How I had to fight for 20 years to get my rapist jailed: Mother-of-two who was raped eight times in her own home was forced to BEG police to pursue her attacker

Lynda Donnelly produces notes scribbled on the packaging of the Boots No. 7 foundation she wore in the days when appearance mattered to her.

‘Rang Crimewatch at 9ish, March 31. Told police would ring me. Rang back three times. 11.40pm: no joy. April 1, rang police complaints. Lady gave me chief of police Paul Stephenson’s number . . .’ And so on.

It is one of many bits of paper in a file Lynda began to compile on the day the ‘happiest years’ of her life abruptly ended: July 22, 1996 — the date Lynda was brutally raped in her South-East London home.

Her terrifying ordeal — the full details of which are too disturbing to reveal in a family newspaper — lasted for several hours as her two young children slept in adjoining bedrooms.

Suffice to say, the injuries she sustained were so appalling she was unable to see her five-year-old daughter or four-year-old-son for six weeks for fear of distressing them.

‘I thought about killing myself but I couldn’t do it because of my children,’ says Lynda, now 45.

‘They were the only thing that kept me going — that and because I was so sure the police were going to catch the guy.

They said: “We’ve put his DNA on a database. As soon as he gets caught doing something else, it will come up.”’
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But it didn’t. Instead, due to an extraordinary catalogue of police blunders — including mislaying crucial DNA evidence — her attacker was able to evade justice for 20 years.

In this time, he moved to Los Angeles, where he built a career as a music producer who could afford swanky apartments, Aston Martins and invitations to parties where he claims to have rubbed shoulders with the likes of Oscar-winning actor Leonardo Di Caprio.

But this summer, those star-studied parties ended when Pierre Antoine Bate, now 42, finally stood trial at Southwark Crown Court after the case was reopened by the Metropolitan Police’s cold case unit.

After just an hour of deliberation, the jury found him guilty on eight counts of raping Lynda.

Once he had been sentenced to 24 years in prison, jubilant police officers made much of how his conviction demonstrated their commitment to identifying and arresting such monsters ‘no matter how much time has passed’.

Try telling that to Lynda. For, until the cold case team became involved in 2011, police appeared to show woefully little interest in tracking down her attacker.

Instead, they fobbed her off, on occasion ridiculed her and even, after much of the evidence had been lost, swore blind her case ‘didn’t exist’.  In short, she was treated like a fantasist.

‘This wasn’t like an episode from an American crime series where dedicated cops battle away for years to catch the bad guys,’ she says.  ‘It was more like being caught up in a film about a conspiracy.

‘I even phoned chief of police Paul Stephenson [former Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson] in 2008 to try to get him to do something for me, and was told by the woman officer who called me back: “I’m sorry, your case doesn’t exist. There is no crime report, no DNA, no statement.”

‘I said: “What do I do now?” She said: “I don’t really know.”

‘I was at breaking point. I’d been to so many different police stations over the years, and spoken to so many different officers literally begging for help, but none of them wanted to help me.

'And now I was being told my case didn’t exist. I thought they were deliberately trying to drive me mad.

‘I was pacing the floor, literally pulling my hair out. I thought: “How am I ever going to end this?” ‘I was shaking. I could hardly breathe. I sat down and it was like an epiphany. I suddenly thought: “Oh my God — the Croydon Guardian.”’

The local newspaper had run a story shortly after the attack.

‘I thought: “However much the police say it didn’t exist, I can prove it did.” The report would have been archived in the library.

‘I pulled myself together and rang the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

A woman said: “I’m going to try to find some way to do something for you.”’

Today, Lynda has nothing but praise for the cold case team whose persistence led to Bate’s conviction.

But nothing can erase the mental anguish she suffered at the hands of other officers.

And she finds herself wondering about something Bate himself told the British court.

During his trial at Southwark Crown Court, he revealed to the jury that he had been arrested and faced charges of sexual assault and attempted murder following a particularly brutal attack on a woman in California in 2014.

The case against him was subsequently dropped, and he strenuously denies any involvement.

But instead of walking free, he was extradited to face the charges of raping Lynda as, in the meantime, police in London had identified him as her rapist.

‘Nine months before he raped me, he had sexually assaulted another woman in London.

'He was a repeat attacker who was getting more violent with each attack,’ Lynda says.

‘Perhaps there are other women out there — women who might be too embarrassed to call the police or did call them and were terrified out of their wits waiting, like I was, for their attacker to be caught.’

Indeed, this is why Lynda has bravely decided to waive the anonymity afforded to victims of sexual attacks.

She hopes her story will encourage any other victims there might be to come forward so that Bate, who is preparing an appeal against his conviction, will die in jail.

‘Knowing he’s in prison has made a big difference,’ she says. ‘But, I do believe if they’d got this guy sooner, I wouldn’t be in the state I’m in.’

Today, Lynda barely sleeps and rarely goes out. When she does go to bed, she sleeps for only a few hours with a knife beside her.

A year ago she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome but, much as she’s begged for help, she has received no counselling.

‘Fear was how it started,’ she says. ‘Now it’s a way of life. When I do go out, I get this surge in my stomach and think that I’m being watched.

‘Going to the authorities all the time, begging for help, and then being told the case didn’t even exist hasn’t helped.’

The sentence ends in tears. She breathes deeply. Collects herself.

‘When the people who are meant to help you — the police, your doctor, mental health — are looking at you as though they don’t believe you, it’s like you’re no one. 'That is how I feel, even today: that I’m nothing.’

Lynda is, in fact, a talented artist, who, at the age of 25, was simply trying to build a life for herself and her young children after an acrimonious separation from their father.

She was swimming three times a week, running every morning and preparing to study psychology at college when Bate, who was on remand for burglary at the time, began stalking her and periodically breaking into her home.

‘At first I noticed things were being moved around my house,’ Lynda says. ‘Then, one day, a photograph of me went missing from a silver frame.

‘It was weird. I’d come home and there’d be this musty smell, but there was no sign of a break-in.

‘My family thought it was my ex-partner, until one morning I opened the curtains, sat down on the sofa, looked up at the mirror and there was a face print in the glass in Vaseline.

‘This guy had put Vaseline on his face and rolled it on the mirror to get this perfect print.

'You could see a goatee, stubble and it was so high up — about 6ft — and my ex was only 5ft 6in.’

Lynda was asleep in her bedroom on that sweltering July night when she suddenly awoke around 1am to see a man crouching in her room.

So vivid is the attack, even after all this time, she unwittingly lapses into the present tense: ‘I think I’m dreaming. He’s looking out of my window but slowly turns round. Looks at me. I realise I’m not dreaming. I try to make a beeline for the door, but he takes two strides and beats me to it.

‘He grabs me and says: “I’ve got mates in with your kids.” I try to get away. He grabs this arm from behind me.’ She gestures to her right arm.

‘There’s that musty smell. I try to get away. He pushes me onto the bed. Starts raping me.

'I carry on kind of fighting, but it’s so hot and sweaty. Even when he’s trying to grab me, his hands are sliding off.

‘My brain’s racing. I’m thinking: “How do I get out of this?” Even if I get out of this room, there’s no way I’m going to run out of the house and leave my kids.

‘I’ll have to run into one of their bedrooms and put something against the door, but the other one will be vulnerable and I can’t do it. I can’t choose. I don’t think there are words that can describe . . . I’m sorry.’

She breaks off, sobbing. But after a few minutes to compose herself, Lynda is determined to continue.

‘It’s the detail that’s important,’ she says. ‘It could trigger something in someone else’s mind.

'Things like the fact he told me he was waiting for someone. He kept saying he was going.

'I’d hear the floorboards creak on the landing, then I’d see his shadow come back into the room.

‘I think it was the second or third time he came back that he blindfolded me.’

Bate raped Lynda a total of eight times during that dreadful night. She says it felt like a lifetime.

‘My biggest fear was my kids were going to walk in or find me dead. He kept putting a pillow over my head. I couldn’t breathe. I thought: “This is it. He’s going to kill me.” ’

Thankfully, Lynda survived. Bate finally left when a car pulled up outside — Lynda believes it was his friend.

‘I wasn’t sure he’d definitely gone. I heard his feet disappear, but I couldn’t hear the stairs creak.

'I thought he was in one of the kid’s rooms. I got up, checked on the kids. He wasn’t there. I grabbed a knife and a towel and dialled 999.’

Police received her call at 2.49 am and responded immediately. Lynda’s sister arrived to collect her children, while she was taken to a rape suite where she was examined and swabbed for DNA evidence.

Such was her distress that it took two days before police could take her statement.

Meanwhile, officers collected evidence from her home, including bedding, a dressing gown and a cigarette packet that bore the attacker’s fingerprint.

