I Don't Blame You, So Would I...

Mr Butoy was arrested, charged and sent to jail for stealing £208,000. It took until last year to get that conviction overturned in the High Court.

But he doesn't feel like his ordeal is over yet. "People say you've had your name cleared you're all right now. But it's not, you want justice," he tells BBC News. "I want someone else to be charged and jailed like I was."

...but you must know it's never going to happen.

On Monday, 14 February, the public inquiry into the wrongful of conviction of 706 Post Office branch managers, like Mr Butoy, will begin to hear evidence. Those convictions are the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British legal history, and are now gradually being overturned in the courts.

Far, far too late for many. 

Crucially, it will ask whether those at software developer Fujitsu, the Post Office itself or even their biggest shareholder, the government, knew about faults in the system while using that data in court to convict sub-postmasters.

The answer cannot be anything other than 'Yes, they did.' 

One such expert, Jez Thompson, worked as a team leader for Fujitsu's Horizon Training Project, covering 60,000 Post Office branches over five years from the late 1990s....he also remembers regular glitches and bugs that made the software fail to calculate the books accurately.

"Occasionally it would work, but a lot of the time it wouldn't work," he says."Anything that was wrong with our system would be wrong on the live system as well," he explains.

"And we used to, on a monthly, probably even a weekly basis, pass information up to our managers just informing them that we'd found a glitch and this doesn't work. That's just the way it went."

"I reported them [these issues] to my line manager and he then reported that to a weekly meeting with Fujitsu Training Services, where both Fujitsu and The Post Office would have been present and glitches would've been discussed," he says. "Computers have reels of data. Somewhere there is evidence that somebody knew something."

I suspect that might turn out to be the wrong tense, Mr Thompson... 

How Warped Do You Have To Be To Claim This As A Victory?

Amid the horror of Covid, some good has come out of the experience of coping with the pandemic.

Oh, really, Polly?

One of the great successes was ensuring that women locked down at home had easy access to abortion.

Ugh! 

Around 100,000 women a year in England and Wales are now using this quicker route to an early abortion.

Quicker, and breaking the spirit of the Abortion Act. Which should never, ever lead to abortion on demand.  

Still, at least this is something Polly can't blame on 'poverty' like she usually d...

Most women seeking abortions already have children: teen pregnancies have been falling this century. Women who lost income in the pandemic often seek an abortion because of a lack of money. The BPAS says many are avoiding this government’s draconian two-child benefit limit from harming their existing family.

Oh. Guess she can. 

"You were teenagers in Gloucestershire, but you spoke in the patois of urban gangsters..."

It's becoming a sadly familiar tale...

After the guilty verdict, Josh's family called on lessons to be learnt to avoid similar tragedies.

But lessons about what went wrong are likely to be far harder to elaborate and spread than simply 'it's social media won dun it!'... 

They said: 'We feel all parents need to learn an urgent and desperate lesson to take closer notice and involvement in the lives of their young people, in particular on social media.

'Similarly far too many lives are being destroyed by knives, with social media an aggravating factor.'

Social media is, however, just the medium by which these animals communicate with each other; it's not the cause. That's something far deeper, and harder to reach.  

'Parents and communities cannot rely on the authorities to provide a moral education to their children.'

Sadly, for far too many, it's too late. They have relied on this, for far too long. And a generation of nihilistic killers has been born.  

Doomed From The Start...

The baby never had a chance with parents like these:

An inquest into his death today, not attended by either parent, heard neither of the family's two pet dogs were being supervised at the time of the attack, shortly before 2am.

The two dogs being, of course, the obligatory Staffies... 

When paramedics arrived, Daniel and Amy refused to hold Reuben, the inquest heard.

If that didn't ring alarm bells, nothing should. 

The parents were both arrested by police on suspicion of child neglect following the death, but prosecutors decided not to charge them in December 2020.

Detective sergeant Emma Compson said police will take no further action against Mr McNulty or Ms Litchfield and the pair had 'separated as a result of the trauma'.

No doubt they will say 'it's in the public interest', but is it? Really? 

