Revenge, Best Eaten Cold...

...and washed down with a nice Chianti. Bon appetit, Nigel!

But They Will Have To Undergo Strict And Lengthy Medical Supervision Before Anything Is Done, They Promised...

A mother was warned that her daughter could be placed under the care of social workers after she complained that the 14-year-old was being ‘encouraged’ to change sex by a therapist and her teachers.

The 45-year-old, whom we’ve called Lisa to protect her identity, raised the objections after discovering that, during their first hour-long appointment, an NHS psychotherapist had told the girl she could take hormones to stop her periods and give her male characteristics.

Slippery slope? Don't be silly, citizen. Now run along, and let the experts handle this.

She also found out that teachers had given her daughter – who wanted to identify as male – a boy’s name and referred to her using male pronouns at school without her parents’ knowledge.

Strange. They are usually blind to that.

But There Will Be All These Checks And Balances, They Promised...

Three doctors who certified a woman as autistic so that she could die by euthanasia are set to go on trial in Belgium.

The sisters of Tine Nys told investigators that her suffering was caused instead by a broken heart after a failed relationship, and that she had falsely claimed to be autistic to two doctors and a psychiatrist.

She had told them her suffering was 'unbearable and incurable' so that she could qualify for euthanasia under Belgian law.

There seems to be a fair few cases like this coming to light now.

But those of us who warned of the potential consequences and pitfalls were pooh-poohed as always.

I Should Go Into The Fortune-Telling Business...

Back in February:

"Can’t be named. Sound familiar? It seems that nor can the victim, referred to in all reports as ‘the woman’.

I suspect, however, that she might have been a relative. No weeping mother has been interviewed, so perhaps the young master should have picked old Norm to idolise instead?"

Well, I was spot on:

Daniel Bartlam was just 14 when he hit mother Jacqueline, 47, seven times with a claw hammer at their detached cul-de-sac home.

It's a pretty disturbing case, with the usual signs of a broken home, early-onset mental issues investigated but never resolved by the authorities, and a rush to find 'blame' in TV and popular culture...

A source close to the case told the Daily Mail: ‘He comes across as being very mature but there is a distinct lack of emotion. If he was an adult he could be considered a psychopath.’

Well, he's not. What does that make him?

He was convicted of his mother’s murder in February following a two-week trial, but it was only after his sentencing yesterday that Mr Justice Flaux lifted reporting restrictions which prevented him from being named.

I wonder why..?

Dog Attacks: I Don’t See Why We Should Worry About ‘Privatised’ Police…

…after all, it’s not like the supposedly-impartial service they offer couldn’t be done just as well by anyone else prone to jump to conclusions, is it?

“As I was walking past it looked at me and then jumped,” he said. “It wiggled me about and threw me on the road.”

… Norfolk police confirmed they were investigating the attack.

The owner apologised but Anita, 28, believes the dog should now be muzzled to stop any further attacks on children in the area.

The mother-of-four said: “The dog just went for him. When I told the police they said, ‘what did he do to provoke it?’ “My son was just walking back to his mate’s house. He has got three puncture wounds and a massive chunk of skin missing and massive bruising. It was completely unprovoked. He is in a lot of shock.”

What happened to ‘Just the facts, ma’am’..? Oh. Right. That was so long ago, and in another country…

I wonder if anyone's asked the five police officers serving that warrant on Thursday if they 'provoked' the beast? I bet they wouldn't be all that chuffed to be asked that, as they lay in their hospital beds.

I bet, as a result of that, they'll be a lot less prone to brush aside reports of dog attacks (like the one described in comments) on civilians in future, or to fail to act on reports of serious injuries, especially at addresses they may one day have to visit.

As the comments point out, they've been well and truly hoist on their own petard in this incident, and there's not a great deal of sympathy:

And there's more:

Now, while no-one should want to see anyone hurt, the dangerous dog phenomenon is the inverse of the serial killer phenomenon.

When a serial killer is discovered, the neighbours are all 'Oh, really? Gosh! Dave, you say? Well, he was such a nice, quiet guy! Grew lovely daffodils...'.

When one of these weapon dogs - because that's what they are, despite the 'Mirror' referring to it as a 'pet' yesterday, it's no more a 'pet' than its owner is a 'musician' (cellist? the triangle? place your bets..) - goes berserk, the paper is usually full of neighbours pointing out how it has attacked before, it was clearly dangerous, everyone was afraid of it and nothing was done.

Perhaps now, something will be done. And not the usual blanket something, sweeping up family pets and weapon dogs alike, but targeted action focusing on just these sorts of areas, just these sorts of owners, and just these sorts of dogs.

The police know. They have the information, even if they haven't always shared it with their own people. Up till now, they've lacked the impetus.

I'm hoping they now have the impetus. But it seems it's only to protect themselves and other state employees:

The Association of Chief Police Officers has renewed a call to strengthen the terms of the Dangerous Dogs Act after an attack in east London hospitalised five officers.

Acpo's lead officer on the issue, North Wales assistant chief constable Gareth Pritchard, said he wanted dog owners to be prosecuted if their animal attacked police when they were making an arrest in a suspect's home. Currently owners can only be prosecuted if a dog attack occurs on public land as opposed to private property. Pritchard added that any new legislation should cover nurses, social workers and postal workers, who were lawfully entitled to be on private property.

Why not 'people'? Don't we count?

Tawana Brawley, Crystal Gail Mangum, And Now...

...Noor Ramjanally.

Oh, you remember him, don't you? The left wing cause celebre? The story that so outraged no less than bandwagon-jumper extraordinaire Inayat Bunglawala?

The story that several bloggers, including yours truly, said didn't pass the smell test?

Well, that smell just got stronger and stronger, until...

A Muslim community leader who claimed he was kidnapped by BNP members at knifepoint has today been jailed for perverting the course of justice.

But don't start cheering just yet. Our good old British justice system has not actually jailed him in the strictest sense of the word:

More than £100,000 was spent on the investigation into his allegations which wasted more than 900 hours of police time.

He was given a two-year sentence in his absence after failing to attend Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex today.

It is believed Ramjanally has returned to his native Mauritius.

And as if that waste of money and time wasn't enough:

The court heard after the verdict that Ramjanally is being investigated for three other allegations.

One relates to money stolen from a mosque he was involved with, the second is over benefit fraud and the third is to do with his immigration status.

Anyone want to bet whether we'll ever see him again?

Yeah. That's what I thought, too.

But I bet Bungle is even more conspicuous by his absence from CiF following this. Oh, yes, Inayat, the Internet has a long memory. And so do I.

We aren't going to let you forget this one...