This crucial evidence disappeared and was never recovered. In fact, the only DNA that survived were traces of Bate’s semen that had been taken at the rape suite.

As the months and years passed without an arrest, Lynda found herself being shunted from officer to officer, police station to police station as she tried to get justice.

There was no offer of counselling and little information available about her case. ‘I spent years going through the motions of waiting for them to catch this guy.

'I’d try to put on a smile, but it was always there in my brain. I started totally changing and not being able to sleep added to it.

‘I had terrible nightmares — always about the attack and about him, going over and over in my mind like a video — but I never wanted to forget his face because when they caught him . . .’ She stops again, overcome with emotion.

In March 2008, the BBC’s Crimewatch programme featured an episode about the Minstead Rapist, a serial rapist who preyed upon and sexually assaulted more than 100 elderly women in South-East London between 1992 and 2009.

Though it transpired those offences were committed by another man, the similarities to Lynda’s case were striking.

She rang the hotline, but, as documented on that make-up packet, her repeated calls were never returned.

‘I called Police Complaints, who gave me the chief of police’s number. When the officer told me my case didn’t exist, I hit the roof.

'I don’t know if you’ve ever been so angry or shocked you can feel your adrenaline shooting through your body? That’s what I get.

‘You can’t eat. You can’t sleep. You feel completely lost. Sometimes I think: “After all these years, have they driven me mad or have I driven myself mad just trying to get this guy caught?”

‘All I can say is, thank God I remembered that newspaper report. I don’t believe they’d ever have bothered with my case if I hadn’t.’

Her scepticism is understandable because, that same year, Bate had been extradited from the U.S. to stand trial for a sexual assault he had committed in 1995.

Yet despite DNA evidence, no link was made between him and Lynda’s attacker. On his release from a 26-month jail sentence, Bate — a U.S. citizen — was free to return to his life in California.

‘When the cold case team turned up on my doorstep, I was very stand-offish. They wanted me to sign a release form for the DNA.

‘I said: “I’ve been told for years that this case doesn’t exist. Now suddenly you’re asking me to sign a release form.”

‘I was getting angrier and angrier. The officer said they’d found my statement.

‘The next time she came she said: “Do you know a guy called Pierre Bate?” I said: “No.” She said: “That’s the guy who attacked you. He’s out of the country. We are going to get him extradited.”

‘I thought: “They’re just doing this to shut me up. They’re fobbing me off again.” But she said: “Lynda, you’ve got to trust me.”’

Thanks to enhanced DNA techniques, the cold case team were able to establish with a one-in-a-billion certainty that the semen taken from Lynda’s body at the rape suite was Bate’s.

When Bate was finally brought to justice in July this year, Lynda went to court every day, despite suffering severe anxiety attacks. ‘I said to the jury: “I don’t want to be anywhere else but here. As scary as it is, I’ve fought too hard to get here.”

'It was a bit emotional. Some of the women jurors were crying.

‘Then to hear him bragging about the famous people he knew, the parties he’d been to, the life he’d led. And he kept smiling at me . . .’

She is angry now, as well she might be. ‘I’ve done 20 years in my own prison. Now, I have a chance of a new beginning.

‘But Bate is threatening to appeal, and I worry because the police mislaid so much evidence . . .

‘That’s why I hope that if there are any other women who have been attacked by him, they’ll come forward.

'Maybe their DNA evidence is sitting in the back of a fridge somewhere, like mine was. There needs to be an end to this.’

Original report here

Horrific dashcam video shows a 53-year-old black man screaming in agony as he was brutally attacked by a K9 and an officer after being mistaken for a man with a gun

Minnesota police released a video of an incident in June that shows a black man being brutally attacked by a K9 and kicked in the ribs by an officer.

Two St Paul police officers have been disciplined for the incident that left 53-year-old Frank Baker with several broken ribs, partly collapsed lungs and serious bites that left his leg disfigured, according to his attorney Robert Bennett.

He said Baker needed several surgeries and skin grafts.

'That was a horrific attack, and he was innocent. He didn't do anything wrong,' Bennett said.

Baker spent two weeks in the hospital after suffering severe wounds to his legs and feet with the K-9 tearing 'hunks of flesh' and biting 'down to the bone,' Bennett told MPR News.

St Paul's police chief, Todd Axtell, released the video on Friday saying: 'I'm disappointed and upset by what the video shows. This simply isn't the St Paul way.'

The June 24 incident on St Paul's east side was made public after what Axtell said was a careful investigation.

Police reports show the man was stopped because one of the officers believed he matched the description of a man reported to have a gun.

Axtell said he has twice met with Baker and apologized both times.

The officer who kicked Baker, Brett Palkowitsch, was put on unpaid leave starting Thursday.

Police said a complaint had been filed and an investigation of Palkowitsch was underway, but they could not provide details because of state law.

The dog's handling officer, Brian Ficcadenti, was given a 30-day suspension that began Thursday.

The fuzzy police dashcam video shows the police dog taking Baker to the ground as he yells in pain.

Six officers surrounded him, some shouting and swearing and ordering him not to move as the dog bites him. One officer is seen kicking Baker three times.

David Titus, the head of the St Paul police union, said officers were responding to a dangerous area. He said the officers acted within policy and followed their training.

Chris Wachtler, an attorney for the union, said the incident wouldn't have happened had Baker complied with officers' orders.

Police said the officers were responding to a report of a large group of people fighting with baseball bats and other weapons, including a report of one person with a gun.

In his incident report, Ficcadenti said he stopped Baker because he thought he matched a description of that person — a black man in a white T-shirt with dreadlocks.

Ficcadenti wrote that he ordered Baker out of a car and ordered him to raise both hands. Ficcadenti said Baker refused and that he released his police dog 'to eliminate a possible lethal force encounter.'

Baker was cited for obstructing the legal process, a misdemeanor, but was not charged.

Police said Friday that they found no gun on Baker or at the scene.

Bennett said the reports were written after the officers knew 'they were in a world of trouble' and he doesn't believe they are truthful.

But he commended the chief for disciplining the officers.

The confrontation happened the day after Axtell took over as chief. He said the department has learned from the incident and increased training.

The news comes in a metropolitan area that's seen two high-profile fatal shootings of black men by police in the past year.

Jamar Clark, 24, was killed last November in Minneapolis during a struggle in which prosecutors determined police feared for their lives as Clark tried to grab an officer's weapon.

Philando Castile, 32, was shot during a July 6 traffic stop in Falcon Heights.

The shooting's gruesome aftermath was streamed live on Facebook by Castile's girlfriend, who said Castile was shot while reaching for his ID after telling an officer he had a gun permit and was armed.

Prosecutors are still reviewing that case for possible charges.

Original report here


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The AG is still going after "racist" cops

What does one do when a Staten Island grand jury refuses to indict white NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo for criminal wrongdoing in the chokehold-death case of black American Eric Garner — and NY-based FBI agents agree with that assessment? If you’re United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch, you take the Eastern District of New York crew off the case and reassign it to the racialist ideologues in the DOJ’s civil rights division who want Pantaleo criminally charged.

“We already … came to a conclusion which they didn’t like,” one insider said of the upcoming indictment. “It’s truly disgraceful what they’re doing.” NYPD Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch was equally irate, accusing the DOJ of conducting a “fishing expedition” following two decisions that were not to the agency’s liking. “Now it appears that they are taking a third bite at the apple in an effort to reach a predetermined outcome,” he fumed.

Garner, a 43-year-old Staten Island man, died when he resisted arrest during a confrontation with police called to the scene by local shop owners who complained because Garner was selling “loosies,” or individual cigarettes, in front of their shops, a violation of New York law. When Garner resisted, four officers, including Pantaleo, attempted to take him down. Even when Garner was on all fours officers were unable to cuff him, thus they attempted to gain leverage as they are trained to do. It was then that Pantaleo put his arm around Garner’s neck. During the ongoing struggle Garner insisted, “I can’t breathe,” 11 times. After he was taken into custody, Garner died of cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital.

The Medical Examiner report ruled Garner died as a result of “compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.” It further explained that acute and chronic bronchial asthma, obesity and heart disease were contributing factors, due in large part to the reality that Garner weighed more than 350 pounds.

The entire incident was captured on a cellphone video taken by Ramsey Orta, sparking major protests alleging police brutality and racism, despite the fact black female sergeant Kizzy Adonis was in charge of overseeing the July 2014 arrest. Last January, Adonis was stripped of her gun and badge after an NYPD internal report charged her with failure to supervise.

In order to convict Pantaleo of murder, on modified desk duty since Garner’s death, the grand jury would have had to prove the police officer was intentionally trying to kill Garner. Manslaughter charges would require the conclusion Pantaleo was aware that he could seriously injure Garner and proceeded regardless. Negligent homicide would require reaching the conclusion Pantaleo’s behavior was a gross departure from standard arrest procedures.

