So What Will Be Done About The Officer?

Another day, another CPS screw up:

Judge Walters at Swansea crown court described the case against Dimitris Legakis, which was dropped on the eve of his trial, as “disturbing” and said it seemed “the high point” of the prosecution was that a police officer “took offence” against someone whose job was to take photographs.

I note he isn't named. Or photographed, like the idiot in the previous post.  

Legakis’s barrister, James Hartson, told the court his client believed he was singled out by police because he had a camera, was arrested “with considerable force” and detained for 15 hours. He was charged by police with assaulting an emergency worker. His trial was due to start on Tuesday but the case was dropped on Monday after the prosecution said no evidence would be offered.

Having seen first hand the professionalism the CPS brings to bear first hand this week on my jury service, I'm really not surprised.  

A CPS spokesperson said: “In a review prior to the recent hearing, we decided that there was no longer sufficient evidence to continue with the prosecution and it should be stopped. We acknowledge this should have been done sooner.”

You're not wrong there!  

South Wales police said: “We note the decision of the Crown Prosecution Service not to offer any evidence in this case.”

And what will you do about it? 'Learn lessons'. I suppose? Lessons that shouldn't be needed: 

College of Policing guidelines say: “Reporting or filming from the scene of an incident is part of the media’s role and they should not be prevented from doing so from a public place. Police have no power or moral responsibility to stop the filming or photographing of incidents or police personnel. It is for the media to determine what is published or broadcast, not the police.

So when a cop takes it upon himself to try to interfere, shouldn't that cop face more than a harsh word from his superiors? Because at the moment, we have a serious issue with the police in this country and it's getting worse every day. 

Might As Well Get Them Some Hugo Boss Uniforms, Rowley...

...after all, they might as well dress the part, if this is how they are going to act:

The Metropolitan Police has been branded 'beyond appalling' after an officer threatened to arrest a Jewish man trying to cross the road at a pro-Palestine march because his 'presence was antagonising'.

Wow! It's true, then - there are still things that have the power to shock even this jaded blogger. 

The man, who said he trying to walk around the capital after going to a synagogue, was pulled aside by a police officer who said he was 'breaching the peace' because he was 'quite openly Jewish'.

This moron must have thought this was a training video and not a comedy sketch: 

The officer then replies: 'In that case sir, when the crowd is gone I will happily escort you out.' After the defiant man attempts to walk across the road in the Aldwych area, the officer blocks him and says: 'I don't want anybody antagonising anybody... and at the moment sir, you are quite openly Jewish. This is a pro-Palestinian march.

'I am not accusing you of anything but I am worried about the reaction to your presence.'

Oh, if only you had some sort of power of arrest and the tools to aid you in that should anyone react unlawfully, Officer NW 377... 

Later on in the video, another officer says: 'There's a unit of people here now. You will be escorted out of this area so you can go about your business, go where you want freely or if you choose to remain here because you are causing a breach of peace, with all these other people, you will be arrested.'He clarifies: 'Your presence here is antagonising a large group of people that we can't deal with all of them if they attack you... because your presence is antagonising them.'

No doubt the weak puppet that Sunak installed in the Home Office after getting rid of his predecessors will have an excuse for not doing anything that's almost as ludicrous as the one employed by these cops. 

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: 'We are aware of this video and fully acknowledge the worry it has caused, not only to those featured, but also anyone who watches it, and will review the circumstances.

'We have always said that we recognise the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to be an issue of concern for many Londoners, and this includes the regular protests and marches in central London.

'Everyone has the right to travel throughout the capital in safety.

'We will meet with anyone who wishes to organise a march or protest ahead of 27 April.'

That's it? That's your take on yet again being exposed as thick, useless and cowardly?  

Speaking about the latest incident, the Jewish man said he felt sympathetic towards frontline officers who are put in 'impossible positions' every week when they are asked to police huge protests 'where there's all sorts of criminality on display'.

Well, no doubt that's very magnanimous of him, but 'all sorts of criminality' are what they are paid to deal with, aren't they? Not preventing people from crossing the road because there's a mob who might feel antagonised?

What next, they turn up and stop shoppers entering Tesco because of the amount of shoplifting going on?  

H/T: AngryExile via Twitter

The Thing You Need To Remember About Reports...

...is they may not go the way you want.

The mother of a 17-year-old trans girl who was a patient at the now-shut Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust said she had initially welcomed Cass’s inquiry, but had been left “disappointed”.

If she's the mother of a child who has decided it was 'born in the wrong body', a lifetime of disappointment is heading her way... 

She had believed the Tavistock was “fundamentally not fit for purpose” as a specialist clinic set up to handle a small number of patients, but the “hysterical environment” surrounding the report was leading to young people losing out on healthcare.

'Healthcare' is a strange term to see used for chemical and surgical castration.  

She described being “shocked as hell” when her child began saying she was a girl at the age of eight in 2015.

