Good! At Last The Justice System Is Putting Protection Foremost...

A double killer who has been in jail for a quarter of a century has claimed he is standing trial over new charges of sexual offences as a tactic to stop him from being freed on parole.

At last, the justice system is doing its job, then. Although it would be preferable if parole wasn’t on the cards at all. 

The former Royal Navy petty officer Allan Grimson was jailed in 2001 for sexually assaulting and battering to death two young men in the late 1990s. At the time, he also spoke to police about sexual contact with four other young males but was told no further action would be taken over them. 

But that was then, and this is now. 

Six years ago, the Parole Board recommended Grimson be moved to an open prison as a first step towards being freed on licence.But his barrister, John Femi-Ola KC, said in court on Thursday that Grimson’s chance of parole had been deliberately “stymied” when police began reinvestigating his contacts with the four men and the Crown Prosecution Service gave the go-ahead for him to be charged.

His hired DEI mouthpiece can whine all he wants, it’s not sport and no 'fair play' is to be expected.

The Experts Can't Stand To Be Wrong And Worse, Unneeded...

Marine biologists and whale experts have stepped up their criticism of a privately funded operation to release a humpback whale that was stranded for weeks off Germany’s Baltic coast...

They never stopped, from the forst moment it looked as if their advise was going to be ignored. 

... after it emerged that a tracker fitted to the whale was not working.

Seems a strange thing to be so concerned about... 

The whereabouts and health of the young male whale – nicknamed Timmy after one of the sandbanks it was stranded on – remain unknown three days after it was transported in a water-holding barge pulled by a tugboat to waters off the coast of Denmark.

A rescue that the experts all deperately wanted to see fail, bevause fot it to succeed would prove them wrong. 

The rescue initiative, estimated to have cost about €1.5m, was funded in part by Karin Walter-Mommert, the owner of one of the largest racehorse portfolios in Europe.

The whale was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on 23 March near the city of Lübeck, on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, before freeing itself and then becoming stuck again several times.

The environment minister for Germany’s Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state gave the green light for the attempt to save the whale, despite some warnings from the scientific community that it may be too much for the animal.

...whale researcher Fabian Ritter told German media... that if it was not possible to determine if the whale had died then the entire operation would have been in vain.

Au contraire, if it dies out at sea that's better than the huge clean-up operation that would have been needed to dispose of a health hazard on shore. 

The whale was last photographed swimming in the strait of Skagerrak.

And the experts are furious. 

There were also confusing reports surrounding the decision to release the whale. Kirsten Tönnies, a vet who had been on board the Fortuna B, one of two rescue ships accompanying the whale, was reportedly barred from witnessing the second and final release attempts. Tönnies said that tensions had been high between the experts on board and the ship’s crew. She said she disagreed with how the whale was released backward from the barge and with the fact she had been barred from giving the medical all-clear beforehand.

The one thing 'experts' cannot abide - that they aren't listened to. 

Some Good News Finally!

The upmarket bakery chain Gail’s is planning 40 more outlets after sales rose by a fifth last year as it opened 36 new bakeries and sales to supermarkets increased.

Hurrah! I love Gail's, I hope one opens nearer me than Wanstead or Central London! 

Speaking at a conference organised by Propel this month, Tom Molnar, who co-founded Gail’s 20 years ago, said the business was “still early in our growth”. He said: “We do have a lot of bakeries now, but it took 20 years to get there. It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t very fast. Twice, we had to stop growing altogether, because we didn’t think that we could be better; we were worried about getting consumed by speed. We’re still early in our growth. You take McDonald’s, Greggs or any other successful food business here in the UK – they operate from thousands of sites, and we’re still below 200.”

Yes, because people don't appreciate quality and don't want to pay what it costs. They'd rather eat cheap - which is why Greggs ans McDonalds are so ubiquitous on every high street. 

The rapidly expanding chain has become an unlikely political bellwether – used by the Liberal Democrats to help identify areas where voters might be ready to switch from the Conservatives.

Eh?  

Its expansion has also spurred local protests, including a heated one in Walthamstow, east London, where a petition to stop a Gail’s opening was signed by hundreds of residents. A new branch in Brighton was spray-painted with the world “boring” and a large image of a penis, according the local newspaper the Argus.

Who could possibly object to a bakery? 

See, It Is Possible To Recover From Foreign Invasion

If you're a squirrel, that is!

Red squirrels have expanded their range across the Highlands by more than a quarter after a 10-year reintroduction programme moved hundreds to new homes. The species once came close to extinction in Britain when foresters killed them as pests and their natural habitat was destroyed. A deadly virus carried by invasive grey squirrels has hampered their recovery.