All of the other officers at the scene were offered immunity to testify before the 23-member grand jury that included nine non-white jurors. During the hearing that included testimony not made public, Pantaleo insisted he never intended to harm anyone, asserting he joined the NYPD to “help people and to protect those who can’t protect themselves.” He added, “It is never my intention to harm anyone and I feel very bad about the death of Mr. Garner. My family and I include him and his family in our prayers and I hope that they will accept my personal condolences for their loss.”

After the grand jury declined to indict Pantaleo then-Attorney General Eric Holder promised the DOJ would conduct a full investigation. “Mr. Garner’s death is one of several recent incidents across the country that have tested the sense of trust that must exist between law enforcement and the communities they are charged to serve and protect,” Holder said at the time. “This is not a New York issue or a Ferguson issue alone.”

It was not a “Ferguson issue” at all, and Holder’s attempt to link one incident with the other is indicative of the racialist mindset that infected the DOJ during his tenure. A racialist mindset that apparently remains intact enough to replace the New York FBI agents who have been investigating the case with agents from outside the city, according to five federal officials in New York and Washington.

Unsurprisingly, New York’s hard-left Mayor Bill de Blasio was ecstatic with the latest turn of events. “I’m sure [Loretta Lynch] has her reasons for what she’s done, and our message to her is we will cooperate in any way she asks,” de Blasio told reporters. “I think everyone wants to see things move speedily, but I respect her decision, certainly.”

A federal source familiar with the case begged to differ, stating, “Yet another example of our racially charged mayor ignoring the facts, our initial investigation and now turning his back on hard-working federal law-enforcement officers, as he’s done with the men and women of the NYPD.”

One of Officer Pantaleo’s lawyers, Stuart London, puts Lynch’s dubious maneuver in the proper perspective. “If it is true that the Justice Department is rejecting the recommendations of seasoned FBI agents and assistant United States attorneys, this is a gross miscarriage of justice,” he stated. “In our system of justice, politics should never take the place of the rule of law.”

And the FBI should never destroy evidence or purposely ignore it in the Clinton email case, and Loretta Lynch should have never met with Bill Clinton on an airport tarmac while his wife was under investigation. But that’s the nation we currently live in, one where politics has most definitely supplanted Rule of Law within one of the most corrupt administrations in the nation’s history. One that seeks an indictment against a police officer to “appease this angry mob of demonstrators,” said a federal source.

As of now, evidence has been presented to a grand jury that has yet to vote on it. If they move forward with an indictment, it is likely the disagreement between federal officials in New York and Washington will be put front and center.

It cannot be emphasized enough that while the presidential election is about many things, preserving Rule of Law is the most important. The election of Hillary Clinton would be seen as many things, but first and foremost it would be seen as the electorate’s endorsement of the wholesale corruption evinced by the nation’s highest law enforcement agencies. Donald Trump is a highly flawed candidate, but there is a gargantuan difference between electing a president who might be problematic, and electing one with a demonstrated track record of malfeasance and utter contempt for national security.

Columnist Debra J. Saunders notes the contemptible double-standard that currently exists. “The bar is so unreasonably high there is no way prosecutors can establish if Clinton meant to break the law, but the Justice Department has few qualms about presuming the worst about beat cops,” she writes.

Obviously, the stunning announcement the FBI is re-opening an investigation they never should have closed might have altered that equation — if the nation’s thoroughly compromised attorney general applied the same standard of justice to presidential candidates and beat cops alike. As USA Today revealed, Lynch objected to FBI Director James Comey notifying Congress about the latest developments.

Prediction: Pantaleo gets indicted, Clinton doesn’t, and the double-standard survives — as long as Lynch remains in charge of the DOJ.

Original report here


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London cop, 26, who had sex with a 15-year-old rape victim after meeting her online is jailed and thrown out of the force

A Met Police officer who had sex with a 15-year-old rape victim he met online has been jailed for four years and sacked by Scotland Yard.

James Evans, 26, who was based at a station in Ealing, west London, was sentenced to four years in prison and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Isleworth Crown Court heard how the ‘vulnerable’ girl performed a sex act in Evans’ car while he drove her home from a counselling session with child mental health services.

Evans later had sex with the vulnerable girl at his Ruislip flat after they matched on dating app Tinder in January this year.

The victim initially told Evans she was 16 but he knew she was 15 and still at school before they had sex.

The girl, told the court: ‘I now know he took full advantage of my vulnerabilities.

‘I told James I had been sexually assaulted the previous August and now I know he should have acted differently as a police officer.’

Her mother had reported the relationship to Evans’ colleagues after reading her daughter’s

During his police interview, Evans admitted: ‘I know it was stupid - I had sex with her, knowing she was 15.’ Evans, from Pontypridd, Wales, admitted six counts of sexual activity with a child.

Assistant Commissioner Helen King said: ‘PC Evans exploited a girl he knew to be vulnerable and, as she knew he was a serving police officer, abused his position. ‘Sexual exploitation of young people, particularly by those in positions of power and influence, has long been very seriously under reported. ‘For a police officer to commit such offences is inevitably going to have a serious detrimental impact on the confidence of victims and the wider public to report concerns.

‘PC Evans has undermined the work of colleagues to build that trust. Critically he has victimised a young girl and broken the laws he was entrusted to enforce on others.  ‘The only outcome in this case is for him to be dismissed without notice.’

PC Evans was sentenced to four years imprisonment and life on the Sex Offenders Register.

Original report here


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Couple who were accused of rape say their lives were ruined by the two-year 'nightmare' before they were cleared of the charge in just two minutes

A couple who were cleared of rape in just two minutes say their lives were ruined by their two-year 'nightmare'.

Neil Coulson and Joanne Evans were both charged with raping a woman, an offence which could have seen them jailed for up to 19 years.

But, after a two-year wait for the trial, the couple were cleared in a matter of minutes when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) offered no evidence and dropped the charge.

The couple, from Clavering, Hartlepool, say they are ecstatic with the result, but that the damaging allegations have ruined their lives.

Mother-of-three Ms Evans, 36, said she was forced to close her salon business, was prescribed anti-depressants and was put under the watch of social services.

She said: 'We both think rape is an absolutely monstrous, horrendous crime and for us to be accused of it was absolutely devastating.

'I felt suicidal. We were shattered, broken and devastated. We couldn't believe it had happened.'

The couple were first investigated in January last year when a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed she had been raped by the pair.  

Mr Coulson and Ms Evans then spent 23 hours being quizzed at Hartlepool Police Station. There, Mr Coulson was stripped and had DNA samples taken from him.

The case was dropped last April when police took no further action, they say.

But, one year later, the allegation resurfaced and they were both charged. A trial was then fixed for early next year.

Ms Evans said: 'We had just had a baby, we had moved on with our lives. I was traumatised even though we were confident nothing was going to come of it. 'I have never had a proper night's sleep since April. But as difficult as it was, we both continued to hold our heads up high.'

Mr Coulson, 37, a multi-coded welder said it had a 'knock on effect on everyone'.  'I could have got sacked being branded with that kind of thing. I've lost out on jobs because of it,' he said.

But their nightmare was over last Tuesday when they were informed that the charge would be dropped. The following day, they were formally found not guilty by a judge.

Ms Evans said: 'I was just overjoyed. No words can describe.'

She praised the support of family and friends adding: 'Not one single person doubted us. 'I think it is because we have been so strong and our friends and family have been so strong that's what has got us through.'

But the couple were critical of the CPS for charging them after the case was initially dropped.

Ms Evans said: 'In that time it ruined our lives. It was basically a whole waste of time. Things like this make it harder for real victims to get justice.'

The couple say they are looking forward to Christmas now that the 'awful black cloud' has been lifted from them. Mr Coulson added: 'Basically, we have just got to rebuild our lives.'

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: 'In all cases, it is the duty of prosecutors to ensure that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.

'Criminal cases are kept under continuous review to ensure that charges are supported by sufficient evidence. 'During a recent case review, in consultation with Prosecution Counsel, it became clear that there was not a realistic prospect of conviction. 'As a result, the decision was taken by the Crown to formally offer no evidence in this case.'

Original report here


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The gay slurs that led to a nine-year battle with London police: Force left with huge legal bill after failing to investigate when man was verbally abused by neighbour

Police have been left with a six-figure legal bill after they failed to investigate claims a gay man was verbally abused by his neighbour.

David Cary, 54, spent nine years fighting the Metropolitan Police after the woman called him a ‘poof’ and a ‘queer’ as he cycled past.

Following the incident in 2007, officers simply passed the comments off as ‘minor words’ and a ‘quibble’.

