International Law

Justice behind the screen

Posted on June 25, 2008
Justice behind the screenLike good curry, good law is hard to cook up in haste. The government, however, has little alternative but to legislate quickly in response to a court ruling last week that could put dangerous men out on the loose. A £6m murder trial collapsed yesterday, because it relied on anonymous testimony - a reliance that the law lords had last week declared illegal...

Ex-soldier arrested for kidnap after citizen's arrest of hooligan

Posted on June 25, 2008
Ex-soldier arrested for kidnap after citizen's arrest of hooliganAn Army veteran was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping after carrying out a citizen's arrest when young hooligans attacked his home.Frank McCourt, 57, returned home to find his wife Maria in tears on the sofa after their £170,000 semi-detached home in Crawley, West Sussex was targeted by a gang throwing sticks, stones, mud and eggs...

Even Einstein knows that the McCanns are guilty

Posted on June 25, 2008
Even Einstein knows that the McCanns are guiltyHat-Tip to Gingersnaps for the fun stuff.

Justice must be done: But why has it cost £6M?

Posted on June 24, 2008
Justice must be done: But why has it cost £6M?I am aware of the principle that not only must justice be done, but it must be manifestly seen to be done. Having said, that why has this case cost £6M so far and what will it cost for the retrial?

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Camera obscurer

Posted on June 24, 2008
Camera obscurerI took Rocky for his usual walk in Pearson Park at approximately 9am. And I noticed a man about my age with a camera in his hands and the strap around his neck. He appeared to be looking for a shot. I thought he was a day or two too late to capture interesting images of the devastation to the branches and trees caused by the knock on effect of the Typhoon more severely felt at the other side of the world...

David Davis does a publicity stunt at Wimbledon

Posted on June 24, 2008
David Davis does a publicity stunt at Wimbledon

Boris Johnson the Thief of Baghdad not the cigar case should be in police custody

Posted on June 24, 2008
Boris Johnson the Thief of Baghdad not the cigar case should be in police custodyThe new London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has a shady past. He is a self-confessed thief. I seem to recall him campaigning and suggesting that the police should tackle petty crime in a zero tolerance approach...

Big energy price increases likely

Posted on June 24, 2008
Big energy price increases likelyBig increases in gas and electricity bills are likely this year, leading energy suppliers have confirmed.Bosses of the big six energy firms are answering questions about prices from MPs on the parliamentary business and enterprise select committee...

Pub to close over razor wire row

Posted on June 24, 2008
Pub to close over razor wire rowA landlord is closing down his pub after the local council refused to let him keep razor wire around it.Wayne Etheridge installed the security device at the Royal Oak, in Amblecote, Stourbridge, after burglers struck three times in less than a year...

Bail hostel staff in strike vote

Posted on June 24, 2008
Bail hostel staff in strike voteAvon and Somerset Probation service staff are being balloted for strike action over plans to downgrade workers at some bail hostels.Union leaders claim proposals to replace experienced workers with less experienced ones could pose a risk to staff and public safety...

Prison reported 'fictional' data

Posted on June 24, 2008
Prison reported 'fictional' dataManagers at a prison have been accused of making up figures relating to how long inmates spend in their cells.There were "fundamental problems" at Leeds Prison, despite attempts to improve, said a report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers...

Row over prison phone call costs

Posted on June 24, 2008
Row over prison phone call costsAn official complaint about telephone calls from prison costing seven times normal payphone rates has been made by the National Consumer Council (NCC).There is no excuse for this conduct from BT. They are subjecting a captive audience to unfair contract terms...

No laughing matter

Posted on June 23, 2008
No laughing matterEighteen police officers have been disciplined for joking about crashing cars and injuring pedestrians on a social networking website, the Metropolitan police said today.Link.Link.

Can we have fair trials and shield witnesses?

Posted on June 23, 2008
Can we have fair trials and shield witnesses?It's all very well Jack Straw promising to rush through legislation to give reluctant, frightened witnesses anonymity as a carrot for giving evidence against alleged serious criminals, but it is far from certain that he can keep his promise...

Councils told to stop snooping

Posted on June 23, 2008
Councils told to stop snoopingCouncils are to be ordered to stop using controversial snooping laws to investigate petty offences such as dog fouling, littering and breaches of school admissions policies.Councils urged to stop snooping over 'trivial' offencesTown hall leaders were warned by the head of the Local Government Association (LGA) they risked alienating the public and being stripped of the right to use spying methods...

McCanns in the dock

Posted on June 23, 2008
McCanns in the dockThe reason why the McCanns are in the dock is that they lied, and lied and lied...They lied about the checks (every hour then when that wasn?t received well ever half hour)They lied that they were performing the checks themselves (then it became known other men in the group were also checking on the McCann kids)They lied even after that in the TV interview when Kate says she discovered Madeleine gone ?on one of my checks? ? it was the only check she made that night...