Ruth, Amy’s mother, said: 'We’re just glad it’s finished and we can properly move on.'

Yeah, just get another one. FFS, it was a baby, not a bloody goldfish! 

If Only We Could Ban Stupid Parents...

A mum is calling for tiny toy magnets to be banned after her six-year-old daughter had to have emergency surgery to remove part of her bowel. Jane Bailey's daughter Melody swallowed four small magnetic balls - which then began to 'burn' through her internal organs as they attracted to each other.

The woman appeared on the ITV lunchtime news, and my immediate suspicion that she'd turn out to be someone with more chins than IQ points wasn't wrong...

The 30-year-old mum, who works as a support worker for people with learning difficulties, is trying to raise awareness of the dangers toy magnets can pose.

Don't we already know? Haven't there already been numerous cases?

The mum of two was gobsmacked by the whole ordeal, having heard about cases involving other children before and warning both Melody and her older sister Lucia Bailey, 11, about the dangers.

Wait, but then... 

But she says the pair were influenced by a social media trend to put the magnetic balls in their mouths as faux tongue and lip piercings, leading Melody to swallow some.

*sighs* Is the danger the magnets, social media or people with no idea of parenting? Or maybe it's all three... 

Sometimes, It's Just As Well They Are Stupid And Incompetent...

It is alleged that, in a bid to cover his tracks, Doherty then falsified a Wikileaks document of members of the extreme right British National Party (BNP) to include Mr Hardy's name and address.

But a disciplinary hearing heard he was caught out by investigating officers who said he had 'not done a very good job at preparing the false document'.

Oh..? 

The rows of the spreadsheet did not line up, inverted commas on the faked entry were missing and Inspector Doherty added an address for Mr Hardy that he did not live at when the spreadsheet was produced, the hearing was told.

/facepalm 

Panel members were told how the alleged deceit was considered so serious that he was arrested, his home searched and electronic equipment seized.

He could not explain how he came by the spreadsheet, and allegedly claimed he had shredded and burnt the hard copy in a burner in his garden and had deleted the electronic version of it from a USB stick.

As you would... 

Inspector Doherty denies breaching the standards of professional behaviour in respect of authority, respect and courtesy, confidentiality, orders and instructions and discreditable conduct.

Do they only catch the incompetent ones? To think 'Line Of Duty' has been lying to us all these years... 

More Red Flags Than A F1 Race With Verstappen And Hamilton Neck And Neck...

A man disappeared to have sex with his girlfriend – leaving her three-and-a-half year old son in the bath.

*sighs* Luckily, he didn't drown. 

He admitted neglect by leaving the boy alone in the bathroom but was found not guilty last month of causing him grievous bodily harm.

Eh..? 

The 29-year-old, who we are not naming in order to protect the toddler’s identity, said he’d returned to the bathroom to find the boy had seriously wounded his genitals.

Wait, what..?! 

Mitigating, Paul Prior told the court: “What happened to the boy that day must be set into its proper context. This is not a family which was characterised by domestic violence, for example.

“He was step-father rather than father and he had no experience with children, although he had been left alone with the boy on previous occasions they were rare.”

His client had no previous convictions and ‘impressive’ references. They included a letter from barrister Anthony Trace QC, who described the defendant as a ‘fine young man with a great future ahead of him’.

Never mind any of that, how the hell did the kid end up with a serious injury to his genitals if he was alone? 

Turns out, because he wasn't...

The mum claimed she had gone to her bedroom to check for messages from her own mother, with whom they were due to go on holiday the following day. She left her son in the bathroom with the defendant, she said. The boy, who had finished his bath and was being towelled dry, had said he needed to go to the toilet.

“I heard screaming and shouting coming from the bathroom. I dropped the phone and ran straight back into the bathroom,” she said.

Her boyfriend, who looked ‘shocked’, was rubbing the boy’s back trying to calm him down. 

An accident of the 'he fell on it, officer!' variety? 

Doctors said the boy's injury could not have been self-inflicted.

That jury needs to take a good hard look at itself. And so do social services.  

