*waits for first animal rights loon to start jumping up and down in rage*
I was impressed by Onikosi's ability to connect his experience as an African to everyday racism in the UK, and his attention, not only to black history, but to the politics of migration and Islamophobia as well.
Soon, Onikosi was appointed black and minority ethnic students officer by the students' union and used his position to fight the case of international students and students of colour, who despite Sussex's "radical" tradition, are woefully underrepresented on campus.Ah. Suddenly, it all becomes clear...
Integration, a word beloved of post-9/11 western governments, suddenly becomes an irrelevance when it comes to wrenching from their homes people who have put down roots, created professional links, and benefited the society.I think you and I, Alana, have a very different definition of what constitutes 'a benefit to society'.
Stephen King has entranced millions with tales of dread but his latest volume will read like a horror only to the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocates. The best-selling author made an unexpected charge into the national debate on gun violence on Friday with a passionate, angry essay pleading for reform.For you little people, that it. Not for himself.
King, who owns three handguns...And fondly imagines that once they've banned 'assault weapons' (whatever they are) they won't start looking at his handguns, no doubt.
...aimed the expletive-peppered polemic at fellow gun-owners, calling on them to support a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the December shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school which left 20 children and six adults dead.Do it fort the chiiiiillllldrrrreeeeeeennnnn! Stevie wants you to!
"Autos and semi-autos are weapons of mass destruction. When lunatics want to make war on the unarmed and unprepared, these are the weapons they use," King wrote.When they aren't using bombs. Or knives. Or cars. A smarter person might just conclude the problem lies with the people wielding the tools, not the tools themselves...
King recalls that the fictional schoolboy killer in his 1977 novel Rage, which was published under a pen name, Richard Bachman, resonated with several boys who subsequently rampaged at their own schools. One, Barry Loukaitis, shot dead a teacher and two students in Moses Lake, Washington in 1996, then quoted a line from the novel: "This sure beats algebra, doesn't it?"
King said he did not apologise for writing Rage – "no, sir, no ma'am" – because it told the truth about high-school alienation and spoke to troubled adolescents who "were already broken". However, he said, he ordered his publisher to withdraw the book because it had proved dangerous. He was not obliged to do so by law – it was protected by the first amendment – but it was the right thing to do. Gun advocates should do the same, he argued.Hey, maybe we should ban books?
Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, spokesman for the Association of Muslim Police, said officers, particularly in London, should reflect the communities they served, as it emerged that not one candidate on the latest Strategic Command Course — which qualifies police officers for senior chief officer ranks — is from a black or ethnic minority background.Sure they must. So long as they don't reflect the body-building community, I suppose?
Dozens of police officers are being investigated over their use of anabolic steroids supplied by criminals in gyms, an anti-corruption report has revealed. It warns that the many officers who use drugs to boost their strength risk corruption if they depend on dealers.I don't quite know why they are so worried - it isn't as if their colleagues don't know just how to deal with body-builders who go berserk, after all...
Teachers at crisis-hit Addington High harm their students' English because they struggle with grammar and punctuation themselves, according to an official report.
Ofsted inspectors who visited the school in December have said the school is not ready to leave the special measures imposed by their colleagues in October.Shocker, eh?
Chairman of governors Jo Tanner acknowledged work needs to be done to promote "high levels of literacy and understanding of grammar" among teachers.
She said: "It is something that we are working on as the governing body to tackle, we are looking at ways to support our teaching staff."
She said that she did not believe the problem of poor grammar was exclusive to Addington High nor to teachers."But miss! Everybody else does it!" Is that really an acceptable excuse, Ms Tanner?
A benefit cheat fiddled more than £5,800 in wrongful payments by keeping quiet that he was doing regular spells of work, a court heard.
He had a previous similar conviction, but failed to learn his lesson from his earlier brush with the law, Grimsby Magistrates' Court was told.Hah! And now it's the Big House for y...
Thompson was given a three-month suspended prison sentence and 100 hours' unpaid work./facepalm
Morey, dressed in a hooded top, pounced on her hapless colleague, smashing the bottle over her head and stamping on her while she lay on the ground.
