Will It Address The Elephant In The Room?

A national strategy to address the “public health disaster” of drowning has been launched in England – hours after two women died at an Essex beach, the latest in a surge of water-related tragedies.

The initial police reports of this one were shielded in secrecy and refusal to elaborate rather like the Brighton case earlier, but my Spidey Sense immediately leapt to a drowning, and of someone not white, just as in that case. And so it proved to be.

Among the measures being considered are: providing every child in England with water safety education and swimming lessons; establishing how climate change can increase risks; and media campaigns to inform bystanders how to respond to a potential drowning.

Pointless unless you are also going to look at who is drowning in such numbers. It happens every hot summer, after all. And often not to people called Mary or George. Even the esteeemed 'Guardian' has noticed this phenomenon.

Drowning prevention strategies for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are also being launched this week. Speaking at the announcement of the strategy in Canary Wharf, east London, on Thursday, Prof Mike Tipton, the chair of Water Safety England, said the measures would “eradicate the scourge of drowning”.

Unless you are going to eradicate human nature, how are you going to do that? Even the token white Brit they rolled out to speak knows that's a hope based on nothing:

Vanessa Abbess, whose 17-year-old son, Joe, died after getting into difficulty in the water off Bournemouth beach in 2023, warned the public against being “naive and complacent”. Sunnah Khan, a 12-year-old girl, died alongside Joe after being caught in a rip current. 

Abbess said: “As a society, there’s an element of naivety and complacency regarding the dangers of open water swimming. 

“It’s not enough to know how to swim in a warm pool if you don’t know what to do to help your chances of survival if conditions change or you find yourself in difficulty in open water. 

The risk needs to be assessed. You need to stop and think. You wouldn’t cross a road without thinking.”

I'll assume Ms Abbess doesnt get out much, because the young of all races tend to do that as well. 

You're Holding The Store Responsible?

When the Dollar Tree lawyer asked her what she wanted out of the lawsuit, she replied: “You [have] to take accountability of what is happening in your stores. You’re causing pain to people. I don’t know if it’s because of the bottom line, or what, but it’s happening and you guys need to stop it.”

What does she want the store to stop, (and to pay her money for what has happened in it, of course)? 

Over the following months, the term “dollar store gooner” became a meme on the internet that spread far beyond the closed world of the gooners themselves. A “Dollar Tree gooner” crypto coin launched in January 2025, followed by an unofficial Pokémon card and a song released on SoundCloud by an underground noise band from Tennessee named Mukus.

I know you'll be as baffled as I, Reader, at least, I hope so!  

Long before it developed an association with criminal acts, “gooning” was understood as a pornography-fueled compulsion, sometimes involving multiple screens at once, that can become a substitute for intimate relationships with others. It also tends to come with a heavy dose of self-loathing. Experts say that online forums and video content aimed at gooners often send the message that obsessive masturbation – whether alone or in public – is as much as men like them can aspire to in life. Webster described it as a “disavowed manic state of triumph over something hideous”. One common trope of the pornography that these gooners consume has men ejaculating over women’s bodies, faces and hair – acts that, Lankford said, have no basis in evolutionary biology and are difficult to interpret as anything other than demeaning to the women.

When I shop at a store, i would expect the store to be responsible for non-slip flooring, electrical-safe freexer units and escalatots and lifts in working order. I wouldn't expect them to be financially responsible for the behaviour of other customers.

But this is America, and I guess Dollar Tree has deep pockets, while the disgusting 'men' who do this aren't worth suing.

£200000, When These Are 10 a Penny In London?

The crossing features a chicane intended to slow users, but it did not cause them to naturally turn towards the direction of approaching eastbound trams, such as the one which hit Mr Abakah. His father, Frederick Woode, said his 'one wish is that lessons are learned from this' (Reader, He doesn't mean by teenagers on illegal e-scooters, of course..) and 'changes are made before anyone else loses their life'. 

He went on: 'I know nothing can bring Reuben back, but I believe the tram should not have been travelling as fast as it was. 'The crossing should also be altered so that pedestrians like Reuben do not have their backs to approaching vehicles.'