Now the force has agreed to compensate Mr Cary on the eve of an appeal court showdown.

The case has led to the force setting up a specialist unit to deal with homophobic complaints by both officers and civilians.

The police watchdog has also introduced a compulsory one-day training course for all its caseworkers, investigators and lawyers.

Mr Cary was locked in a dispute with his female neighbour and she had been convicted of breaking his jaw three years earlier.

But after the argument in February 2007, both parties reported the incident to police, who decided to take no further action.

Mr Cary later complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Despite a second investigation into the incident, and the appeal to the police watchdog, still no charges were brought.

The watchdog accepted police had described the abuse as ‘minor words’ and a ‘quibble’ but failed to find they trivialised what occurred.

The victim then instructed lawyers, three years after the incident took place, to bring a claim of discrimination on the grounds of his sexual orientation.

The IPCC failed to get the claim struck out and settled in 2012. The case against the Met was due to be heard at the Court of Appeal this week but they agreed to settle at the eleventh hour.

The force apologised and court documents released yesterday suggest the Met has been left with a six-figure bill in damages and legal costs.

Mr Cary, who lives in a £500,000 housing association property in Chiswick, west London, said the Metropolitan Police ‘trumpets “homophobic and transphobic abuse is a crime. Report it. Stop it. Don’t tolerate it”.’

But he added: ‘I reported it. They didn’t stop it. They tolerated it. I felt belittled and treated like a second-class citizen.

‘I felt they prolonged the case in the hope of wearing me down. Without the best legal representation and campaigning support that I had, they might have managed it.’

Mr Cary added: ‘It took the IPCC over a year. But once defeated they had the good sense to learn and implement the lessons from my claim. 'In contrast the Met shamelessly dug their heels in for nine years. Those delays are a travesty of justice and professionalism.’

His lawyers said the legal victory will have a significant impact on other complaints of discrimination against the police.

His solicitor Jane Deighton called for an end to ‘knee-jerk reaction into defensive mode when civilians bring police misconduct to the attention of the service’.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘The Metropolitan Police Service is pleased that this case was finally able to reach a settlement and we have apologised to Mr Cary.’

But Lord Paddick, formerly the UK’s most senior openly gay police officer, said: ‘The Met has said they have learnt lessons but how can they say that when it has taken them nine years to admit what happened and to take responsibility?

'The Met have a duty of care and, frankly, they failed.’

Original report here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress.  If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where  posts  appear as well as on  the primary site.  I have reposted  the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts  HERE or HERE

Family disputes police account in killing of Boston man

Police knew they were going to deal with a loony so were extra alert.  Loonies can be very unpredictable. And when they saw the loony struggling with the EMTs they assumed the worst -- that the EMTs were in danger. So they shot the loony.  They were just doing their job under difficult circumstances

Hope Coleman called for an ambulance early Sunday morning to come to her South End apartment and take her mentally ill adult son to a hospital. He had been sitting on the stoop for most of the past two days, she said, and she worried he would catch pneumonia.

A short while later, her 31-year-old son, Terrence, lay dead, shot by police who say he turned on them and EMTs with a knife.

“We have to meet deadly force with deadly force,” said Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans.

Hope Coleman strongly disputes that account. She said her son was unarmed and had not tried to hurt anyone when police burst through the front door and shot him.

Evans told reporters that Boston emergency medical technicians were escorting the man from the apartment when he drew a large knife and began attacking them. When two officers at the scene stepped in to try to disarm him, he turned on them with the knife, according to Evans. It was then that they shot him.

Neither officer was wearing a body camera, Evans said.

Police have not named the victim, but Hope Coleman, 60, identified him as her son, Terrence.

The grief-stricken mother sobbed uncontrollably Sunday morning as she said the shooting was unwarranted.

“He wasn’t thinking about attacking nobody!” she said. “He was thinking about getting the hell out of the house. He didn’t want to go in the ambulance.”

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley’s office will conduct an independent investigation, as is common procedure in the use of lethal force by police, and the office will release its entire investigative file upon conclusion, according to spokesman Jake Wark.

“To my knowledge, this level of transparency in fatal police shootings is unparalleled,” said Wark in a statement.

Two police officers and two Boston EMS workers responded to a 12:39 a.m. call to go to 245 Shawmut Ave. because of an “emotionally disturbed male in his 30s suffering from paranoia and schizophrenia,” according to a police statement.

Coleman’s mother said she had called the South End Community Health Center in preparation to bring her son to Tufts Medical Center because he was sitting outside on the steps and refusing to come inside. He had been sitting there for most of the past two days, she said, and she was concerned that he would get ill because of the chilly weather.

She and her niece, Shenell Smith, said in interviews that Coleman had struggled with mental health issues but was very quiet and mostly kept to himself. Since an episode of violence about 10 years ago when he was first being treated, he had been happy and nonviolent, they said.

Coleman was on medication at the time of the shooting and had been attending outpatient therapy, they said.

Hope Coleman said police arrived first — asked to accompany the EMTs, officials said — but she didn’t let them in the house because she worried it would further agitate her son. At that point, she said, Coleman was inside their first-floor apartment, sitting on the floor.

The EMTs entered her apartment and asked Coleman to get up and come with them, which he did, she said. But before they got outside, he decided that he didn’t want to get into the ambulance.

His mother said the shooting happened while she and her son were with the two EMTs outside her apartment in a communal hallway near the front door. One of the EMTs raised his voice at Coleman, who was standing next to the front door of the building, saying “no” with small hand-waving motions, his mother said.

Then police burst through the front door, Coleman’s mother said.

“They ran in and we all fell down — and then gunshots,” she said. A knife lay on a kitchen table, she said, but her son never picked it up.

Each officer fired once and the suspect was hit twice, according to the police statement.

“They probably thought my son had hit the [EMT] but he hadn’t,” said Coleman’s mother.

When asked about the claims by Coleman’s family that he was unarmed when shot, Evans repeated that the man turned on EMTs and officers with a knife, and a struggle followed.

“From everything we’ve heard, the officers had to move in and save the two EMTs’ lives, and [it] almost cost them their lives,” said Evans, who was at a children’s Halloween event at McConnell Park in Savin Hill Sunday afternoon.

One EMT suffered a head injury and the other a back injury, said Evans. They were treated and released, according to police.

The man was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, the police statement said.

Hope Coleman said she was devastated when she saw on television that the police said her son was armed with a knife at the time of his shooting.

“He attacked police? The police weren’t in the hallway! They were outside!” screamed Coleman’s mother.

“I know damn well that my son doesn’t carry weapons,” said Coleman. “I was there.”

The two officers involved in the shooting will be placed on leave during the investigation and undergo counseling, according to Evans. He said they were sent to the hospital due to the “stress of having to take a life.”

“It’s the hardest decision we have to make,” said Evans. “It’s probably the most difficult, and my officers are going to have to live with it.”

More needs to be done to address those suffering from mental health issues, said the commissioner.

Original report here


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Michael Barrymore set to win long legal battle over police who wrongly arrested him over 2001 pool death at his home

Michael Barrymore is poised to claim a legal victory over police who wrongly arrested him for the murder of a man found drowned in the entertainer’s swimming pool in 2001.

Barrymore, now 64, said a ‘massive’ weight had been lifted from his shoulders after a police force reportedly admitted he was wrongfully detained and questioned for murder.

The comedian has endured years in the wilderness after Stuart Lubbock, a father-of-two, was found dead at his £2million home in Roydon, Essex.

A post-mortem examination found that Mr Lubbock had suffered ‘severe internal injuries indicating sexual assault’, and his blood contained ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol.

Barrymore was kept in police cells for 36 hours after being arrested on suspicion of murder and sexual assault in 2007.

He was released without charge and three months later the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence.

Barrymore has always maintained his innocence.

However, Essex Police previously claimed that he was with-holding information. The force said that the TV personality had ‘failed to give a full or clear account’ about what happened on the night of Mr Lubbock’s death.

However, according to the Daily Mirror, Barrymore’s lawyers have now signed High Court papers in an agreement with Essex Police.

The papers reportedly read: ‘Judgment be entered for the Claimant [Barrymore] on the issue of liability.’

The ruling means Barrymore can now make a claim for damages and it could pave the way for a major TV comeback.

Barrymore has recently alluded to the end of the lengthy legal battle telling social media users that he was preparing for a ‘big week’ and ‘Mission Impossible has been a complete success’.

When asked by a Twitter follower if he was likely to return to television he responded: ‘I have turned down all offers for a few years now till this was done and dusted… looks like I will be able to.’

He later wrote that he ‘got news that’s taken 15 years to get to’, saying: ‘Be interesting if all those that chose to believe one thing find they got it wrong and apologise… mmm, we’ll see.’