The attack was so violent that investigators were able to tie Morey to the attack from boot marks left on her victim's back.
After the attack, Morey hijacked Miss Rix's Fiat Punto, abandoned it a short distance away and set fire to it.And the punishment for this vicious attack?
Morey, of Lyndhurst, Hants, was jailed for eight months after admitting assault causing actual bodily harm, theft of a motor vehicle and arson at Winchester Crown Court.*speechless*
A charge alleging Morey impersonated a police officer was dropped.*sighs*
A crowd of angry mothers staged a mass-breastfeeding outside an Australian television channel after a male anchor called on mothers to be ‘classy' and 'discreet’ when nursing in public.
Women and children gathered outside the Channel Seven television studios in Sydney to protest against comments made by David Koch, host of Australia's most popular breakfast show Sunrise, on Friday.
About 100 people gathered for the ‘Sunrise Nurse-in’ to defend the legal right to breastfeed in public, demanding an apology from Mr Koch.*sigh* No-one's trying to remove your right - just suggesting that you be a little, well, ladylike, in how you go about it.
His comments landed him in the hot seat with breastfeeding advocates who staged the protest outside the Sunrise studios.
‘I just feel like their (sic) dangerous and offensive,’ protest organiser Amy Ahearn told ABC.
‘They’re dangerous because some women find it very difficult to breastfeed, especially in public and I think a comment like that can shame them into not doing it in public and feel like it is not supported by people.'So next time you see a new mother who looks like she might be finding it 'difficult to breastfeed', give her a big smile and a 'thumb's up' gesture. Maybe a 'Woohoo!' into the bargain.
No charges have been brought against a lorry driver involved in a fatal collision with a cyclist in Barking following a review of CCTV footage.That they couldn't access straight away?
A police spokesperson said: “The investigation into this incident is now complete. After viewing the CCTV from the lorry and the street view CCTV the lorry driver was found not to be a fault.
“No charges have been brought and no further action will be taken against the driver.”That must have been a great comfort to him after worrying all over Christmas. I wonder why you couldn't look at it before you decided to arrest?
Mr Florey, 35, of Canning Town, worked as a mobile repair mechanic for company Babcock and would be called out to fix faults with fire engines at stations across east London including in Barking and Dagenham.
More than 300 uniformed firefighters formed a guard of honour at his funeral on December 3 at the East London Cemetery in Plaistow. He is survived by partner Julie and daughters Holli and Lauren.Ah. Now it all becomes clear...
Antony Daniel, defending, said Wyatt had no history of having a problem with animals.So...he'd crush the trachea of a human who spoke loudly to him as well? Should he be walking the street?
Mr Daniel added: "He bitterly regrets it and is remorseful about the whole thing. He needs to get back on the track he was on for eight years."Strange thing to say...
After nearly an hour to consider their sentence, magistrates told Wyatt he could have been jailed.Why the leniency?
The 43-year-old, a victim of notorious paedophile William Goad...Oh. Right. Well, that explains everything, does it? Once a victim, always a victim, even if you are actually victimising others?
Postal workers are refusing to deliver mail to a woman's home because they are scared of...Oooh, oooh, I know! Dogs, right?
...slipping on – pigeon droppings.*confused face*
Pigeons gather on top of a wall above the small alley in Helston, Cornwall, and regularly pelt the path with droppings.What's she supposed to do, get a golden eagle? I think that'll probably make the same amount of mess, won't it?
“We know about the dogs up there. With being a postman it is part of the territory. But it was one of those things – I think anybody posting letters through the door that day would have got it.
“Something really needs doing. Next time it could be a child or a pensioner.
“People send kids out posting flyers – if a child posts through the door they could lose a hand.”Well, not if they keep their hands out of the letterbox, they won't!
Nigel Smith, Burnley Delivery Office manager, said it was vital to ensure the welfare and safety of postmen delivering to customers in Burnley.
