Post Title Of The Month

Anna Raccoon on the incident everyone (except the Left) was talking about in January:

Quote Of The Month

Flaxon Saxon analyses the 10 Commandments:

"If we believe that men make gods, and that they make them in their own image, then we are not looking at theology but an artefact of anthropology. The commandments are a window into the mind of a particular set of ancient barbaric tribes-people and are not due, and do not deserve, any especial reverence."

Post Of The Month

Peter Risdon knocks this one out of the ballpark....

Sunday Funnies...

Got to admit, they have a point...

Another Charity To Remove From My List Of Potential Donations And Bequests…

More than a third of children in the region are leaving primary school obese or overweight, new figures show.

Research released today (Friday, January 15) by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has revealed the extent of weight problems facing young children, with 36 per cent of 11-year-olds in the North-East being an unhealthy weight.

According to the discredited BMI measurement?

The study also reveals about 33 per cent of year six primary school children in Yorkshire and the Humber are obese or overweight, leading to the BHF to call for a ban on all junk food TV advertising before 9pm as part of the Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy.

I have, in the past, donated clothes and books to the local BHF charity shop. That stops now.

Mike Hobday, director of policy at the BHF, said: “It’s worrying that so many children in the North-East are obese or overweight.

“Carrying excess weight into adulthood increases the risk of developing heart disease in later life.

“We mustn’t allow food companies to continue to exploit a failing regulatory system that allows them to bombard TV screens with junk food adverts at the times when the highest numbers of children are watching TV.”

Listen, Hobday, you worthless mouthpiece, I didn’t donate stuff to your charity so you can jump aboard every passing nannystate bandwagon going!

The BHF’s analysis found that legislation loopholes mean that food companies can advertise junk food during programmes watched by children. They found that 13 junk food adverts were shown during just one X-Factor show last year, promoting unhealthy snacks such as crisps, chocolate bars and pizzas to the children watching before 9pm.

Current regulations mean that foods high in fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar are banned from being advertised during children’s programming.

But the latest Ofcom figures show that two-thirds of children watch TV during what is considered adult airtime, hence the BHF’s call for a 9pm junk food advertising watershed.

It’s not a ‘loophole’, FFS!

The regulations ban the advertising during children’s TV. That parents let their children watch adult TV is a matter for them, not for a charity.

And there is no such thing as ‘unhealthy snacks’. Unless they are eaten 24/7. And even if they are, that’s a matter for the individual. Not for a charity.

Because It’s Not The Bricks And Mortar, It’s The People…

Colin Wiles fails to understand this simple truth:

Last month I cycled the four miles between two of London’s most iconic brutalist housing estates, the Barbican and Robin Hood Gardens. Both were designed by eminent architects around 40 years ago. Both have been praised and condemned in equal measure. One is a private estate and one is social housing. One is thriving, the other facing demolition.

I doubt it’ll take a genius to guess which.

Their contrasting fortunes say a great deal about British housing policy over the past 40 years.

Really?

The Barbican, with more than 2,000 homes, is a frequent winner of London’s ugliest building award. Yet its homes are very desirable, with penthouses going for more than £4m. Designed by Le Corbusier devotees Chamberlin, Powell and Bon it features raised walkways, gardens and lush greenery. The estate has an army of caretakers and porters, and service charges range from £1,700 to £16,000 a year. Robin Hood Gardens, a stone’s throw from Canary Wharf, was designed by Alison and Peter Smithson for the Greater London Council (GLC). There is a wonderful film online made by cult novelist BS Johnson which catches their rather snooty attitude. Two massive slab blocks enclose a large open space and a two-storey high hill. It was modelled on the “little pool of calm” at Gray’s Inn and it is astonishingly peaceful, given that the site is surrounded by major roads. The estate is innovative, with deflecting acoustic walls, “streets in the sky” and innovative internal layouts.

Right, so clearly, the failing estate isn’t down to poor design, poor location, or anything else.

Can we get a clue about what might be the cause?

I visited on a bleak December day with London-based British artist Jessie Brennan. She has worked on the estate for the past two years and has published a book, Regeneration!, about the experience. Her drawings depicting the metaphorical crumpling of the estate were commissioned by the Foundling Museum for Progress in 2014. We met on the hill in between the two blocks, like spies in a cold war film.The windows and concrete mullions are crumbling and the blocks have none of the greenery that softens the concrete facades of the Barbican. Many residents have fitted security grilles to their flats, suggesting a fear of other residents or outsiders, or both.

Aha! There’s a clue!

Abdul Kalam, a former resident who participated in Brennan’s project, summarised how many resident feel: “They are basically driving the poor people out”.

Yes. Because for most of these places, it’s the people inside them that are the problem.

Not all of them, of course, but once the percentage of bad apples gets above 5%, the place is doomed.

And What Sentence Does The 'Careworker' Get?

Mr Efemini outlined how the defendant was with her careworker when she boarded the bus at in Coulsdon around 3.20pm on October 16.

But she didn't have the money to pay her fare and argued with the bus driver.

And what was the careworker doing during this? Not caring, I'd guess...

District judge Peter Greenfield gave the defendant the maximum possible detention sentence for her age and said: 'This is very serious. 'If the victim had fallen back it could have killed her. I cannot fathom this at all.

'You clearly must have known the victim was older and vulnerable. It was a random attack on a clearly very vulnerable woman.'

Of course it was. These animals only ever attack the weak and injured.

Raheema Jamal, mitigating, said the defendant, who lives in care and has a previous conviction for assault, had a troubled childhood which contributed to her actions.

But commenting on a police interview with the defendant, Judge Greenwood said: 'You seemed to apportion blame on the lady, which is incredible. She was an innocent victim.'

Indeed she was. And while it's nice to see a judge throwing the book for once, what about the 'careworker'?

Interestingly, the 'Standard' makes no mention of a careworker, simply stating the girl was with 'a friend'. It does contain this little touch, though:

At one point during the hearing the 14-year-old was handed a tissue to dab her eye as the court heard how the incident unfolded.

An Oscar worthy performance! Followed by one from her lawyer:

The girl's lawyer asked the judge to consider an 18-month youth rehabilitation order as her client was "terrified" of going to prison.

She said the 14-year-old had no history of violence but admitted a "pattern was emerging" after a previous assault conviction last February.

That's some 'no pattern of violence' there!

Now Even Dogs Get Chavshrines!

People around the world have responded to the horrific incident - which a Stockport MPhas urged police to urgently investigate.

Around 30 flowers, wreaths and cards have been left by the canal bank in the days since Troya was found on January 18 with a carrier bag tied around her head - with some of the tributes coming from as far away as Sweden.

I..

I just….

Because It’s So Much Better To Be Stabbed To Death With An Ordinary Kitchen Knife…

A terrifying new class of knife widely available on the internet from UK retailers and increasingly carried by gangs on the streets of Britain’s cities is set to be banned from sale, The Independent can reveal.

Sales of so-called “zombie killer” knives, serrated weapons with long blades inspired by horror films, have led to calls for a crackdown on the marketing methods of online vendors who sell them as collectors’ items to “exterminate the undead”.

But police forces have become so concerned at the potential proliferation of the knives in big cities that steps are now being taken to introduce an outright ban on the weapons.

Well, up to now, gangstas have been having a fine old time killing each other using ordinary kitchen knives.

So I rather doubt these would make that much difference.

Stop and search might, but we know how much the senior ranks of the police love the ‘Guardian’ and ‘Indy’ headlines that this gets, don’t we?