Sorry, Essex County Council, There's No 'No Smoke Without Fire' Clause In Employment Law...

A former primary school headteacher who was cleared of sexually abusing seven children could receive compensation after a tribunal ruled he was unfairly sacked.

He was sacked before the trial? That's unusual, isn't it?  

He faced six charges of sexual offences against children at the unnamed school in Essex in June 2018, but due to the way the youngsters were interviewed the case was dropped when it reached the crown court. Despite being acquitted when the CPS offered no further evidence in May 2019, the teacher was still dismissed by Essex County Council.

Ah! There was no trial. 

A tribunal judge criticised Essex Police's handling of the case as well as Essex County Council that took over the disciplinary proceedings from the school governors over fears they would not be impartial. But the authority's executive director for corporate and customer services, Margaret Lee, was slammed for 'shooting from the hip' and not reading the teacher's legal statement from his QC.

Another council investigator who carried out the disciplinary probe did not look at any of the adult witnesses' statements and ignored that many of the children making the allegations were friends, according to the tribunal.

So...if there was no offence, why was he sacked? In fact, why was he even charged?

Judge Samantha Leigh (Ed: and if you can't win over 'soft touch Samantha'..!) at Basildon Crown Court said had the full extent of the initial interviews with the children been known the teacher would probably not have been charged with any criminal offences.

/facepalm 

Employment Judge John Crosfill in his ruling said, 'there was evidence from children that suggested some inappropriate behaviour'. But he added: 'Against that there was considerable evidence that went the other way.

'What was required was a reasonable and careful evaluation of that evidence. I regret to say that the combined efforts of Norma Howes, Jo Reed, Clare Kershaw and Margaret Lee fell far short of that.'

Norma Howes, a child protection expert, Jo Reed, an external HR advisor, Clare Kershaw, director of education at Essex County Council and Margaret Lee, carried out the authority's probe.

Badly, clearly!

And let's hope that any compensation due to the wronged man comes directly out of their pockets, and not that of the poor long-suffering Essex taxpayer... 

Essex County Council said it would take legal advice about the judge's ruling.

Dig deep, Essex ratepayers, there's more money to shell out! 

It's A Cliche, I Know...

...but it's really true that in this country, if you want to kill someone and get off lightly, do it in a car:

A mother-of-two who killed a cyclist in a hit-and-run crash while over ten times the prescribed limit for cocaine and later told police she thought she had hit a fox has been jailed...

Well, I should think so! 

...for five years.

Wait, what? 

Moughan, who has two daughters aged 18 and 12, sobbed on Monday as Judge Simon Hickey handed her a five-year jail term and a six-year driving ban, telling her no sentence 'could possibly do justice in the family's eyes'.

Probably true, but y'know, at least try... 

Ms Pearson said Moughan then drove on towards Selby with a smashed windscreen and on the rims of her wheels as her tyres had been seriously damaged in the crash. She said: 'By 11.55 pm, [Moughan] reached Selby [where] police were dealing with another incident.' Officers were alerted to the noise of Moughan's car as it drove past them because it was being driven 'on two of the rims [and] its tyres were completely flat'.

She added: 'The front windscreen was completely smashed.'

Good grief! 

Moughan was stopped and breathalysed, and when asked about the collision, she told officers she thought she had hit a fox.

They have foxes that big? What does the local hunt use, pitbulls? 

Moughan was arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving, and later released under investigation. But two months later, police found her slumped in another damaged car, heavily drunk.

/facepalm 

Neil Cutte, mitigating, said Moughan had never been in trouble before her first conviction in December, had been in full-time employment and was previously 'highly thought of'.

Not any longer... 

In sentencing Moughan, Judge Hickey said: 'It's a tragedy that was completely avoidable.'

Well, yes. And she clearly didn't learn her lesson, did she? I've never seen a case with more aggravating factors. So a five year sentence - which we all know she won't fully serve - doesn't quite seem fitting, does it? 

It's All Becoming Much Clearer Now...