He said: “Ian has suffered a terrible injury as a result of this attack and it will be many weeks before he is able to return to work.
“We appeal to owners to keep their pets under control, especially if they know their pets have a territorial nature.”Dog owners appeals to postmen and junkmail deliverers to keep their frickn' hands out of the letterbox went unheeded, as usual...
Scotland Yard responded to the original footage posted saying: "We are aware of incidents over the weekend of 12/13 January where a small group of people had harassed members of the public, and of YouTube videos showing this.
"In response to this incident officers on duty are being briefed as to what has occurred and what to be on the look out for."Eh..? That's it? Are they cowed perhaps by news that Section 5 is to be reformed?
Kia now hopes to raise money for a personalised headstone for her daughter’s grave at Fulford Cemetery, which currently only has a name plaque.But at least they are learning - comments are disabled on this story! The populace might not say what the paper clearly wants them to say...
“We had to lose Telan before people could realise how bad poverty was in York,” said Kia.
A young father was fatally stabbed as he refereed at a pre-arranged fight aimed to resolve a feud which had started on Facebook, a court was told.Clearly, the first rule about this Fight Club should have been: No knives!
Jurors were told 25-year-old Mr Croxton had arranged for two separate groups to meet in an isolated wooded area at 4.30pm on January 23, 2012, and for a fight to occur.
The court heard that at the location, off The Diplocks estate in Hailsham, Kai Smith started fighting Tom Venton, who had previously dated his girlfriend.Blimey! It's more confusing than the film...
Mohamed Shabir had rented his property in Martin Crescent, Croydon, to a tenant he found through Bromley Council in 2009.
In November, he discovered the house was empty and on inspection of the property found copper pipes, cables, the gas meter and boiler had been stolen.
Mr Shabir who lives in Tooting, said he didn't suspect anything was wrong because Croydon Council continued to make housing benefit payments covering the tenant's rent.And their explanation for this?
Croydon Council say the payments continued because the woman had intended to move back into the property.Riiiight...
A car dealer could be facing jail after he got a gang to viciously beat up two mechanics because a vehicle he left for repair wasn't ready in time.Note that: 'could'. Not 'definitely will'...
The Kingston refuge for women from South Asian backgrounds is one of only three in London.
Here women are made to feel more comfortable by recognising their different cultural needs.
Mrs Dearlove explained: “For example in one refuge, a service user might like to drink a glass of wine but in the South Asian one we would not have that there as there may be somebody from a Muslim background.”Congratz! You've escaped the control of your violent boyfriend for ... the control of the PC Brigade!
Taxpayers are set to be hit with a bill of tens of thousands of pounds after travellers overpopulated a dedicated site.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s transit camp in Horsdean only has permission for 23 vehicles. But over the Christmas period an extra 13 families trespassed on the site, off Braypool Lane, Patcham, meaning the local authority was flouting its own planning permission.I shouldn't laugh, but....
Extra security has been hired to monitor the groups and ensure their safety while council chiefs go through the courts for eviction notices.Ensure their safety from whom? Outraged taxpayers?
The local authority last night refused to divulge a cost, just saying the issue was “ongoing”.And will continue to be so, while you elect Greens...
'Although we did not see any studies in their entirety, we noted one of the documents referred to a trial related to vaporising propylene glycol and children...I've got a little list, scientists, if you need more test subjects!
These fragrant folk don't produce smelly B.O (body odour) due to a genetic defect, researchers say.
Despite this nearly eight out of 10 of them still wear deodorant because it is seen as the 'cultural norm'.And one I'm all in favour of, frankly!
On BBC1’s Question Time, Professor Mary Beard dismissed stories about the number of migrant workers overwhelming Boston as ‘myths’ and said ‘public services can cope’.
But Rachel Bull, an office manager in Boston, who was in the audience, immediately challenged the Cambridge University classics professor, claiming hospitals and schools are struggling to cope in the Lincolnshire agricultural town.I wonder if Prof Beard muttered 'That bigoted woman...' as she was ushered to the Green Room after the show was over?