He told fans he would ‘comment properly when the times right’ adding that it was a ‘massive’ weight off his shoulders.

On the night of Mr Lubbock’s death, the comedian had spent the evening at a club in Harlow, Essex, with his then boyfriend, Jonathan Kenney.

He later invited locals back to his home and at 5.46am guest, Justin Merritt, dialled 999 to say a man had drowned in the pool. Barrymore had already fled the scene, later claiming he ‘panicked’.

It is claimed that Barrymore is demanding at least £25,000 ‘aggravated and exemplary damages’ for ‘wrongful arrest and detention’ which led him to suffer ‘loss and damage namely distress, shock, anxiety and damage to his reputation’.

Barrymore had previously been a household name with programmes such as Strike It Lucky and Kids Say The Funniest Things earned him £2.5million a year with ITV.

However the multi-million pound deals quickly began to disappear following the death of Mr Lubbock.

The star lodged the claim form three years ago, saying police had no right to arrest him because there was no evidence of his involvement in the death

Mr Lubbock’s father, Terry, 71, who has campaigned for justice for his son, told The Mirror: ‘This is not closure or justice for me. That will not come until I find out what really happened to my son. Where did those injuries come from? Stuart didn’t inflict them on himself.’

A spokesperson for Essex Police last night said: ‘We have no comment to make at this time.’

Original report here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress.  If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where  posts  appear as well as on  the primary site.  I have reposted  the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts  HERE or HERE

Australia: Corruption in high places?  NSW Police dropped drug charges that allowed a violent criminal to kill

Glen Roberts served in the Cronulla riots and survived being mowed down twice by the same car during a dramatic police pursuit.

Yet his professional career – and his personal life – will forever be defined by a drug exchange he wishes he had never, by chance, witnessed.

One of the two people he arrested and charged that night in April 2011, Wayne Edward Jones, was a major crime figure who, already serving parole, was sent straight back to jail – where he should have remained for several years.

Yet for reasons known only to a select few officers within the NSW Police Force, he did not.

Six months later, the charges against Jones were inexplicably withdrawn and he was freed - with deadly consequences.

Jones later booked into a Coffs Harbour motel where, high on ice, he hogtied, tortured and strangled to death a mother-of-four, Michelle Reynolds. He then ordered take-away pizza beside her broken body before dumping her in bushland the following day.

Senior Constable Roberts, meanwhile, found himself charged with having fabricated "false evidence" in the drug case against Jones.

A Fairfax Media investigation has now found that the force appeared so determined to discredit the officer over what he saw that night, it broke the law by withholding two crucial pieces of evidence from the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Senior Constable Roberts' defence lawyers which proved his innocence.

As a magistrate was still getting his head around the prosecution's case against Senior Constable Roberts, which he later remarked "should never have started", the worst possible news surfaced in court.

The same violent offender whose drug supply charges had strangely evaporated 14 months earlier had since become the subject of another serious criminal case at Coffs Harbour.

"Sorry your honour … I just have a question," said a court assistant about what first appeared to be a mix up with files. "The case … is for a murder charge."

"We all looked around in disbelief," recalled Senior Constable Roberts.

"The man whom I had charged, who should still have been inside, and for whom I was now in court, had killed someone. I was absolutely devastated."

On April 4, 2011, Senior Constable Roberts and a colleague were patrolling Sydney's Kings Cross where they observed Jones and three young women in a situation that prompted concerns of underage prostitution. Senior Constable Roberts then observed Jones "clearly and without obstruction" place both his hands down the front of his pants and remove "a plastic item" before transferring the object into the co-accused's hands" which she swiftly stuffed down the front of her shorts.

They called for back up and a a female officer searched the girl and located the package inside her pants which contained bags of heroin, ice and marijuana.

However, back at the station, the seemingly straightforward arrest started to unravel when the 21-year-old woman divulged that she had been assisting Newcastle-based detectives with classified intelligence about Jones and his bikie gang associates, describing scenes involving big silver cases and "pounds of drugs" laid across tables. "He is part of the Nomads ... they all are," she said. The woman went on to explain how the previous evening Jones had rounded her and two teenage girls up, conducted an ice deal at a service station and then bashed her and forced her to drive, unlicensed, to Sydney for the purpose of prostitution.

"He had sexual intercourse with me even though I tried to stop him ... and then after that he forced me to do two jobs …otherwise he was going to do it again." She also alleged he had raped one of the other girls.

Throughout the interview, the woman said she was "scared", adding: "Once he overdosed me on heroin and just left me there. Other days he just belts me."

The drugs that led to the arrest of Wayne Jones in 2011. © Supplied The drugs that led to the arrest of Wayne Jones in 2011. Years earlier, Jones had smashed a woman so hard with a car "club lock", it caused the left side of her face to collapse. He received a seven and a half year sentence with a non-parole period of four and a half years.

He was still on parole for that horrific attack when the drug exchange took place. He was now served with three drug possession charges, one count of dealing with suspected proceeds of crime and an additional charge of supply of an indictable quantity of drugs, which carries a maximum 15 year prison term.

Yet six months on, some shadowy element in the police force set wheels in motion to withdraw all those charges and have Jones freed.

In turn Senior Constable Roberts was suddenly accused of lying about what he'd observed on the night and was charged with "fabricating false evidence with intent to mislead judicial tribunal".

When the case was heard in Sydney's Downing Centre in April 2013, it emerged that the prosecution's case against Senior Constable Roberts hinged on one statement from a senior constable who said Roberts had told her he "hadn't actually seen" the drug transaction that led to Jones being charged.

Yet two pivotal pieces of evidence, which the force had failed to produce for two years, proved otherwise. The first, an official record of interview in which Jones' co-accused acknowledged she personally saw Senior Constable Roberts witness the exchange. "I know you saw me," she said, adding: "I spotted that."

The second testimony came from the female constable called to the sceneto search the three women. In her statement, which police did not disclose, the officer recalled Senior Constable Roberts saying: "I've seen her hug the accused and possibly put something down the front of her pants."

Under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1986, police are legally bound to "disclose" to the DPP "all relevant information, documents or other things obtained during the investigation" that might reasonably be expected to assist the case for the prosecution or that of the accused person.

Magistrate Graeme Curran said it was that "critical" evidence that not only favoured the "truthfulness" and "accuracy" of Roberts' observations, but "founded" the supply charges then laid against Jones.

"For reasons which just remain completely inexplicable and quite strange … this document was not provided to the DPP. This is despite a request that it be made available to the DPP."

Michelle Reynolds was dumped in bushland by Wayne Jones. © Frank Redward Michelle Reynolds was dumped in bushland by Wayne Jones. He added: "It seems quite exceptional, quite unacceptable, and as far as I am concerned, quite inexcusable in relation to the conduct of this matter before the court."

NSW Greens justice spokesman David Shoebridge said on Saturday: "This was either the grossest incompetence or, these actions were conducted with the clear intent of delivering a serious miscarriage of injustice. Either way, the consequences have been deeply tragic."

Senior Constable Roberts has had plenty of time to speculate on why someone in the force freed Jones and then attempted to "throw him under a train". But central to the grief that still consumes him is the question of what might have unfolded, had he never made the arrest that night.

"I'm still plagued by the thought that I may have saved the lives of those three young girls, but I cost another woman hers."

On Saturday, the force released a statement to Fairfax Media acknowledging "the seriousness of this issue."
How the bizarre sequence of events unfolded

Feb 2003: Wayne Jones bashes a woman so hard with a car "club lock", the left side of her face collapses. He already has convictions for armed robbery, possession of a pistol and numerous drug-related charges. At the end of the year, he receives a 7year sentence with a non-parole period of 4years.

Apr 2011: Kings Cross Senior Constable Glen Roberts witnesses a drug exchange involving Jones and a woman who he allegedly brought to Sydney to prostitute. Jones' parole is revoked and he is returned to jail. It emerges the woman has been forwarding classified intelligence about Jones' involvement with a major drug supply and the Nomads motorcycle gang.

Oct 20: All charges against Jones are withdrawn. He is freed.

Nov: Within weeks of being released, Jones is charged with possessing a knife in public, driving while disqualified, dealing with proceeds of crime and possessing identity information to commit an indictable offence. He again avoids jail and is placed on good behaviour bonds, the last of which expires on November 18, 2014.

October 10, 2012: Senior Constable Glen Roberts is charged with "fabricating false evidence with intent to mislead judicial tribunal".

December  11-17: Jones tortures, bashes and strangles Central Coast mother Michelle Reynolds in a Coffs Harbour motel room, then dumps her battered body in bushland.

June 6, 2013: A judge dismisses the case against Senior Constable Roberts and is scathing of police after they were found to have concealed "critical" evidence from the DPP that verified the detective's "truthfulness" and the case against Jones.

