Oh, I'm Sure You Can Find A Solution...

Yes, we all saw the reports of the schoolgirls party trashed by freeloading scum whipped up on FaceBook, we all heard the excuses from the party organiser and her mother about how it all transpired, and we all thought 'Who'd be that stupid, not to realise the consequences?'.

But people are. And they've paid a high price for it.

The freeloaders? Well, they are likely to escape:

Mrs Hines has bigger things to worry about. With estimates of up to £30,000 to repair structural damage and replace her furniture, she is in despair about how to find the money.

‘Since Andrew has been gone, money has been tight and I have no idea what we will do,’ she says.

There is little chance of compensation either — although the police have suggested bringing criminal charges, it could be hard to work out who to bring them against.

But, since we are talking about the Essex Farce, there is one culprit that's already been identified, they know the address, they won't need to do any hard work.

Who?

Essex Police confirmed it was currently considering if it is in the public interest to prosecute for a breach of the peace and allowing underage drinking in her home.

An Essex Police spokeswoman said: “Police are working with the family and considering whether any offences have been committed and whether it is in the public interest to prosecute those responsible. Local officers are also in contact with residents of the street to establish a full picture of the events which took place.”

Yup! Prosecute the victim!

/golfclap

Who’s The Victim Here Again..?

A knifeman who injured three security guards in a terrifying attack at York Hospital has been jailed for four years.

So he’ll serve…two?

The attack happened at about 11.30pm on July 22, near a science department at the Wigginton Road site, after Meason had “made a nuisance of himself” for more than an hour, Helen Wheatley, prosecuting, told York Crown Court.

It was the third time Meason had been caught with a knife in public, said Ms Wheatley. On an earlier occasion, he had attacked shop security staff who caught him shoplifting.

Time to throw the book at him, then!

Judge Roger Ibbotson told him: “It is time you learnt how dangerous producing a knife and waving it around can be. You have shown little or no remorse. You still think of yourself as the victim in this.”

Eh? He thinks he’s the victim?

While he was sentenced, Meason called out: “He was strangling me when I bit him.”

Yes, well, he was trying to stop you stabbing someone!

His barrister, Emma Bennett, said Meason had himself been injured in the struggle and felt he had been attacked by the three guards.

He had been passing through York on his way home to Mansfield and had “taken refuge” in the hospital grounds after an “incident” in the city centre, she said, but she did not say what the incident was.

He had not intended to harm the three guards and his actions had been reckless, not premeditated, she said.

Carrying a knife around isn't premeditation enough?

I Know Just The ’Help’ He Needs…

Speaking about the case involving Williams, Judge Michael Mettyear said: "There was a chilling moment when she (the victim) mentioned Deepcut and we know what's gone on there with people withholding information and suicides.

"I'm worried if there is something in the culture of the Army and people training in the Army to keep their mouths shut.

"I'm really concerned about five students declining to give statements. It looks as though it has been directed by someone.

"I don't want to blame them because what we have found in the case with this girl is someone in there actually telling them it might interfere with their careers, and it's hardly surprising. I'm worried about the wider implications with all the problems at Deepcut."

Oh. OK. So we won’t blame them for not wishing to report a crime (I mean, bullying and harassment is a crime now, right?).

Shall we at least blame the offender?

Deferring sentence for reports, Judge Metttyear ordered Williams to sign the sex offenders register for the attack on the girl. However, the judge said he was not expecting to send him to jail.

Judge Mettyear said Williams had "learnt a lot of lessons" but expressed concern over his attitude towards women.

The judge said: "I'm worried he has an attitude problem with women and maybe some sort of help is needed for him. These are not sexual offences for sexual gratification – this was bullying and the desire to get attention."

Oh, right. Poor lamb. I guess we can’t blame him either, really. He’s a ‘victim’ too.

I guess we’ll just have to blame… the Armed Services? Really?

So, Leads Are The Answer, Eh?

Yes, it’s the perennial cry of the comment-column and letter-page denizens of all local newspaper stories about dog attacks. If only we have laws demanding all dogs were leashed in public, all would be well.