Mrs Bull – whose grandparents moved to Britain from Poland after the Second World War – said...Whoops!
...that she is not against immigration, but believes ministers should reconsider allowing Romanians and Bulgarians unrestricted rights to live and work in the UK from December 2013.Pick the bones out of that one!
She added: ‘The problem is we’re not like these politicians or other people on television, we’re on the frontline. I’ve not been to university, I’m just a 35-year-old who spoke from the heart.’I wonder where Prof Beard lives..? Anywhere near the frontline, do you suppose?
One of Brick Lane’s biggest and longest-running nightclubs faces closure after a police raid involving 175 officers led to the arrest of two suspected drug dealers.And it now faces closure...why, exactly? The drug dealers weren't employed by the club! They were, presumably, just customers.
The raid on 93 Feet East was the single largest of Operation Condor with dramatic video footage of police storming the Brick Lane venue uploaded on to YouTube by the Metropolitan Police.Policing as entertainment/advertising now?
Nine people were arrested at the venue including two on suspicion of drug dealing and five for possession of drugs. Police were unable to confirm whether any subsequent action was taken against those arrested./facepalm
Cllr Ahmed, deputy mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “The decision on 93 Feet East’s licence demonstrates that we are prepared to take swift and decisive action if bars are found to be allowing drug dealing and drug misuse.
“Through continued partnership working between the council and police, including the dealer a day initiative, we will continue to go the extra mile to tackle drug dealing in our community.”Wait, did you say...Tower Hamlets? Hmmmm...
An unfaithful wife has been jailed for two years - almost a decade after she cried rape just to hide a one-night stand from her husband.Ten years?!?
Gaynor Cooke, 41, had told police she was violently attacked by a taxi driver to cover up her fling with him, and her former lover was due to stand trial next month.
No-one was arrested in 2003 because a forensic sample taken from her at the time failed to find a similar profile on the national DNA database.
But when in 2011 the man, who she claimed was a stranger, was detained for a minor offence his DNA threw up a match.Ah. Good old vital national DNA database, eh?
The man she slept with was charged with rape and faced trial at Nottingham Crown Court in February.
However detectives received information that Cooke had lied to conceal her infidelity. And when police went back to speak to the 41-year-old about the new evidence she told them: 'You've got me'.Oh.
Recorder Smith told her: 'It's a complete pack of lies. It may only have been for a short period of time, but you destroyed an innocent life.'Hey, don't place ALL the blame on her. She had help...
Parenting websites are reporting greater numbers of parents being billed £500 or more after their children have made "in-app purchases" (IAPs) while playing games. The problems begin when children wish to explore new areas of a game or wish to obtain better weapons for their character – they are often able to buy these with a single click.Well, so what? Isn't that up to the user of the game to decide in 'Settings'? And as Bucko points out, that isn't necessarily always a child. Why shouldn't it be 'with one click' if I so decide?
Siobhan Freegard, founder of Netmums...Oh oh!
...said: "We have heard of cases where parents have been hit with bills for hundreds of pounds as the apps are often linked to their card details through iTunes. Often the bills aren't immediate and it takes days to find out they have been charged."Well, they should take more care then! If you've forgotten that you set up a game to accept single-click purchase of in-app goodies, and you then hand your iPad to your toddler, you're asking for trouble!
"I contacted Apple and discovered I wasn't the only naive parent in the world. This is a common occurrence and Apple refused to issue any kind of refund. Needless to say that I have now disabled all in-app purchases on my devices. Lesson learned."Good! That's the end of it, right?
Most devices allow users to restrict access to IAPs or block them completely – it is parents who do not install these measures who are at risk.Responsibility where it needs to lie!
"App developers are not often altruistic," said Spencer Whitman of app protection firm AppCertain. "They often include in-app purchases hidden behind the free price tag. Either they offer a small amount of play, then charge for continued use; offer in-app purchases for more in-game content such as extra areas of play or upgrades; or they constantly interrupt game play to ask for in-app purchases."Boooo! Eeeeeeeeevil corporations!
Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet...Oh, lord! Here we go again...
...said: "It's all too easy for our children to get sucked into games and, before you know it, they've racked up huge costs buying coins, berries and doughnuts. You do need to keep an eye on your child's device settings and to keep your password for purchases private at all costs."Typical, she just expec...
Adam Levene, chief strategy officer at Grapple Mobile, said: "The simplicity of making instant purchases and the allure to progress the game further at the touch of a button, without necessarily understanding the monetary value, has raised concerns. Developers have a greater responsibility to ensure that an in-app purchase is obvious and feels distinctly different from the standard game play."Developers have a responsibility to build the game to their employer's specifications. No more, no less.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "It's far too easy for children to run up huge bills on phone apps when most default settings allow 'in-app purchases' without asking for a confirmation or password. If your child has run up a huge bill without your knowledge, contact the app store or manufacturer, as you may be eligible for a refund."Like the sad story says, that doesn't always work. And nor should it.
...a series of floral displays is at the heart of the Home Office's new beefed-up security measures at the UK Border Agency's Lunar House headquarters in Wellesley Road.
A planning application submitted to Croydon Council upon "Home Office instruction", shows 27 one-metre tall, two-metre wide plant pots are to be strategically placed around the building "for security purposes".You're kidding me?
But the Home Office was this week tight-lipped on the pots' purpose, saying only: "We don't comment on the measures we take for security reasons so that people who might wish to do us harm are not aware of why we are taking steps to secure buildings."*boggle*
Recorder Bartlett told him: 'When I came into court I thought I would have to pass a prison sentence you would serve immediately.
'You have breached community orders, bail, and driving orders.'Oh noes! Surely not...a prison sentence! This one hasn't racked up nearly enough convictions, surely?
'But your solicitor has made the telling point that people with your history of bad driving and bad criminal behaviour don't reform overnight.
'They need a lot of help and encouragement and they get that from the probation service - long may it remain so.'Whew! The defence to the rescue! Lucky for you they always have such plausible excuses, eh?
'In the circumstances, having agonised about this - and I don't think anyone could criticise me for giving you a ten months sentence to serve straightaway - I am going to suspend it.'
He added: 'I am not all that confident that you are going to make it work but I hope so.'Well, I think you're wrong about no-one criticising you for it, but it's nice to see you have hope. We all need hope, don't we, Recorder Bartlett?
Lodge, who posed for photographers outside court, was also banned from driving for three years, ordered to do 60 hours unpaid work and attend a 22-day 'thinking skills' programme.Oh, how nice to see the 'Thinking Skills' course again!
Many academies have covertly selected pupils for years in ways that the despised state schools that preceded them were not able to do, and then trumpeted improved results as though they were due to the academy idea unleashing dear old Greatness. They have to abide by an admissions code, but everyone in the trade knows ways round it. Others have been using their greater power to exclude pupils as a way of clearing out difficult children.And yet parents don't seem to see this as a bad thing. How odd! They can't seem to see the 'danger' they are un!
By using their power to select covertly, academies promote the creation of two classes of school: the "good" schools, the academies, and the sink schools, run by the local authority. Give academies another couple of decades, and we will have revived the long-discredited secondary moderns.AIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
More than a million children at academies and free schools could be eating unhealthy lunches because those institutions are exempt from tough food standards, council leaders have warned.Note the usual weasel words - 'could be'.
Academies and free schools which opt out of national regulations are failing in their moral duty to ensure pupils receive healthy dinners, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).Schools have 'moral duties' now? Gosh! Really?
David Simmonds, chairman of LGA's children and young people board, said: "School autonomy is supposed to drive up standards but in the case of school meals, we now have a two-tier system where one type of school can effectively exempt pupils from healthy choices and instead sell fatty and sugary foods. This threatens to seriously impact on the health and educational attainment of our children.
"We now need government to do its part by introducing an acceptable food standard that will allow councils to hold all schools to account for the nutritional quality of food they serve their pupils."Well, since they loathe the very idea of choice in the school you send your child to itself, it's no surprise they'd be desperate to disallow any chance that your child might have some choice within that school that's not open to those under their own control, is it?