But he wasn't a 'pedestrian', was he? He was a hooded youth riding an e-scooter...

The family's lawyer, Ben Posford of Osbornes Law, said it 'shouldn't have mattered' that Mr Abakah 'didn't look properly'. He told the Press Association: 'That's not how health and safety works, and hasn't done for a very long time. 

'He didn't look until the last minute and he made an error there. From time to time, people are going to make an error. 

And those times double when they are youths already indulging in illegal and reckless actions, like riding e-scooters across level crossings. 

'You have to have health and safety measures in place that account for human error, that account for zoning out.'

And you have to have deep pockets to attract slimy ambulance chasing lawyers, so it's just as well for you he wasn't run over by some ordinary Joe in a Ford Escort, eh? 

His family are seeking damages in excess of £200,000 from Tram Operations Limited (TOL) - a subsidiary of transport giant FirstGroup - which runs London Trams for Transport for London (TfL).

Bingo!  Gimmie dat compo! What is that based on, anyway? Not his worth, or his future earnings...

Might As Well Ask For The Moon On A Stick, Love...

...as ask for responibility in dog owners.

"The owner and the dog had disappeared by the time we got there – there was nothing we could do." Farmer Isobel Connell recently lost eight lambs after a dog chased and attacked them while its owner looked on. Her farm in the Chiltern Hills near Henley-on-Thames has been subjected to even worse attacks - 10 years ago 68 lambs and 19 ewes were killed by two loose Labradors.

Yes, labradors. Despite what some owners believe, your fat sleepy labrador is just as likely to worry likestock, given the opportunity, as the chav down the road's semi-feral xl bully. All dogs descend from wolves after all.

"We have our phone number on all the gates and somebody rang to tell us what had happened," Isobel says. She was told there were a "lot of lambs dotted around covered in blood with a lot of wool loose". She rushed to the scene, but by then it was too late, with the lambs left either dead, dying, or heavily injured. "The dog owner was nowhere to be seen, they'd scarpered," she says. "It's harrowing, and it gets you really, really down."

Get yourself a gun and protect them yourself - you'll never be able to rely on dog owners to be responsible.

 

This Man Never Heard The Phrase 'Quit While You're Ahead'...

Martin Bentley, 67, was 'prepared to use whatever means he could' to avoid going back to the office when Covid lockdown rules were relaxed, a tribunal in Liverpool heard. He got his way and worked from home until his retirement in 2024, despite an Occupational Health report suggesting he could work in person with no issue. 

But that wasn't enough for him, oh dear me no...

After attempting to sue HMRC for disability discrimination, Mr Bentley was branded as 'vexatious' and ordered to pay £20,000 as his claims would never have succeeded.

That's for his share of the costs of his hopeless case. Anyone else would keep their mouths shut, but not Mr Bentley, who has rushed to press to blame - his union! 

Mr Bentley has not blamed himself for what happened, but instead holds his union accountable, claiming it encouraged him to take legal action. At his home on the 12th floor of a block of flats in Bootle, Mr Bentley told the Daily Mail: 'I have to pay back £240 every month until the money is all paid back.

'I am more angry with my union, the Public and Commercial Services Union, than anyone else. They encouraged me to go down this path, saying they had never seen a worse case of victimisation.''But then they abandoned me. They didn't even turn up for the hearing, leaving me on my own.'

They could clearly see the way the wind was blowing, given the wealth of evidence presented at the tribunal about the way HMRC bent over backwards to accommodate his claims. 

During his time at HMRC, he gave evidence for a female colleague's employment tribunal. Her allegations had been against Michael Connell, who, upon finding out that Mr Bentley had given evidence against him, sent him a Teams message describing him as a 'spineless little f***ing worm' and a 'sneaky slimy prick'.He later claimed he had been abused and that his department had done little to support him.

It shows just what sort of idiots they hire for HMRC when someone decides to abuse a subordinate on a recordable communication app open to the rest of the team. 

