Typical: Scum British Police ignore yobs and drug pushers in troubled neighbourhood to swoop on old lady for playing Perry Como too loudly

In a neighbourhood plagued by open drug dealing and general yobbery, the police had a wealth of potential targets.

They could have started by rounding up the pushers said to use ten-year-olds as drug couriers.

They might have raided the homes of the violent families said to impose a reign of terror on the area.

As it was, they decided to swoop on a 71-year-old woman who was playing her Perry Como records too loudly.

Astonishingly, the people who had complained about the music were reportedly among the thugs who rule the street – and who make the woman’s life a misery.

Last night the pensioner, who worked all her life and keeps her small flat clean and tidy, said she was too scared of retaliation to speak or be identified.

But the local residents association in the crime-hit area of Folkestone in Kent has sent a full report on the incident to Kent Police, Kent County Council and East Kent Housing, which manages the many council houses and flats in the area.

Chairman of the Bradstone Association David Taylor, a retired TV journalist, told in the damning report of ‘abuse and dysfunction’, with a ‘reign of fear by three households, open drug dealing and abuse’, and ‘ten-year-olds used as drug couriers’, with ‘blatant drug-dealing so common it goes unremarked except by visitors’.

He also complained about ‘ineffective policing’, saying: ‘The constant cry is “Where are the police?”. Foot patrols have gone, Police Community Support Officer visits have drastically reduced, and we have lost our local bobby.’

Yet the police did leap into action, wrote Mr Taylor, when an elderly woman put her Perry Como records on.

He said: ‘A 71-year-old divorcee, lives in a ground floor flat. She is completely ignored by a young couple upstairs whose two children jumping and bouncing on the floor cause her constant aggravation.

‘The couple play loud music and leave the back and front of their property awash with rubbish that spills on to the street.’ He continued: ‘She is very deaf. Nevertheless, she is troubled by music from upstairs.

Early in November, the noise from above was so loud that she retaliated by turning up the volume of her own music – Perry Como. Somebody called the police.’

The report then claims the police ‘banged roughly’ on a window before entering the ‘shocked’ woman’s flat at 9pm, only leaving when the music was turned down.

A member of one of the local ‘problem families’ was seen ‘smirking’ as all this happened.

Mr Taylor’s report continued: ‘Clearly, this was a set-up. It was the deliberate provocation of an inoffensive old lady, a waste of police time, and a demonstration of the “street power” exerted by three problem households.’

Local resident Steve Harrison, 45, said it was disgraceful the police chose to act over the pensioner’s records rather than against the real trouble-makers. He added: ‘This old dear was just fighting back against the people above her.’

Kent Police said it took all concerns of crime seriously. A spokesman said: ‘We have increased patrols in the area and are exploring a number of measures to address some of the issues raised by Mr Taylor’s report. ‘This particular incident arose after Kent Police was contacted with concerns about a lady’s well-being.’ [How nauseating can you get?]

Original report here




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If these cops don't go to jail, nobody will

Two guys lying on the ground bothering nobody and the poilice come along and whale into them with no provocation



AN officer who struck two suspects with a baton during a city arrest now faces an official investigation.

South Australia's Police Complaints Authority will look at the actions of the officer and his partner after Seven News recorded the incident and aired the footage.

The men were sitting on the ground in Whitmore Square in central Adelaide when one officer struck them during their arrests at Whitmore Square about 2.30pm.

Witnesses said both men were pepper-sprayed before an officer struck one man twice with his baton and hit the other man three times.

A police spokesman said the officers were questioning the two men about alleged drug dealing.

Police have confirmed the Police Complaints Authority will investigate.

The arrested men have been charged with hindering and resisting police and one was also charged with assaulting a police officer and possessing drug paraphernalia

Original report here




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British sex assault victim told 'you don't need the police' by emergency supervisor before she was subjected to two-hour rape

A 999 control room supervisor is facing gross misconduct proceedings after he told a woman 'you don’t need the police' shortly before she was raped.

The victim suffered a harrowing two-hour ordeal while her terrified children were listening in the next room.

She dialled 999 but abandoned the call after the 19-year-old attacker grabbed her around the throat. The operator heard a struggle and a man arguing.

Fifteen minutes later a supervisor called her back and asked a series of ‘closed’ ­questions before concluding: 'You don’t need the police.'

But the man could be heard whispering in the background forcing her to say everything was fine before hanging up and committing the rape in Southampton in February. He was later jailed for eight years.

An IPCC report yesterday said a simple computer check would have told the supervisor the woman was a known victim of domestic violence. But the watchdog found that an entry on the call log said background checks had been done when they had not.

Hampshire Constabulary and the supervisor had 'gravely' let down the woman, said the IPCC. The supervisor could now face the sack.

Hampshire Assistant Chief Constable David Pryde told the Daily Mirror: 'We failed to provide the appropriate level of service and I am deeply sorry.'

But he added the report said it was 'not due to systematic or organisational failings'.

IPCC Commissioner Mike Franklin said: 'It is not possible to say with any certainty whether police attendance would have prevented this very serious sexual assault.

'However, what is clear is that this woman, who was in a vulnerable position, was gravely let down by Hampshire Constabulary and the control room supervisor when she needed their assistance.'

Original report here




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Businessmen launch big damages case against arrogant and careless British fraud investigators

Mayfair-based entrepreneurs Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz will launch their multi-million pound damages case against the Serious Fraud Office today.

A first hearing on Monday morning comes shortly after the brothers filed heads of claims for damages associated with their arrests last year.

The pair were arrested by the Serious Fraud Office in relation to an investigation into the collapse of Kaupthing Bank. Although it is not clear what details will be released in the directions hearing today The Daily Telegraph understands the sum the brothers will be claiming could be well in excess of the £100m first mooted by Vincent Tchenguiz in a letter to the previous SFO director Richard Alderman.

The sum, relating only to Vincent's arrest, was put forward in December last year, months before the brothers won a judicial review into police and SFO action against them. The review concluded the SFO had made a series of mistakes in pursuing its investigation against the Tchenguiz brothers, findings that could substantially strengthen any case the brothers bring.

In newspaper interviews Vincent and Robert have explained how their arrests, the searches on the properties and the subsequent publicity led to a complete halt in their business dealings. Before their arrests the brothers had separately, and together, been involved insome of the largest property and retail deals in the UK.

The directions hearing at London’s High Court starts a 12-month process that is likely to highlight the failures of the SFO under its previous director, Mr Alderman.

The case could also highlight the role of accountants Grant Thornton in supplying much of the information the SFO relied on for its investigation into the Tchenguiz brothers. Much of the material used by the SFO was found to be misinformed or misused during the judicial review earlier this year.

The case could also throw up a raft of legal material that was submitted during the judicial review that has, until now, remained out of the public domain.

Although the Tchenguiz brothers have found themselves frozen out of many of the markets they previously operated in, they have recently been back making deals. Robert Tchenguiz recently moved closer to taking over the Spanish headquarters of Santander Bank.

He is reportedly on the brink of selling a £300m portfolio of motorway service stations.

Original report here




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Whistleblower's treatment exposes dark side of Obama

I don't always agree with Mr Greenwald (below) but he is undoubtedly right on this. U.S. jail systems are notoriously harsh and that may be a good thing for convicted criminals -- but it is totally improper for remand prisoners -- people who have not yet gone to trial and who are hence entitled to the presumption of innocence.