An MP has called for a piece of equipment used in offices across the country to be reclassified as an offensive weapon.*boggle*
Crawley MP Henry Smith said hundreds of lives were put at risk by thugs shining laser pens in the eyes of pilots operating from Gatwick.Ah. Well, indeed. We've seen this before.
At Home Office questions in the House of Commons, Mr Smith said: “Can you join with me in congratulating Sussex Police in the work they have been doing to tackle laser pen attacks on aircraft operating from Gatwick Airport - attacks which can potentially endanger hundreds of lives in the air and on the ground?
“And can you say what additional work your department is doing nationwide on possibly reclassifying laser pens?”I can just imagine the look of weary resignation that the HO Minister wore when he stood up to answer the old duffer:
Home Office Minister James Brokenshire replied: “Whilst we have no plans to classify lasers as offensive weapons, we are determined to see that best practice is shared between forces.”I can think of some 'best practice' I'd like to see forces take up, rather than go down the collective punishment and unnecessary regulation route again...
The injured youth went to hospital “bleeding profusely,” added Mr Brison.
He told the court police inquiries were continuing into the shooting incident.
“It appears two males are blaming each other – I am not sure what is going to happen, but it is an unsatisfactory situation.”Poacher got his just deserts. Sounds pretty satisfactory to me...
The teenager also pleaded guilty to stealing a sat-nav and tools worth a total of £2,625 from a car parked in Leeholme, near Coundon, between October 19 and 21.Do they ever..?
Mr Brison said it had been a mad couple of months for the youth.
“He does not have a long record but has amassed matters in the last couple of months. One thought about what has been going on in his life is he has run a bit wild trying to impress associates.”I wonder who his 'associates' are?
"This is a young man with no previous convictions, who accepts full responsibility for his behaviour," Mr Sayce said.Hmmm, and while he was breaking one law, he seems to have decided to be hung for a sheep as well as a lamb:
Makepeace also pleaded guilty to criminal damage.
He admitted three additional charges, of burglary, theft and attempted theft – offences committed in Wood Gate, Loughborough, while on bail for squatting.Well, a stay in jail will resolve his accommodation 'problem' quite handily. Oh, Silly me.
Magistrate David Womersley sentenced Makepeace to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, for burglary and a total of nine weeks in prison, also suspended, for trespass, theft and attempted theft – to run concurrently.*sighs*
The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, picked up a dog while it was being walked by its owner and threw it from a bridge on to a busy road.
Harry the Jack Russell suffered such serious injuries that he had to be put to sleep by a vet.Oooh, what are we going to have?
This week Milton Keynes magistrates heard how the teenager admitted his crime – which he blames on drink and cannabis – and they adjourned the case until next month for sentencing.Ah. Well, the old standbys are the best, aren't they?
The bench has the power to grant a maximum of six months’ imprisonment for a single offence and/or a fine of up to £5,000.I'll be utterly astounded if he gets a custodial.
Nicholas Housden, aged 22, had previously pleaded guilty to demanding money with menace from businessman Stuart Henderson of Plymouth.
He admitted emailing former employer Mr Henderson on November 2, 2011 from his own email address, claiming his name had been "blackened" by the businessman after he quit the firm Elite Development Centre which offered football training for youngsters.
Prosecutor David Gittins told the court how Housden, from Coleford, Gloucestershire, had written a long email to Mr Henderson saying he had a "dilemma" over the "disrespect" he had been shown by his former boss.And yet, despite this, he got off with a lesser sentence because...he was incompetent!
Judge Darlow noted the Court of Appeal designated blackmail as a serious offence, stating "it's ugly and it's vicious".
He said: "The purpose behind this lengthy and lucid email was to cause its recipient distress, embarrassment and financial ruin." He said the offence had passed the custody threshold, but accepted Housden's early guilty plea, the fact the blackmail attempt was "unsophisticated" and "did not involve the threat of injury to him or his family".
