"All the bazaar men by the Nile, they got the money on a bet..."

Dr Medhat Keshta, 66, had been struck off after he was accused of putting his own greed before patients when he forged a letter pretending to be from his former employers falsely claiming he had been paid better money when he worked there - before faking a back problem to take six weeks off and then moonlight for another NHS trust. When asked to explain his dishonesty, the father-of-two said he had 'misjudged the situation' cited his large ego and claimed he had 'followed the same procedures covered in Egypt'.

Well, better he goes home and tries it there, then. Once we deport him. We are deporting him? 

He said he had 'no choice' but to demand better money as his daughter Fatima was due to start university and added: 'Culturally, a husband and a father are the 'god' of the house. I did not want my family to find out that I lied and forged a letter. 'This is not how I want to set an example to my family and the wider public.'

Well, now you're in a national newspaper, so that didn't go well, did it?  

He added: 'Apologies are not something that are easily granted where I come from. My ego prevented me from reaching full insight into the case early enough and I regret this deeply. I have now reached a stage where I am openly admitting everything I did. I have not felt more at peace with myself as I feel now. I will never put myself in this place again. These mistakes will not be repeated.'

Because we're deporting you?  

Today, it emerged Keshta's name had been restored to the medical register after Fatima, now a pharmacist and nutritionist, agreed to represent him at a tribunal in Manchester to plead on his behalf. It was the third time he had pleaded for his job back.

*sighs* 

MPTS chairman Mrs Becky Miller said: 'Dr Keshta's journey of insight has been long, and he has had to overcome a lot of self-serving justification for his actions.

'The tribunal bore in mind the 2020 Tribunal's concern that he emphasised Egyptian practices which allow a doctor to take a leave of absence from one place in order to work in another and that he sought to minimise his behaviour.

All things that should show his current claims aren't true. 

'But it noted Dr Keshta has since addressed this issue and he admitted that 'self-justification was wrong.' He has since acknowledged the full extent of his dishonesty and has learnt to express his shame in a genuine manner.'

How do you get to be so gullible and hold such a high position? 

I'm Pretty Sure He Can Live With It Just Fine, Emma...

A widower who lost his wife after she was knocked down by an e-scooter has been left 'furious' after the teenager driver was spared jail.

As anyone would be... 

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to causing death by driving a vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence, and to causing death by driving a vehicle while uninsured.

He was handed down a 12-month referral order and banned from driving for five years at Nottingham youth court. But for Mr Davis, the sentence was not enough.

It could be said that no sentence would ever be enough, but... 

Since 2019, there have been 31 deaths involving e-scooters in the UK, according to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS).

Mostly of the idiots choosing to ride them. Mostly... 

Detective Constable Emma Temple, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: 'This tragic case shows how vitally important it is for people to fully understand the laws and implications of riding e-scooters and where they can be used.

'This was a completely avoidable collision. This boy now has to live with the knowledge that his actions that day resulted in the death of a much-loved woman.'

He's a teenager irresponsible enough to get on it in the first place, so I'm betting he's had few sleepless nights, Emma. 

Are All Labour Councillors Thick As Mince..?

...or is it just this one? 

She was immediately - and beautifully - taken to task by Twitter users. But the breathtaking idiocy of tweeting something like this about people caught in the act astonishes me. 

The immediate assumption that 'racism' drove this, as it it would ever be racist to object to this sort of disregard for our surroundings, as if people wouldn't somehow be as angry if the people doing it were a different race. 

"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.  

"These Underclass Scum Are Just Smarter Than Us Oh-Too-Caring Professionals!"

Predictably, the 'Guardian' wheels out a stooge (professor of social work, no less!) to try to deflect blame from the state's agents over the horrific Arthur Labinjo-Hughes case:

...it is very important that inquiries take the effects of poor resourcing and the wider impact of austerity into account when looking into how social workers interacted with Arthur.

All that's missing is a whine about 'Thatcher!'...

It wasn't resources they lacked, it was clearly common sence and a desire to put the child's needs first! 

Which brings us to a final hugely influential factor: the parents and their emotional impact. It is clear that they were frighteningly strategic in their abuse of Arthur and no doubt in concealing it. It has become commonplace for inquiries into such cases to conclude that social workers and others lack “professional curiosity” and miss the obvious because they are too “optimistic”; that the “rule of optimism” results in professionals naively and hopefully believing what parents tell them, and denying what is in front of them.