The treatment so far of Bradley Manning was undoubtedly extremely punitive and his jailers have hence pre-empted the courts -- who are alone entitled to impose punishment.

And as Commander in Chief, Obama is fully responsible for the actions of the military jailers in this matter

OVER the past 2½ years, all of which he has spent in a military prison, much has been said about Bradley Manning, but nothing has been heard from him. That changed late last week, when the 23-year-old US army private, who is accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, testified at his court martial about the conditions of his detention.

The oppressive, borderline-torturous measures he endured, including prolonged solitary confinement and forced nudity, have been known for some time. A formal UN investigation denounced them as "cruel and inhuman". President Barack Obama's State Department spokesman, retired air force colonel P.J. Crowley, resigned after condemning Manning's treatment. A prison psychologist testified last week that Manning's conditions were more damaging than those found on death row, or at Guantanamo Bay.

Still, hearing the accused whistleblower's description of this abuse in his own words viscerally conveyed its horror.

"If I needed toilet paper I would stand to attention and shout: 'Detainee Manning requests toilet paper!'," Manning said. And: "I was authorised to have 20 minutes' sunshine, in chains, every 24 hours." Early in his detention, he recalled, "I had pretty much given up. I thought I was going to die in this eight-by-eight animal cage."

The repressive treatment of Manning is one of the disgraces of Obama's first term and highlights many of the dynamics shaping his presidency. He not only defended Manning's treatment, but also, as commander-in-chief of the court martial judges, improperly decreed Manning's guilt when he asserted that he "broke the law".

Worse, Manning is charged not only with disclosing classified information but of "aiding the enemy", for which the death penalty can be imposed (military prosecutors are seeking "only" life in prison).

The US government's radical theory is that, although Manning had no intent to do so, the leaked information could have helped al-Qaeda, a theory that essentially equates any disclosure of classified information - by any whistleblower or a newspaper - with treason.

Whatever one thinks of Manning's alleged acts, he appears the classic whistleblower. This information could have been sold for substantial sums to a foreign government or a terrorist group. Instead he apparently knowingly risked his liberty to show them to the world because - he said when he believed he was speaking in private - he wanted to start "worldwide discussion, debates and reforms".

Compare the aggressive prosecution of Manning to the US administration's vigorous efforts to shield Bush-era war crimes and massive Wall Street fraud from legal accountability. Not a single perpetrator of those crimes has faced court under Obama, a comparison that reflects the priorities and values of US justice.

Then there's the behaviour of Obama's loyalists.

Ever since I first reported the conditions of Manning's detention in December 2010, many of them not only cheered that abuse but grotesquely ridiculed concerns about it. Joy-Ann Reid, a former Obama press aide and now a contributor on the progressive network MSNBC, sadistically mocked the report: "Bradley Manning has no pillow?????". With that, she echoed one of the most extreme right-wing websites, RedState, which identically mocked the report: "Give Bradley Manning his pillow and blankie back." They hold themselves out as adversarial watchdogs, but nothing provokes the animosity of establishment journalists more than someone who challenges government actions.

Typifying this mentality was a CNN interview on Thursday night with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It was to focus on documents revealing secret efforts by US officials to pressure financial institutions to block WikiLeaks' funding, a form of extra-legal punishment that should concern everyone, particularly journalists.

But the CNN host was uninterested. Instead she tried to get Assange to condemn the press policies of Ecuador, a tiny country that exerts no influence. To the mavens of the US press, Assange and Manning are enemies to be scorned because they did the job that the press refuses to do: namely, bring transparency to the bad acts of the US government and its allies.

Manning has bestowed the world with multiple vital benefits. But as his court martial finally reaches its conclusion, one likely to result in a long prison term, it appears his greatest gift is this window into America's political soul.

Original report here




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How one innocent British family were brought to their knees by the taxman

One businessman tells how his life was destroyed after being wrongly accused of fraud by a British Gestapo

Rick Hone will never forget the morning of February 5, 2009. “I was in the car when I got a phone call from the office. The voice at the other end of the line was hysterical. I couldn’t really understand what was happening. I just knew I needed to get back to base immediately.

When he returned to Abbey Forwarding in Woolwich, London, the drinks warehousing business of which he had been a director for five years, he was shocked by what he saw.

”There were about 20 officers from HMRC [Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, the tax authorities],” he remembers.

“Some of them were already changing the locks on the doors. Others were going through the company’s documents and computers, packing them up to take them away.”

One officer came up to Mr Hone and told him: “You owe over £5million in taxes. You can’t pay it. The company will be closed down to protect the creditors.”

He introduced a woman whom he said had been appointed liquidator by HMRC to liquidate Abbey Forwarding.

“She told me that I had just been sacked, along with half the other staff,” Mr Hone remembers.

“She would sack the rest in four to six weeks time: for the moment, she needed their help in winding down the company.”*

The woman was Louise Brittain (correct). She now works for Deloitte, charges around £750 an hour, and is described as very tough and experienced. In 2010, she was ranked 17th in Accountancy Age’s list of the industry’s top 100 power players.

She has said that she works out “the pinch point for the fraudster in advance. It could be their family or a house they’re particularly emotionally attached to.”

Having identified it, she goes for it. Mr Hone’s 'pinch point’ was his business. He and his fellow directors, Richard Mills and brothers Pat and William Owen, whose father had started the company in 1971, didn’t know what to do. “We were looking at financial ruin. Louise Brittain told us our personal bank accounts had all been frozen. We had been ejected from our own company. Thirty-two people had lost their jobs. We didn’t even know where we would get money to live on.”

The action by HMRC had come out the blue. “Our business, systems and accounts had been given a very thorough going-over by a man from HMRC only a month prior to the liquidation order,” Mr Hone recalls.

“We had a letter back from him which gave no hint that we were suspected of fraud. In fact he said our accounts were in order.”

I have seen that letter. It identifies a failure to keep some records according to approved protocols, but also states that “no inaccuracies were identified.”

So what had persuaded HMRC that Abbey Forwarding was “at the centre of a large, multinational, multimillion pound fraud”?

It had a turnover of several million pounds a year on the business of storing and arranging the transport of beer, wines and spirits. The taxes on alcohol are a large part of the retail price, and a great deal of money can be made by avoiding them. But why, having been through Abbey’s books and not identified anything which indicated fraud, did HMRC think the company was engaged in avoiding taxes?

The details of HMRC’s case changed several times: its essence was that its directors had systematically aided and abetted the evasion of the duty on the drink they stored and transported. But it was based on suspicion, assertion and the conviction of its officers that fraud was being perpetrated, rather than hard evidence.

“It was a nightmare, everything that we had built up over years of hard work was destroyed in an instant,” says Mr Hone.

“And the worst thing was, we couldn’t even appeal against HMRC’s order to liquidate Abbey because of its assessment that we owed £5 million.”

When the liquidator takes over a company, and the employees are sacked, the directors all become ex-directors. They have no standing in the company - legally, they no longer have any relationship with it. So, in law, they cannot appeal a judgment affecting the company. The person who can appeal is the liquidator. But the liquidator, although appointed by a judge, is selected by HMRC.