Judge Darlow sentenced Housden to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, passed a 24 month supervision order and ordered the completion of 200 hours unpaid work and six sessions of a gambling specified activity programme requirement.You couldn't make it up, could you?
May Ward died of multiple injuries after falling out of a sling her carers - from China and Bulgaria - were using to hoist her out of bed at Meppershall Care Home in Bedfordshire in August 2010.
Shasha Wei and Rumyana Ivanova, who have now left the country, had not been trained to use the new type of sling introduced to the home three months before, Hatfield Coroner's Court was told.It's this - if we question why we have such unemployment in this country yet we can import workers from the EU and China - China! - we will be told that this is a consequence of the low wages offered by the companies that run these homes, and that no-one here will get out of bed for that as it's not cost-effective and they cannot live on it. Hence the move from 'minimum wage' to the new demand for a 'living wage'.
Solicitor Vaughan Whistance, in mitigation, said: "He intended to go Christmas shopping but temptation got the better of him. My client is from a travelling community and works as a scrap metal dealer, but times are hard and that has impacted on his income."/facepalm
Mr Whistance urged magistrates to deal with Curtis by way of a financial penalty.
He was given a Band B fine of £70, reduced from £110 due to his guilty plea, and was ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.The 12 year old girl he took with him on his little spree? She'll face Coventry Youth Court in the New Year, apparently...
Bill LaHive, for Clarkson, said she had "considerable difficulties" with an autistic disorder and other mental health difficulties.
He added she had seen a psychiatrist and had also been to the Harbour drink and drugs counselling service.Oh, poor lamb! Oh, the 'difficulties' she has!
Angela Furniss, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said police were called to the hostel because Clarkson was repeatedly striking and damaging the front windows. She added she had been told she could no longer stay and appeared to be under the influence of drink or drugs.
Mrs Furniss said police tried to restrain her and Clarkson hit PC Brown twice to the face, though he was not left with any visible injury. Mrs Furniss said Clarkson then bit PC Taylor on the hand in the back of the ambulance on the way to hospital. The court heard her skin was broken.
She added that in the second incident, Mr Hall had heard a "commotion" outside his home and saw Clarkson pushing and pulling another person. He told her to calm down and she head-butted him to the face, cutting his lip.Presumably she's now been locked up, so no-one else has to put up with her 'difficulties'?
Magistrates bailed her for a report to be prepared ahead of sentencing on January 30.*sighs*
The father of two said he had 'embarrassed his family' by losing his job at bus firm Finglands.
He had a mental breakdown and became paranoid, claiming that someone had given him a pie which was poisoned and that he was being watched by police and social services.
After telling a psychiatrist he had three choices - going to hospital, getting shot in the head or killing himself, Mr Whittaker-Axon plunged from the top of an aqueduct near Stockport, Greater Manchester.Strangely, he's described merely as a bus driver. The inquest makes no mention of the former public service career that so impressed Mr Thompson...
Croydon Council plans to remove the lower sun-shade bars attached to the back of the Calat building in Central Parade to stop people from using them to climb the building.Not because they want to practice for their ascent of K2, either...
The authority is planning the drastic action after contractors' materials were stolen on November 8 by thieves who had scaled the building using the bars.So, in the event we get a hot summer (I know, I know...) don't go looking for shade in Croydon.
A Humberside Police spokesman said: "When reviewing the evidence into this incident a caution was given in accordance with guidelines, which are followed when making a decision in connection with any criminal offence."So...you were handed a thief caught red-handed with £500 of charity money by a public-spirited member of the public, practically gift-wrapped for you, and you let her off with a caution?
In allowing the appeal, Recorder Miller stressed that there was no criticism of the magistrates and said their original 12-week prison sentence was "within the guidelines".
But he said that he and his colleagues took account of Elshaw's previous good character and that her financial affairs had been "complicated" through no fault of her own.I give up!
This process is bad for literature says Poole.