If She'd Cut Herself On A Sharp Knife Would You Complain To The Media About That?

 Silly damn question - the answer's almost certainly 'Yes',

Amy, 36, from Norwich, bought the brush online for £4 to "make life easier" with housework, but it caught in her daughter's hair when the child took it out of the box. She reported the item as it appeared on the shopping site to Norfolk Trading Standards, who said Temu had now removed it from sale in the UK.

Amy said that when the brush arrived, her daughter picked it up and "it just came on, the brush flew off.. and just sucked her hair in". "I didn't realise how bad it was at first," she said.

I was puzzled as to the nature of this brush, until I saw the image accompanying this story:  

And I realised I had the very same type of brush, bought from Lidl's home cleaning range. It's motorised, works on battery power and the idea of leaving it where a small child could access it would be unthinkable to me, who doesn't even have - or like - children. 

"I don't want any other child to go through what she's been through."

They probably won't, because not all mothers are fucking stupid or careless... 

A spokesperson for trading standards said Temu's UK representative "voluntarily withdrew" the product to conduct a review of the appliance in line with legal requirements, particularly in relation to warnings and instructions.

As if parents like this one would read any instructions. 

The e–Bogeyman Again

Children in the UK should be offered the same protection from voracious social media companies that the Danish government has committed to providing (Denmark plans social media ban for under-15s as PM warns phones ‘stealing childhood’, 7 October) so that we can put a stop to the immense damage they are wreaking.

What 'damage' ? And if there is any, is it not offset by the good they are doing in keeping children enytertained and in touch? No tool, after all, is ever single purpose...

...we are not alone in wanting action – 70% of the UK public believe that social media companies are robbing children and young people of their childhoods, and want to see the digital age of consent raised from 13 to 16.

70% of the UK public believe all sorts of crazy things, like reality shows being worthehile tv, and Roger Moore being the best Bond. Can we have an example of of what these phones are allegedly doing? And perhaps why it isn't up to parents to choose?  

From disrupted sleep and shorter attention spans to reduced social skills and exposure to radicalised and extreme views, children and young people are being exploited by big tech executives who are making billions as a result.

Ah, I see - all the usual teenage things are blamed on a device so mumsie and popsie (if that latter exists in their life) can have a pop at capitalism. No doubt signing up to this on their own fondleslab, the hypocrites! 

We are calling on our government to raise the age of access to social media to 16, create space on the school curriculum to teach digital literacy, and introduce a windfall tax on social media companies to pay for mental health services that go some way to undoing the damage they have inflicted on children and young people in this country.

No do the Covid lockdown and unrestricted immigration. 

It Seems A Really Easy ‘Fight’ To Win, To Me…

I am uneasily aware that around this time last year I wrote that my drive to acquire material things had somewhat subsided: I was older and wiser, had everything I needed, was repelled by the sheer volume of stuff in the world, blah blah blah. Unfortunately, the internet seemingly viewed that as fighting talk, an impossible-to-turn-down challenge, and in recent months I have once more found myself wanting stuff. Lots of stuff.

I suppose you've not considered putting the phone or tablet down?

It’s not surprising perhaps – stuff is everywhere, whispering, or shouting, to us from every screen we stare at. “The constant stream of ads on Instagram is exhausting,” said my best friend gloomily just last week, and she’s right: my eyes are constantly assaulted with offers of miracle goop for my mature skin, wellness gadgetry, expensive knitwear and greenwashed “disruptors” of almost everything. I just spent a minute scrolling and was offered, in quick succession, a “calfPRO” (no idea, alarming), kombucha, cleanser, an eco frying pan, “reminiscent of Phoebe Philo-era Celine” jumpers and, bafflingly, Canadian sea urchins.

That seems a rather odd selection of targeted ads. 

In this newly lawless age for social media there are bigger problems than the relentless onslaught of targeted ads, but in addition to the urgent upskilling in critical reading the world needs, we need to work out how to fight back against all the stuff the internet wants us to buy.

I already have - ignore them and scroll past.  