That Catch-22 situation looks very unfair to the ordinary citizen, who can be crushed beneath the juggernaut of a huge state agency, without most of the usual checks and balances to ensure that it is not misusing its power. Mere suspicion by HMRC officials that fraud is occurring can be enough to ruin a business.

HMRC can apply to a judge at an “ex-parte” hearing: one at which the company it wants to liquidate is not represented, and so cannot defend itself.

That is what happened in the case of Abbey Forwarding. The judge admitted he did not have time to go through in detail the evidence that allegedly proved their involvement in “large-scale fraud”.

He was persuaded that “these gentlemen are fraudsters.... there must be a risk, if they are given even a chink of light, of moving assets, removing computers, shedding documents. [But if] a liquidator can go in, properly armed in terms of numbers of people, none of this will be possible.”

The judge agreed to the appointment of a liquidator. But in fact, “these gentlemen” were not fraudsters, and HMRC’s “evidence” turned out to be spurious. The judge who granted the liquidation order could not have known that at the time because he was not given the opportunity to test that evidence. And what happened subsequently shows the dangers of granting liquidation orders on the word of HMRC alone.

Eighteen months later, a different judge was given the opportunity to assess HMRC’s evidence in detail. Ms Brittain, as liquidator, decided to sue the former directors for “malfeasance”: they had failed in their duty to operate the company honestly. Judge Lewison was given the task of assessing whether or not HMRC’s claims about Abbey’s former directors were true.

He found that they were false. Ms Brittain had, for example, alleged that on 301 occasions, HMRC had stopped lorries recorded as having picked up cans of beer from Abbey’s warehouse -- but each one of those lorries had, when stopped, been empty.

This showed that Abbey was part of a conspiracy to sell the alcohol without paying the duty owed on it.

But Judge Lewison discovered that, in fact, there were only three occasions when HMRC stoppped empty lorries from Abbey. As the judge pointed out, HMRC and Ms Brittain had exaggerated “by a factor of a hundred”.

How such an allegation came to be made was, as Judge Lewison dryly observed, “unexplained”. But, whatever the explanation, HMRC presented sworn evidence to the court that was untrue. Furthermore, on each of those three occasions, there was an innocent explanation.

Judge Lewison was astonished when one HMRC employee admitted that he had no evidence that Abbey had been involved in fraud, but maintained that he had no proof that it was not involved in criminal activity -- which, as the judge pointed out, is not grounds in law for liquidating the company.

In July 2010, he found that there was not a single item that proved that anyone at Abbey had been involved in any conspiracy to defraud HMRC, or indeed any fraud, and he dismissed the action against Mr Hone and the Owen brothers.

It was an enormous vindication for them. In the 18 months since Ms Brittain had taken over their company in order to liquidate it, their lives had been total misery. “I came very close to suicide”, Mr Hone told me.

“It just seemed so hopeless. Every possible way of proving my innocence, of getting my business and my life back, was blocked. The strain on our family was terrible. My son felt he couldn’t go to university: he had to start earning. My mother’s pension was tied up in the business. The legal bills were huge. We had to mortgage everything, and borrow as much money as we could.”

Mr Hone, from Chiselhurst, Kent, who has been married for 26 years, said: “The liquidator took possession of my mobile and called every single person in my address book, including my mother and godson, and asked them how much money I owed them.”

HMRC and their lawyers were ruthless. Two months before Judge Lewison reached his decision, they sent a letter reminding the directors that they were “bound to lose all of their assets and are all likely to go bankrupt”, and that there would be actions against their “family members who have profited unduly from Abbey”.

It warned them that they could only “avoid complete ruination” by admitting their guilt and settling the case.

”We knew we were innocent,” stresses Mr Hone.

“We were never going to give in, not even if they took everything from us.”

And despite Judge Lewison’s ruling, they came very close to doing precisely that.

Not only did HMRC maintain they had been right to close the company, they increased the amount owed to £7million. Ms Brittain, the only individual with legal standing to appeal HMRC’s assessment, refused to appeal it. HMRC’s strategy seemed to be to wear down Mr Hone and his fellow directors by attrition: there were further hearings, costs mounted.

Backed by the state, HMRC had infinite funds. They knew that their opponents had very limited resources.

But they did not give in. They won a series of rulings against the prevaricating tactics of HMRC. On August 4, 2011, five days before their appeal against HMRC’s assessment and tactics was finally to be heard in court, HMRC withdrew their claim that Abbey’s ex-directors owed £7 million in taxes and duties.

In a highly unusual step, Ms Brittain stepped down as liquidator. A new liquidator has been appointed on the recommendation of Mr Hone’s lawyer. He is still awaiting delivery of the relevant documents.

Last week, Mr Hone and the Owen brothers were in court again, suing the liquidator and HMRC for damages for having wrongly frozen their personal bank accounts. After that, they hope to launch a case against HMRC for the loss caused by the liquidation of their company, which amounts to millions of pounds in legal and other fees.

What happened to Abbey Forwarding is not an isolated case. Lawyers who specialise in liquidation proceedings note that HMRC frequently use ex-parte hearings to obtain liquidation orders against companies they suspect of fraud. Of course, many are guilty as charged. But some are not.

There has been disquiet for some years in legal circles at the extent of HMRC’s power. Geraint Jones, QC, a barrister who has been involved in many high-profile tax cases, notes that, as it stands, the law allows HMRC to be “judge, jury and executioner” in its own case. But there are no plans to limit that power; HMRC argues it needs the power in order “to catch the bad guys”.

HMRC will not comment on individual cases, but they insist there are sufficient checks and balances because they have to apply to a judge for a liquidation order.

“We only use ex-parte applications in the most serious cases to deal with the risk of assets derived from fraudulent activity being hidden, or company books and records being destroyed,” said an HMRC spokesman.

“We set out to the Court why we think this approach is the right one. The granting of a provisional liquidation order is then a matter for the court alone.”

To which, Mr Hone responds: “When a judge was able to test HMRC’s evidence properly he found it was all rubbish. If there had been a proper test at the ex-parte hearing the liquidation order would never have been granted in the first place.”

In his view, HMRC’s ability to liquidate companies without robust evaluation of its evidence takes on a sinister quality. He thinks himself lucky not to have been flattened by the power of HMRC; others may not be so fortunate.

Original report here




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Scum British police and prosecutors again

Judge attacks 'genius' prosecutors after householder confronts yobs with knife

A senior judge demanded to know which “genius” decided to charge a householder for holding knife while protecting his home despite none of the armed yobs being arrested.

David Beeley, 44, decided to confront a gang of drunken teenagers who attacked his home with metal weapons in the middle of the night last summer.

He grabbed a cooking knife to defend himself as they shouted that they planned to kill him. But although none of the gang was arrested, Mr Beeley was charged with possession of a knife.

Today, prosecutors came under fire from judge, Michael Stokes, QC, who was highly critical of the decision to charge the logistics manager. Describing the householder as being of "good character", the Recorder of Nottingham asked: "Which genius thought it was in the public interest to prosecute this defendant?"

Mr Beeley had admitted one count of “having an article with a blade in a public place”, to avoid the stress of a trial, Nottingham Crown Court heard.

But the judge sentenced him to a six month conditional discharge, meaning Mr Beeley will not face any punishment.

Tonight, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police defended their decision to pursue the case, insisting that officials had properly “considered the evidence in the case and the public interest”.