"Part of the function of publishers and high-street book shops is to filter manuscripts, to ensure the good float to the surface. It has always been subjective but it has always required both to put their money where their mouth when it comes to books they believe in. Now anyone can self-publish, that is exceptionally important."Translation: 'OMG! We've got to share our captive market now with just anybody! Even...the hoi polloi!'
The assessors do not ask GPs like me to provide any medical information about patients to help them make their decisions, even though someone may have received incapacity benefits for many years.The GP herself - who remains anonymous, of course - shows no insight as to why this might not be considered such a good idea.
Who would have thought that the future of weight loss might lie in the hands of the inventor of the Segway? Dean Kamen, creator of the two-wheeled wonder, along with a team from Aspire Bariatrics, of Philadelphia, has applied for a patent for a pump that can suck food and drink straight out of the stomach.Say what?!
Users are able to stuff their face before draining their stomach by connecting the pump to a valve surgically installed in their abdominal wall. The makers hope to use it to treat the morbidly obese, and to provide an alternative to a gastric bypass.Oh, good grief! Well, surely no doctor would countenance this?
Initial setbacks – and here's the really yucky part – have occurred because the pump struggles to break up large foods. One patient reported "clogging" and had to avoid eating cauliflower, broccoli, Chinese food, stir fry, snow peas, pretzels, chips and steak. No chips? It will never catch on.Don't worry. I'm sure it's just a minor setback. And I'm sure no-one from the 'do no harm!' medical profession will prescribe it.
Frail and elderly residents of sheltered housing in north Hull say their lives are being made a misery by a gang of yobs who have torched a car and pelted windows with eggs.Time for the forces of law and order to swing into action? Or will they wait until one of their own is affected?
A spokesman for Sanctuary Housing, a national housing association, said: "We are aware of problems to do with antisocial behaviour in the area and we are working closely with Hull Citysafe to address the concerns of tenants."
The spokesman said the tenants' quality of life is important and its staff are working closely with Humberside Police, Hull City Council and other agencies to tackle antisocial behaviour. He said: "We are taking this very seriously."
Justine Mortimer, Hull City Council's neighbourhood nuisance manager, said: "The neighbourhood nuisance team is working with Humberside Police, Sanctuary Housing, Mr Chapman and other residents in the area to address reports of antisocial behaviour."Ah. Well, I'm sure the tea and biscuits at the various meeting and briefings are of the highest quality...
The DPP revealed the change in tactics yesterday as he responded to the criticism and said he will not hesitate to call for a change in the law.Pointless. Utterly pointless. Yet more evidence (as if it were needed) that Kier Starmer is as much use as a chocolate teapot...
Ann Clwyd, a Labour MP whose 2003 FGM Act bans girls being taken abroad to have the procedure, said teachers, doctors and police had shown "a lack of sufficient will to confront minority ethnic groups on such an issue".
She added: "It's very nice to get a law through Parliament, but if it isn't acted upon, it isn't worth the paper it's written on."Starmer's solution? Try a different law!
Mr Starmer said he did not want to repeal existing anti-FGM laws, as that would "send the wrong message", but he conceded "the legislation clearly isn't nearly enough on its own". His FGM "action plan" also pledges to "explore whether evidence to prosecute offences under other legislation is possible and may be easier to support".
He targeted the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, which creates an offence of "causing or allowing a child or vulnerable adult to die or suffer serious physical harm", as route to tougher action.Clearly, a man who only has a hammer to solve his problems...
An Association of Chief Police Officers spokesman said: "Detection can be difficult because some children are exposed to the practice before they enter the schooling system. There are dedicated officers working in this area and police will investigate where there is information that such practices are occurring. Officers are working with community representatives to highlight serious health issues that can arise."Stop 'working with community representatives' and start arresting them!
I moved to England in 2011 and, through my work, I have seen women, some Somali, who have needed to have an operation [deinfibulation] to give birth. But when they come back for a second child they have again been sewn up [reinfibulation], so it is possible they are having FGM in the UK. I want to help other ladies. I feel complete but I don't want girls to go through this.That's a quote from 'Aissa Edon, 30, a midwife working at Ealing Hospital, London.'