A charity recommended she be referred to the Tavistock, “on the basis that it would either go away or it wouldn’t – and it didn’t go away”. “[Because she was autistic] they took everything really slowly. Really, really slowly.”

Another autistic child claiming they were 'transgender'. What a surprise.  

“Puberty blockers have been really good for her. As she entered puberty, she was really, really dysphoric about her shoulders, her facial hair growing her voice deepening. She was very distressed by it and very sad.”

What this child needed was mental health treatment, but what it got was collusion in it's delisions that it could become something it wasn't born to be. The adults haven't been in charge for a long time.  

The woman said the Cass report represented “an agenda from up on high that things need to be more difficult”.

“It’s hard enough as a parent without having the entire society or media pointing at transgender people as if they’re some aberration or as if they threaten us.”

They are some aberration. How many 'transgender children' can anyone remember from their own schooldays? For that matter, how many 'autistic' children? This is a social contagion, spread as much by social media as by word of mouth.   

And the medical profession has been found sorely lacking in containing yet another plague. That's the finding of the Cass Report.  

I Know It Doesn’t Look Like It Much Anymore, But You Weren’t In Turkey

...you were in Romford.

A schoolgirl was left terrified by a man who rubbed her leg and kissed her feet at Romford Station. The man had asked the 15-year-old girl for directions but when she helped him he “caressed” her knee and kissed her feet, a court heard. Members of the public had to step in to separate the man from the girl, who was visibly distressed and crying. Emil Muresan, 50, of Slade Green Road in Erith, was arrested at a nearby bus stop after the girl reported the incident to a teacher at her school.

If uou're thinking that's not a classic old Romford name, Reader, you'll be right, of course: 

But he told police that where he comes from in Turkey it is common to kiss people’s feet to say thank you.

Well, take a look around you, Emil ol' son. You're not in Turkey. 

On Monday (March 18) he was ordered to carry out 55 hours of unpaid work after he pleaded guilty to battery.

A probation officer who interviewed Muresan about the offence said the defendant tried to kiss his feet at the end of the conversation. Muresan’s barrister said his client repeatedly tried to do this to him too.

Kudos to him for carrying on the charade quite so far! 

Muresan had initially been charged with sexual assault, but he later pleaded guilty to battery instead and the earlier charge was dropped.

Another lazy decision by the work-shy CPS, I see... 

Sentencing him at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Anne Studd KC said: “You say it is a cultural normality for you, and there is some evidence to say that is true. But for her it caused panic.” He was given a one-year community order with a requirement that he must complete 55 hours of unpaid work.

Why not simply deport him? 

Inventing Problems...

So, the suggestion of a four day working week is....guess what? Racist, according to Welsh Labour!

On the subject of 'equality risks', the report says there is a 'risk of widening existing inequalities between groups of workers i.e. office workers versus those on the frontline, particularly in 24/7 operations.'

Because those worker groups tend to be heavily weighted for ethnic minority staff. And this consultation outlined other supposed 'drawbacks':

Other risks included workers spending more money on leisure activities and heating while spending extra time away from work.

You couldn't make it up, could you? And you don't need to, the Welsh executive will make it up for you! 

Other drawbacks listed in the consultation, made with senior Welsh government civil servants and public sector chiefs, include the potential need to hire an additional 179 full-time equivalent staff to keep service levels up to standard.

Strange that that isn't considered a benefit, given how free they usually are with taxpayers' money. But this is clearly too bonkers even for Welsh Labour:

A Welsh government spokesman told The Telegraph: 'There are no plans to introduce a four-day week across the public sector in Wales.

'Whilst the working group identified a range of potential benefits, they also highlighted the many complexities involved in adopting a four-day week and the impact these could have on a range of groups and individuals.'

You'd think if they just asked a few members of the public they'd have got the same answer a lot quicker... 

Even In The Unlikeliest Locations....

...these things are owned by idiots:

A woman is in hospital with serious injuries after being attacked in her home by an XL Bully dog.She was trying to break up a fight between two dogs at the property in the genteel market town of Holt when the animals turned on her. The woman, who is in her 20s, was able to barricade herself into the bathroom for her safety before shouting for help.

It's nice-looking little new build estate, not the sort of place you'd expect some dimwit tattooed chav (another woman at that!) to be keeping these dogs.  

A neighbour in Pheasant Close, a quiet cul-de-sac on the edge of the town, heard her cries and raised the alarm. Firefighters as well as police were sent to the scene and locals say fire crews had to help the woman escape from the property through a window, to avoid the dogs.

Did they not send armed cops then? Surely they should have, for everyone's safety. 

The victim was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where she remains. Police confirmed that one of the dogs, an XL Bully, has since been destroyed. The other animal - which neighbours have described as a pitbull-type dog - has been seized by officers and experts are trying to determine its breed.

I suspect she'll face no charges... though her relatives aren't helping with that:

Her grandfather, Alan Gilbey, who was at her home on Monday, said:'Fortunately, her dog saved her life. He pulled the other one off. He was a smaller dog.

