Police Officer to be prosecuted over Ian Tomlinson's death

[Paul Sherratt]

>>Paul - I trust you noted the date of your second item?


Top marks, Floss !! I didn't spot that ...

[Flosshilde]

Fab idea though - & given what the Queen Mother's household was like, not unlikely. Any caring Queen would want to supply relevant literature for her staff

[Bryn]

I suppose one thing that might just come up during the trial is whether or not the PC concerned has 'form' regarding violent attacks on those he is sworn to protect.

[french frank]

It is just conceivable, you see, that someone reading this is called to serve on the jury.

Which is why one shouldn't put ideas into their heads which might influence the way they think about the case.

[Flosshilde]

While it's being discussed in the press I would assume that it's OK here.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

the Plod are a bit out of hand i think, and should be held to account if only to inhibit their enthusiasm for walloping members of the public in the vicinity of protests [whether or not they are protesting] ... they are also up to more nuanced intimidation, taking id and photos etc and are currently facing a lawsuit for invasion of privacy ... and do they all now wear their identification? [interesting question, are there legal powers valid if they are not wearing their numbers?]

fish head rot etc ...

[scottycelt]

It is just conceivable, you see, that someone reading this is called to serve on the jury.

Which is why one shouldn't put ideas into their heads which might influence the way they think about the case.

Not just here but just about everywhere else, which was one of my main points regarding the forthcoming trial.

Never mind, it's going to happen and that's really the end of that.

[french frank]

While it's being discussed in the press I would assume that it's OK here.

There's a subtle difference between 'reported' and 'discussed. The press stories will have been subbed by an elite team of subeditors who have done their NCTJ course in law (as have I). They will pause and think - Is it all right to say this?, and thumb through their McNae's Essential Law for Journalists. If they don't think it is all right, they'll remove it ...

[Flosshilde]

You're quite right of course, there is a difference.

Oh well - back to discussing whether the Queen should subscribe to the Pink Paper etc for her staff.

Or whether the Met is out of control generally.

[Mr Pee]

You're quite right of course, there is a difference.

Oh well - back to discussing whether the Queen should subscribe to the Pink Paper etc for her staff.

Or whether the Met is out of control generally.

The Pink Paper- is that what you lefties call The Grauniad these days?

And seriously, of course the Met isn't "out of control generally". That suggestion does a great disservice the many thousands of honest, trustworthy and hard-working police officers who often put their lives on the line so that we can all sleep relatively safely in our beds at night.

I'd like to see some of the posters here who take such delight in slagging off the Police spending just a week patrolling some crime-ridden inner city hell-hole. I reckon you'd change your tune pretty sharpish.

[amateur51]

The Pink Paper- is that what you lefties call The Grauniad these days?

And seriously, of course the Met isn't "out of control generally". That suggestion does a great disservice the many thousands of honest, trustworthy and hard-working police officers who often put their lives on the line so that we can all sleep relatively safely in our beds at night.

I'd like to see some of the posters here who take such delight in slagging off the Police spending just a week patrolling some crime-ridden inner city hell-hole. I reckon you'd change your tune pretty sharpish.

Mr Pee is of course an expert on the Met's performance, living as he does some 65 miles from London in leafy West Sussex. Where exactly is this 'crime-ridden inner city hell-hole' of which you speak with such authority, Mr Pee and how long ago is it since you lived there, worked there or parked your car there?

[Flosshilde]

I'd like to see some of the posters here who take such delight in slagging off the Police spending just a week patrolling some crime-ridden inner city hell-hole. I reckon you'd change your tune pretty sharpish.

You won't believe it, Mr Pee, but I don't "take ... delight in slagging off the Police". I would love to be able to place implicit trust in their fairness, lack of favouritism & ability to treat all members of the public equally. Unfortunately the actions of some, from the lowliest constable to the highest ranks, mean that I can't. As far as the Met is concerned there have been far too many cases recently where they have gone beyond the law in carrying out their duties, haven't complied with regulations like not concealing their numbers, & have had derisory 'disciplinary' sanctions applied to them. I do believe that they no think that they are untouchable. I hope that the forthcoming case might give them pause.

[ahinton]

The Pink Paper- is that what you lefties call The Grauniad these days?

I don't know what "lefties" (whatever they may be) call anything and couldn't care less, frankly; the prospect of sharing a glass of rosé with you fills me with increasing horror, I have to admit...

And seriously, of course the Met isn't "out of control generally". That suggestion does a great disservice the many thousands of honest, trustworthy and hard-working police officers who often put their lives on the line so that we can all sleep relatively safely in our beds at night.

Flosshilde did not suggest that it was and, even if such a suggestion might do the disservice to those many thousands whom you mention, the Met is not solely populated by those individuals and you'd better get used to that fact.

I'd like to see some of the posters here who take such delight in slagging off the Police spending just a week patrolling some crime-ridden inner city hell-hole. I reckon you'd change your tune pretty sharpish.

Well, I'm not "slagging off" the police and nor is anyone else here, as far as I can tell - but there's a massive difference between not "slagging off" the police as a whole and taking the kind of view that you have put forward that prosecuting a police officer is, in principle, a waste of taxpayers' money.

[MrGongGong]

I'd like to see some of the posters here who take such delight in slagging off the Police spending just a week patrolling some crime-ridden inner city hell-hole. I reckon you'd change your tune pretty sharpish.

to summarise
WTF do you know ?
and this is such a stupid comment it hardly deserves a reply

interesting fact (from radio 4) is that Gun crime is more common in the rural parts of the UK than in cities ........... so maybe the crime-ridden hell hole of East Grinstead ?

[ahinton]

to summarise
WTF do you know ?
and this is such a stupid comment it hardly deserves a reply

interesting fact (from radio 4) is that Gun crime is more common in the rural parts of the UK than in cities ........... so maybe the crime-ridden hell hole of East Grinstead ?

But East Grinstead is part ov sarf Lunnon, innit? - so hardly rural idyll country, lying as it does in that no-man's land between central Lunnon and Brighton (which is arguably the most extreme part of sarf Lunnon in more ways than one)...

Years ago, I remember reading a newspaper report that one of the most likely places for car crime in western Europe was Cheltenham - and I got to thinking (quite irresponsibly and imappropriately, of course) about the legacy of damage caused by all those symphonists of old...