Senior officers are particularly concerned at the damage that such weapons can cause if used in an attack, warning that the mixture of sharp points and bladed and serrated edges on the knives would be likely to inflict lethal injuries in a stabbing.

Plain old sharp edges aren’t doing too badly.

It is possible under secondary legislation to outlaw specific types of knife and other weaponry.

Bans are already in place on the sale of at least 13 different types of blade, including flick knives, sword sticks and several classes of weapon associated with martial arts.

And they don’t seem to be working very well, do they?

But maybe there’s actual evidence that these things are a) more prevalent and b) more deadly?

Crime statistics do not record the precise type of weapon used in knife crime but senior officers acknowledge there is anecdotal evidence of the use of zombie-type blades.

A 15-year-old teenager was last month stabbed outside a south London primary school with a weapon police said was so long that it had entered the victim from the front and exited at the rear.

So…that’s a big ‘No’ then.

Just another 'Something must be done! This is something, so we'll do it!' waste of time. Just like the last time.

Remember This, The Next Time Police Demand More Powers…

…especially when they try to tell us they won’t be misused:

Sussex Police is facing questions over its use of a law designed to tackle serious crime to investigate an inspector suspected of divulging police information to outsiders including journalists.

They can’t be trusted, can they?

Graham Cox, a retired detective chief superintendent with Sussex Police, said Mr Lyons may have been able to argue some of the information disclosed, taken individually, was in the public interest.

He added he was “uncomfortable” with the force’s use of RIPA for an internal disciplinary investigation.

Mr Cox said: “I do question the proportionality of that. I don’t think that is what the act was brought in for.

“It was brought in to regulate the investigation of serious crime – whatever you might feel about Lee Lyons’ conduct, I am not sure any of it amounted to serious crime.

“If you were being investigated for misconduct in your workplace, your employers would not be able to use the resources of the police to do it. I think there has been a quite a lot of mission creep with RIPA over the years.”

He added its use made officers “scared” to talk to the press, which would ultimately be bad for police and the public.

You know, I’m not sure the police’s reputation can take very many more hits, can it? Hopefully, their union will aid this officer in ….

Oh.

Matt Webb, chair of the Sussex branch of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file-officers, said he was comfortable with the way Mr Lyons’ case had been handled.

*speechless*

Deputy chief constable Ms Pinkney told The Argus that Mr Lyons’ disclosures had created “extra pain” for victims and damaged the public’s faith that they can “entrust their information to us”.

“The public have a right to trust their police – they have a right when they tell us something to know that we will hold that carefully,” she said.

They’ve seen how you pull out all the stops – including potentially illegal ones – to nail a dissenter in your own ranks. Why on earth would they think they might get treated any better?

CiF Pick Of The Comments Vs Julia’s Pick Of The Comments…

Jessica Valenti’s bonkers complaint about women being ‘overcharged’ for targeted products draws the CiF editor’s approval of the commentariat's offerings:

Personally, this was my favourite:

Further discussion can be found at Tim Worstall's blog.

And So It Begins…

The children’s commissioner for England has suggested lowering the burden of proof in cases of child sex abuse, arguing that the current system is “not fit for purpose”.

It’s good enough for murder and terrorism and kidnap and arson. Why isn’t it good enough for this?

Longfield told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “What this case really sharply illustrates is the difficulty there is in giving evidence in the case of child sex abuse, especially within the family.

“We know that the vast majority of cases aren’t reported in the first place, but even those that are reported, the vast majority don’t go to court because the evidence just isn’t there. And when looking at the burden of beyond reasonable doubt, it’s very sharply in contrast to the kind of ruling we saw from the judge last week, which is about balance of probability.”

Yes, that’s because that’s a civil court, not a criminal one. Are you going to suggest that those found guilty under such rulings would be subject only to a fine?

If not, shut up. This is not your remit. And you traduce the post you hold every time you open your mouth.

Which is not to say your predecessors didn't as well, but you're in a class of your own already...

Asked whether Worthington’s case was more about the police’s failure to collect evidence, she said officers should and could have done better. But, she added, the level of evidence needed in cases of familial child sex abuse was not usually available because they were not reported until a long time after the event. This meant forensic evidence was unavailable and/or the accounts of alleged victims could be muddled.

“We need to understand that if we are serious about tackling child sexual abuse, we need to better decide what does constitute good evidence and that’s something not for me, for the police; it’s for social services, it’s for the judiciary,” she said.

The two bodies that have failed Poppi Worthington (and Poppi Worthington’s family) so utterly? No, I don’t think we’ll let them decide anything.

Further discussion can be found at Anna Raccoon.

A Thoroughly Modern Accident…

The family awaits an MRI scan to determine the extent of any long-term damage, but Ms Cribben said a serious brain injury had been ruled out.

Probably because the poor kid won’t have much brainpower to begin with, given its lineage…

Joshua’s sisters Aaliyah and Destiny, two, have stayed at home as Ms Cribben tends to her son.

Lovely selection of chavnames! And can’t her husband help out with…

Oh. Silly me.

Grandmother Tracy, Ms Cribben’s mother, has started a fundraising page to help cover expenses, including travel for family members between Eastbourne and London to look after the girls.

High tech begging! Truly, the Internet is a remarkable invention, eh?

Ms Cribben asked for her address not to be disclosed, but said she would be complaining about the allegedly faulty window locks that she claims allowed her son so fall from the flat.

Yes, of course it’s the fault of the landlord.

Both the London Ambulance Service and the police confirmed they were called to reports of a child having fallen from a height shortly after 9pm on January 9.

But no-one seems to think a charge of child endangerment might be appropriate?

It's amazing that you can have a child removed for 'not giving him enough cuddles' because you're a little bit dim, yet you can hang onto three despite giving them chavnames and letting them fall out of the window...

Can’t Think Where Devon & Cornwall Police Get Their Reputation As Country Bumpkins From…

The owners of an historic castle are facing a legal battle to save their dog from a "death sentence" after it bruised the nose of a waiter at a posh wedding.

Bruised his nose? Was it a boxer?

Sarah and Robert Hay, who own 11th century Bickleigh Castle in Devon, have received a court summons saying their labrador Doubleé could be "dangerous".

It follows an incident at the venue in May last year when the dog "excitedly jumped up and hit" a 15-year-old waiter, who later needed a rabies jab as a precaution.

Eh? There’s rabies in Devon…?

The teenager did not complain but Devon and Cornwall Police issued legal proceedings after the teenager sought hospital treatment.

Really? How interesting. You usually can’t get Devon and Cornwall Police off their lazy backsides with genuinely dangerous dogs, so one wonders why the excess of zeal in this case?

Envy? Did a senior police officer get served a disappointing vol-au-vent at a wedding?

Or is it so they can point to this and say ‘We don’t just target chavs, look, we go after toffs too!’ if questions are asked?

A hearing is due at Exeter Magistrates Court on January 27 to consider the summons, which calls for the dog to be "put under control or destroyed" under section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871.

One hopes the magistrates will show some common sense, no matter how uncommon that might be.

Devon and Cornwall Police have declined to comment on the matter.

I wonder what they'll say when the magistrates have ruled?

This Is The Future – A Sensible Shoe Stamping On A Human Face, Forever…

Boux Avenue - the underwear chain owned by Dragon's Den's Theo Paphitis- received complaints after displaying scantily dressed women hanging out washing in their Churchill Square shop window.

The shop was accused of "demeaning women with outdated ideology" through the display - but said that they had misjudged the display as simply "fun and engaging".

The company said the controversial displays would be removed from Brighton this week and not repeated across its chain of national stores after Brighton student Sarah Derby made a complaint.