It's nice to see some good news. And a native species recovering from an influx of disease-ridden invaders gradually enchoaching on their last strogholscertainly fits that bill. Even if the 'Guardian' would go into a fit of the vapours if the same scheme was proposed for white English people. 

Scotland is the red’s heartland, home to 80% of the UK’s population of about 200,000. The reintroduction project, run by the rewilding charity Trees for Life, has established more than a dozen thriving new sites, from Ullapool to Morvern to Lairg.

I've still never seen one in the wild. Perhaps this gives me a better chance in future. 

A Fringe Benefit Of Cashless Payments?

After all, we can't say it's because the standard of parenting has got better, can we?

Society's move to cashless payments may have had an unintended positive side effect, surgeons say - fewer children needing operations or procedures to remove swallowed coins. The Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) experts looked back over hospital records in England since the Millennium. Procedures to remove foreign objects, including coins, from children's throats, airways and noses saw a "significant decline", of almost 700 cases by 2022.

I know, correlation is not causation, but... 

But other factors - such as child-proof packaging and safety campaigns - probably also helped reduce cases, especially of objects stuck up the nose.

Yet curiously, these 'other factors' seem to not work with other items! 

But concern is shifting towards other potentially dangerous shiny objects, such as button batteries and magnets, which are now sometimes swallowed by children.

So much for the saviour being technology.  

It's Not Just Medical Hurdles To Overcome Here...

Two children who were born deaf can now listen and dance to music after undergoing ground-breaking gene therapy. The treatment, given as an infusion into the ear, works by replacing faulty DNA which causes a type of inherited deafness known as DFNB9. Researchers hope a similar approach could help in other congenital cases of deafness – which account for 60 per cent of the 430 million cases worldwide.

Which should be a genuine 'good news story' but I bet there are those waiting in the wings to throw cold water on it for ideological purposes.  

In the world-first gene-therapy trial, five children in China – two girls and three boys, all around three years old – gained hearing in both ears. All five were able to hear and speak words and locate where a sound was coming from.But two showed more advanced improvements and were even able to respond to music, which has more complex sound signals. The latest results, reported in Nature Medicine, build on work the team carried out two years ago when they treated children in one ear.

I'm usually pretty good at seeing someone else's point of view even if I don't personally agree with it, but I cannot fathom the mindset of someone who not only refuses to acknowledge that their child is disabled, but actively resists attempts to fix the problem.

And why is it just this particular disability? Why is there no corresponding 'blind culture', or 'wheelchair culture'? 

The study's main author, Professor Zheng-Yi Chen, said: 'The results from these studies are astounding.

'We continue to see the hearing ability of treated children dramatically progress and the new study shows added benefits of the gene therapy when administrated to both ears, including improvements in speech recognition in noisy environments.'

Professor Chen, who is also an associate professor of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery – at Harvard Medical School in the US, added: 'Our ultimate goal is to help people regain hearing no matter how their hearing loss was caused.'

I wish you the best of luck with that, and I hope you're prepared for more than just the medical complications and roadblocks you'll face.  

Adult Fiction Never Did Me Any Harm...

Parents, publishers and booksellers have generally welcomed “BookTok”, the videos on TikTok promoting literature.

As well they should! 

In an age when many worry about children spending too much time in front of a screen, reading has become “cool” on the platform. But a trend for “spicy” (ie sexy) books has led to fears children may be reading titles with adult content.

Oh noes! Isn't it better that, than they are out on the streets stabbing one another? 

Thriller writer and journalist Kat Rosenfield criticised a bookseller on X last year for sharing a video offering alternatives to teenage readers who want to read adult books. “Imagine being a normal teenage girl, just trying to buy some good old-fashioned smut” and “getting shooed out of the romance section”, she tweeted. “It’s normal and healthy for teenagers to be interested in sex, and there’s no safer way to explore that interest than by reading stories about it,” she added. “The problem is not the kids who are reading spicy books. It’s the ones who don’t – or can’t – read at all.”

So very true. I couldn't wait to get my adult library card (as I believe I've mentioned before), which I got pretty early and maybe far too early, who can say? Certainly a lot of my peers didn't have one. And did I check out some modern-parlance 'spicy' titles? Reader, I cannot tell a lie! Jackie Collins, Jilly Cooper...

The librarians didn't turn a hair. And I learned a lot.

Nature Is Healing

Britain’s tallest bird, the spectacular, wetland-loving crane bred in higher numbers last summer than at any point since they disappeared from the UK in the 16th century. At least 80 pairs of cranes were recorded in 2023, up from the previous high of 72 two years earlier.

It's great to see it's not all doom and gloom... 

More recently it has been boosted by a reintroduction project where hand-reared cranes were released on expanded wetlands in the Somerset Levels. Britain has drained, developed and destroyed more than 75% of its marshland but the recent restoration of some wetlands has helped the species recolonise Wales, Scotland and nature reserves across England, including in Lincolnshire.