I’ve been trying to deinfluence myself in recent weeks and it’s quite the battle – I am weak-willed and made stupider by the minute by internet nonsense, and the algorithm is tireless. But I have a secret weapon: I know my craven, ridiculous desires intimately, which helps me shout them down. Now when tempted, that’s exactly what I do.

There! Wasn't so hard after all, was it? 

You Just Can’t Save People From Themselves!

Much furore about the Kiena Dawes case, and most of the approbium falling on the police who 'failed to save her'.

During a six-week trial, Preston Crown Court heard how the hard-drinking, cocaine-snorting body-builder went from professing undying love to his girlfriend to physically and mentally breaking her. He punched and kicked Kiena, tried to drown her by holding her head in a baby bath and threatened to 'drill her teeth out'.

Did this come out of the blue? Was there no clue that he was a wrong ‘un? 

In 2019 he attacked his then-partner, Kayleigh Anderson, following a two-day coke and booze session with an uncle.

Didn't think so! Why, then, did she shack up with him? He was a friend of her brother - did her brother not warn her?

In the 12 months before she killed herself, she called police no less than five times either to report that she had been assaulted or give details of the domestic abuse she had suffered. On four of the occasions, she was visited by officers at her home. Twice she had visible injuries, including a black eye when she was six months pregnant.

And the police did their best, within the laws, but…. 

But Kiena was so scared of Wellings that it was only when he brutally assaulted her in front of their baby, 11 days before she died, that she finally backed efforts to prosecute him.

*sighs* 

Even then, police failed to support her as they might have, granting Wellings bail and then failing to lock him up when he apparently breached his bail conditions.'I was in hospital longer than he was in the cells,' she would write in a message shortly before she killed herself.

They can only withhold bail under certain circumstances, thanks to the crisis in our prisons - they don’t make that law, they just carry it out. 

Wellings was not charged until June last year but when he was the charges not only included assault and controlling and coercive behaviour but manslaughter as well, for which he has been cleared.

By the jury, and I suspect the police involved were as furious about that as everyone else... 

Following Kiena's death, Lancashire Constabulary referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its handling of the case and the contact they had with her. The police watchdog later announced that it found one officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct and two officers had a case to answer for misconduct relating to actions or omissions connected to the victim's reports of domestic abuse.

I wouldn't consider that any sort of victory, as the bar is so low on these things.  

Isn’t The Solution In Your Own Hands, Ladies?

A man has become the first in the UK to be arrested over videos filmed of women on nights out without their consent, with some in vulnerable states.

The 27-year-old from Bradford was taken into custody on suspicion of stalking and harassment after reports of women being followed, filmed and harassed in Manchester city centre.

What? For public filming? But that's legal!

In April, a number of women spoke to the Guardian after being filmed without their knowledge and consent, with the videos being posted on social media. In some cases, the women were later identified and harassed online. Some victims described it as “disgusting” and said they felt violated on finding out videos of them had been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and attracted misogynistic comments.

Well, ladies, maybe show a bit of decorum and don't get falling down drunk in the street, perhaps?  

Though filming on a public street is not a crime, it can cross the line into harassment, and women who discovered they had been targeted were asked to report it to police.

And the cops, always eager for an easy life and an offence that doesn't take much work to solve, leaped into action. 

GMP said: “After the issue was first brought to our attention, we made several appeals for anyone directly impacted by these videos to come forward. Many women did so, explaining the fear this had created for them, and the impact on their feeling of being safe while out at night.”

Not such 'fear' that they drank sensibly, I take it? 

Over the past few months, neighbourhood police officers worked with the CPS to see if charges could be brought against any of the accused. The videos in Manchester were primarily filmed around the Peter Street and Deansgate areas, while videos were also filmed in cities such as Liverpool and London.

Seems like they've put more effort into this than into real crimes, doesn't it?  

Ch Insp Stephen Wiggins said: “We took the concerns of the public really seriously on this issue, and have worked hard with partners to assess the full circumstances and what courses of action were available to us. It is a very new and complex issue, but this is a significant development.