Oh, I might have known! Just what is she studying, I wonder?

Miss Derby, 23, said: "I understand sex sells but this window displays a picture of women as sexualised domestic beings.

"They seem to be saying that to be sexy you also need to be able to do the laundry.

"I live in Kemp Town and walk past all the sex shops every day. This isn't about being prudish but sexuality shouldn't be linked with domesticity.

"The implications of women as being nothing more than sexualised domestic beings reinforces anachronistic gender roles of 50 plus years ago."

In her full complaint to the company, Miss Derby questioned why the firm had not chosen to display attractive women in the House of Commons, laboratories or succeeding at sport.

Because none of those things are likely to be done in your knickers and bra, which is what this shop sells, you dim little harridan?

However other shoppers questioned whether the display caused any harm. One woman said: "I think there are probably more important things to get offended by than this.

"Surely people would be just as offended if they advertised their frilly knickers with MPs in front of the House of Commons."

Of course they would.

Because for so many of today’s coddled little kidults, ‘being offended’ is their raison de etre…

Oh Dear, I Think I Touched A Nerve....

Can't Help But Think...

...Freud would have had a quiet chuckle or two!

Damned Strange Name For A Flat...

...but that's Wales for you, I guess!

Sunday Funnies...

This is why I never, ever touch anything!

This Is Why The Police Are Now Despised By Law Abiding People…

At the time of the raid, police released a statement claiming "community information" had linked the address to drug activity.

Inspector Stuart Ross said at the time: "These recent warrants are really good examples of proactive police work following calls from the public.

"I would therefore urge people to help us make a difference in bringing offenders to justice, by reporting anyone involved in crime in the town."

So you can kick their door in, kill their dog, and then drop all (spurious) investigation without an apology?

Mrs Blanchard, who suffers from chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, was in the bathroom and her husband was in bed when the police burst in at 7.10am on September 9, last year.

Mr Blanchard, who lives with his wife at Eastgate Flats in Goole, insisted: "We have never, ever, ever touched drugs.

"But we had a drugs bust. At 7.10am, about seven or eight officers came storming in and put our door through.

"They came through before I had even got out of bed.

"My wife wasn't feeling well because of her illness, so was in the toilet, but they went in and grabbed her and tried to grab me out of bed, even though I had no trousers on.

"I didn't know what was happening and we were both in complete shock."

Mr Blanchard said the couple were put in separate police vans – even though his wife said sitting in the back would aggravate pain caused by her cancer.

"My wife was very poorly at the time and has been traumatised ever since," he said.

"She has been heartbroken because of what happened to Robbie. He was 13, but the police stood on him.

"Robbie and our other dog were then left all day on their own without food or water. He couldn't do anything after that and we had to pay £300 to put him down two days later.

"The place would have been dark, so they probably wouldn't have seen him, but that's beside the point."

Mr Blanchard said the force had failed to tell him why their house was raided.

"We were relieved when they dropped the charges but we knew it would happen anyway because we have never, ever dealt drugs," he said.

"We knew they would drop the charges, but the amount of time it took to do it is a joke. I understand they had a job to do, but it's the way they treated us that annoyed me.

"You would have thought we were murderers the way they grabbed us and talked to us, but we hadn't done anything wrong. It was disgusting."

…

Mr Blanchard said the couple had their reputations in the area ruined when photos of their flat circulated on social media at the time of the raid. He said he would be writing to Chief Constable Justine Curran to complain about their treatment.

A PR disaster that could have been turned into a success by a full and frank apology and immediate compensation. What do the police do?

Well, you won’t be surprised to hear that it’s nothing like that:

A Humberside Police spokesman told the Mail: "A 67-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman were initially arrested on suspicion of being concerned with the supply of controlled drugs following a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant at a property on Eastgate, Goole on September 9, 2015.

"They have now had their police bail cancelled and been unconditionally released.

"Police have not received any complaints in connection with the investigation."

Translation: “Stonewall! Pretend we are just automatons reacting to stimuli like single-celled organisms! Hope it all goes away!”

The contrast between this police indifference to the treatment meted out to an innocent couple and the grovelling obsequiousness displayed when a member of an identity group complains is stark.

Like The Bitch She Is, Deborah Orr Demands To Run With The Hare And Hunt With The Hounds..

...because, you see, it's all the media's fault!

It’s crucial that neither those making accusations of abuse, nor those who are mistakenly accused, should feel shame. Lord Bramall’s personal suffering has been for a noble cause. He is the hero of this story, not its victim. It’s awful that the police, the media and the general culture have made him feel like one.

Christ, where to start? Just how lacking in self-awareness do you have to be to fail to recognise your own part in this state of affairs?

We shouldn't be too surprised, of course, she has form for this sort of thing, after all.

Had “Nick”, the man who named Lord Bramall, been listened to as a child, then I daresay his accusations could have been investigated relatively easily. We now know that “Nick” and many other people were dismissed.

And rightly so, because they were fantasists and liars!

Lord Bramall says his treatment has caused him great pain after a lifetime of public service, and that is, of course, regrettable. But co-operating with the police in the course of their investigations is itself a public service, a call we should all be prepared to answer.

Does that include co-operating in stop and search? Or programmes designed to prevent extremist beliefs from taking hold in schools?

If not, why not?

Loudly declaring that there’s nothing more awful than being falsely accused of a sexual crime sends a message that those who report such crimes are the bad guys.

No, those who falsely report such crimes are the bad guys.

Good grief, this floundering is embarrassing! How have people this thick, shameless and dishonest been allowed to lead the public sector and media by the nose for so long?

Something Must Be Done!

Parents are calling for tougher safety measures at a crossing in West Way after a four-year-old girl was hit by a car.

The pupil from Botley School suffered fractures to her legs and a minor head injury after she was struck as she crossed the road last Thursday.

The schoolgirl was using the pedestrian crossing when it is claimed the vehicle, travelling at 20mph, drove through a red light.

I’m not sure what more ‘must be done’, frankly. Rules of the road are clear, but there’s nothing to really stop people disobeying them, if that’s what happened.

District councillor Emily Smith, whose children also attend the primary school, said: “I’m wondering whether a 20mph zone might slow cars down and help drivers to notice traffic lights turning red. “

Well, given the driver in this case was estimated at 20mph then…no.

But surely if he really did run a red light, the police will come down on him like a ton of bricks?

Spokeswoman for Thames Valley Police, Charlotte Redman, confirmed that no arrests have been made in relation to the incident.

Hmmm. Perhaps the witnesses’ insistence that the light was red should be taken with a pinch of salt?

Does Not Compute...

Anne Jones, Southend’s children and learning councillor, suggested the rise in unintentional injury was linked to children climbing tall and dangerous structures – such as the former Empire theatre in Alexandra Street.

She added the stress of exams was causing children to suffer mental health problems but the council was working hard to tackle issues like self-harm and bullying.

That's nice, but couldn't they fix the streetlights and take away the rubbish first?

I thought it was what we paid them for, after all...

Mrs Jones said: “We try to ensure children don’t feel stressed coming up to Christmas, but as a parent who has been through this three times with GCSEs and twice with A-levels, I can understand how difficult it is.

“I spoke to a parent only this week who said their child was stressed over the Christmas holidays just over the thought of mock exams in January and February, and the same goes for A-level students writing their personal statements for university.

“They are children but we are asking them to be grown up and consider their futures at the same time as coping with abject uncertainty.”

Yes. It's called 'growing up'.

She added: “Bringing up teenagers is difficult for this generation of parents because we didn’t have these influences (on the internet) when we were young,” she said.