For once, government spending on something worthwhile! Such a rare occurrence these days. 

Andrew Stanbury, an RSPB conservation scientist, welcomed recent government announcements to spend £16m on rewetting peatlands and its Landscape Recovery Fund second round, which supports net zero goals such as restoring marshland. Wetlands are effective carbon stores, as well as reservoirs of disappearing biodiversity.

Even the ridiculous Net Zero scam can occasionally prove useful. 

If You Didn't Already Suspect This...

...well, you know what they say about a fool and their money, don't you?

Foodbank charity The Trussell Trust has been accused of misleading donors after it emerged more than 90 per cent of the money it distributes goes on non-food items – including diversity courses, debt counsellors and advisers who help people claim state benefits.

And it's even worse than that, because the donations are probably better spent there than on tins of baked beans anyway!

...it was facing a backlash last night after it emerged the charity spent £18.6 million of donations on ‘financial inclusion’, employing professional benefits advisers and debt counsellors.

What's that old adage again about giving a man a fish vs teaching him how to? 

And if you insist on providing food instead, then, Reader, every supermarket these days has a donation bin for your gifting convenience. Use them instead.

You'd Have To Be Intoxicated...

...to kick the end with the teeth: 

The British Transport Police spoke highly of PD Frankie's efforts on the night and took to Facebook to detail the events that took place.

The Facebook post reads: "Great work PD Frankie. Busy #NightShifts for PD Frankie.

"Firstly she detained a burglar hiding in #SouthLondon & last night when dealing with a violent male at #ManorPark, she was repeatedly kicked in the head. This didn't deter her and she swiftly dealt with him & he was subsequently arrested! #gofranks. 

"The suspect was arrested for causing unnecessary suffering under the #AnimalWelfareAct, in addition to a number of other offences."

Extra Bonio if the scum can't walk for six weeks! 

Wonder How Long This Will Last..?

The boss of the US media company Paramount has said he does not want to remove historic programmes from his new subscription streaming service because they no longer meet current expectations.

Bob Bakish, Paramount’s CEO, said his company had thousands of shows in its back catalogue. “By definition, you have some things that were made in a different time and reflect different sensibilities,” he said. “I don’t believe in censoring art that was made historically, that’s probably a mistake. It’s all on demand – you don’t have to watch anything you don’t want to.”

Probably not long, since he's just painted a big target on himself. But it's refreshing, isn't it? 

See What Can Be Done When You Try..?

It remains to be seen if the courts will ensure that this is matched with sentencing, but...isn't it nice to see policing done right for once?

H/T:PeeWee via email 

"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"

The High Court today issued a warrant for the arrest of a prominent solicitor after she failed to attend a hearing to answer allegations of contempt of court.

You'll never guess who it is...! 

The SRA, which earlier this month obtained an injunction to stop Khan ‘unlawfully’ acting as a lawyer through JFP, alleged Khan was in contempt of court by failing to comply with two High Court orders requiring her to deliver up client files.

Khan sought an adjournment of today’s committal hearing, claiming that she needed ‘emergency elective surgery’ – which Mr Justice Fancourt said was ‘a contradiction in terms’.

I get the feeling the judge is not disposed to give her the benefit of the doubt here... 

She also said that she needed legal representation, although the SRA’s barrister Rupert Allen said Khan had previously been ‘categorical’ in saying she could represent herself.

Heh!  

The judge said he had formed the view that ‘she will not voluntarily attend the court based on everything I have seen of her over the last month’. Fancourt said that the ‘only sensible option’ open to him was to issue a bench warrant, not backed for bail, to ‘have her arrested and brought to the court’. ‘It means she will be found and arrested and brought to the court,’ he added.

I bet every eye in every force is peeled, don't you, Reader? 

The court heard that the committal hearing may be heard on Friday, if Khan can be found and brought to the court.

Wow! Better order in another pantechnicon of popcorn... 

H/T: InspGadget via Twitter

"What Are You Rebelling Against...?"

"Well..."

The idea of naming wild plants wherever they go – which began in France – has gone viral, with people chalking and sharing their images on social media.

... 

Presseq told the Guardian: “I wanted to raise awareness of the presence, knowledge and respect of these wild plants on sidewalks. People who had never taken the time to observe these plants now tell me their view has changed. Schools have contacted me since to work with students on nature in the city.”

The concept of 'rebel botanists' gave me a chuckle, anyway. And of course, it's not confined to France. It's happening here:

One anonymous London tree name chalker said: “I’ll keep labelling as I go on my daily walks. I think it’s really tapped into where people are right now.

