Another great day for British “justice” – 2

Thanks to the Wolverhampton Express & Star for bringing us yet another example of how the judicial system looks after the criminal, rather than the victim.

Two predators who attacked lone women in the West Midlands in a series of terrifying kidnaps and robberies have had their 10-year jail sentences cut.

Nathan Hamilton, aged 24, and 28-year-old Jobari Blake stole jewellery including wedding and engagement rings from their victims before driving them to cashpoints for more money. The pair attacked random women in Wolverhampton and Birmingham, often targeting them as they got into their cars after shopping, between May and June last year.

The sentencing judge at Birmingham Crown Court said at the time the robbers showed callous disregard for the victims in taking the jewellery,

In one case a woman’s plea to be left alone because her husband had cancer was ignored.

One victim was snatched from a supermarket in Wolverhampton, while other was taken from a shopping centre in Perry Barr and several abductions took place in the Handsworth area of Birmingham.

Jail sentences of 10 years were imposed on each of the thugs after they pleaded guilty to five counts of kidnapping and five robberies last September, were yesterday cut to eight years by appeal judges.

Lord Justice Dyson, sitting with Mr Justice Collins and Mr Justice Maddison at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, cut the sentences by two years each, after saying the previous judge passed sentences that were too long.

Lord Dyson said: “These were carefully planned offences, targeting lone women, and subduing them using violence of necessary.

“Although the physical injuries were not of the most serious kind, the emotional and psychological harm caused was incalculable.

“But despite the gravity of these offences, we have been persuaded that the sentences imposed were too high, taking into account the roles of the two in the offending and the low intelligence and suggestibility of Hamilton.”

Hamilton is of Shakespear Street, Sparkhill, while Blake is of Collymore Avenue, Bromford.

Lord Justice Dyson made the ruling after saying the pair were not the ringleaders of the gang and had not physically harmed any of the victims themselves.

A price worth paying?

Like the vast majority of us, PC Geoff King joined West Midlands Police “to reduce crime and disorder and make our communities feel safer”

PC King was patrolling an area of Wolverhampton that had been hit by a spate of car thefts. He was doing his duty and being the diligent officer that he is, he approached a man who he believed was acting suspiciously.

This man, not wanting to be troubled by an officer doing what the public expects of its police force, pulled out a handgun and shot PC King twice at point blank range. PC King lost over six pints of blood. He was minutes from death. He still hasn’t returned to full duties.

The man responsible for attempting to murder PC King was found, tried, convicted and sentenced.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority has put a price on this traumatic incident, which has left PC King with permanent scars and ongoing psychological problems.

The value of having a couple of bullets pumped into you while doing your duty? £4,000. I’ll put that in words, in case you think some zeros might have dropped off. That’s Four Thousand Pounds.

Let’s put that into perspective. If you watch the ads for those ambulance chasing compensation grabbing legal firms, you will have seen the woman who can’t walk over a slightly damp floor without crashing to the ground. She got £4,000. Some bloke who was too busy eyeing up schoolgirls at a bus stop to notice a car pulling out of a drive got several thousand pounds. Another woman who wasn’t looking where she was going tripped up over some parcel binding and gets a huge payout.

These people, who are apparently genuine, get paid out despite the fact that their own lack of attention contributed to their downfall. PC King was doing his job and probably had no expectation or anticipation that he would be shot at, yet he receives less compensation than people who were victims of their own lack of awareness.

There is a limit to how much the CICA can pay out. After all, it’s funded by tax-payers. PC King is one of those tax-payers.  It does not appear that there is any limit to how much comfort and how many perks his attacker will get in prison. The man responsible for putting PC King in this position will never have to pay a penny in compensation.

I don’t know PC King personally, but I do know officers like him who have been injured in the course of their duty. Each one of them will say that they were doing the job they love and would do the same again in the circumstances. None of them demand or expect financial compensation for injuries received, but they deserve some recognition for the unique nature of the job that they do.

I don’t think the price that PC King has paid has been anywhere near reimbursed.

Another great day for British “justice”

Take a look at this picture

This is Joe Paxton – he was driving a train in the Kidderminster area, minding his own business, when some morons dropped a slab off an overhead bridge.

The slab bounced off one train and went through the windscreen of the cab that Mr Paxton was in. He was knocked unconscious and received serious injuries.

The two oxygen thieves who performed this act of gross stupidity were caught and convicted. One of them was sent down for seven and a half years.

The defence team for this waste of good skin promptly launched an appeal against the sentence. No doubt paid for by Legal Aid funded by the honest tax-payers of this country – you know, the likes of you, me and Mr Paxton.

As a result of this appeal, Daniel Ratcliffe had his sentence reduced to six years, meaning he will be out in three. Free to “laugh and joke” about how he and his mate nearly killed a man.

If I were Mr Paxton and his family, I don’t think words could describe how I would be feeling right now.

Thank you to the Court of Appeal for once again capitulating to the whims of the criminal and ignoring the victims of crime.

You can read the story here.

(First posted on Police Oracle forum 1013 20/02/08)

Diana inquest cost now over £6 million….

…. and you know what?

She’s still dead (allegedly)

Ashes to Ashes

Fire up the Quattro!

DCI Gene Hunt has transferred to the Met. No doubt he has had his Diversity training and is as politically correct as ever.

The follow-up to Life on Mars starts tonight on BBC1 at 2100.

Policing as it used to be done!

Be careful what you wish for…

Sir Ronnie Flanagan has published a review on policing. In his considered opinion, only 10% of the stuff we do needs a police officer’s training to do it.

The solution to this dilemma is apparently quite simple. Get more civvies in to do the jobs that don’t require a police officer.

So statements will be taken by a member of police staff. Prisoner interviews will be done by police staff. Collection of CCTV from the petrol station who have had their fifteenth drive off of the week would be done by police staff.

This is all very well, until the time comes when industrial relations break down and all those civvies put down their pens and walk out. Who will be left to take the statements? Oh yes – all those police officers who have never been trained to do the job and have no idea how to gather the evidence needed. Who will be told to interview Billy Burglar? The probationer who has never even seen a tape machine, let alone used one or interviewed anybody.

It’s all very well saying that police officers shouldn’t be doing this stuff, but one of the reasons we should be getting a decent pay settlement is that we can’t go on strike.  As Jan Berry has quite rightly pointed out, if the Home Office take away all the personal interactive stuff from us, all that will be left is the door kicking, drunk lifting and brick catching. Some might like the idea, but it isn’t what policing in this country is about.

I think Sir Ronnie might have missed the point.