“It shows why we should have young people very much involved in leading us.”

Wait, what? They can't cope with exams, but you want them to take the lead?

Is it me, or..?

Keep Telling Yourselves ‘Crime Doesn’t Pay’…

…because the criminals are telling themselves something quite different:

A legal executive who was jailed for taking £100,000 from vulnerable, elderly clients so she could invest in a gym and refurbish her home could be out of her cell nine months earlier than expected.

Joni Parrington could leave prison in April next year despite being given a conditional release date of January 2017 when she was sentenced in June, The Argus can reveal.

What sort of deterrent is this?

A Ministry of Justice spokesman stressed the process was entirely "normal" but victims and those affected by Parrington's actions disagreed.

I just bet they did!

Release on temporary licence will be granted by the Ministry of Justice to help her “re-acclimatise” back into the community.

Why would she need to ‘reacclimatise’ when she’s hardly been in there long?!?

You Can’t Blame The Police And CPS, Phoebe…

…they’ve got historic sex abuse cases to pursue!

It was late and, yes, I’d had quite a few cocktails. I was fumbling for my keys on the street outside my flat when a man stepped out of the darkness and punched me three times in the face – twice in the jaw, once in the mouth – and stole my bag. Two of my front teeth broke in half and the damage to my jaw meant I had to eat mush through a straw for the next month.

So, actual evidence of a crime (if we exclude the possibility that she was drunk enough to fall on her face, of course). That makes a nice change!

My neighbour called the police who were sympathetic. They said the assault was GBH and sent an artist round to produce a sketch of my attacker. Ten months later, I picked the police’s suspect out of a lineup and was called to give evidence against him in court. But shortly before the trial date, I received a brief email from the police saying I had been “de-warned”. I had no idea what that meant.

Well, it seems to mean that the police officer handling your case is illiterate:

“Phobe [sic], De warning means the case is not going a head [sic]. No witnesses are required for trial. Case has been dropped,” my designated witness care officer wrote.

No doubt said ‘witness care officer’ is well-versed in politically-correct garbage, but not in coherent English or actual ‘customer service’…

I turned to the officer in charge of my case for a fuller explanation. He said the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) didn’t think the artist’s sketch and the suspect looked alike. Moreover, “they have grave concerns about the fact that you had been drinking on the night”. The case had been dropped, he said, due to lack of evidence.

Which rather makes you wonder how it is all those other cases, the historical ones, can go ahead, doesn’t it?

Siobhan Blake, deputy chief crown prosecutor, admits the CPS could improve their witness briefing. “The CPS is running pilots looking at the way we discuss, with victims and witnesses, the court process. We’re intending to roll out next year an enhanced system of explanation to victims and witnesses. We’ve identified that as a key area. It’s not meant to be a memory test. Or in any way a situation designed to trick people or trip them up.” Yet several criminal lawyers I spoke to were amazed that I didn’t anticipate my case stumbling on the grounds that I’d been drinking. Only an “idiot witness”, one told me, wouldn’t work out for themselves that their alcohol intake would be an issue. In cases dependent on witness testimony, our adversarial legal system pits one person’s word against another.

Yes. Of course it does. How can you not have realised this?

In cases of sexual assault where proving or disproving consent is the critical issue, cross-examination can be particularly traumatic. But the system sees its purpose to convict the guilty and acquit the innocent, regardless of the vulnerability of a witness.

What about the vulnerability of the falsely accused?

Sarah Vine, a criminal barrister who specialises in sex cases, explains that her approach to questioning a witness “is not about you being discredited, regarded as a liar. It’s about the forensic, almost objective, reliability of your evidence.” The low conviction rate of sexual assaults in Britain, Vine suggests, is not a failure but rather evidence of a robust, effective criminal justice system. The stigma that comes with a conviction for sexual assault or domestic violence is so great – a “mark of Cain”- that Vine is adamant it must be proven to the highest possible criminal standard. The worst outcome is the conviction of an innocent. “You can’t have a system where you can just walk in and go, I demand this happens because I said so,” she says. Another senior barrister explains: “When we come to assess a witness, all of us take into account certain parts of their behaviour. If they are a 50-year-old charity worker who has led an unblemished life, we are more inclined to believe them than a 23-year-old with 50 drug convictions. I wouldn’t want to go through it,” she adds. “It’s not a pleasant process. It’s uncomfortable even when there’s not much at stake. But what’s the alternative?”

Well, quite. What is the alternative, other than to accept the SJWs demands and go along with the loony feminist brigade’s insistence that women never lie, despite the evidence to the contrary?

I’ve no doubt Phoebe feels hard done by, but the law can never take account of someone’s feelings when deciding if there’s a case to answer.

A system that did this would not be justice.

But then, it seems that’s just what we are indeed heading for, with the appalling case of Poppi Worthington.

A case where the state’s agents fail so spectacularly that they spend three years attempting to cover it up, then simply declare a man guilty of a vile crime without benefit of a trial, and watch as the lynch mob promptly turn their fire on him, and not on Cumbria Police and social services…

A Bit Short-Sighted…?

…after all, we don’t want them to breed, surely?

Patients in Basildon will no longer be entitled to free vasectomies or sterilisation treatment due to NHS funding cuts.

Surely this should be exempt from any cuts? Surely!?

Originally, the Basildon and Brentwood clinical excellence group had recommended cutbacks which would see only male vasectomy services withdrawn.

But after a review, the group has also proposed withdrawing the availability of free female sterilisation treatments.

Well, that’s equality for you!

A Splendid Idea!

Patients who deliberately miss appointments should be charged, a GP has suggested.

Shocking figures uncovered during an investigation by a Southend Patient group reveal missed appointments are costing the local NHS service thousands of pounds a month and extending waiting lists for patients who genuinely need to see their GPs.

Southend’s Patient Participation Group Forum has been investigating the figures at each practice.

They discovered about six per cent of appointments are missed each month, each wasting time GPs could have spent seeing other patients.

I’m all for it! Just think how much money my mother will make, when she gets compensated for all the 10:30 appointments she’s had that have seen her still sitting in the waiting room at 11:15!

It will work the same way for patients, won’t it?

Dr Krishna Chaturvedi who runs the Southbourne Grove surgery, said the problem was rife and called for GPs to be able to make similar charges as dentists for missed appointments.

He said: “Every week there are large numbers of patients who simply don’t turn up and all we can do is inform patients what a problem that is and ask them to please phone us to cancel so we can see other patients.

“This has been a problem for a long time and I don’t understand why it is taking so long to resolve it. If you don’t turn up to a dentist appointment you have to pay so I don’t see why we can’t do the same, but it has to come from Government. We can’t change the rules.”

Dr Chaturvedi added: “This also a problem with A&E departments which are already stretched. Often we find out that someone who hasn’t turned up for an emergency appointment has gone to A&E instead. It’s not necessary as they could be quite easily treated by their GP and they don’t pay there either.

“Often genuinely sick patients, including children, have to wait longer than they should because of this problem.”

“Some patients are waiting two to three weeks for appointments and that is completely unacceptable but DNAs don’t help. Patients have rights but those rights come with responsibilities.”

Yet there’s no responsibility on GPs to see patients at their appointed time, I note.

Well, I'm Convinced...

Worcester's Michael Locke, his wife Rosemarie and mother-in-law Rosie Smith received abuse across social media and were frightened to leave their home due to threats of violence, particularly against Mr Locke, after they were accused of being bogus in November.

Hmmm, on what grounds?