“Everyone has the right to feel safe as they enjoy a night out, and these videos have made people, particularly women, not feel like that, which we can’t tolerate.

“Filming in public is legal. However, where this filming crosses the line into offences such as upskirting, stalking or harassment, it’s important that we don’t allow that behaviour.”

You're tackling the wrong behaviour.  

Why Did You Not Tell Your Son To Avoid Dangerous Areas?

A fatal accident inquiry at the city’s Sheriff Court heard from his mother, Joanne Ferguson who claimed it had been ‘well known’ children had been able to venture onto the site.

She wanted to know why nothing had been done to stop them and wanted to know who had uncovered the manhole, when and why it had been left uncovered allowing her son to tumble down 20ft to his death.

I guess she didn't demand to know how her son got the idea trespass was A-OK because the finger of suspicion only pointed one way... 

Graeme Clark, joint managing director at RJ McLeod, the principal contractor for the flood alleviation project, told the inquiry he had ‘no idea’ how the boy had been able to get onto the site and access the manhole.He told the inquiry that while there, he walked around to inspect the fencing and the only damage he could see had been caused by emergency vehicles coming in that morning.

Which presumably had the effect of covering up any point of entry... 

Ms Gillespie pointed out he had said he had not known how Shea got into the site adding: ‘But immediately you thought you’d put extra fencing in the area next to the play park?’ The witness responded that the company had been aware of the play park when the original security plan was drawn up, and the firm ‘had a contractual obligation from Glasgow City Council not to fence it off’.

When he was asked why, he replied: ‘You’ll have to ask Glasgow City Council.’

Oh, if only we had journalists who did just that, instead of regurgitating court transcripts and calling it 'news'. 

Protecting People From Themselves...

Tech that comes with weak passwords such as “admin” or “12345” will be banned in the UK under new laws dictating that all smart devices must meet minimum security standards. Measures to protect consumers from hacking and cyber-attacks come into effect on Monday, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said.

Who doesn't change the default password? I mean...

It means manufacturers of phones, TVs and smart doorbells, among others, are now legally required to protect internet-connected devices against access by cybercriminals, with users prompted to change any common passwords. Brands have to publish contact details so that bugs and issues can be reported, and must be transparent about timings of security updates.

If this seems a strange thing for a failing government to concern itself with, well here's the culprit:  

The consumer champion Which? said it had been instrumental in pushing for the new measures and it welcomed the changes.

Couldn't you have pushed for people to use their devices smarter instead? 

Rocio Concha, a director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said: “The OPSS [Office for Product Safety and Standards] must provide industry with clear guidance and be prepared to take strong enforcement action against manufacturers if they flout the law, but we also expect smart device brands to do right by their customers from day one and ensure shoppers can easily find information on how long their devices will be supported and make informed purchases.”

I've never had any issues with finding information and making informed choices. 

It's As Regular As Clockwork...

...cometh the election, cometh the idiot: 

A Green Party activist has lost part of her finger after a dog chomped down on it while she was posting campaign fliers through the letter box. Danica Priest, who is running to be a councilor in the Filwood area of Bristol, was left in hospital after a dog took the end of her digit off.

*sigh* 

Liberal Democrat candidate Caroline Gooch added: 'Sorry to read that. Noone should be maimed using a letterbox.

'If people have bitey dogs they should have a letterbox cage or external letterbox.'

There's another option, of course, but why would a LibDumb ever think of it?  

And a third, Tash, continued: 'Oh poor you, wishing you better.

'Old trick, take wooden spoon to push leaflets through/hold letter boxes open.'

Well done, Tash.  

Or, You Could Actually Do Some Parenting?

Many parents of digitally obsessed teens must have wished they could bin their smartphones. As evidence mounts about the risks of social media, there is a growing public clamour to protect children better – with some now even calling for a ban.

How many of these parents demanding someone else parent their child have actually bought the things for them, and are paying the airtime?  

The debate in the UK took on a fresh resonance in recent days after Esther Ghey, the mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, added her voice to those highlighting the dangers of smartphones.