He was also charged with a “summary offence” of “using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke violence”.

Outside court Mr Beeley admitted he had made a “bad decision” and should not have confronted the gang with a knife. “I was a little bit rankled because of the aggression I received, but I shouldn't have done that, it was a bad decision,” he said. "I just want to put it behind me really. It went on for months, and I had to go to court several times."

None of the youths, a group of squatters who were armed with “metal implements”, were arrested. "I was a little bit disappointed by that because you wonder whether they will go on to do something else,” Mr Beeley added.

"I'm disappointed with the reaction of the police that night. And I agree with what the judge said. It was nice to see a judge with a sense of humour."

Andrew Tanser, prosecuting, had earlier told the court that the defendant was asleep at 11.30pm on August 13 when he was awoken by several drunken teenagers shouting outside his front door.

After yelling at the gang to be quiet, the yobs, who were "rowdy and clearly in drink", shouted at Mr Beeley before later returning with weapons and banged on the door to his home, a large Victorian detached house in which has been divided into flats.

Mr Beeley, lives alone in a second floor apartment, went downstairs, picked up an “ordinary kitchen knife”, he had used to cook dinner earlier that night, and went out to confront the gang, who later fled.

Police were called and Mr Beeley, from Mapperley Park, a suburb in the city’s north-east, was arrested and charged.

James Whiting, 29, a friend and neighbour, said he was stunned when police arrived and arrested Mr Beeley but took no action against the gang.

Mr Whiting said: "It was unbelievable. There was about four or five of them. They were squatting up the road, and we had no end of trouble with them.

"They would just hang around outside. They wouldn't move and stopped me coming in. They were just yobs.”

He said they were taking “running kicks” at this door, shouting they would “kill Dave, and that he couldn't hide in there”. He said Mr Beeley was just waving the knife around to “scare them off”.

He said the gang had told police that Mr Beeley had “started it” but said that was wrong. None of the neighbours were interviewed.

He added: "Now Dave has got a criminal record, and they got away scot-free. A few weeks later they were all involved in a big brawl in the road and moved on."

Tonight, a CPS spokeswoman defended the charges, insisting that Chief Crown Prosecutor for Nottinghamshire, Judith Walker, had “considered the evidence in the case and the public interest”.

She added: "The evidence provided showed that the defendant had left his apartment building carrying a large kitchen knife with the intention of making a group of youths who were causing a disturbance leave the vicinity. "The prosecutor took the view that going out in public with a knife can often inflame a situation, rather than resolve it.

"The defendant pleaded guilty to this offence, on the basis that he had the knife in his hand because he had been cooking and had gone outside out of fear for himself and other residents in the block. This plea was accepted by the prosecution."

A Nottinghamshire Police spokeswoman said that the decision to charge Mr Beeley was down to the CPS based on evidence from officers. She confirmed no other arrests were made.

She said “Officers responded to two independent reports of a man in the street with a knife. David Beeley was subsequently arrested for possession of a bladed article, charged and admitted this offence at court. “We are fully aware of the impact that knife crime can have - knives ruin lives. If someone chooses to take a knife to an argument, the risk of injury is significantly increased.

"We have a duty to investigate and present the evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, who ultimately makes the decision as to whether there is enough for criminal proceedings.”

Original report here




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British cops can say what other Brits cannot

Other Brits have been sent to jail for lesser offences under the same laws with no regard to free speech rights. Only police have free speech rights in Britain, apparently

Two police officers were cleared of racial harassment today after one admitted saying a black man looked like a monkey while another allegedly told a black colleague that she was 'going home to cook bananas'.

Metropolitan Police constables Kevin Hughes, 36, and Pc David Hair, 42, were both found not guilty on two separate charges each at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court.

PC Kevin Hughes, 42, was patrolling the East End of London in a squad car when he made the remark about a black man looking like a monkey to colleague PC Costas Dakoutros.

When challenged by PC Dakoutros, Hughes said ‘It’s true’ and added: ‘They’re closely related to chimpanzees and more closely related to Neanderthals.’

During the same patrol another workmate, PC Kirk Baker, heard Hughes say: ‘Black people haven’t evolved, they live in mud huts in Africa.’ He went on to say that black people’s ‘sticking out ears and thick lips’ made them resemble primates.

Prosecutors claimed the case revealed a culture of racism in the Victim Offenders Location Time (VOLT) team which was based in Newham, one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the country.

But Hughes, along with PC David Hair, 36, a fellow member of the VOLT team, was cleared of a public order offence and racially aggravated harassment.

Hughes wept as District Judge Howard Riddle announced the verdicts at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, while Hair signed with relief.

Hair was alleged to have racially abused PC Julia Dacres while travelling in a police minibus last March 13. He asked her if she was going to do some overtime and then said: ‘I didn’t know if you were going to go into a little rant and say how you had to go home and cook bananas’.

Hughes would also talk in a mock-Asian accent call other officers ‘auntie’ and ‘uncle’. He thought it was hilarious because he had dealt with Asian man who said he was ‘visiting his aunty for a party’ in a very thick accent.

He admitted he had referred to the men’s similarities to monkeys but said it was during an innocent conversation about evolution and had nothing to do with his race.

‘I just said it has nothing to do with him being black, I noticed him because he had elongated limbs, his gait,’ Hughes told the court. ‘I said that was why I picked him out, because of the way he was walking - it was a fleeting glance.

‘I was just trying to reinforce my point that I believe that some human beings had characteristics that resemble monkeys.’

Hair admitted making the bananas comment, but denied that it was racially motivated.

Senior District Judge Howard Riddle said: 'Whatever precisely Pc Hughes said, it was unacceptable and offensive.' He said that 'in these circumstances it did not amount to a criminal offence'.

Noting that 'context is central', Mr Riddle pointed out there had been no aggression or threat.

He said: 'Freedom of speech is a cherished principle. Freedom of speech includes the freedom to be offensive. 'It is, of course, restrained in a number of ways - employers can require employees to avoid offensive language or lose their jobs. The civil courts can provide redress for harm caused.

'But when the state tells people what they can or cannot say, on pain of criminal sanction, the position is different. Citizens expect strong justification for curtailing freedom of expression. Offensiveness is not enough. Context is central.'

Hughes, of Ingrave, Essex, and Hair of Epping, Essex, were both found not guilty of one count of using threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behaviour to cause another person harassment, alarm, or distress and alternative charge of racially aggravated harassment.

The judge praised the MPS and CPS for bringing the case.

Original report here




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Sydney jeweller found guilty over boyfriend's death after third trial

After two judges found there was no case to answer! This may now go to the High Court. It is exceptional enough

Sydney jeweller Phillip Leung has been found guilty of killing his male partner after three trials spanning four years - a first in NSW's legal history.

Leung, 51, sobbed uncontrollably in the dock as the jury found he was guilty of manslaughter over the death of his long-term partner Mario Guzzetti - a crime for which he had previously been acquitted.

"This is wrong, just wrong," Leung said, through tears.

The trial in the NSW Supreme Court had heard that on the morning of April 7, 2007, a row erupted between the couple over a tiler's bag of cement that was obstructing access at their home in Alexandria.

About the same time, neighbours heard a loud noise, like a shelf falling. After several minutes' silence, Mr Leung was heard wailing hysterically.