“Botanical chalking gives a quick blast of nature connection, as the words encourage you to look up and notice the tree above you, the leaves, the bark, the insects, the sky. And that’s all good for mental health. None of us can manage that much – living through a global pandemic is quite enough to be getting on with. But it’s brought me a great amount of joy.”

As has this article, frankly.

I'm Guessing He Won't Do It Again...

A criminal with a lengthy record spat at police officers who arrested him after he was spotted with a knife. Thomas Morgan threw the weapon away as he fled from police in Ilkeston.

When officers stepped in he fell to the floor and was injured, requiring hospital treatment.

But after he was treated the 25-year-old tried to escape again, only to be apprehended, reports Derbyshire Live.

'Apprehended' with extreme prejudice!

Joe Harvey, mitigating, said his client has a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia who on the day of the offences had carried the knife as he’d had some recent trouble in the community but “had no intention of using it”.

He said: “I had the pleasure of representing Mr Morgan at the police station and his face was a mess.

“A very significant amount of force was used against him and he was certainly dealt with very roughly by the police.”

*rummages*

Ah!

File Under 'Nobody Cares'...

The family of 21-year-old Jamal Mahmoud, who was stabbed to death at Pentonville prison, today hit out at authorities for “neglecting” him.

*rolls eyes*

The prisoner was jailed for six years and six months in July as one of two gang members sentenced after hiding a loaded Skorpion machine gun and ammunition in a garden in Enfield.

He was already serving five-and-a-half years in prison for a separate robbery.

Now that's chutzpah!

His sister Souzan, speaking on behalf of her mother Hawa, told ITV News: "For her to get a phone call that her son had died in prison is just devastating. "I blame the prison more than the actual person that done it. They owed him a duty of care and they just neglected him.

"She's worried about my other brother who is also in prison."

What a charming family!

His fiancée Melissa Modeste, an administrative assistant with whom he had a 10-month old son, last night joined a vigil organised by friends.

In an emotional post on Facebook, she wrote: “Sleep tight my darling Jamal. I miss you, I love you, forever and always.”

She added: “I miss you telling me you love me, I miss planning our future together. I miss you making plans for [our son], I miss us talking about having another baby in the future, I miss us planning to get our marriage registered. 

"All I have left is a couple of tops and your 50 pairs of trainers. My engagement ring will never leave my finger.” 

My heart of stone seems strangely unmoved...

You Say 'Failure'....

...but, I'm not so sure it's not a success!

The Somalian national, who slit his wheelchair-bound neighbour's throat in his Abotts Road flat, had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act less than a month before his death.

Mohamed, who had Type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease, died in the early hours of the morning on February 24 last year.

He was costing us a fortune...

It’s Like The Death Of An Old Friend…

A community-led street redesign project transforming the Becontree estate has reached its end after two years of consulting, planning and building.

Oh, that seems familiar – could it be…?

Yes. Yes, it can.

Provider of utterly useless ‘improvements’ that residents were apparently clamouring for, but in reality, weren't even aware were needed!

Who can forget the amateurish signs? And who can forget the star? And no, it DIDN’T come back!

Project coordinator Phillippa Banister, 29, led the scheme from the off, working with the public to find out what exactly was wanted from those living and working in the area.

And then ignoring it and providing exactly what the designers wanted…

But the project isn’t leaving the borough just yet, with the launch of a similar regeneration scheme already planned in Marks Gate.

Be afraid, Marks Gate. Be very afraid…

When Is A Property Developer Not A Property Developer..?

...well, I guess when it turns out that's not his main source of income:

Dad-of-one Afyon Saint-Hilaire, 22, was attacked by a gang after he was ambushed outside McDonald's in Old Bromley Road during a botched cannabis robbery plot on July 13 last year.

Prosecutor Dorian Lovell-Pank told the trial: "A number of young men met together for what was supposed to be a cannabis deal - but things were not quite what they seemed because some of the men had other ideas, namely to rob the dealers of their cannabis.

"In the course of the meeting things became violent and one of the dealers was stabbed in the lower part of his leg and one of his companions fired a shot at the others.

No loss to the world of 'property developing', I think...

Van 1, Thug 0

A teenager suffered serious injuries after being mown down by a van driver following a row in the street.

The 19-year-old was arguing with his girlfriend on Gatehope Drive, South Ockendon at about 2am this morning. The lad punched a nearby van in anger.

The van’s owner arrived and challenged the lad. Police believe the van owner then got in to his vehicle and ran the 19-year-old boy over before driving off.

The comment section is, predictably, full of his semi-literate friends & relatives outraged that anyone has the temerity to object to their property becoming the punching bag of yet another inarticulate youth unable to control his temper.

One even gives him ‘credit’ for punching the van rather than his girlfriend!