October 2014: Jones is sentenced to minimum 20 years jail for murder.

Original report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress.  If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where  posts  appear as well as on  the primary site.  I have reposted  the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts  HERE or HERE

British government's pogrom against journalists finally unwound

'The Met Police and Crown Prosecution Service effectively made up a law on the hoof.


A news reporter who was convicted after a controversial investigation into the payment of public officials has been cleared of all wrongdoing today.

Sun crime reporter Anthony France, 42, from Watford, was accused of having a four-year 'corrupt relationship' with a police officer but saw his conviction quashed by three judges at the Court of Appeal in London on Thursday.

He was initially found guilty at a trial at the Old Bailey last year and given an 18-month suspended sentence.

Mr France was investigated under the high-profile, multimillion-pound Operation Elveden, which was launched in 2011 to investigate payments by journalists to public officials.

The Metropolitan Police operation, which cost £14.7 million, led to 90 arrests and 34 convictions, including police officers and 21 public officials.

But, out of 29 cases against journalists brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, the only jury conviction to remain standing was that in Mr France's case.

A number of reporters were cleared by juries. Others had charges against them dropped, or they launched successful appeals following conviction.

After the ruling, Mr France said: 'I am delighted that this serious miscarriage of justice has ended today, allowing me to rebuild my life after 1,379 days of sheer hell.'

A News UK spokeswoman added after the ruling: 'Today, Anthony France's conviction has been overturned on appeal and we are delighted that these proceedings are now over for him.

'In the course of the last five years, 19 journalists from The Sun were prosecuted as a result of Operation Elveden and not one has resulted in any conviction being upheld.'

The ruling led to criticism of both the police and CPS from within the journalism and legal industries. Lawyer David Allen Green, who has a column for the Financial Times, wrote on Twitter that the CPS 'cobbled together' a piece of 'legal daftness' to go after journalists and that 'serious questions should be asked' over the decision to prosecute.

He said: 'When evidence of reporters paying public officials came to light, there was a legal problem for the police/cps. 'The problem was to identify what offences had allegedly been committed. What would be the charges? A basic point, you could say. 'The alleged offences took place before the Bribery Act was in place. So that Act couldn't be used.

'The public officials were therefore prosecuted for the ancient but vague offence of "misconduct in public office". Many pleaded guilty. 'But that left the reporters. They were not public officials and so could not be prosecuted for that (primary) offence.

'But the CPS decided to prosecute the reporters anyway: and used a strange legal means for doing so. The CPS constructed an elaborate (secondary) offence of aiding/abetting/conspiring with he public official to commit misconduct.

'The courts and juries could not make much sense of the offence - what was the requisite criminal intention? And so on. So in case after case in this "Operation Elveden", at great public expense, all the reporters (but one) were acquitted.'

He added: 'Some may say it is unfair to criticse the CPS over any acquittal. But this failure by CPS was wide-ranging and systemic.  'With France's acquittal, serious questions can and should now be asked of CPS over its prosecutions of reporters under Elveden.'

Press Gazette Editor Dominic Ponsford also wrote a column taking aim at the police and CPS over the 'shameful episode in the history of the UK criminal justice system'. He wrote: 'The Met Police and Crown Prosecution Service effectively made up a law on the hoof.

'They used the obscure offence of misconduct in public office against journalists who paid state employees for stories.'

Mr Ponsford added: 'What sort of a country puts journalists who wrote true stories about matters of public interest behind bullet proof glass at its top criminal court?'

Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, said: 'The appeal court's decision shows why there needs to be far wider protection for journalists reporting in the public interest.

'In most of the cases in which journalists were charged, ordinary members of the public who made up juries clearly decided that journalists were working in the public interest.

'The police and the Crown Prosecution Service need to think more carefully before they charge journalists for informing the public.  'Careers and lives were destroyed by the over-long and hugely expensive police investigation.'

In May last year Mr France was given a jail sentence of 18 months, suspended for two years, after being convicted of aiding and abetting PC Timothy Edwards, who worked at Heathrow Airport in SO15 counter-terrorism command, to commit misconduct in public office between March 2008 and July 2011.

Mr France, described by the sentencing judge at his Old Bailey trial as a journalist of 'hitherto unblemished character' who was 'essentially a decent man of solid integrity', had his conviction overturned by Lady Justice Hallett, Mr Justice King and Mr Justice Dove.

Lady Justice Hallett said Mr France was 'one of a number of journalists and public officials whose conduct was investigated by police during Operation Elveden'.

She said: 'He was employed as a junior crime reporter at The Sun newspaper. The Sun openly advertised the fact it would pay money for stories.' Between March 31 2008 and July 1 2011, Edwards 'sold them 38 pieces of information'.

She added: 'The applicant wrote the articles that followed and submitted the necessary forms to his employers for Edwards to be paid. 'The forms had to be approved first by the news editor and then by an editor or deputy editor. In total, The Sun paid Edwards over £20,000.'

Edwards pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office and was jailed for two years in 2014.

The jury at Mr France's trial heard that Edwards passed on details ranging from airline pilots being breath-tested to a drunken model flying into a rage after 'catching her boyfriend romping with a woman next to him'.

The appeal centred on directions given to the jury at the trial by Judge Timothy Pontius.

Lady Justice Hallett said: 'Taking any one of those criticisms in isolation, we may not have been persuaded the summing-up rendered the conviction unsafe. 'However, we must consider their cumulative effect and read the summing-up as a whole.

'Having done so, we are driven to the conclusion that the jury were not provided with legally adequate directions tailored to the circumstances of the case and that the conviction is unsafe.'

Mr France said afterwards: 'Having spent more than three years and nine months fighting to clear my name, this is not a time for celebration. 'Nobody has 'won' and the public are less informed.'

Original report here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress.  If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where  posts  appear as well as on  the primary site.  I have reposted  the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts  HERE or HERE

'F*** off and die you absolute a*******': Astonishing outburst from a police worker is recorded by man she failed to hang-up on before insulting

A police staff member has landed herself in hot water after she was recorded insulting a member of the public before adding he should 'f*** off and die'.

In the audio clip the unnamed Cleveland Police worker, who thought she had disconnected the call, can be heard describing a member of the public as an 'absolute complete and utter a*******'.

 She then continued: 'You just want to say, "f*** off and die, get a f****** life will you". You just want to say that to him, don't you?'

The recording was uploaded to Facebook by Michael Carey who had been speaking to the staff member about a Subject Access Request (SAR), when she failed to hang up properly.

The pair can be heard discussing the SAR, a request for information under the Data Protection Act, when the woman appears to put the phone down.

But she did not know the call was still connected when she began being abusive towards Mr Carey.

Mr Carey wrote on Facebook: 'So, today, I called up and spoke to Cleveland Police's Data Protection Manager about a Subject Access Request I made 11 months ago and still haven't received (they've legally got 40 days by the way, approx. 6 weeks, not 11 months!).

'She shouts at me for pretty much the entire call. However, it is the last part that is interesting as she hangs up on me... or at least thinks she does!

'Apparently people wanting to ask why the law is being violated and their rights denied should just 'F*** off and die!'

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: 'Cleveland Police is aware of the matter and it has been referred to the Professional Standards Department or initial investigation.'

Original report here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress.  If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where  posts  appear as well as on  the primary site.  I have reposted  the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts  HERE or HERE

How My Husband Ended Up in Jail After Walking Our Dog

In 2007, my British husband got a ticket for walking our dog Henry without a leash in Washington, D.C. The National Park Service made it impossible to pay the ticket. So, a newly minted citizen, Peter said he’d wait for his day in court.

I told him that was most unwise and that he could end up in jail.

I was right. Overcriminalization is a serious issue in our country, and while Peter’s experience was trivial, it describes a terrible (yet hilarious) day.

Here’s an excerpt from my new book, “Let Me Tell You About Jasper.” This story is written by Peter, explaining how he ended up in jail while I was working at the White House. When he was given his “one phone call” from jail, I was in the Oval Office briefing the president. True story.

With that, I give you: my husband, the off-leash criminal.

It’s all Henry’s fault! My brush with the law started around 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 15, 2007, when I took Henry to Lincoln Park. I parked across the road and was walking in the park with him; the park was deserted apart from a few other dog owners there, and we chatted about our dogs as the darkness settled around us.

We were standing near the Lincoln statue when we noticed headlights entering the park toward the far end, and we saw a police car racing down the middle of the park toward us.

We soon realized the reason for the rapid approach: It was the Park Police and our dogs were off-leash. Everyone immediately called their dog and reached in their pockets for their leash. I did the same, but alas—no leash! I had left it on the seat of the car.

I quickly turned away and, with Henry walking extremely close, started to leave the park.