'She's got him neutered and registered because they said he was borderline, so she should be getting him back tomorrow.

'He's not a banned dog because we already had him tested two years ago but you know what the police are like. They took one look and said he was a banned dog but that is not the case.'

Yeah, we do know what they are like, they are the ones who rush to the scene when your idiot granddaughter is being mauled by her dangerous 'pets'. And when she decides to break the law, for whicg I really hope she gets the book thrown at her:

Mr Gilbey explained the dog his granddaughter had been looking after was an unlicensed XL Bully which needed a home as its owners couldn't 'look after' it anymore.

You really can't fix stupid. 

H/T:Dave Ward via email

I Don't Know Why They Call Them 'Thinktanks'...

...it seems there's little thinking involved:

Ministers are facing calls to abandon the “cruel and nonsensical” fines levied on tens of thousands of unpaid carers for unwittingly breaching earnings rules by just a few pounds a week. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a centre-right thinktank, said the government should end the “persecution” of carers and accept that it was to blame for allowing overpayments to run up to huge sums, in some cases more than £20,000.

That's like saying we won't prosecute burglars if the homeowner has failed to apply all the locks on their back door.

The DWP should be able to identify when a carer’s earnings have exceeded the £151-a-week limit and notify them, but in many cases the government fails to do so, meaning people unwittingly rack up huge debts.

We all appreciate that rules are sometimes byzantine and complicated to follow (eh, Ange?), but let's not forget just who's money this is in the first place. It's the taxpayer's.

The former justice secretary Robert Buckland told the Guardian that the DWP “shouldn’t be treating these carers as criminals”, adding: “It’s utterly repugnant and wrong.” He said: “They need to accept they’ve made a mistake and accept the money is gone. Take it on the chin. The carers are going to be under immense pressure already and it’s not their fault. At the very least they [the DWP] could claw the money back over a long period of time so the carers aren’t put into immediate crisis. But it’s the DWP’s mistake so they should cover the lost money.”

And how would they do that, since any money they have is also our's? 

The Signs Of A (Failing) Dictatorship

...can see seen in the illiberal and unnecessary laws they try to pass in their dying days.

MPs will debate plans for some of the world's toughest anti-tobacco laws on Tuesday. Rishi Sunak wants to make Generation Alpha, born since 2009, the UK's first smoke-free generation in a major public health intervention.

Anyone turning 15 from this year would be banned from buying cigarettes under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which also makes vapes less appealing to children.

At least that has the small virtue of proven harm. But adulthood should confer the ability to take risks with one's health should one wish.

The creation of sexually explicit "deepfake" images is to be made a criminal offence in England and Wales under a new law, the government says. Under the legislation, anyone making explicit images of an adult without their consent will face a criminal record and unlimited fine. It will apply regardless of whether the creator of an image intended to share it, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.

That this is how a so-called 'Conservative' government should choose to spend it's last days in office is embarassing for our country. 

Attract Better Readers, Joanne...

The Chocolat author, 59, has suggested that all books could include trigger warnings 'as standard' in the copyright page so that readers know what to look out for before they start reading.She has said introducing a new policy would 'make a lot of sense' as trigger warnings are like 'wheelchair ramps' in that they exist 'because some people need them.'

No, not at all. You're confusing 'want' with 'need'. 

Ms Harris, whose prequel to her best-selling novel will be released next year, ran a social media poll to ask her followers if they agreed with placing trigger warnings in the copyright pages.

Ah. That's what this is about. The age old reason for something contoversial: "I've got a book to flog!" 

She added that she didn't believe the warnings should be for 'things people might disapprove of (eg: swearing, etc)', rather thing that 'make them feel unsafe.'

What sort of book can ever make you 'feel unsafe'? 

We All Know What's Really Behind This Decision...

...it's the desire not to have 'We told you so!' writ large on the headlines:

The owner of an XL Bully dog which attacked him and another man before being shot dead by police will not face criminal proceedings over the incident.

William Hunter, 49, and neighbour Michael McCafferty, 27, were set upon by nine stone Zeus in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. Police were called to the scene but were unable to bring the savage incident under control in January. Zeus tried to attack an officer as police used a taser to stop him but it had no impact. Armed officers then moved in and killed Zeus by shooting him four times.

Who could have seen that coming? Oh, lots of people.   

Hunter was later reported to prosecutors under the Dangerous Dogs Act but they have now revealed a review of the evidence will see no proceedings taken against him.

Hunter, who brought the dog to Scotland a week before the attack, was left with wounds to his hip, hands, wrists and leg.

To hell with him, he brought it on himself, literally. What about the poor neighbour? Where's his justice?  

A Crown Office spokeswoman said: "The procurator fiscal received a report relating to a 49-year-old male and an incident said to have occurred on 23rd January 2024.

"After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, the procurator fiscal decided that there should be no proceedings taken at this time.

"The Crown reserves the right to proceed in the future."

You'll have lots of opportunity. Hopefully, that means you might actually do your job in this case. 

H/T: BullyWatch via Twitter