The first witnesses at the scene found him at the foot of the stairs, rocking back and forth while cradling his blood-stained partner, who had sustained head injuries. Mr Guzzetti, 72, had stopped breathing by the time ambulance officers arrived.

At his original trial in 2009, Mr Leung was acquitted of murder after a judge directed the jury to find him not guilty.

The Crown, however, used NSW's controversial double jeopardy laws, introduced in 2006, to have the verdict quashed.

Mr Leung then faced court on a manslaughter charge last April, but became the first person in Australian legal history to be acquitted twice by a judge's directed verdict. As he left court that day, he said he was "finally free" to move on.

He was wrong.

In March this year, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal upheld a second appeal by the Crown and ordered that Mr Leung again be tried for manslaughter.

Leung appeared to be in a state of shock as the jury foreman delivered the verdict today after two days of deliberations, shaking his head slowly before breaking down. At least one member of the jury also appeared to be crying.

Leung's barrister, Winston Terracini, SC, made a last ditch effort to keep his client out of jail, asking that he be granted bail.

But Justice Derek Price refused bail, telling court sherrifs to "take the offender into custody".

Leung, still protesting his innocence, removed his jewellery and his glasses and descended the stairs to the cells below.

Mr Leung, 51, is the first person in NSW legal history to be tried three times over the same homicide investigation.

Original report here




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Australia: Bugging report too "dangerous" to release

The report of an official enquiry should be well considered so there can only be one thing the cops are afraid of: The truth

THE secret police report into the widespread phone-tapping and bugging of over 110 serving and former officers was too "dangerous" to be released, the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, David Levine, said yesterday.

The reputations of the NSW Police Force and individual officers could be trashed if the report and recommendations by strike force Emblems were made public, the former Supreme Court judge said.

Mr Levine said while he could understand the concerns of the 114 people named in just one of the warrants investigated by strike force Emblems, the final decision to release the report should lie with NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour.

Police Minister Michael Gallacher denied this was another attempt to bury the report which he had pledged to release when he got into government.

Police Association president Scott Weber said those police officers affected felt the matter was "not being taken seriously" and rejected criticism of the Emblems investigators.

"Many of (the officers) were senior and respected police officers," Mr Weber said.

"They did their absolute best despite zero co-operation from the NSW Crime Commission and limited access to information. They were even subjected to threats of being prosecuted under the draconian secrecy provisions."

Strike force Emblems was set up in 2003 after a number of officers, including one of the now-deputy commissioners Nick Kaldas, made complaints about being bugged by the police's Special Crime and Internal Affairs unit working with the Crime Commission and the PIC in what was called Operation Mascot. The operation's leader was Superintendent Catherine Burn, another current deputy commissioner.

Original report here. (Via Australian police news)





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Grave injustice in Australia: fight to clear a dead man goes to unusual appeal

He was old, sick and holed up in a men's home, but two weeks before he died, Fred McDermott was still getting hassled about the murder.

"People still believe I did it," McDermott told a television journalist. "They said 'He got out on a royal commission, but that's the bloke who knocked over Lavers'."

In that last interview, the old shearer looked like a hunting trophy. Leukaemia, two heart attacks and years of living rough had left him a skeleton with a pale coat of skin. When he died, in 1977, McDermott had been out of prison for 25 years. But he had never been acquitted of the murder experts say he could not have committed.

"Employers all over the place know my name and I didn't stand a chance anywhere," he said.

Betty Sheelah heard about her cousin's death on the news. "He ended up a real broken man," she said. "He still had that murder thing hanging over his head."

If you had told Ms Sheelah then that decades later she would be in a Sydney court watching a barrister fight to make her cousin the first dead person ever to be acquitted in Australia, she would never have believed you.

"It's all because Ted Markham found that skeleton," she said.

In November 2004, a Grenfell farmer, Ted Markham, spotted something white in the grass on his property. "I picked it up and turned it round and saw two open eye sockets looking at me," he told ABC News.

Police found other bones in a nearby cave. DNA tests confirmed they belonged to Harry Lavers, who owned a Grenfell petrol station in the 1930s.

The last time Lavers had been seen was the morning of September 5, 1936. He woke before dawn and told his wife he was going out to feed the horses. She rose an hour later, and thinking it odd that her husband had not lit the fire, she checked out the front of their petrol station.

The hose of one of the bowsers lay on the ground. Blood and hair mingled at its base.

Tyre tracks ran across the soil in front of the bowsers and kept running along the unmade road north from Grenfell to Forbes. Residents said they had seen a noisy touring car headed north. Essie May King, who worked the show circuit as a phrenologist and psychologist, told police she had seen two men in a touring car on that road the day before Lavers disappeared. But police found nothing.

The case lay dormant until 1944, when detectives in Sydney heard that a shearer in Griffith had confessed to Lavers's murder. This led police to McDermott, who had told his girlfriend years before that police had interviewed him about Lavers's disappearance. When she got drunk she would sometimes accuse McDermott of killing Lavers. To shut her up he would say: "Yeah, I did it."

Now they had a suspect, police called Essie May King and asked her to look at some photos. They showed her a portrait of McDermott standing in the sun with his eyes closed. King identified him as one of the men she had seen in the car nine years earlier.

"That identification would never be allowed in a court today," said Tom Molomby, SC, who as well as defending McDermott, has written a book about the saga.

On Wednesday, Mr Molomby will tell the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal that McDermott's conviction was based on shaky evidence, which collapsed with the discovery of the skeleton.

A state coroner called McDermott's conviction a "gross miscarriage of justice". A royal commission freed him from jail in 1952 because there were too many doubts about the evidence. But he was never acquitted, because common law denies dead people the right to an appeal. Mr Molomby has found a loophole - under the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001, a relative of the accused is allowed to petition the Attorney-General.

Ms Sheelah, now 74, says she has petitioned because "it's time Fred's name was cleared".

"I know it's probably too late for Fred, but it's not too late for the rest of the McDermotts, and it's not too late to have it erased off our family history."

Original report here

UPDATE: Conviction now overturned


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Va.: Montgomery release at last

Convicted on the word of a stupid woman. More details here


Elizabeth Paige Coast has been charged with perjury

Johnathan Montgomery stepped into the chilly night air Tuesday evening as a free man. After receiving a conditional pardon from Gov. Bob McDonnell, he was finally released from the Greensville Correctional Center where he had remained incarcerated for four years for a crime he did not commit.

About a month ago, his accuser admitted she had fabricated a story that Mr. Montgomery had sexually assaulted her. On Nov. 9, a Hampton Circuit Court judge ordered that his conviction be overturned. But due to a convoluted Virginia process, Mr. Montgomery was not going to be released until a petition had made its way through the Virginia Court of Appeals. This was despite the fact that the Hampton Circuit Court judge, the Hampton Commonwealth's Attorney, the Virginia Attorney General all advocated his release.

Not only did Montgomery lose the four years he'd spent in prison, he had to endure another 11 days of incarceration while the powers that be jockeyed for a solution. Eleven days may not sound like much to those of us who take our liberties for granted, but in this young man's case, that delay was especially unjust. As he said when he left Greensville, "You don't know what is lost until you've lost it."