The outgoing head of the UK Border Force has triggered a political row by describing ‘bloody borders’ as ‘just such a pain in the bloody a***’.

Paul Lincoln’s incendiary remarks – made in a speech to mark his departure as director general of the Border Force...

It always is, isn't it? 

Like the Army general who lays into the modernisation programme while keeping his mouth shut and his pension growing until retirement day. You only get their real thoughts and character when you aren't paying them any more.

Mr Lincoln, who left his position last month as part of a shake-up by Home Secretary Priti Patel...

It seems she's doing something, after all, then! But will it be enough?

I Wonder What Else Has Increased Along With It?

The number of “honour-based” abuse (HBA) offences recorded by English police forces has soared over the past five years, figures suggest.

Hmm, what else has 'soared' over the past five years in tandem? 

While some of the increase in HBA offences could be down to more victims coming forward and improved identification of offences by police...

That 'could be' is doing a lot of work, eh? 

...Imran Khodabocus, a senior associate at the Family Law Company who represents families in such cases, said the rise was alarming.

He said: “It’s essential education around what honour-based abuse is and how it impacts families is improved across the country.”

Education for whom, Mr Khodabocus? 

Something Odd About This Case...

Loui Phillips was murdered in broad daylight in Monk Bretton on Sunday, August 8, by a 17-year-old boy he had never met.

The young Barnsley football fan was stabbed in the chest as he rode his bike with a friend along Fish Bank Lane at around 2pm and his killer then walked away.

A no-motive stabbing murder of a 15 year old stranger, and this isn't headline news? 

DCI Mark Oughton said: “This is an incredibly tragic case where an innocent young boy was stabbed to death because his attacker was jealous.

Jealous? Of what? We aren't told.  

“The killer planned his attack, locating Loui and his friend having purposely set out to go and stab him.

This doesn't add up - it may just be clumsy phrasing, but it sounds as if the attacker did know the victim and targeted him personally.

He has shown no remorse for his actions and always maintained his innocence until Monday.

“Loui was still conscious after he was stabbed and managed to give a full account of the attack to a police officer on the way to the hospital. All he wanted to know was where his mum was.

“My thoughts are with Loui’s mum, and his family and friends today; they have suffered unimaginable loss this year and no court result can ever make up for that.”

The teenager will return to Sheffield Crown Court for sentencing on Friday, December 17.

Maybe we'll get some answers about what provoked the attack then. But isn't it odd that the national press seems to have taken no interest in this at all? 

H/T: kwilliam111 via Twitter

Maybe You Shouldn't Have Just Stood Guard..?

Police were forced to protect a dying seal on a beach as crowds hurled stones at it in its final moments.

The seal died just hours after officers attended the scene in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk to guard it on Tuesday.

Some people were spotted throwing stones at the grey seal, while parents were seen taking pictures of their children alongside the dying mammal.

Maybe you should have arrested a few of the ghouls and morons? 

Or some of the grandstanding idiots who claim to 'help wildlife' (as long as it's not too inconvenient for them, of course): 

Daniel Goldsmith, chairman of Marine Wildlife Rescue, attended the scene.

"Upon arriving we realised that we needed to euthanize the seal, which would be the most humane course of action.

"We needed to do it as soon as possible, otherwise it would end up at sea and its suffering would be prolonged. The crowds that had gathered made it difficult to do this safely."

Really? Why? The police were there standing guard, weren't they? 

"We contacted Great Yarmouth Borough Council in order to assist with the removal of the seal after it was euthanised but they said they could not do so without advanced notice. We hoped to return later that day so the crowds would be quieter and hoped that the council would help then."

Wait, what? You knew the animal needed to be euthanised then and there. Why didn't you do it, instead of whining about 'crowds'..?

"Unfortunately they still couldn't. We returned at 4.30pm and the seal eventually went back into the sea, where it was seen floating limply but was not really swimming.

"It may take several days or weeks for a seal in this state to die and will likely turn up elsewhere along the coast in a poor state."

Well, yes, because you let it! And no, the council isn't on the hook for that, you are! 