Blacks are racist claims the Tory party

Posted on June 23, 2008
Blacks are racist claims the Tory party"Darcus Howe is a nasty, odious racist", claims conservativehome. The comment was made by Justin Hinchcliffe who has a link to the Tottenham Conservatives, in this post "The statement Boris should have made: I will not throw a good man to the wolves"...

Racist killer captured after bid to flee court

Posted on June 23, 2008
Racist killer captured after bid to flee courtSon of police officer guilty of racist murder. He may have joined the Army to continue his racist killings. And, yet, The Herald describes him as an Iraqi war hero! It is getting ridiculous when everybody who serves in Iraq or Afghanistan are described as heroes...

Zimbabwe's Morgan Tsvangirai seeks refuge in Dutch embassy

Posted on June 23, 2008
Zimbabwe's Morgan Tsvangirai seeks refuge in Dutch embassyMorgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, has taken refuge in the Dutch embassy in the capital Harare apparently fearing for his own safety.The Dutch foreign ministry confirmed that the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change had spent the night in the embassy but had not requested asylum...

Tory plan to ease overcrowded prisons by overcrowding them even more

Posted on June 22, 2008
Tory plan to ease overcrowded prisons by overcrowding them even more"The uncomfortable truth is that too many of our jails are unproductive human warehouses where idleness reigns and drugs are rife".

MEP arrested on fraud allegation

Posted on June 22, 2008
MEP arrested on fraud allegationA member of the European Parliament for the East has been arrested on suspicion of obtaining money by deception.Tom Wise, 60, from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire was questioned by police on Friday about an alleged fraud...

Prison 'picnic' for Bali bombers

Posted on June 22, 2008
Prison 'picnic' for Bali bombersThree men on death row for carrying out the 2002 bombings in Bali are supposedly being held in isolation, but Andrew Harding hears how they have been communicating with the outside world from their cells.

MPs set to claim £40,000 perk

Posted on June 22, 2008
MPs set to claim £40,000 perkMembers of parliament could receive a standard allowance of £40,000 a year on top of their salaries to pay for a second home in London, under proposals to be finalised this week.A committee of senior MPs, chaired by Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, wants to add the payment to MPs? salaries of £61,820...

Sharp rise in prison drug seizures

Posted on June 22, 2008
Sharp rise in prison drug seizuresThe amount of drugs seized in British prisons has increased sharply, new have figures revealed.The statistics, from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), show the total number of drug seizures rose from 4,926 in 2005 to 5,528 last year, an increase of 12 per cent...

Prisoners riot for more sex

Posted on June 22, 2008
Prisoners riot for more sexInmates at a prison in Paraguay have rioted because they want more sex.The unusual demand was among a long list of gripes which sparked a violent protest yesterday in the Esperanza prison, just outside the capital, Asuncion...

'Urgent' action on witness rules

Posted on June 21, 2008
'Urgent' action on witness rulesThe need to protect the identities of witnesses in certain court cases will be addressed "very urgently", Justice Secretary Jack Straw has said.Mr Straw told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was very concerned about a ruling by the Law Lords that restricts the use of anonymous witnesses...

Ex-BNP activist 'recruiting prisoners to join al-Qa'ida'

Posted on June 21, 2008
Ex-BNP activist 'recruiting prisoners to join al-Qa'ida'A former British National Party activist who converted to Islam in a maximum-security jail is being held in isolation on suspicion of trying to recruit fellow prisoners to terrorist groups.Stephen Jones has been confined to a segregation unit in Whitemoor prison, Cambridgeshire, for three weeks while the intelligence services investigate his alleged links to al-Qa'ida...

Oh Susannah don't you pine for me?

Posted on June 20, 2008
Oh Susannah don't you pine for me?I wonder what was going through Susannah Reid's mind when she suggested to Tim Henman "Let's see your sex"? Was it a Freudian slip? And all this before the 9am watershed...It puts a whole new meaning to success breeds success...

Jail staff criticised over death

Posted on June 20, 2008
Jail staff criticised over deathStaff at a prison have been criticised by an inquest jury for "neglect" of an inmate who hanged himself in his cell.I wonder if they had a Listener scheme operating at the prison? And, if not, why not? If there was, why was not a listener employed? The Listener scheme is pretty much like the Samaritans and the inmates involved with the scheme receive training from the Samaritans.

Prison had 'criminal subculture'

Posted on June 20, 2008
Prison had 'criminal subculture'There was a "criminal subculture" at a jail at the time a prisoner was killed by two inmates, an inquest has heard.I have to say, this headline is rather like saying water is wet...

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