Our Governor did a good thing Tuesday, and his personal calls to apologize to Montgomery and his parents were also the right thing to do. While Mr. Montgomery's freedom is no doubt exhilarating, his exoneration will not be truly complete until all the paperwork is signed and his record is expunged of the wrongful charges and conviction.

Original report here




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British law student stole neighbour's identity to buy £100,000 worth of cars after bank statement was wrongly delivered

No jail

A former law student stole her next door neighbour's identity to carry out a £100,000 luxury car scam.

Stephanie Lane used Susan Cooper's personal details, which she obtained from a bank statement delivered to her in error, to apply for credit for high-value vehicles.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the 24-year-old applied for finance for a £50,000 BMW, a £40,000 Audi, a £10,000 BMW sports car and a £5,000 Volvo in her neighbour's name.

Despite the applications being granted by the four showrooms she visited, the mum-of-two's plan to get her hands on the vehicles was foiled when the companies asked for extra confirmation of her identity.

Lane, of Marsden Way, Seaham, who has 10 GCSEs and three A levels, including law, was arrested after details of the finance agreements were received by Miss Cooper. Lane pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud during a two week period in February.

Mrs Cooper told police she was left under enormous stress and worry about what impact the scam will have on her future credit rating. She said she was disappointed a neighbour would act in such a way. Her statement said: 'She never even attempted any explanation or apologised for her actions.

'It is very difficult for me to see Stephanie Lane, knowing she was the person responsible for causing me such stress and worry.'

Judge John Evans said Lane's education had been a success and told her: 'On the face of it you appeared to be someone who was destined for a life which would be fulfilled and would certainly be honest. 'It is difficult to comprehend what was going through your mind when you embarked on this series of attempts to obtain valuable cars.'

Lane was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with 250 hours unpaid work and a three month night time curfew.

Nick Cartmel, defending, said the scam was 'clumsy and inadequate' as Lane used many of her own personal details, including her address, on some of the applications. Mr Cartmel said Lane has two young children to care for and added: 'She is a non violent, non sexual offender who I would ask the court to give a chance to. 'She is genuinely remorseful.' [At getting caught]

Original report here




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Why is doctor in GMC probe STILL being allowed to break up British families?

Psychiatrist accused of falsely diagnosing parents with mental health illnesses

The evidence of a psychiatrist accused of distorting reports to suit the needs of local authorities is still being used to remove children from their parents.

One mother faced the prospect of having a baby son taken away from her because of a report written by Dr George Hibbert six years ago - before the child in question was even born.

The doctor is at the centre of an investigation over claims that he falsely diagnosed parents with mental disorders to fit with the view of social services.

He has already offered to surrender his doctor's licence following the claims - but has been told the allegations are so serious he must face a public hearing.

Now the Mail Online has learned that his reports - for which he has been paid millions by local authorities - are still being used in the secret family courts against parents he labelled 'unfit'.

One woman, who can be named only as Miss C, had her two daughters taken away after she failed one of Dr Hibbert's controversial 'parenting assessments' in 2006.

In a bizarre report, he criticised Miss C for speaking to her elder daughter 'in an over-bright tone', vacuuming the floor 'in an agitated way' and even on one occasion, for 'overcooking the pasta'.

He also expressed concern that her youngest daughter, who was just two months old, spent too much time 'asleep, wrapped in blankets'.
Claims have been made by a woman known as Miss B, about how her daughter, now six, was taken away from her mother due to a report by psychiatrist Dr George Hibbert

Claims have been made by a woman known as Miss B, about how her daughter, now six, was taken away from her mother due to a report by psychiatrist Dr George Hibbert

He concluded she was 'unable to protect the children from harm' because she was 'preoccupied' by what other people thought of her.

As a result of the report, the mother was forced to endure the agony of having her two children taken away - and placed in the care of her abusive ex-partner.

'I couldn't believe it,' she said. 'They are everything to me. To have them taken away was awful for me but much worse for them. My eldest daughter was utterly traumatised.'

Determined to get her daughters back, Miss C fought a long legal battle and eventually won the right to care for her two daughters unsupervised for one day a week.

When she gave birth to another baby earlier this year, a parenting assessment found 'no concerns' about Miss C's ability to look after the child, who was 'happy' and 'contented' in her care.

But despite this, her local authority started proceedings to have the boy removed and adopted - citing Dr Hibbert's six-year-old report on her parenting capabilities as evidence she was an unfit mother. 'It was like being in a nightmare' she said.

'Everybody knows I'm a good mother. But Dr Hibbert's report is like a black cloud hanging over everything. It just seems so wrong that they could still have used his reports in court to take my baby away, even though he's being investigated and all these people have come forward.'

The General Medical Council is investigating a string of claims by women who say their children were wrongly removed as a result of Dr Hibbert's reports.

At least one former member of staff at his Assessment centre - Tadpole Cottage in Blunsdon, Wiltshire - is understood to have come forward in support of the parents.

Earlier this year, Dr Hibbert, an eminent psychiatrist who has lectured at Oxford and advised MPs on the family courts, offered to surrender his doctor's licence after being confronted with allegations that he had deliberately misdiagnosed patients with mental disorders.

But the GMC dismissed his request and has said it expects to hold a Fitness to Practise Hearing early next year. Dr Hibbert is now seeking permission of the High Court to challenge the GMC's decision to investigate one complaint that falls outside the usual five-year time limit for investigations.

Meanwhile a number of women have contacted a solicitors' firm in Manchester regarding civil claims against the psychiatrist.

In a statement, Dr Hibbert said: 'I have had one complaint referred to the GMC's Fitness to Practise Panel for a hearing, a complaint that relates to a case in 2007, but no hearing date has yet been fixed.

'There are other complaints that the GMC are investigating but their investigations in these other cases are at a preliminary stage and none of them has been referred to the GMC's Fitness to Practise Panel.'

Original report here




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Australia: State Crime Commission broke the law

This has long been alleged

The police watchdog has found misconduct and illegal practices within the New South Wales Crime Commission.  The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has found the Crime Commission has grossly misapplied the law for more than a decade.

The PIC says the crime fighting body illegally funded about 15 per cent of its budget using cash seized from suspected criminals.

The report says grossly-excessive sums of money were handed back to defendants for their legal fees.

The solicitor girlfriend of a former senior officer received more than $300,000 for four cases alone.

The PIC has recommended the former officer Lou Novakovic be charged with misconduct for favours to his girlfriend, Salina Sadiq, and for giving false or misleading evidence.

The Crime Commission's former commissioner and directors have escaped adverse findings, with the report concluding they were ignorant of the law.

The New South Wales Crime Commission was set up in 1985 to investigate major drug trafficking and organised crime.

The PIC has conducted a four-year investigation into the organisation, after a series of scandals.

In 2011, former assistant director, Mark Standen, was jailed for 22 years on drug importation charges.

A separate special commission of inquiry found no ongoing corruption within the body but problems with its accountability.

In September, veteran barrister Peter Hastings QC was announced as the new Crime Commissioner.

Original report here. (Via Australian police news)



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British cop 'felt sober after six-pint drinking session before car crash that killed new girlfriend'

Six pints is a lot of beer and of all people a cop should know about drinking and driving. He should not have been driving at all. But no doubt he will get a wrist slap, if that

A police officer whose new girlfriend died when he lost control of his car while driving at around twice the legal limit said he 'felt sober' when he got behind the wheel.