Great Yarmouth Borough Council said: "We received a call yesterday from a man who was on his way to Yarmouth to potentially put down a seal that had been found on Yarmouth beach.

"We were happy to assist and advised that the council could collect it from the beach once it was dead, but not before as the council does not handle live animals.

"The council advised we would be able to collect the dead animal the following morning. Normal council policy is for collection of animals within 24 to 48hrs, dependant on their location and how easy the access is to the site."

Someone needs to ask some hard questions of Mr Goldsmith. The behaviour of the spectators has drawn all the media attention. He should be getting some, too. 

She's Been Removed To A Gulag To 'Educate Herself', Comrades...

The director of one of the UK's biggest heavy metal festivals has "taken a step back" from her role after coming under fire for...

Smashing up a hotel room? Biting the head off a bat? Satanic imagery? 

...an "uninformed" tweet.

Err... 

Bloodstock's Vicky Hungerford was criticised after tweeting her annoyance at people putting their preferred pronouns on their email signatures.

It is a common practice in the LGBTQ+ community, and used by trans allies as a show of solidarity.

Oh, FFS! It's nothing of the sort, it's a tedious modern invention to let virtuesignallers prove how hard they genuflect to the latest trends. 

Ms Hungerford said she was "genuinely upset I have caused upset".

Well, you shouldn't be. 'Upset' is what these people feed on - they crave it like vampires crave the blood of virgins. 

A statement from Bloodstock Festival said: "We are deeply sorry to everyone affected by these uninformed comments.

"For now, Vicky has taken a step back from Bloodstock effective immediately, and will be taking the time to properly educate herself for a better understanding."

And if that isn't the creepiest thing you've ever read, I don't know what would be... 

Perhaps If She'd Insisted She Was Really A Man, She'd Still Have A Job...

A nurse has unsuccessfully tried to sue the NHS after claiming she was being secretly hypnotised at work - to force her to uncontrollably break wind.

*boggle* Gosh, I hope she was just a five-a-day consultant or something, not in a trusted position.

The Acute Medical Unit nurse...

Oh... 

...described it as ‘extremely bothersome’ when she sent an email at work in April 2019. Its claims led bosses to become concerned about her mental health and they referred her to an occupational health team.

They weren't concerned before? Surely there was some warning? 

Three different doctors saw her, with two deeming she was unfit to work, and the Trust repeatedly tried to get her to see a psychiatrist. However, Miss Samson insisted she was not mentally ill and refused to see the psychiatrist, claiming she thought she was being ‘experimented upon’.

At least they acted, this time. 

Miss Samson was suspended then sacked in December 2019 for refusing to cooperate with psychiatric help, with the Trust saying ‘there was no other option’ than dismissal.

One hopes her card is well and truly marked and she can't apply for any other nursing job? But it's strange, isn't it, how some delusions are not tolerated, and some are not only tolerated but 'celebrated'? 

"Let Me Through, I'm An Employment Tribunal Judge..."

"That's nice, madam, but this person needs a doctor..."

A factory worker who was sacked for attacking a colleague has won a disability discrimination claim after a tribunal ruled he was suffering from 'diabetic rage'.

Wait, that's a thing? Really? Well, I guess he had a doctor to prove his...

Oh, maybe not: 

At the tribunal, Mr Dytkowski was 'very frank' that he had sought but failed to get evidence from his clinicians which supported his view, explaining doctors 'could not say for sure'.

Yeah, I guess that doesn't matter though, because who needs medical experts?  

But Employment Judge Joanne Dunlop agreed with him and ruled that he was discriminated on grounds of his disability and unfairly dismissed.

'He is not a medical expert but, at least to some extent, we are entitled to treat him as an expert on his own condition and how he experiences the effects of it.'

/facepalm 

I Really Don't Understand Juries Sometimes...

...and I've been on one!

A female getaway driver for a gunman who killed an innocent law student in a 'senseless and shocking' drive-by shooting has been jailed for 15 years.

No pussy pass for her, and rightly so. The crime was awful. 