The police investigation was launched after Mr Locke produced a doctored identification card while collecting money from customers at the Red Lion pub in Stiffords Bridge.

His picture was quickly distributed across social media.

Ah. Well, it's a ...mistake...anyone could....

Oh, I can't pretend! They should have faced the full might of the law.

Now, six weeks later, the case has been dropped.

A spokesman for Mercia Police said: "Following an investigation, there was insufficient evidence to establish that a criminal offence has taken place.

"Officers have provided advice to those involved regarding the correct use of identity badges and sealed collection buckets."

*sighs*

The family always denied the accusations saying that they had collected for the BBC appeal for several years. They produced receipts showing they had banked money to the Children in Need official account and said they only altered the ID badge after Michael took another relative's place on the collections.

Ms Smith, 67, explained at the time: "My son Ron usually collects for me all the time, but this year he couldn't do it, so I asked Michael to help me collect.

"I am ill and need all the help I can get.

"The identify cards were sent in Ron's name, but we didn't know how to get them changed and tried to call Children in Need. I didn't know what else to do so we put Michael's face on it instead."

You need a better story.

I Suspect You’ll Be Held To This, Cruddas!

The Dagenham MP last night told about 600 people a mosque on May and Bakers Sports and Social Club’s land was “definitely a no” at a lively meeting.

The remark came at a public meeting on whether the site could be used for worship on Fridays.

Well, well, well….

Jon Cruddas said Eastbrook residents were unaware of a September meeting in which council leader Cllr Darren Rodwell and Barking Mosque representatives met with club trustees, who agreed “in principle” to a building for prayer meetings.

Mr Cruddas, who held an extra consultation due to the number of people in attendance, said the community did not want the prayer room and that he would support them.

I wonder if he’ll remember this when it comes down to it. Because I will.

The club’s trustee chairman, Steve Thompson, confirmed he would consider any proposals. He said: “We have never had any money from a religious community. Any proposal that would help us save money we would consider.”

Speaking from the floor, 61-year-old engineer Laurence Clarke accused Mr Thompson of disregarding a restriction preventing the land from being used for worship.

“Covenants on this land state ‘no places of worship’ so why are the trustees stating they would even consider such a proposal?” he said. “You should step down.”

He said Mr Cruddas should have tackled the problem sooner and praised Dagenham’s UKIP leader Peter Harris for forming an action committee during a previous meeting at Eastbrook pub.

Ah, now it’s all clear. Labour are simply making sure UKIP don’t eat their lunch.

*Yawns* Yet Another Uniform Battle…

Diane Hyam, 51, received a letter from King Edmund School, in Rochford, warning her that her son could be put into isolation because his blond highlights and gelled-back hairstyle breaks uniform rules.

So she immediately apologised and rectified the situation, yes?

She claims her son, Jayden Wilson, has had a short back and sides for years, and had blond highlights added five months ago. Mrs Hyam, of Marshalls, Rochford, said other pupils at the school have similar hairstyles.

*sighs*

Sometimes, it seems as though the parents behave no better than, and furnish the same pitiful justifications as, the children…

She said: “It is their policy, it is in the paperwork, to have natural colours in the hair. The school said he will be put in isolation if he does not get rid of the highlights.

“I have two school photos on the wall, one from two years ago and one from a year ago, both the sides of his hair shorter than it is now.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with his hair. It’s a fashionable style which all the kids now have, with the gel in it makes the highlights darker and you can barely notice the blond.

It doesn’t matter whether you think there’s anything wrong with his hair. The school does. They make the rules that you admit you’ve read!

“It is neat and tidy and there has never been a problem in the past.

Well, there’s one now.

“My son feels like he can never do anything right. From one teacher it’s a problem with the length and from another it’s the colour. “

Maybe dubbing him ‘Jayden’ simply helped the teachers to recognise a future problem chav when they saw one.

Great Use Of Dickensian Language...

...but I have to point out that that's not a shotgun, 'Liverpool Echo'!

"It didn’t seem real, it was like watching an American crime drama."

I think I watch different shows, to be honest:

Cllr Millar told the ECHO the fight lasted just 90 seconds at about 1pm and the police arrived within three minutes.

And the weapons? AKs, MP5s, good old Smith & Wesson?

On the corner of Woodchurch Road by Derby Lane, a fight between two boys aged roughly 16-18 escalated as one drew out a sharpened trowel and residents got involved.

*blinks*

He said: “I have never, in all my many years in Liverpool, seen a running gang battle like that in any street.

“It could have easily been an older person or some one with a pram."

They might have been better armed!

"Look out, fellas, she's got a fully-automatic nappy bag!

"It was only when we got into the car that I realised how dangerous it could have been.

“What does it look like when we are showing small businesses off and we saw stupid, idiotic fighting going on?"

It looks like investing in business in Liverpool ain't a great idea, frankly.

Unless it's a gardening supplies business, of course.

Sunday Funnies...

But why oh why couldn't they intervene to stop 'Lost' becoming a huge mess?

“Hey, Us Liberals Are The Real Victims!”

Doris Akrap whinges and whines in – where else? – CiF:

We still do not know exactly what went on at Cologne’s central station on New Year’s Eve. Police have recorded 379 allegations of violence, 40% of them sexual assaults, with two reports of rape.

Sounds like you do know, then.

They have identified 31 suspects, who include at least two Germans, a Serb, an American and 18 asylum seekers from the Middle East and north Africa.

Yup, sounds exactly like you do indeed know. Which is, I suspect, the problem!

That’s all we know for sure. But the public still hasn’t recovered from the headlines last Monday saying that a crowd of 1,000 refugees had mobbed German women. Since then, some of us have been searching for a source whose testimony we can trust.

No, some of you have been searching for a way to cling to your liberal views no matter the downside now being shoved in your faces. And in your daughters' faces.

One million migrants arriving in Germany in 2015, the Paris attacks, the far-right parties Pegida and AfD growing – in some ways, as tensions over immigration increased, it seemed everyone was waiting for a major incident. For the last six months, every little punch-up in a refugee camp has been news, an attempt to create a horror story about violence in the “other culture” .

You think we need to create one, as opposed to simply observing the ones that are happening?

… the shocking events in Cologne seem to have cracked what was always fragile. Unsurprisingly, rightwing commentators – who over the year have been talking of refugees as if they were terrorists – are reacting gleefully to the events. Have they won?

Yes, because that’s all that matters, isn’t it? Who was ‘right’. Not the assaulted women, they can be thrown under the multi culti bus as a necessary sacrifice.

No. Not yet. It is completely normal to be appalled by what seems to have happened in Cologne. And it is completely normal to demand that every criminal has to be punished. It is also completely normal to discuss every fear caused by their behaviour. But I have another fear.

I just bet you do.

Too often in the past few days I have heard the Willkommenskultur-Germans saying they feel “exploited”, “abused”, “cheated”. We know this behaviour. It’s like angry parents whose children have got into trouble: “I did everything for you and what do you do?” As every parent, every German, has to learn: just like every child, every refugee is an individual. Not every refugee will study hard and become a doctor. No, some refugees will get drunk on New Year’s Eve and make a whole lot of mess.

Hey, if they just confined it to New Year’s Eve, there wouldn’t be much problem. You could simply deploy the police that you seemed to have handy when Pegida organised a protest rally against the cover up. They could bring their water cannons!

But they won’t.

I don’t want to trivialise sexual attacks. And I don’t want to deny the possibility that some people from the Middle East may have greater problems with women and alcohol than others. Nobody ever said that the refugees, even when they were wrapped in insulation blankets after arriving over the Mediterranean, were all angels. You’re sure to find bigots, antisemites and criminal gangs among them, just as you’ll find racists, rapists and arsonists among the German population (there were more than 200 arson attacks on refugee accommodation in Germany last year).