Brendan Buggie, 39, who was not on duty at the time, had downed six pints ahead of the crash in Greater Manchester.

Justyna Stanczak, 26, who was in the passenger seat, suffered fatal injuries when the Toyota Celica hit a van in Ramsbottom.

Greater Manchester Police officer Buggie, who denies causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit, has said the car skidded as a result of icy road conditions on the night of the accident last December.

The police officer had been driving Miss Stanczak - the best friend of his ex-girlfriend Lucy Fox - back to her home in Bury after the pair met at the end of her shift in a bar on December 4 last year.

The couple had been spotted walking to his own house by Miss Fox's mother and, fearing his ex-partner would turn up, Buggie offered to drive his new girlfriend to her home at around midnight.

Buggie, who had spent the afternoon in various local pubs, told Bradford Crown Court: 'I'd had a number of drinks at that time, I'm not denying it. 'But I felt sober.'

The officer's car hit a stationary white van parked on the A56 in Ramsbottom after it skidded on the road.

Buggie said the roads looked damp and although he did not notice ice on the surface, he had to defrost frozen hail from his car windscreen before the journey. 'As far as I could see, at that time it appeared to be damp,' he said. 'Speed-wise, I didn't feel like I was exceeding 40mph.

'Virtually as I'm exiting the corner the back end has come round to my right-hand side. 'It came as such a surprise because I'd nearly got round the bend,' Buggie said.

He said the car fishtailed before smashing into a parked van.

'The split second of the impact, I don't know whether I had my eyes closed or not.

'Straightaway I looked to my left and Justyna's eyes were shut.

'When I looked over, I expected screaming or shouting. But to look over and she's unconscious...To see someone not responding is the worst case scenario.'

Buggie called an ambulance but Miss Stanczak, a Polish national, died of 'massive internal bleeding' in hospital hours later, the court was told.

Expert witnesses have told the jury the road was extremely icy and the conditions treacherous.

The prosecution claims that Buggie was not driving with care and his ability to do so was impeded by the amount he had drunk.

Nicholas Williams, prosecuting, told jurors: 'The prosecution say he drove carelessly that night - no doubt because he'd been drinking - by failing to adapt his driving.'

The court previously heard that when the defendant's ex-girlfriend learned that he had been seen with Miss Stanczak it sparked a furious text exchange between the trio. The exchange of messages had left Miss Stanczak upset and Buggie offered to drive her home.

Despite briefly regaining consciousness after the crash, the 26-year-old died at around 4.30am at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury.

The trial, scheduled to last five days, continues.

Original report here




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Another Drug War Nightmare

The government has the power to seize your assets for a crime you did not commit. That's essentially the argument being made in a Boston federal court this week as the U.S. Department of Justice and Tewksbury (Mass.) Police Department work to take Motel Caswell away from its owner, Russ Caswell.

The libertarian-leaning legal team Institute for Justice took on Caswell's case pro bono, attorney Scott Bullock told me, because this case "is really taking civil forfeiture where it has not gone in the past."

The government wants to take Caswell's motel, not because Caswell is guilty of dealing drugs or other crimes but because some of his guests broke the law. A legal brief cites 15 drug crimes, including distributing heroin and manufacturing methamphetamine, that prompted police to arrest Caswell guests from 1994 to 2008.

"We're trying to make the property and the location safe," said Christina DiIorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz.

TripAdvisor reviews make Motel Caswell sound like the place I stayed at when I covered the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. One cab driver heard the name and insisted I pay cash.

DiIorio-Sterling noted that the government had pushed for a settlement that would have required Caswell to pay $167,500 and agree to sell or shutter the property. He refused.

Bullock assured me that the Main Street motel isn't seedy, just the cheapest room in town. "We get a cross section of society," Caswell told me.

The legal point, said Bullock: An innkeeper should not be held responsible for "transient guests that occasionally use the motel for illicit drug activity behind closed doors."

The Institute for Justice has experience with governments going after the property of people without the means to fight back. The institute represented working-class homeowner Susette Kelo after the town of New London, Conn., tried to seize her house under eminent domain for a private waterfront development project. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court infamously ruled 5-4 for New London.

In a righteous dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote that if governments can kick people out of their homes for economic development, "the specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory."

Voila. Caswell's father built the one-story, 56-room motel in 1955. Because it's family-run with no mortgage, said Bullock, a seizure would deliver "pure profit for law enforcement." The Tewksbury police stand to pocket 80 percent of the $1 million or more Caswell believes the property is worth.

The government doesn't have to prove Caswell was a party to or even knew what was going on in guests' $56 rooms.

In 1999, Congress passed a law to curb civil asset forfeiture abuses, citing a Houston Chronicle editorial that argued, "Good people should not have to fear property seizure because they operate business in high-crime areas. Nor should they forfeit their property because they have failed to do the work of law enforcement."

Yet it's happening all over again. Quoth Bullock, "I think it's fair to say they expected Mr. Caswell not to fight this all the way."

Original report here




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Death in custody coverup defeated by amateur

She was up against the daunting proposition of a police force and two barristers [trial lawyers]. But this did not deter factory cleaner Tracey McCourt from getting justice for her brother-in-law.

A three-week inquest was held recently into the death of Lenny McCourt, who died of a heart attack in a cramped cage at the back of a police van.

At the inquest, Durham Police had their own barristers and the Police Federation - the police officer's trade union - also supplied another.

However, the McCourt family were unable to obtain legal aid and so did not have any legal representation.

But this did not deter brave Mrs McCourt who decided to take actions into her own hands. The grandmother-of-one took the bold decision to go up against the two barristers herself and ask questions on behalf of her family.

And following her legal representation, Durham coroner, Andrew Tweddle launched a criticism into the police actions which led to Lenny, 44, dying in the cramped cage. Mr Tweddle also praised Mrs McCourt's quizzing of the officers she blames for Lenny's death, saying she had 'missed her vocation' as a lawyer.

Mum-of-two, and grandmother to Logan, one, Mrs McCourt is married to Lenny's brother Gene, 49.

Lenny was the youngest of five brothers and the close-knit family was left devastated when the 44-year-old, who had been drinking heavily, died on his way to the cells at Peterlee Police Station on the afternoon of Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Mrs McCourt, from Eastlea, Seaham, said: 'I thought the world of Lenny. We were the same age and went to the same school. 'We always got on well together.'

Mrs McCourt describes 6ft 3in tall Lenny as a 'gentle giant' but accepted he had 'issues' and could sometimes drink to excess.

It was while he had been drinking that neighbours called police following a disturbance outside his home in Seaham.

Police arrived at his house and told the hearing they thought they had managed to calm him down. But he followed them out to their car and the officers claimed that he became aggressive.

After spraying him twice with pepper spray, two male officers and one woman special officer bundled him into a van.

There then followed a catalogue of errors by police which has led to three officers facing disciplinary action.

Mr Tweddle called for a review into the size of cages in the back of police vans where prisoners are held, after Mrs McCourt insisted that the inquest jury inspect the van Lenny was put into.

Other errors highlighted by Mr Tweddle included a failure to tell Lenny why he was being arrested, a failure to keep him under observation while he was being transported to Peterlee and a failure to apply prompt medical action aid when they realised he was unconscious.