Aya was shot in the chest by hired hitman Zamir Raja, 33, in Blackburn, Lancashire. She was not the intended target of the shooting, which came after a long-running feud between rival tyre firm owners Feroz Suleman and Pachah Khan.

Ahhhh, feel the enrichment! 

Judy Chapman, of Great Harwood, the girlfriend of Uthman Satia, drove the gunman and driver from Bolton to the Toyota Avensis which was used to carry out the shooting and collected them afterwards.

She was found guilty of Aya's manslaughter but not guilty of the attempted murder of Khan following a trial at Preston Crown Court.

*blinks* How come? 

Not guilty of the attempt on the actual target, but huilty of the accidental killing of a bystander? In what world does that make sense?

Wait, What...?

Britain’s [redacted] laws are racist and cause “high levels of mental health harm” among black people, a former No 10 race adviser has said.

Immigration laws? 

Well, no. Would you believe, drugs laws? 

Simon Woolley said drugs legislation introduced 50 years ago had failed to cut the use, supply and harms associated with illegal drugs, and instead was used “as a tool of systemic racism”.

*blinks* 

Despite white people reporting higher rates of drug consumption, black people were more likely to be stopped and searched for suspected drug possession and were more likely to be arrested, charged and imprisoned for drug offences, he said.

And that has nothing to do with the different attitudes of both groups to how they source and use their product, I presume..?

Who appointed this idiot?

Lord Woolley, 59, who was appointed by Theresa May to chair the government’s race disparity unit’s advisory group and is now a crossbench peer, said the failure of UK drugs legislation was having a devastating impact on public health.

Oh. Of course, that wouldn't have been a problem if the first thing Boris did on Election Day was clear out May's Augean Stables. Rather than add more cattle...

Oz, The Great And Terrible...

Ever since their police gave up all pretence that the brutal covid restrictions were anything to do with concern for people's health and wellbeing, they seem to have decided that anything goes:

Furious parents have hurled abuse from the stands as they watched an all-boys netball team trounce a girls team 46-12 in a state grand final - after they were controversially allowed into the competition by organisers.

And they didn't even have to put on frocks and lippy! 

Netball Queensland defended its decision to include the boys in the tournament, where they easily won their seven games on the way to the title, on the basis they had nowhere else to play due to the lower number of male players.

/facepalm 

'We are hopeful this will be a catalyst for a stand alone men's competition in 2022.'

'Queensland Suns acknowledges the perceptions of disadvantage or unfairness for the girls regional teams, however the purpose of the opportunity afforded to us was not to overshadow them, but to provide some much-needed exposure on a significant stage,' it said.

This 'reasoning' is something I'm unfamiliar with, as I am of this new incarnation of the Aussie, no longer a tough-talking, resourceful but fair member of society. What the hell happened? 

Here's Who You Were Clapping For, NHS Worshippers...

James Peter Farthing, 28, spoke to the 'teenager' on messaging service Kik - under the username 'olderc**k' - as well as on Snapchat.

The junior doctor, who worked for the NHS in Stockport, asked to see photographs of her body and shared an image of penis.

The account was actually being run by an undercover police officer and Farthing was later arrested for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Well, you know what they say about the Internet... 

However, today he walked free from Minshull Street Crown Court after being handed a suspended sentence.

Errr, OK, even for Minshull Street, that's excessively lenient. Are we that short iof doctors? 

Lawyers mitigating for Farthing, said he had been juggling working long hours during the pandemic, his wife's health condition and his training.

They said he had 'emotional struggles', had been watching pornography and smoking cannabis at the time - but that he was working to address his issues.

So a doctor thinks that the best way to cope with stress is smoke illegal drugs and watch obscene material? Boy, if this creature ever finishes its training, I hope someone oversees what prescriptions it writes! 

His supervisor - a consultant - and training programme director provided statements to the court.

Staff and patients 'all expressed shock' after Farthing was arrested, the court heard, as people thought he had a good 'moral compass'.

Mr Gurney said they 'stand by him' because they acknowledge his remorse.

People thought the world of Harold Shipman too...