In that case, it would be crazy to import more, wouldn't it..?

Gosh, Why Is The UK Civil Service Now So Poor..?

Richard Heaton puffs up his chest like a turkeycock:

I’ve been the Civil Service race champion for a year now.

Really? 500 metres, marathon, three legged, or egg and spoon?

I have met people from all backgrounds, cultures and communities who know that things must change for black and ethnic minority civil servants. They know that the Civil Service must become better at recognising, nurturing and appealing to black talent.

What about brown talent? Or yellow talent? Don't they count?

… mostly they are optimistic. They see that we are doing lots of hard work: investing in talent programmes, making promotions fairer, encouraging role models. They have read the Talent Action Plan. They know that this is a Cabinet Secretary priority. They have heard that the Civil Service is introducing an anonymised application process.

I suspect they are also very well versed in what 'lots of hard work' really means in the Civil Service.

We are an organisation with the right values and leadership, and we have in hand a programme that can enable us to become the best and most inclusive employer in the UK. But the optimism is not universal – neither mine, nor that of the many staff I meet and talk to. The observation I hear most often is that for a real difference to come about, our culture has to change.

Hmmm, OK. What do you suggest?

The scarcely perceptible cues and assumptions that make some people feel undervalued or ignored.

Never mind what they feel, are they undervalued or ignored? Facts, not feelings!

The apparent bias that we see in some performance markings.

Again, is there bias, or isn't there?

The tendency of some promotion panels to play safe and to make appointments in their own likeness.

The general reluctance to talk or inquire about race.

The fact that your position actually exists is proof that some people never bloody shut up about it!

If you’ve read this far into a blog post about race in the Civil Service, it’s likely that you think this is important.

Nope! I’m just here to mock. And to see how my taxes are misused…

So what can we all do, together or individually, to nudge our culture in the right direction?

Aha, the 'nudge'. I knew that'd make an appearance.

Talk about race. Encourage others to talk about it. Maybe arrange a viewing of Jane Elliott’s “Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes” video at your next team meeting.

Yikes!

"Now, a short presentation from HR before coffee break..."

If you’re involved in running a promotion or appointment process, ask whether you can avoid an all-white panel. If you find yourself shortlisting no black or ethnic minority candidates, ask yourself whether you have searched, advertised and sifted properly. Are you sure potential candidates haven’t stumbled over some inherent bias in the process?

Or maybe they just weren't the best candidate, despite being a tick in the 'diversity' box?

During this Parliament, the Civil Service will continue to change in shape and size. Most departments will continue to get smaller. This is totally compatible with increasing the diversity of our workforce, but only if we are careful about how we downsize. … Managing organisational change and downsizing are some of the most important and difficult tasks we face. In the end, decisions about who stays and who is released are for permanent secretaries and executive teams. I hope my colleagues across the Civil Service will join me in making a commitment to champion diversity as we become smaller.

Hmmm, this seems to be saying 'Let's sack the white ones first', doesn't it?

It's not exactly 'Sir Humphrey', any more, is it?

Well, Good!

Colin Buckle, defending both siblings, said they were employed as healthcare workers and may lose their jobs as a result of the convictions.

They don't seem like the type I'd want caring for a relative, frankly...

Chinyere Onyegbuna, a mum-of-one, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years and was ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work. Her brother was handed a community sentence with 80 hours unpaid work.

Why aren't they being deported?

No Good Deed....

An elderly couple who took pity on a career criminal have told how he repaid them - by burgling their home.

D'oh!

But was there any indication he'd be a hopeless recidivist?

Duncan, a 33-year-old drug addict, took coins from a money box and also stole a Tiffany necklace and earrings.

He was jailed for three years at Teesside Crown Court for burglary and a New Years Eve robbery with his partner.

Ah.

His lawyer, John Nixon, said: “He expresses an apology to the family through me.”

Are you just reading that off a cue card?

The Sea, Mr Sanders. Kindly Get In It…

A supermarket shopper has called on Tesco to take action after he injured himself while…

Negotiating a slippery floor that hadn’t been adequately cleaned?

Walking into a wire strung at head-height by a disgruntled employee sick of customers asking ‘Where’s the bread aisle, mate’?

Picking up a tin of peaches that a Tesco worker had wired up to the mains supply?

… scrambling for heavily discounted items in a south London store.

Ummm…

Oliver Sanders, 31, said doctors told him he had torn a knee ligament when he was hurt in what he described as a manic “free-for-all” at Tesco Extra in New Malden.

On Sunday, he said he was among more than a dozen customers jostling for discounted deli meat at the hot food counter after staff brought out reduced stock shortly before closing.

However, Mr Sanders said he was left in intense pain after he was shoved in one direction while his knee went in another.

Then your beef (pardon the pun) is with the shover. Not with the venue.

He told the Standard: “I had my hands in a box when I was pushed up against the fridge cabinet. When they put the items in the fridges that’s when everyone goes nuts.

“It happened so quickly I probably had about three or four items in my hands but I wasn’t going for anything in particular.”

You were just grabbing anything within reach then, like some sort of mindless amphibian predator?

And you have the nerve to complain about the others..!

The self-employed fence builder said he had been off work for two days since the injury but is poised to return on Wednesday because he cannot afford more time off.

Thank god we – the taxpayer – aren’t funding this muppet!

On Monday, he reported the incident to staff at the store and contacted the supermarket giant on Twitter to ask them to consider a change of policy.

He added: “It is partly my fault …

No, no, it’s entirely your fault!

… but Tesco needs to do something about this because more people are going to get hurt. It’s always a free for all.”

He said he believed the best way to deal with bringing out discounted items was to offer them on a first come first served basis with customers raising their hands for individual goods.

What?!? Hold an ‘auction’ for every last packet of eat-by-today cheese? Get outta here!

A Tesco spokesperson said: "Colleagues at our New Malden store always stagger the introduction of reduced to clear items in order to minimise any disruption.

"They also make sure extra colleagues are on hand to oversee particularly busy times.”

Tesco are lucky I don’t work in their PR department, that’s all I can say…

Performing The Drunken Toyshop Kidnap Rampages...

...that our home-grown criminals just don't want to do:

A “career criminal” who went on an ecstasy-fuelled naked rampage through a toy store, abducting a six-year-old boy and battering the child’s grandmother with a cricket bat, is facing a lengthy jail term.

Przemyslaw Kaluzny was previously a member of a Polish criminal gang that stole vehicles to order before moving to Scotland a year before his crazed attack, a court heard.

Wonderful!

His frenzied Easter Sunday rampage was captured in a CCTV video, which was shown to the court yesterday.

The court heard that Kaluzny took class A ecstasy that he found in a Kinder Egg on the street before entering the store.

I see he's assimilated enough to come up with a bonkers defence...

He first stripped off as he walked through the store before picking up a terrified six-year-old boy who was on an Easter day out with his father and grandmother.

Footage played in court showed shoppers walking past as Kaluzny strolled through the store completely naked.

He then grabbed the boy and dragged him along the ground as he was chased by shoppers and staff.

One worker repeatedly rammed Kaluzny with a trolley before the boy’s grandmother, who cannot be named to protect the boy’s identity, hit him with her handbag.

Staff and shoppers then dived on top of Kaluzny as he tried to struggle free.

I'm only surprised that the Scottish police didn't turn up & nick them...

Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC deferred sentence.

It better include deportation, and not to just across the border.