Well…

A pensioner has told of his horror after being dragged to the floor by a dog while trying to save his puppy from its jaws. Barry Craig, 67, of Diana Close, Alverstoke was walking his five-month-old pedigree puppy at Queens Parade shops, off Privett Road, when another dog, which he believes was a Staffordshire bull terrier cross, attacked.

They were both on leads. Little good it did.

A police spokesperson said that as the other dog was on a lead, no further action will be taken by police.

If it had launched itself at a police dog, I wonder if they’d have taken the same view?

Mr Craig is unhappy that the other owner could do little to stop the attack. He said: ‘What’s the point of having a dog on a lead if you can’t control it?’

Well, indeed…

Meanwhile, in Chesterfield:

A woman was knocked out when she fell from a panic-stricken horse being attacked by a dog, Chesterfield magistrates heard.

What sort of dog? Ah. Well…

. Elizabeth Christian was riding along a bridlepath at Broadmeadows, South Normanton on June 16 when the horse panicked as a Staffordshire bull terrier-labrador cross, ignored calls from its owner and snapped at the horse…The horse suffered puncture wounds and bites. Clarke, 36, told police the 18-month-old rescue dog had slipped its lead.

/facepalm

Here, police weren't so reluctant to put the case before a magistrate, for which they should be praised, though it did little good:

JPs decided not to have the dog destroyed, but ordered it must be kept muzzled and on a lead in public areas for two years…The dog control order was applied to both Clarke and his wife, Terri-Marie Clarke, after Mr Bloore said the couple had separated since the incident and the dog lived with her.

Unless she’s built like Fatima Whitbred, how is she any more likely to be able to control it?

And what do these incidents both have in common? Powerful dogs with unsuitable temperaments and incompetent owners, on leads that proved totally ineffective as a result.

So slapping total blanket legislation on all dog owners is unlikely to be the answer. But I’ll bet it’s the one that’s eventually put in place!

Call A Whole Fleet Of Whaaaaambulances….

‘Frank’ an anonymous social worker, gets a column in ‘CiF’ to bleat about his job and how the politicians are ruining it:

In my nearly 30 years of practice as a social worker, I can say that the situation on the ground for social workers is worse than it has ever been.

Oh, here we go, hankies at the ready…

Social workers dedicate their lives to preventing the abuse of children, and sometimes, sadly, this is not possible. Child protection is an extremely complicated process – not only does it require very finely tuned and skilled decisions to be made, they have to be made within a detailed legislative framework. Contrary to the portrayal of social work in EastEnders, social workers do not simply pop by and check that everything is all right within a household, and whisk a child away at the drop of a hat if it isn't.

And some would say that that’s part of the problem. If there’s a more dysfunctional family than the one prortayed in ‘Eastenders’ I’d hate to see it. The poor (fictional) sprog would stand a better chance if it were raised by wolves…

Social workers spend the majority of their time navigating laborious and unwieldy data-collection systems… Most people would be astonished to see the amount of paperwork and form-filling we do.

Not really, no. They passed ‘astonishment’ long ago when looking at the police service’s paperwork burden.

And what caused both of these? Well, you seem to have hit the nail on the head, inadvertently:

Social work often feels like a virtual computer game where you have to complete stage 1 to move to stage 2. You are no longer able to use your own professional judgment.

That’s because so many of you have been found to have none!

You've ignored obvious cases of cruelty, either because you gave too much credence to ‘cultural issues’ or because you were incompetent or lazy. You've persecuted the innocent while ignoring the evil. The ‘unnecessary form filling’ that you complain about is part of your job because you are granted enormous power, and you must be accountable for its use.

Just like the police.

What’s the alternative?

The police probably hold more information pertinent to child protection than any other agency as they attend more out-of-hours incidents concerning a family, but their information sharing can be patchy. Police can be reluctant to share information concerning children for a number of reasons: criminal proceedings may be ongoing, they may have "soft" evidence garnered from intelligence rather than hard facts, there may be a surveillance operation under way.

And note, this is all one way. Do YOU share information with the police?

Or do you hide it from them, as you do when you are seeking to foster damaged children?