“You! Stop!” I heard. I turned and sure enough, the policeman had leapt from his car and was advancing rapidly toward me. Busted!

I explained to Officer Smith that I had left my leash in the car and was returning for it, so he asked for ID, then instructed me to wait while he went to the car. He took a few minutes, presumably checking I was not a serial dog-off-leash scofflaw and returned to write the ticket.

I tried to make light of the situation and joke with Officer Smith, but he was all business. No response, no smile, no pleasantries in reply to mine.

I duly received my ticket and was told that I could pay at any of the stations listed on the back. I informed Officer Smith that there were some suspicious squirrels at the end of the park that he might want to check on, and returned to my car.

Okay, I got a ticket. I was in the wrong, I broke the law, and I am not arguing with that. I had 15 days in which to pay and so on Nov. 24 I reported to First District Substation on E Street SE in Washington, D.C., as listed on the back of the ticket.

I was informed that they did not accept the payments anymore, and my inquiry as to where they thought I might be able to pay was met with a disinterested shrug and the words “Park Police headquarters.”

I returned home and, as we were leaving town for a couple of days, I decided to call the Park Police headquarters on Ohio Drive SW to check whether they accepted payment, or ask where I should mail the check, as the ticket stated, “You may mail in the collateral” but did not state where to mail the payment, how to make the payment, or to whom the payment should be made. However, all I got was an answering machine; an hour later I got the same. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

I have since learned that the ticket I received with both wrong and missing information had been incorrect for six years. A friend got a ticket six years prior and the station on E Street SE did not accept payment then.

So I duly wrote a check made out to U.S. Park Police and mailed it to the headquarters, with a letter explaining that their ticket contained wrong and insufficient information.

I also stated, “I know that the job of ticketing dog owners whose dog is off-leash is highly important—especially in time of war and terror threats, not to mention D.C.’s soaring crime rate. However, if someone at your department could see their way to having a ticket written in competent language with correct information, perhaps we might feel our taxes are not being totally squandered.”

They received my letter and did not reply for 12 days before stating that my payment was unacceptable and that I should send a money order to the D.C. Court.

By the time I received the letter it was already 10 days past the cutoff date and the ticket stated that this would “result in the case being presented at the District of Columbia Superior Court for disposition.”

Given that I had made three attempts to pay, and some information on the ticket lacked sufficient details while other information was just plain wrong, I decided to have my day in court. I wanted to explain to the judge just how apathetic/indolent/incompetent the Park Police are with their tickets. And as a newly minted citizen (for all of about two months), I knew it was my right!

I was therefore awaiting notice to attend court, but did not hear anything for some time. Given that the Park Police are apparently incapable of producing a competently written ticket, this didn’t surprise me.

However, upon returning from a business trip in April, I found a letter inviting me to go to the police station on Fourth Street SW so that they could process me through court on the same day. This was part of “Operation Clean Slate.” (I’m not kidding or exaggerating.)

On Wednesday the 18th I went to the station but was told it was too late for processing that day and was asked to return early the next morning, preferably before 7 a.m. When I asked how long the process would be, I was told, “Oh, an hour and a half, maybe two hours.”

So on the 19th I arrived at the station at 6:45 a.m. and was promptly arrested! The arresting officer asked what had happened and he shook his head in amazement. “They issued a warrant for that?” he asked incredulously. “Why didn’t you go to the court and pay the fine?”

Oops! That’s something else not mentioned on the ticket—apparently the Park Police expect citizens to be psychic. So during the 12 days my letter was sitting in the Park Police headquarters being ignored, they had gone ahead and issued a warrant.

My belongings and belt were taken and I was placed in a cell. Now, I am a normal, law-abiding person. I’ve never been in a cell in my life, and my reaction was somewhere between surprise and fascination. It was just like the TV shows. The fact that I knew a judge would release me as soon as I was through the court proceeding meant that I was never worried—this was in no way a long-term situation—but it was strange to know that I could not leave if I wanted to.

I no longer had any control over my own freedom, and while awaiting transportation to the court I contemplated how awful it must be for someone who knows they will be incarcerated for a long time. It doesn’t matter how many times you see it on the TV; it’s different when you are there yourself. I was tempted to ask if I could get a tattoo of Henry on my shoulder to mark the occasion.

However, when the other prisoners were taken to court and I remained there, I inquired as to why and was told that, as I was a Park Police case, I must await a Park Police officer.

Of course nobody turned up from the Park Police station for a couple of hours, so I sat and waited patiently, counting the tiles on the floor (8,280) and finding the whole situation actually quite amusing. Though by this time I knew that the parking meter was running out for my car; so much for a couple of hours.

Finally, the Park Police arrived and it was none other than my old nemesis Officer Smith! He searched me again and, after handcuffing me, led me to his car. At least I sat in the front so it wouldn’t look like I had been arrested if anyone I knew saw me.

When he got into the driver’s seat, I said, “When you put me in the car, weren’t you supposed to put your hand on my head, like they do in the movies?” He did not respond.

I tried making conversation with Officer Smith but the responses were monosyllabic and usually one word. I tried making jokes, but they fell on deaf ears. All business, this guy (or maybe the squirrel jibe was still rankling him).

Upon arrival at the headquarters building, I was taken to another cell and the cuffs were released, then after five minutes Officer Smith brought me out and cuffed me to a wooden bar while he filled in the necessary paperwork. It’s probably just as well he did, because by this time I was considering fleeing.

If I could just overpower this young, fit, armed officer and steal his ID to open the door before anyone noticed—the place was after all virtually empty—I could be free! I could see the headlines: Leashless Dog Walker Stalks D.C. parks.

I knew I was also allowed to call my wife, but I was a little afraid to. Dana had warned me several times about getting that ticket paid, and when I told her I was going to exercise my rights she told me I was going to be arrested. I didn’t believe her. Now I was going to have to call her at the White House, where she was the acting press secretary and surely “didn’t need this crap.” Her White House voice can still scare me to this day.

So I said to Officer Smith that I would like to make a call. He looked at me blankly. “I’ve seen the movies. I know my rights,” I said with a smile.  He grudgingly obliged.

When I called the press office, her assistant press secretary Carlton Carroll answered the phone. He said she was in the Oval Office and asked if I wanted to interrupt the meeting. Over my dead body! So I asked him to leave her a message, which he promptly emailed. She saw a message came in and snuck a peek at her messages. All it said was that I had been delayed and that she needed to arrange for the dog walker to come take care of Henry.

She later told me that she knew immediately. “That jerk’s been arrested.” (Right on both counts.)

More handcuffs, another car, and I was soon at the court building, where, once Officer Smith was sure we were behind locked doors, I was handed over to the processing officers.

Form-filling and fingerprinting followed; however, these fellows, while highly professional, were a lot more relaxed. When they asked the reason for my arrest and I told them “walking my dog without a leash,” the response was hilarity. I think I was the first, as it took them some time to find the nearest category for me on the computer!

When they stopped laughing, a mature officer of some years’ service also told me, “This is ridiculous.” He explained that most officers would have used their initiative, had the warrant delayed for a couple of days, and made a call, or even visited me to tell me to go to the court and pay.

Still, we enjoyed the humor of the situation and made a few wisecracks, while they fed me cheese sandwiches and lemonade and, after 10 minutes in my third cell, I was cuffed again and placed in the back of yet another car to be taken to the Superior Court building a couple of hundred yards away.

By this time, it was early afternoon, and the officer driving told us he was rushing so that we would be processed that afternoon. He explained that if we weren’t processed that day it would mean an overnight stay. Now it wasn’t quite so funny!

When he asked the reason for my arrest and I told him, it resulted in the same outburst of disbelieving laughter. “Are you serious? You were arrested for that?”

So now I arrived at the Superior Court, where the handcuffs were finally removed, only to be replaced with leg shackles! “If my friends could only see me now,” I thought with a wry smile.

Following another search, I found myself in the fourth cell, one I shared with 20 others.

A couple hours more cell time and after three court-appointed attorneys shared the humor of the situation and expressed their disbelief that an arrest had been made for this, I found myself in front of the judge.

I explained what had happened and even the judge smiled. With my English accent, I was clearly a relative newcomer to the United States, and I had made three attempts to pay via a Park Police system that I described to him as blatantly incompetent, but it had not been possible given the inadequate information they provided.

The judge told me that this should not have happened and that I should not have been there that day. I held up my manacled leg and said, “Well, your honor, it’s been a very interesting day and I’ve had a good insight into the U.S. judicial system.” He smiled and said, “Welcome to America!”

Upon payment my record would be expunged, and I left the court a free man. I had to collect my belongings from the Park Police station the next day—they had told me that after 3 p.m. the office would be closed. I hope nobody went there to pay a fine that afternoon.