"Police officers have to endure certain types of behaviour that are inappropriate."

Paul Blanchard, for Whitaker, said she struggled with drink and drugs.

“I have no doubt that her intentions at the time were nothing more than friendly. 

... 

“This young lady is not a sex offender and going on the register would be catastrophic.”

No need to work so hard, chum. Leniency's practically guaranteed, right?

Whitaker was jailed for 16 weeks and ordered to pay £1,330 in fines.

The court heard she had a previous record of failing to carry out community orders.

Chairwoman of the bench Ms Julie Houston said: “This offence is so serious a custodial sentence is necessary.”

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Whitaker will also have to register as a sex offender for the next seven years.

Good to see a judge not following the progressive script.

H/T: Budvar in comments

Yes, Of Course It Does….

Mrs Arthur, who has six children aged six to 23 - Sonny is the youngest - is keen to warn other parents of the dangers of these chemicals.

She said: "It just burns all the internal organs, it’s horrible stuff. I'll never use that again. 

"It was something that could have been prevented but it was just a stupid error.

"It could have happened to anybody. He’s quite a sensible kid and that it happened to him shows how easy it is."

She added: "This stuff is a killer, it’s lethal. It’s designed to unblock drains so you can imagine what does to the inside of the human body, it doesn’t bear thinking about."

…that’s why sensible people leave it in the bottle with the child-proof cap, and don’t decant it into a mineral water bottle and leave it lying around, FFS!

Stupid woman should be prosecuted for child endangerment, not given space in a newspaper to wibble on about ‘dangers’ that any normal person can already see, in a blatant attempt to con money out of the public for her fundraising page.

I Can See My Tiny Violin Is Going To Be Getting A Workout In 2016…

A pit bull ripped off the hand of its owner's mother in a savage 18-minute attack, as terrified bystanders desperately tried to save her.

The 52-year-old woman was walking the animal in Northern Moor, Manchester, on Wednesday evening when it locked it’s jaw around her hand.

Brave neighbours, who would only give their names as Liz and Leanne, came to the woman’s aid when they heard her terrified screams.

Leanne, 30, tried to approach the dog but it was 18 minutes before they could loosen the dog’s grip but it had already severed her hand from her arm.

I can’t help by be cheered up by this new phenomenon of vicious chavdogs literally biting the hands that feed them. Instead of innocent bystanders or their pets.

Around 30 horrified residents came to the woman’s aid and the dog was eventually prised away from her by a 34-year-old man. 

She was taken into a friend’s house with her severed hand until an ambulance arrived to take her to hospital. The 34-year-old man, who also suffered numerous bite injuries, helped officers restrain the dog before it was locked in a cage and taken away by GMP.

It should have been shot then and there on the spot.

Now we get to pay for its (hideously expensive) incarceration and the trial of its pea-brained owner.

Don't Do Drugs, Kids...

...and especially don't sell them, and get caught:

Members of Dougan’s family, including his mother, who gave evidence in the hearing, and his brother shouted insults at the judge as they left court.

As he was taken down to resume his sentence, Dougan said: “I have lost everything, my family, my kids and now you have taken my house.”

Ahahahahahaha!

*rummages in hard drive*

Ah. There you go!

Tough!

As Longrider often says, ‘Our gaff, our rules!’:

An organisation of mosques says it "unequivocally" rejects government proposals to require madrassas in England to be registered and inspected.

Fine. *points* Heathrow’s thataway. Off you go to somewhere you’ll find more congenial to your little medieval cult…

… in a response, the mosque leaders say the plans are based on "the flawed assumption that radicalisation takes place within some madrassas" and that such "control and monitoring" over lessons would "effectively lead to a form of state sanctioned religious expression". They say the registration and inspection plan "unduly encroaches on the legitimate right of faith providers to teach their children their faith". The mosque leaders also take issue with the use of the term "extremism" saying it is vaguely defined and "potentially all-encompassing".

Yes, I expect it encompasses such things as anti-semitism & hatred of ‘apostates’ and gays and freedom of speech. That might be a bit awkward for you, eh?

In his speech to the Conservative party conference, the prime minister called for such places of religious education to be registered and open to inspection, in a speech warning against the risk of extremist teaching. He claimed that in some madrassas, children were "having their heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate".

So, over to you then, Call Me Dave. They’ve thrown down the gauntlet. What are you going to do?

This Story Is Interesting Not For What It Says About The US Police…

…but for what it says about the UK police:

A Scotland Yard officer today told of the dramatic moment US police stormed her New York hotel room and her baby was taken into care.

The holiday of a lifetime during maternity leave turned into a “nightmare” for Louise Fielden, 42, a Tower Hamlets-based Pc, when the officers took away Samuel, then just six months old.

Staff at the Chelsea Highline Hotel called in social services alleging she had left Samuel unattended in the hotel lobby and for 30 minutes in their hotel room.

It's a rather odd story, not least for what's not said...

Ms Fielden, a Pc for 13 years, is now locked in a legal battle to get 15-month-old Samuel back after he was placed in foster care in the US in April.

She said today she has CCTV proving she never left Samuel, who was born via IVF and an anonymous sperm donor, in the lobby.

A lowly PC has the resources to have a child (presumably alone, as no partner is mentioned) and then embark on a transatlantic jaunt with a newborn?

She revealed fighting the case has already cost her more than $75,000.

Where's the money coming from? I thought the police were overworked and underpaid!

Speaking of the dramatic moments leading to Samuel being taken, three days after she arrived in New York following three months on holiday in Antigua, she said she had spent hours telling a social services official Samuel was safe, but “she then decided to remove him anyway... three police officers entered the room and threw me to the floor.”

She alleged that one officer assaulted her and told her: “Take that you limey bitch, you can’t be a police officer.”

'Limey bitch'..? Sorry, but this just doesn't ring true. It sounds more like something you'd see in a movie. An old one, at that!

She says her son’s US foster carer Susan Sena is “not appropriate” as she is a member of a gay rights support group.

Ouch! The Met's Professional Standards aren't going to be happy at that, are they?

The modern police officer is, it's fair to say, rather a curious creature, if this woman's anything to go by...

The Government Never Sleeps, Citizen!

...even on Boxing Day morning, before first light. There's government....'work',,,,to be done!

I...I Just Can't Believe This!

...who ever heard of vegetarians keeping it a secret...?!?

Sunday Funnies...

I pity all those who only got ordinary drones for Christmas..!

Tory Peer Discovers Horrible Chavs Use Public Transport, SHOCK!

Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher, launched a scathing attack on passengers who eat McDonalds and KFC takeaways on the Underground network.

He is now set to use a Parliamentary question time slot to lobby the government to push for a Transport for London rule change.

A great use of government time, I'm sure you'll agree...

The senior Conservative, who joined the Lords in 2013, said he finds the consumption of hot and greasy food on Tube trains offensive.

He told the Standard: “I travel on the Tube a lot and what I see is continual.

“The thing that I think is awful is when people come on the Tube when they have a McDonald’s bag and they put them on the seat next to them.

“Some poor unsuspecting man or woman is going to end up sitting on that seat not know what has been on it.

“At lunchtime, and I have seen this a lot, they are eating noodles in plastic containers which drip all over the place so they go on the floor. You get people eating sandwiches and sometimes even that goes all over the place.

“KFC and McDonalds are the worst.”

Oooh, controversial!

Lord Sherbourne said he hopes his question in the House of Lords will open up a discussion on the issue.

He said: “I think the first thing is for London Transport to say they think it is something worth looking at.