“We’d like a law introduced, so that there are mobile phones that are suitable for under-16s,” she told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg last Sunday. “So if you’re over 16, you can have an adult phone, but then under the age of 16 you can have a children’s phone, which will not have all of the social media apps that are out there now.”

You can already do that now, if you want. Don't allow them to download anything you don't approve. It's just that you have to make the effort.  

In demanding tougher curbs on big tech, she echoed other bereaved parents who believe social media played some role in the loss of their children – including Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly took her own life after viewing harmful content online.

As Longrider points out, the very people who we shouldn't be listening to on the subject. Their personal tragedy gives them no special insight. The experts don't agree with their plans, but who is listening to them? 

Despite the acknowledged dangers, few experts and campaigners the Guardian spoke to believed an outright ban on social media use by under-16s was workable, or even desirable – though all are united in believing tech firms must do more.

Why don't they demand parents do more? They are, after all, the ones with most to lose... 

Lady Beeban Kidron, who campaigns for children’s rights online, said there was understandable focus on removing harmful content from apps – but policymakers should also be focusing on their underlying design.

“What we have to concentrate on is: why are we allowing companies to give addictive products to children? There is no reason on God’s earth that they have to be designed to be addictive. That is a business choice,” she said. “You’ve basically got a faulty product here: they need to fix it.”

That would mean looking under the bonnet of popular apps and rewiring the algorithms blamed for hooking teens – and in some cases, for radicalising them.

Good grief!  

Aren't You Missing A Vital Key Request, Though?

The voices in the pages of this report, speaking out for our loved daughters, sisters, mothers and aunts, need to be urgently listened to. We have several key requests.

First, a shift from an approach that responds to these abhorrent killings, to one that anticipates, intervenes and prevents them. These are not unavoidable tragedies, they are preventable crimes.

We also need a sentencing framework and criminal justice response that demonstrates an absolute intolerance of the killing of women (Ed: screw everyone else, then..?), that holds perpetrators to account and protects our communities.

Finally, we need a root-and-branch review of the care and support accessible to families, because the devastation left in the aftermath of these crimes is far reaching and doesn’t end.

What about 'Telling women and girls that you can't change him, you're not special, and if he's violent to other women and girls he'll be violent to you', Julie? 

We see these crimes in the same way we see bolts of lightning – something deadly but not something we can prevent.

Except when there's a storm brewing, we know to expect lightning. Some people seem incapable of making that connection and getting indoors out of the way. 

Where Did She Get It From, I Wonder?

A mum who thought the family dog - an XL bully - was "lovely" until it attacked her six-year-old son, has urged the government to adopt tighter laws. The mother, who has asked not to be named, lives in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. She has had an XL bully for a couple of months.

Clearly an adult dog, not a puppy. Is this yet another case of rescue charity endangerment?

There was "not a single sign" the dog could act in that way, she told Sky News.

Apart from the breed itself, I guess...

She said her concern now was "what was happening before [she] had her".

Pity that concern didn't come before you brought the mutt into the house.

Before the incident, the woman had been a critic of the UK government's ban on XL bully dogs. "We're like, 'It's nonsense, it's nonsense', until you actually have to pull a 50kg dog off your son and I think then we start thinking," she said.

The dog would now be put to sleep after the incident, the woman confirmed.

At least, unlike other owners, she isn't passing it on to some other dim and unsuspecting family.

Then You'll See More Cases Like This, Won't You?

DS Hughes said that although it appeared 'quite clear' Mustafa's friend had committed an offence of causing or permitting another to use a motor vehicle without a licence or insurance, it was judged not in the public interest to prosecute.

And if the next kid riding a scooter illegally bumps a passenger into the path of a bus instead of himself, will the CPS apologise to that person's family?

Asked by the coroner if he was concerned about children riding e-scooters, the officer said: 'Yes. I have dealt with a number of incidents involving e-scooters – both private and public trial scooters – including two fatalities and two serious injuries that I can recount off the top of my head.'

The officer said the issue of e-scooters being ridden on pavements was of particular concern.

