Debbie Pickford, 45, was driving home, along Leeds Road, Barkerend, Bradford, with her 13-year-old daughter Leah after a trip to the cinema when she was stopped by a police patrol car. An Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) check showed that the divorcee’s 11-year-old Peugeot 206 was not insured due to a failure by her insurance company to update national records. Despite her insisting she had a valid insurance certificate at…
School uniform regulations are always good for a post or two, and often get a good old ding-dong going in the comments between the ‘cherish your individuality!’ crown and the ‘we need standards!’ crowd. Personally, I favour the latter. But then along comes a story that….well… A schoolgirl who had her hair coloured pink as part of a lesson was later excluded from classes for breaking school rules when the…
Wait. Isn’t that something they are supposed to say to us..? Thames Valley Police last night refused to say what action it had taken against two people arrested on suspicion of possessing prohibited weapons in East Challow. Eh? Normally, they are so full of themselves you can’t shut them up! What gives? Police seized two stun guns during a search at the Woodhill Lane Caravan Park, in the village near Wantage, on…
West Mercia police has apologised for a poster campaign which an anti-rape charity called “inappropriate.” Good lord! What did it say? Oh. Well, who could object to that? Worcestershire Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre claimed the Safe Night Out campaign blamed victims who had been drinking for sexual assault. Ah. I see. Anyone not blinded by their single-minded desire to blame only men would welcome safety advice, but…
… but things do seem to be tilted in their favour sometimes, as two stories this week about policing in different parts of Oz illustrate. First, over in the west, yet another example of the law punishing the innocent and guilty alike when it comes to impounding cars for speeding, though in effect the innocent party receives the bulk of the punishment by being deprived of their property while the driver cops…
A music producer whose songs have appeared in Hollywood films asked for a £5,000 tree outside his house to be cut down because it was interfering with his solar panels. Ahahahahaha….! But, as with most local news stories, it wasn’t the whole story: Producer and recording artist Steve McIntosh, whose songs have appeared on Sex and the City and Scary Movie 3, listed the reason as among those for removing…
…of a man on a £45,000 salary, who has moved out of the family home after splitting from his wife, getting a council house? OK, I thought that would be the response. If you can all stop laughing a moment, how about if I told you his 14 year old son was going to live with him? Still not convinced? What if I told you he was leader of the…
In the aftermath of last week’s headline-dominating court case, Vikram Dodd braves the mean streets of Eltham to see if racism still exists (not realising he could find plenty without ever leaving the ‘Guardian’ head office): Barber Kwabena Boateng, 35, came to Britain in 2000 from Ghana, a year after the Macpherson report. Boateng said he had not experienced any direct racism, but said: “You can’t see it, but sometimes…
The leader of City of York Council has cited “offensive and racist” responses to council plans as one of the reasons the authority will support proposals to welcome people fleeing persecution overseas. Yes, never mind the wishes of the voters. If those are not expressed correctly, they can be ignored. Sounds familiar. At a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Tuesday, Coun James Alexander revealed he and other councillors had…
Sayeth Kamilla Baiden (freelance journalist and final-year English student at Queen Mary University): In all types of employment and academia, positive action – as opposed to positive discrimination – is used to provide opportunities exclusively to women or various minorities in order to help them get into particular field. I love positive action schemes. They’ve given me yet another thing I can apply for – opening up more paths and…
Braintree Council employees park for free at two sites in Braintree – Causeway House in Lakes Road and the upper floors of George Yard car park. The authority is consulting on plans to charge £1 a day or pro rata depending on length of stay. Thus bringing them into line with non-public sector employees. Well, except a few privileged members of a perceived identity group, that is: Disabled parking will…
A Nigerian rapist escaped deportation yesterday after European judges ruled he had a right to a ‘private life’ in Britain. Yes, once again, it’s the ECHR who are at fault: Akindoyin Akinshipe, 24, was due to be sent home after losing appeal after appeal in the British courtsover his jailing for an attack on a girl of 13.But in a staggering reversal yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights said…
Images from the park show groups of young people carrying colourful water guns and having fun soaking each other in the 40C heat, according to Radio Free Europe. But when images of the event were posted online they upset the nation’s conservatives. One conservative MP said the event was shameful and could spread “corruption”. Shortly later, the city’s police chief Hossein Sajedina said some of those involved had been arrested.…
A Rossendale primary school has become the subject of a public inquiry five years after blocking off its playing fields which were used as a village green. Wow, imaging the OUTRAGE! from the usual suspects if a local businessman had tried this! Bosses at Helmshore Primary School erected a two-metre high fence around the perimeter of the school’s playing fields after having problems with dog mess and broken glass.The fence…
Hundreds of thousands of families are to be visited by travel advisers who will tell them to stop driving their cars. Armed with bus timetables and cycle route maps, they will knock on doors and lecture on the need for ‘sustainable travel’. I just can’t wait until they knock on my door! How much is this costing? The doorstep campaign by the army of taxpayer-funded ‘personal travel advisers’ is part…
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