The jury decided that Lenny died of a heart attack in the van, Mr Tweddle added: 'I think anyone who saw the footage at Peterlee police station could not fail to be moved by the fact that for what seemed like an eternity, nothing seemed to be done. 'I found it distressing to see officers standing with their hands on their hips for a considerable period of time, an inappropriate length of time in my view.'

Mrs McCourt said she felt vindicated by the coroner's comments after spending three weeks questioning witnesses on behalf of her family.

Mrs McCourt said: 'I have always been determined to get at the truth and I volunteered to speak on behalf of the family. 'I have never been into a hearing of that nature before but I picked it up as I went along.

'I learned what I was doing wrong, instead of asking questions of witnesses I was making statements to them. 'But I learnt how to phrase questions properly as the hearing progressed.

'I tried to detach myself emotionally, but it is very difficult when you are discussing the last moments of a much-loved brother in law.

'It was horrible watching the video footage of him lying there. The police officers were just standing around.

'I feel an element of relief now it is over, although there is also a lot of sadness and a lot of anger. 'I hope the police officers are severely dealt with.

'I am particularly pleased that the coroner highlighted how cramped the police custody cage in the van was. 'My husband, who has been a huge help to me, said he wouldn't have put a dog in it.

'The police lawyers didn't see any need for the van to be produced at the inquest for the jury to inspect but I insisted that it was brought to Crook. 'And they saw for themselves the cramped cages in which Lenny was thrown.

'If this inquest can prevent another family going through the heartache we have been put through then Lenny will not have died in vain.'

Mrs McCourt has stressed that she is not against the police and says she used to attend local Police and Community Together meetings.

She said: 'At the time there was a drugs problem on our estate and I spoke out at the meetings and worked with police.

'I am not afraid to speak up when I think something is wrong and there was something very wrong about Lenny's death.'

She also said that the birth of her grandson, Logan, was a huge comfort at a time when the family had been through so much.

She said: 'Gene and Lenny's mother's funeral took place exactly a year after Lenny's.

'My dad died earlier this year, and Gene and Lenny's brother Dave was killed in a motor-cycle accident in North Yorkshire.

'All this was happening when we were preparing for Lenny's inquest, but in a way it has made us stronger as a family.

'And Logan's birth has been a ray of sunshine amongst all the doom and gloom. 'I adore my grandson, he's the apple of my eye.'

A spokesman for Durham Police said: 'Durham Constabulary continues to extend its condolences to Mr McCourt’s family on their loss.

'We co-operated fully with an IPCC independent investigation into the circumstances leading to Mr McCourt’s death and we accept the findings of the inquest.

'The formal verdict recognises the officers involved acted lawfully throughout this incident.

'On the afternoon of September 11, 2010, we responded to a 999 call from a resident of Ash Crescent who was fearful for herself and her child because someone was out in the street who appeared to be very drunk, behaving violently and trying to break into a vacant house.

'Mr McCourt, unknown to any of the attending officers, had a serious underlying heart condition not previously known to himself or his family.

'The constabulary will now move towards misconduct procedures for the members of staff principally involved.

'The issues identified in these reviews, and the report of HM Coroner, will be addressed in due course and the family of Mr McCourt will be involved in this process.'

Original report here




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Entire British police team axed for playing poker and cleaning golf clubs

An entire neighbourhood police team has been axed after they were caught playing cards, board games and even cleaning golf clubs when they were supposed to be patrolling the streets.

Three officers were sacked and another four resigned following an internal investigation by the Metropolitan Police. The team, made up of regular officers and community support officers, were supposed to be helping keep the streets safe in Bromley, south east London.

But instead hidden cameras and listening devices found them playing backgammon and poker or just watching television. One officer regularly went out for a run rather than working while another was cleaning his gold clubs in the office. Some then claimed overtime for shifts they had not worked.

Commander Allan Gibson, head of the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, said: "These officers let the whole of the service down with their behaviour; but more importantly they let down their local community. "There is no place for lazy attitudes in the MPS and those who are found to be failing in their duties will be held to account."

The activities were exposed during an undercover operation by Cmdr Gibson’s unit into the Safer Neighbourhood Team in the Mottingham and Chislehurst North ward of Bromley in 2010. Disciplinary proceedings were only concluded last month.

One sergeant and a constable were sacked after the Met's disciplinary panel found them guilty of gross misconduct. Another constable and three of the team's community support officers resigned, while a fourth PCSO was dismissed.

In a statement, the Met said: "The disciplinary panel heard evidence that officers from the team had played backgammon and poker whilst on duty, watched TV in the office, frequently failed to go out on patrol, had not worked full tours of duty and also claimed overtime that had not been worked. "In addition, one officer had gone out for runs during the working day whilst a further officer cleaned his golf clubs in the office. These activities appear to have taken place at the expense of policing duties, such as patrolling the local area."

Roger Charsley, an ex-police officer and now local councillor for the ward, said: “I was horrified by this. “The public expect the police to do their job not sit around watching television and playing cards.”

A Met source added: “It was an extraordinary state of affairs. “The public will be shocked to learn how little work was actually being done by this team.”

Neighbourhood teams were introduced by the Met in 2004 and subsequently rolled out across the country. They were intended to make the police more accountable to the public because local people would get to know their designated team. They were described at the time as the “greatest development in community policing in the past 30 years”.

PCSOs have come under criticism since they were introduced by the last Labour Government. Dubbed “Blunkett’s bobbies” after the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, critics warned they would result in policing on the cheap.

Original report here




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Five British cops arrested for 'persuading criminals to confess to crimes they did not commit to boost detection rates'

Five detectives have been arrested on suspicion of persuading criminals to confess to crimes they did not commit, it was revealed last night. The officers, four men and a woman, were questioned over claims they dishonestly manipulated suspects to boost their crime detection figures.

They were held by anti-corruption colleagues at their desks in Maidstone, Kent, after a whistle-blower raised the alarm.

The allegations centre on the controversial practise of criminals admitting to other crimes known as TICs, or 'taken into consideration', when they are sentenced. They are told the move is an opportunity to wipe the slate clean so they cannot be investigated again for old crimes but the system is open to abuse.

The officers, a detective inspector, a detective sergeant and three detective constables, worked in a team dealing with persistent offenders, including car thieves and burglars.

In January last year Maidstone had the highest detection rate in the county at 39.4 per cent, 4.5 per cent higher than the force average.

The arrests are the latest blow to the reputation of British policing which is reeling from a series of scandals.

These include the sacking of Cleveland Chief Constable Sean Price for corruption last night and shocking claims of a wholesale cover-up after the Hillsborough disaster.

The five officers, who deny any wrongdoing and have been suspended from duty, have been released on bail.

In a similar case in January, two South Wales detectives were reprimanded for plying a 17-year-old suspect with alcohol before taking his confession for 11 burglaries.

A Kent Police spokesman confirmed 'five people' were arrested over allegations of 'administrative irregularities in the way prisoners had been dealt with.'

'The anti-corruption unit became involved after the alarm was raised by someone else in the force,' a source told the Times, adding: 'The allegations centre on boosting their detection rates, making themselves look good by pursuading regular offenders to cough up to other offences. 'It all revolves around vehicle crime.'

The revelations come on the eve of the first election of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC).

Original report here




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