The British cops REALLY got it wrong



The innocent Oxford graduate who was pictured in The Times yesterday [also yesterday on this blog] being stopped at gunpoint by police at Bournemouth station said that he was "shocked, confused, scared and embarrassed" by the incident. Writing on his blog, Nzube Udezue, 21, said: "When I woke up this Saturday morning, I could happily say that I'd managed to get through (almost) 22 years of my life without any real incident with the police. I could also say that I'd never had a gun pointed at me. Little did I know that by 6.10pm I'd be lying face down on the ground, handcuffed, with several sub-machine-guns pointed at me."

The computer science graduate, a budding musician whose rap video is being screened on satellite television, said that he had spent the day in Southampton promoting his music. "[At] 5.24pm, I hop on to the train back to Bournemouth, looking forward to a hardcore gym session. 6.09pm, the train pulls into Bournemouth station and all hell is about to break loose. The next 30 seconds was like a blur."

Armed officers shouted at him to "get down". He said: "It took me a couple of seconds to realise that it was me that all those guns were aimed at. Are they seriously talking to me? I honestly felt like I'd stepped off the train and into a really bad dream."

Mr Udezue, who will join Accenture, the consultancy, next month, said he was told to lie down and put his hands out. "I oblige. I'm shocked, confused, scared and embarrassed all at the same time," he wrote. "Most of the bystanders have vacated the platform by now, by police order. And I'm not talking about normal police either. This is the Specialist Firearms Unit, about eight of them, machineguns, bulletproof vests, police dogs and all."

He added: "It appears that someone whose description I matched (a black male wearing a dark T-shirt with bright orange writing) was involved in an altercation in Basingstoke and had threatened someone with a handgun. "The description was passed through Hampshire, Dorset and the British Transport Police and boom - a plainclothes officer sees me sitting on the train (happily listening to my iPod and unaware of my impending doom), alerts HQ that `the gunman is on the train' (the GUNMAN??) and the Firearms Unit is deployed to Bournemouth train station to confront me. I've never been so traumatised in my life."

Mr Udezue lives in Bournemouth with his father, Emmanuel, an eminent doctor and fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and his mother, Chika, a journalist.

Dorset Police have apologised and referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission for investigation.

Original report here






Another police bashing in Australia

Three Bowral police officers have been charged with beating a drunken man they arrested while he was being held at their police station. The three unnamed officers, aged 36, 43 and 44, were involved in the arrest and detention of a 36-year-old man outside a pub on Bong Bong Street on March 22. He charged with refusing to obey a move along direction and using offensive language. It will be alleged the man was assaulted by the three officers both during the arrest and later at the police station.

The incident was investigated internally and resulted in the three officers being charged with various assault-related offences. It is not clear whether the officers have been removed from active duty, with a police spokeswoman saying they would have more information in a few hours. The officers are expected to face Goulburn local court on August 13.

The man they allegedly bashed pleaded guilty to his two charges in April and was fined $300.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)