"They can’t protect the public but don’t allow the public to protect themselves.’"

Pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

Mr Edwards, 21, fired his shotgun at a van driven by Taylor as the thief accelerated towards his mother, Louisa Smith, 50. Taylor was caught after a high-speed chase but it was the farmer who endured a horrendous ordeal at the hands of police who arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder.

Well, I guess he's lucky the police's 'high speed chase' didn't kill anyone, or they might have tried to stick him on for that too!

The former public schoolboy said: ‘It’s completely changed my view of the police. They treated me like a criminal. The police have acted like bullies who have turned someone who was very supportive of their work into someone who wants nothing more to do with them.’

That's OK, they don't care about the views of the general public, as Inspector Gadget's contributors take such pains to tell us. So long as you continue to fork out for them, that is...

But even now the farmer has not had his shotgun and other weapons returned to him which he uses to control pests on his land and as a hobby.

Repeat after me: 'The process is the punishment...'