“They could talk to other countries and see how well it has worked and how they manage to communicate it then do some opinion research on people who use the Tube.

“If people support it, it is something they should give thought to.”

So, I hear a lot of people support closing our borders, and the return of capital punishment, and lifting of the Labour government's hunting ban.

Over to you, Lord Sherbourne!

Don't Say We Didn't Warn You....

Once, most fur came from Italy and France, where animals have to be kept in minimum-standard conditions. This kept the price high and ensured that it was only used on high-quality garments.

But because there are next to no welfare standards in Asia and battery farming is rife — some farms have up to 10,000 animals in tiny wire cages — fur can be produced for a pittance from rabbits, mink and foxes, as well as more unusual creatures such as raccoon dogs — a wild animal, resembling a fluffy raccoon.

A 70 cm strip of raccoon dog fur — enough for a hood trim — can be picked up for as little as a pound.

Something that was predicted by anyone with a brain when the animal rights loons were on their anti-fur rampage, and was ignored in the flurry of virtue signalling and hypocrisy.

The other problem is that consumers are now used to such realistic faux fur that it’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t.

Not for me, it isn't. I can always tell.

...with fur now so cheap, animal lovers and vegetarians may find themselves unwittingly buying into the fur trade, which they abhor.

Awwww, it'd take a heart of stone, wouldn't it?

Quite The Most Breathtaking Attempt At Mitigation I’ve Ever Heard……

…and I have heard a lot:

Rufus Taylor, mitigating for Walker, urged the judge sitting at the court to give the defendant a suspended sentence. "It is beyond question that Gemma Kerslake was not wearing her seatbelt, nor was Kerri Downes and nor therefore was her one-year-old daughter," Mr Taylor said.

"Had they been worn, it may have avoided any serious injuries at all."

What?!?

Yes, they were stupid, both to get into a car with a cretin, and to then not wear a seatbelt, but even so! They weren't driving!

Not that you can call this driving:

Oliver Walker was one of six people - including two babies - inside his father's Peugeot when the vehicle left the road and careered into a ditch on November 10 2013. He had "unnecessarily" overtaken another car being driven by a friend in the seconds before he missed the junction at Cuckoo Lane next to the Puddletown bypass, went across a road and crashed.

…

Walker, of South Street in Wareham, had passed his driving test in May 2013 - less than six months before the crash took place.

…

Walker had admitted making a false statement to obtain insurance at an earlier hearing, and it was heard that he had bought insurance online under the pretence that he had been driving for longer than he really had on 33 occasions.

…

Nicholas Cotter, prosecuting, said passengers in the car had warned Walker to slow down in the moments before the collision, which took place on a stretch of road limited to 60 miles per hour.

"Ms Kerslake said the speed [in the seconds before the crash] was around 75mph," Mr Cotter said.

"Others say it was between 70mph and 80mph."

An accident just waiting to happen. Thank fate that the only injuries were to the chavs, and not to innocent road users.

Judge Brian Forster QC said Walker must be sent to prison for the offences. "You overtook a car being driven by someone you know and having completed that overtaking manoeuvre you drove at speed and were accelerating towards a junction that you apparently didn't know to be there," he said. "That overtaking manoeuvre was unnecessary and in my judgement you were trying to show off."

Walker, who wept throughout the hearing, shouted "love you" to family sitting in the public gallery as he was led away.

I wonder if they shouted anything back?

I Thought They Were Supposed To Be Clamping Down On This..?

The Independent Police Complaints Commission launched an investigation into the killing after it emerged that Breck’s mother, Lorin LaFave, told Surrey police in December 2013 – two months before the murder – she feared her son was being groomed online by Daynes, but police failed to take any action.

The police watchdog on Monday released a clip of LaFave’s call, during which she raised concerns five times that her son was being groomed. A log of her call was reviewed by a police supervisor later that day and marked “no further action”, adding: “Nothing to suggest this is grooming” .

In a 27-page report, the IPCC said the Surrey police call handler and her supervisor would have faced misconduct proceedings if they had not already resigned from the force.

Resignation should not protect you from this.

This Is Not Justice...

Hussain was disqualified from driving for four years and ordered to take an extended retest.

Yeah, I'm sure this time, it'll take. Won't it?

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told the court Hussain had been disqualified from driving three times, the last time only two months before the accident.

Hussain had been driving around uninsured in the Seat, which he borrowed from a friend who was unaware he was not insured or licensed to drive.

It seems he doesn't listen much to what society - in the form of the legal courts in the land - has to say. I wonder why?

Sgt Greaves said: "Najeeb Hussain was a disqualified driver, who not only took it upon himself to drive a car that day, but did so at a dangerous and excessive speed which resulted in the tragic death of Mr McDermott.

"There is no sentence that can ease the pain of the loss for his family."

Are you sure? There's always hanging.

Definition Of ‘Really Good Chap’ Needs A Bit Of Work…

Restaurant worker Imran Khan, whose family live in the house hit by the car, described the scene shortly after the smash.

He said: “I came back to see the police and the ambulance.

“It was a shock, I was just worried about my family because normally everybody is in that living room and if the car had gone into the side of the house with such an impact the wall would have collapsed.

“But the damage is nothing compared to the life that’s gone.

“He was only a teenager. I didn’t know him personally as he was younger than me but I used to see him at Friday prayers and he seemed like a really good chap.

“My thoughts are with the families.”

Terrible when a life is lost through …. well, what?

Student Abdigani Jamac, 19, lost control of the Volvo S40 he was driving in Nechells with four passengers in it.

He suffered fatal injuries in the crash and one of his passengers was also left seriously injured.

Birmingham Coroner’s Court heard how the accident happened in Duddeston Manor Road, at the junction with Little Francis Grove, just after midnight on August 2. Cyclist Darren McArthur told the inquest in a statement how the Volvo had driven past him before crashing.

“I heard a car come up behind me, accelerating hard and got up to quite a speed, it was weaving around, then skidded and hit the kerb and then hit the side of the house,” he said.

Ah. Well, maybe mechanical failure could have been a fac…

Oh.

A post-mortem examination revealed he died of injuries consistent with a car accident, while a toxicology report found cannabis in his system, which had also contributed to his death.

Police accident investigator Pc Darren McDonald said the 1998-plate Volvo had no registered keeper.

He also said Mr Jamac had never held a driving licence and the car had no insurance. An examination of the car also revealed that neither he nor his passengers were wearing seatbelts.

The officer concluded the accident was caused by Mr Jamac overtaking the cyclist at too high a speed and, due to his lack of driving experience, being unable to control the car when it skidded.

He added the fact the teenager had taken cannabis had contributed to the crash.

/facepalm

Area Coroner Emma Brown recorded a conclusion that Mr Jamac died as a result of a road traffic accident.

Really?

I guess there’s no option to record ‘as a result of being a complete dickhead who we’re all far better off for no longer having to share the planet with’ on the form…

A Worrying Attitude...

Det Con Atkinson said: “Beneath his veneer of jovial respectability, Watson was a predatory paedophile whose vile conduct only came to light when the victims found the courage to disclose his offending to professionals, family and police.

“It is to Watson’s shame that having been confronted with his crimes he subjected his victims to a further two years of anguish as they waited to face him in court.

He falsely maintained his innocence despite all evidence to the contrary – but to no avail, as the jury saw through his lies."

He was convicted by a jury. The justice system has worked.

So...why the suggestion from the cop that he shouldn't have availed himself of his right to a trial? That he has some sort of obligation to accept his guilt and not subject his accusers to the 'trauma' of a trial?

After all, juries can be funny creatures!