A formal complaint was made to Lancashire Police about ‘Babs’ who has been at the centre of a growing row in Clitheroe. Some residents have been calling for her removal from public view in the window of The Time Train retro shop where she has been standing for the past five months. And by ‘some residents’, I suspect we are talking about (as with the recent Enid Blyton controversy) a…
Cuts to legal aid are forcing the closure of almost a third of Shelter’s housing advice centres and compelling the Red Cross to abandon its assistance for family reunions, the organisations claim. Family reunions? Why the fiends! Wait. What sort of ‘family’ are we talking about here? The British Red Cross says the cuts will force it to withdraw expert help to those trying to bring their children into the United…
Hull divisional commander Chief Superintendent Rick Proctor said the police had reviewed their response to horse fairs staged by travellers following last year’s events. Because it was, to put it mildly, inadequate. And why? Well, because it’s just too difficult! “It is a very difficult situation because of the very nature of the people who tend to gather for these events. “It can be difficult to pinpoint who they are…
Geoff Platt called 999 after being followed around Purley town centre on Tuesday by a burly man with tattoos on his face who was shouting and swearing at him. Geoff Platt is a 6ft 6 23 stone ex-cop. If he’s worried… He tried to report it at Purley Police Station, only to discover it was closed, so when he reached the railway station he decided to call 999. “I felt…
Which is why, I suppose, Ramsdens have to spend more money to achieve the justice the system can’t – or, more likely, won’t – give them: A Grimsby superstore is seeking legal action against a former employee who stole more than £55,000.Civil action is due to take place to recoup money taken from Ramsdens by James Jennings. And why do they need to do this? Well, almost all the ill-gotten gains went…
You’ve got to admit, it’s not often you see that sort of headline, is it? What prompted this? Cocaine amongst the campanulas? Heroin concealed amongst the hollyhocks? Well, no. Amazing as it may seem, it you sell legal equipment and aren’t asking any questions about the use to which your customers might be putting it, the fuzz will come calling: The operation came after five months of work where officers visited…
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…
Manslaughter charges brought against a fireworks display organiser after a crash on the M5 which killed seven people, including a Bristol lorry driver, have been dropped. Oh, he still faces charges, but not so severe ones: Peter Blair QC, prosecuting, said a “firm decision” had now been made to prosecute Counsell under the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to ensure the safety of others. So…why were manslaughter…
Every morning, one of the first things Caroline Longley sees is her daughter Emily’s fake fur coat hanging in the hallway. It was one of her most beloved possessions, and something of a trademark, but 17-year-old Emily left it behind on her last visit home, telling her sister Hannah she could wear it and return it in the summer. Hannah never got the opportunity to hand it back. Weeks later,…
I mean, first I agreed with Mary Dejevsky. Now I’m agreeing with Peter Wilby… The late Richard Webster, a writer who dedicated many years to campaigning for “abusers” he believed were wrongly convicted, saw analogies with medieval witch hunts. Genuine witches existed, practising magic and calling on supernatural forces, but they were mostly eccentric individuals, not members of an international conspiracy threatening church and state. Since even real witches were…
My post on Henry Porter’s article about privacy concerns emanating from the development of technology garnered a lot more comment than most. And I was reminded of that post when reading Anna Minton’s article on the SBD award: Not long ago, I was shown around an award-winning housing estate in east London, which was the proud recipient of a Secured by Design (SBD) award. The housing on the gated estate…
Joshua Rozenburg whines about the prisoner vote issue, though not for the reasons you might expect: The prime minister’s announcement that “prisoners are not getting the vote under this government” is profoundly depressing. I say that not because I have a strong view on the policy itself. I would be perfectly content, for example, for judges to deprive prisoners of their voting rights in the same way they deprive prisoners…
…but Henry Porter seems to be too afraid of the downside to ever consider their might be an upside: At what point will the British public realise that its privacy and freedom is in mortal danger? His concern is due to the rise in ‘high-definition and facial-recognition technologies in CCTV systems’ and the potential privacy concerns they will raise. Wherever you go, someone will be logging your movements – whether…
According to his bio, Matthew Moran is ‘currently a Research Associate at King’s College London and his research looks at a range of social and political issues in France’. According to King’s College itself, he ‘is currently working on a MacArthur-funded postdoctoral project that explores the relationship between nuclear, nationalism and identity and how these issues impact on policy-making.’ So the perfect guy to report on the Amiens troubles, right?…
Chemistry teacher Jack Goodwin lost his job at Beverley Grammar School after being charged with causing grievous bodily harm. Mr Goodwin, whose father Chris is a former head teacher at the same school, is now appealing the academy’s decision to dismiss him. The 36-year-old faced a seven-month ordeal waiting for his court case, only to be told on the day of his trial the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was offering…
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