Perhaps more police walking the beat would help, DS Hughes? 

In a joint statement, headteachers Lynn Petrie and Pete White, said the Voi trial scheme had been 'instantly problematic' from its outset in September 2020 due to children using the machines illegally. The schools, part of the same academy group, said they had written to parents and held assemblies on the issue.

The headteachers added that Mustafa's death seemed to have done little to stop children riding e-scooters, which youths often seen riding past the schools.

So everyone's doing what they can, but Darwin's winning this race as he often does... 

Relatives of Mustafa asked Mr Salmer why facial recognition couldn't be introduced to stop children logging on to accounts they are not registered to. But the regional general manager said it would be 'impractical…from a cost perspective' for all e-scooter providers to introduce such a facility at the moment, without significant subsidy.

So, to prevent your idiot kids killing themselves or others, the scooter company should be able to stick their hand in my pocket? No thanks. 

" I am sick of being blamed when I did the legal thing and handed the dog over to the police."

More on this incident:

Geroge (sic) had been rehomed to the teenager's family less than 24 hours before. His previous owners had another dog and the two pets were not getting on. The family was trying to move to a bigger house so the dogs could be in separate rooms. But having failed to find a suitable property they had rehomed George with a family friend rather than keep both of them caged up.

Because if you have a mutt that 'doesn't get on' with your current pet, to the point where you can't keep them together, what better to do with it than 'rehome' it to another irresponsible tattooed chav?

Speaking for the previous owners, Laura Wicks commented: 'I had this dog with me. He also lived with my sister and her children. 'He wasn't aggressive. An eye witness said he was not aggressive towards anyone at the park. I (sic) was just because of the breed of him.'

That's not what other eyewitnesses say... 

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: ' No-one, other than the owner of the dog, was injured during the incident. Their injuries are described as bite marks. They added that the dog was put down with the agreement of the owner...

Meanwhile, in London:

Another neighbour called the police at 8.52am, who arrived with riot shields and blocked off the road. However, Anthoney said that officers were reluctant to go near the dog.

It's about time police started dealing with thrse things they way they'd deal with escaped zoo animals... 

No, Actually, Because Of Their Own Actions...

The police should have said "Of course we were chasing the little toerags, it’s our bloody job to chase nuisance bikers, and they’d still be alive if they’d stopped, or maybe just been wearing helmets..."

But they forgot that it's the cover-up that does for you, always.

Witnesses are now blasting the 'lying' police force for 'bullying' local youths as residences (sic) warn the community has 'lost confidence in the police'.

The police probably didn't have any confidence in the so-called 'community' to lose by now...

'My nephew and his best mate are dead because they chased him on a little electric motorbike,' Kyrees' uncle told The Times.

Harvey's godmother, Bridy Bool, insisted the boys had done nothing to spark a police 'chase', adding: 'They were bare-faced innocent children.'

 Errr, yeah, if you say so...

If you can't tell someone's true character by the company they keep, you certainly can by who turns up to 'mourn':

Jane Palmer watched from a window as people set fire to her car, saying: 'I'm disabled so now I'm trapped without my car. Why are they doing this? It's just silly.'

Another resident alleged the riots were caused by 'lots of children' who were being 'encouraged' by adults.

'It was very scary,' one local told The Mirror. 'There was a lot of people. Lots of children, I was very surprised at how many children and how many adults encouraging them. They were throwing stuff at the police.'

You shouldn't have been surprised, though, should you? 

Oh Look, It's Deja Vu - Again!

A long serving Bradford councilor has issued a warning after she suffered injuries to her hand...

Oh, how?  

...when she was attacked by a dog through a letterbox.

Christ, it's not as if it's an unforseeable consequence, is it?

She rang Idle Medical Centre (Ed: SNORK!) and was seen by her GP straight away.

She's lucky! 

Cllr Sunderland, who said she has been unable to drive since the incident, thanked people who have been helping her.

"I'm doing ok because I'm getting lots of sympathy and help."

You're getting no sympathy from me.