As my car keys were with the belongings, I walked there with Henry on a delightful April morning. (On the leash all the way, I would add! Well, most of it—)

Oh, and the good news was—I did not get a parking ticket after being off the meter all the previous day! But if I had, I would have paid that ticket right away.

Original report here


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Australia: Ballarat police again accused of misconduct, heavy-handedness with assault victim

Ballarat police officers have been accused of dragging the victim of a violent assault along the ground, before charging her with assaulting her alleged attacker.

On May 17, Ballarat police were called to an assault in the city's north where they arrested a 43-year-old woman. The woman, who only wants to be known as Sofia, had been the victim of a brutal assault with a tyre iron.

"I just thought I was gonna die," she said. "I was really dizzy and I was on the grass and I just said to myself, I need to stand up and defend myself."

Sofia, who is from South America, said she became panicked and erratic when she saw her alleged attacker, a neighbour, speaking with police.

Her lawyer, Neil Longmore, questioned how officers then reacted.  "The police seemed to think that was reason to then handcuff her and throw her on the ground and start dragging her around and drag her to the ambulance," he said.

Sofia said: "I just want to be helped. Protected." "I was treated like an animal," she said.

Sofia was taken to hospital where she received 14 stitches on the back of her head, and the side of her face. She went home but hours later was woken up by police who arrested her.

"I said 'why am I being arrested if I'm the victim?'. He says, 'it happened, the same thing with your neighbour, don't worry'," Sofia said.

Mr Longmore said bias against his client was a common thread throughout the interview. "She clearly thinks that she's giving them information because they're investigating what's happening to her, not that she's going to be charged," he said.

"She should've been not just read her rights, she should've understood her rights and I think you can see there's a pretty clear line between when somebody's just being read them and doesn't understand them.

"If you do understand your rights in that situation, you certainly shouldn't be giving the police information because they're just about to use that against you to charge you."

Sofia said she thought she was helping with the investigation.

"Just at the end of the interview I understood that they [were] intending since the beginning [to] charge me, whatever I was going to say," she said.

"[The interviewing officer] was repeatedly saying ... 'so you attacked him? Did you attack him?' "And I was trying to say that I was fighting for my life."

Sofia was charged with recklessly causing injury and assault with a weapon, which referred to the mop she used to defend herself, and was served with an intervention order.

The charges were ultimately withdrawn when she appeared at the Ballarat Magistrates Court.

Sofia said she had no faith in Victoria Police's complaints process and instead made a complaint to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC), alleging officers failed to investigate her case properly.

Her lawyer, Mr Longmore said: "What she really would like is an apology and a proper investigation of what occurred and some better training for police, or younger ones who seem to fall into this conduct."

"There's something not quite right about the police training that allows them to just roll through those rights ... go ahead with their interview ... and use it against a person and the person hasn't understood what's going on."

Sofia said she wanted justice. "I don't think they are prepared, prepared to treat people to protect people. I almost died and they did nothing to help me," she said. Victoria Police said the investigation was ongoing and it would be inappropriate to comment.

SOURCE
Original report here


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'Serial' star Adnan Syed files motion asking to be released from prison while awaiting retrial for murder of his high school girlfriend

Adnan Syed - the star of a hit podcast who is awaiting a retrial for the killing of his high school girlfriend - is asking to be released from prison.

Syed, 35, was sentenced to life in prison in 2000 for strangling 17-year-old Hae Min Lee, whose body was found buried in a shallow grave in Baltimore's Leakin Park.

His story became the centerpiece for the first season of the successful 'Serial' podcast in 2014.

In June, a judge granted Syed a new trial because his attorney failed to cross-examine an expert witness about cell tower data linking Syed to the crime scene.

On Monday, Justin Brown, a lawyer representing Syed, filed a motion arguing that Syed should be released while awaiting retrial because he poses 'no danger to the community.'

Brown also noted his client has already served 17 years in prison 'based on an unconstitutional conviction for a crime he did not commit.'

'Completely absent from Syed's record are circumstances that typically cause courts concern regarding pretrial release,' Brown wrote in his motion.

Brown also wrote that Syed is not a flight risk because of his strong ties to the community, and because he enjoys so much support from the public after 'Serial.'

The podcast attracted millions of listeners and inspired an army of armchair investigators to help hunt down evidence to bolster his defense.

Christine Tobar, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's office, which is handling the case, said in an email that the office had not yet received a copy of the filing but planned to 'review and determine how best to respond.'

In a statement, Brown said 'there is no reason to think Adnan would run from the case he has spent half his life trying to disprove.'

In his request for a new trial, Brown argued that Syed's original attorney erred by failing to call an alibi witness to share with the jury her claim that she saw him in the library shortly before Lee's murder.

Brown also said the attorney failed to ask any questions about cell tower records.

The state thus far has opposed Syed's motions, and appealed the judge's granting of a new trial.  State officials have said that if they lose the appeal, they will retry the case.

Original report here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress.  If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where  posts  appear as well as on  the primary site.  I have reposted  the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts  HERE or HERE

Former Army captain was arrested, dragged from her home and questioned for 14 hours over comments she made about an ex-partner a DECADE ago

A former Army captain was arrested and taken to a military base where she was questioned for 14 hours about comments she made about an ex-partner a decade ago, it has been revealed.

Rachel Webster, 48, was arrested months after she refused to give a statement about her former boyfriend's professional conduct in Iraq.

She was allegedly physically restrained and dragged from her home, before being driven to a military base in Portsmouth 80 miles away.

The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT), which is investigating historic abuses by British soldiers, has now admitted the arrest was 'unnecessary', The Telegraph reported.

Ms Webster had made the comments regarding her former partner -  another officer - in 2006. These comments were dealt with by her then commanding officer.

She was initially contacted by IHAT officers in October 2013. She was asked to give a witness statement about the activities of the former colleague but declined.

Three months later, in January 2014, she was arrested following a dawn raid on her home on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.

After being detained for hours of questioning she was released without charge.

Earlier this year, Ms Webster, originally from Brigg, north Lincolnshire, received £5,000 in compensation after her breasts were allegedly exposed in the wrongful arrest.

Ms Webster served in the Army for 24 years. She joined in 1989 and rose to the rank of Captain.

In 1999, she was given an award for her role in maintaining law and order while she was a corporal serving in Kosovo.

Four years later, while serving in Iraq, Sgt Webster met Tony Blair when he visited Basra soon after the invasion. She left the Army in 2013 and now has a job in finance.

Following the decision to give her £5,000 in compensation, Ms Webster said in a statement: 'Since my arrest I have waited over two years to clear my name.

'It's finally over and I can move on. Justice does prevail but at what cost!'

An IHAT spokesman said: 'Every effort was made to ensure that the arrest was carried out sensitively and we regret any distress that has been caused.'

Original report here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress.  If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where  posts  appear as well as on  the primary site.  I have reposted  the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts  HERE or HERE

Senior policewoman who 'had a drunken row with a colleague over whose breasts were most attractive' is set for a humiliating public grilling

A senior policewoman is set for a humiliating public disciplinary hearing after an alleged drunken row with a colleague over whose breasts were most attractive.

Assistant Chief Constable Rebekah Sutcliffe, 47, faces claims that she exposed her bosom during a late-night row and could be sacked if found guilty of gross misconduct.

She has been told she has a case to answer after an investigation, which was revealed by The Mail on Sunday. As a result, she must face the tribunal later this year.

But the evening ended in disgrace for ACC Sutcliffe as she argued with her junior colleague Superintendent Sarah Jackson at the Hilton hotel bar. It is claimed ACC Sutcliffe told her colleague she was ‘pandering to men’ by having cosmetic surgery, and tried to prove her own breasts were better by exposing them.

They were reported to bosses by a witness, and initially both were told they faced investigation over alleged inappropriate behaviour.

Social media photos show ACC Sutcliffe ‘opened the gala event’ at one night of the conference, standing near Supt Jackson at a party where wine flowed freely. Supt Jackson has been told she is in the clear.

But last night Greater Manchester Police said: ‘We can confirm that following an investigation by Durham Constabulary the Deputy Chief Constable has determined that a senior officer has a case to answer for gross misconduct and will face a disciplinary hearing.’

If the case against ACC Sutcliffe were proven, she would be hit with sanctions ranging from ‘management advice’ to dismissal.

It is the third investigation she has faced. Two years ago she was investigated for failing to declare her relationship with Detective Superintendent Paul Rumney, then in charge of the force’s Professional Standards Branch, when she sat on a disciplinary panel.

And in 2010 she was given ‘suitable advice’ by a senior officer after reportedly trying to gatecrash a Labour Party conference event.

Original report here


(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress.  If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where  posts  appear as well as on  the primary site.  I have reposted  the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts  HERE or HERE