Cases such as Rochdale show what can happen when police and social services do not properly share information about children.

No, cases such as Rochdale show what happens when everyone’s too deathly afraid of ‘cultural issues’ and stirring up the Muslim 'community' to intervene. It has nothing to do with information sharing at all.

While I welcome attention being focused on tackling problems within our child protection system, the impetus for change will lead to little positive improvement if social workers who act day to day to protect children and help improve their lives are not listened to.

But we've listened to you. You've whined that you think it’s ‘unfair’ that you should be held accountable when you foul up. You've shown little shame when caught bang to rights, simply returning again and again to argue that, despite a child dying, you’re the ‘victim’ here.

We've listened. We just reject what you have to say.

Fool Me Once, Shame On You. Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me. Fool Me Three Times…

…I guess I must be a police officer?

Derbyshire police has called the incident "regrettable" but said it was acting on information that the property may have been used for drugs purposes.

Information they’ve been given before – twice – according to the homeowner. With the same empty-handed result, though on those two occasions, at least they managed to avoid maiming anyone:

Mr Dharam, 42, said he was upstairs when he heard his partner screaming. He said: "I wanted to make sure Shanie and our daughter Shania, who is only 11 months old, were okay.

"This is the third time in the past two or three years the police have raided the house for drugs and they have never found anything. I just don't know why our house is being picked on."

Because, as we've seen before, ‘intelligence’ (as in a tipoff from a concerned citizen or a deliberate troublemaker) is enough to have the police breaking down your door and being pretty insouciant about their right to do so too…

I mean…this was drugs. Not terrorism, or serial killing.

Is it really worth the potential risk of blinding someone? Or killing Ms Dharam’s 11 month old baby, if she’d happened to have her in her arms when they burst in the door?

Superintendent Gary Parkin, who is head of operational policing in Derby, said:… “This information was put before a magistrate who granted the warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act. It was carried out by specially trained officers.

"When executing warrants it is important to enter the property quickly and without warning to the occupants to ensure no potential evidence is lost. It is regrettable that the occupant appears to have been behind the door as our officers tried to gain entry.

"Our investigations into the incident are ongoing."

Yes, yes, I'm sure you’ll be quite happy so long as you've dotted the I’s and crossed the T‘s and you’ll claim you bear no responsibility for having acted on false information (even though the last couple of times were false too, but who’s counting?) and you’ll probably pay them some money to shut up and go away, but… …how do you think this incident looks to ordinary people?

That could be MY door. Or my elderly neighbour’s and he has a heart condition.

Talk about winning hearts and minds.

Oh, Well, It's Another One On The DNA Database, Eh?

Remember this story? Well, it seems the police now have their 'clear picture':

...police last week closed their investigation into the death of William Phillips.

Mr Phillips, of Derby Street, died following an altercation near to the doctors’ surgery in Oak Street, Norwich, which took place at about 8.50am on Wednesday, July 18.

Police said last week that no further action would be taken against a 22-year-old man arrested in connection with the incident, and Mr Phillips’ family was also informed. A Norfolk police spokesman said a team had concluded that no criminal offences had been committed in relation to his death, and it was no longer being treated as suspicious.

Oh, well. At least you got a cyclist's DNA, eh? Maybe it'll come in useful later?

Some curious comments about him, however, amongst the tributes:

Su Waterman said: “I feel terribly sad to have just heard the news about Will. I used to own the cafe on St Benedicts Street ‘House’.

“Will would often come in a for a cup of tea and a chat. His condition meant he might sometimes cross certain boundaries but he knew when he was ‘misbehaving’.

“Those on the street who knew him, knew he meant no harm and he always apologised if he ‘overstepped the mark’.”

Hmmm...

Another friend, Genevieve Marten added: “Will was a wonderful guy, very intelligent, enthusiastic and so positive about life. He had a difficult disease that people could not relate to, so he could not control his nerves.

He was very misjudged due to a lack of understanding.

Often, the medication was enough to let the real Will shine through. I feel honoured to have been able to know him.”

How very odd. Does it shed more light on why an innocent man was arrested?

H/T: Dave Ward via email