Because once again, that appears to have been the case here. The photo of a whopping great bruise that social workers 'didn't see' proves that! 

What did these fiendishly cunning Moriartys do, hypnotise them? 

But perhaps sensing that isn't likely to fly, he switches tack effortlessly: it's because they just care too much and can't cope, you horrible right-winger press!

My years of practice and research into child protection social work suggests that far from being optimistic, when faced with such aggressive and manipulative parents, social workers’ states of mind are often closer to helplessness. They are outmanoeuvred and overcome by the suffering and sadness in the atmosphere of such homes and in the children’s lives.

Then they aren't the right people for the job, and they shouldn't be in it. If I failed a task because I was 'overcome with hopelessness' I'd be sent for retraining or fired! 

Why doesn't that ever apply to these people? 

Covid, social distancing and the personal risks social workers routinely had to take to see children in their homes increased the complexity still further. The more that is taken into account – along with the emotional demands and funding deficits and systemic problems that mean social workers are faced with obstacles that make their job much more difficult than it needs to be – the more can be learned from Arthur’s tragic death.

We learned all we needed to learn from Baby P, Dylan Tiffin-Brown and Evelyn-Rose Muggleton, Victoria Climbie, Daniel Pelka, Ellie Butler... the list goes on and on and on. 

And it will continue to go on and on and on until social work is overhauled and this kind of incompetence is not tolerated and excused.

Sorry, Covid Isn't The Fall Guy Here...

A man who stabbed people at random, killing one and seriously injuring seven others, has been sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years.

But not for murder, as you'd expect... 

McLeod pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, as well as four charges of attempted murder and three charges of wounding with intent.

He was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court. 

The judge said the 28-year-old was a "significant risk" to the public and ordered him to be detained, initially at Ashworth psychiatric hospital.

Oh, well, I guess we're all safe now...until they let him out again. 

McLeod was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time and was "well-known" to mental health services. However, the judge said he got "lost in the system" after being freed from prison during the COVID lockdown in April 2020.

Really? Gosh. There must have been a lot of covid around in 2019, 2018, 2017  and 2016, then?

The court heard McLeod had been suffering with paranoid schizophrenia since 2012. He had previous convictions for robbery, escaping from lawful custody, possession of a firearm in a public place and possession of class A drugs.

Superintendent Jim Munro told Sky News: "He wasn't under any licence conditions and actively being managed, so he'd come back out having served his sentence."

Don't blame covid for the perennial and consistent failures of the mental health system, judge.  

Weakening Justice Even Further...

A mother imprisoned for causing serious harm to her baby has told the court of appeal she lied at her trial because of the control her former boyfriend had over her.

Ah, the modern-day equivalent of 'pleading your belly'. 

The woman, known as Jenny, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the appeal court it was her partner at the time who caused their son’s skull fractures and bleeding on the brain in June 2017.

The landmark hearing has the potential to change the way coercive control is understood in cases where a victim feels that abuse has led them to lie in court.

And of course, if she wins, there'll be a rush to the lawyers from every female incarcerated for killing her child, or standing by while her partner did so... 

At the original trial the woman, Jenny, said she caught her cardigan on a cupboard door while preparing her son’s feed, causing him to fall to a concrete floor. She was given a 10-year extended sentence, later reduced to five.

On Thursday she told judges the baby’s father punched her in the head as she held their son, causing them both to fall.

So she lied. Why do they never do them for perjury when they change their story? 

She claimed she was unable to tell police the truth because her boyfriend was present.

“I did not want to anger him or agitate him as he [was holding] my baby.”

While police were in the room? Pull the other one, love! 

Representing the Crown, John Price QC said the appeal was seeking a “second bite at the cherry”.

Actually, a third. She's already had her sentence reduced, remember... 

He said: “The evidence the applicant gave introduces nothing new about the degree of force with which the child struck the floor – whether that was caused by a cardigan catching or by a punch.”

He focused on the veracity of her reasoning as to why she failed to tell the jury the truth. “We submit there is no credible explanation for that,” he said. Price pointed to witness reports that after the incident the child’s father shouted that she had thrown the baby and she replied: “I was feeding the child, you hit me and that is how the baby dropped.”

Price argued they later changed their accounts and formed “a cynical agreement to further their mutual interests”.

Yup, no doubt. Why not? It's likely to work, these days... 

(Lady Justice) Macur acknowledged that coercive control victims could find themselves isolated. But she added: “I keep coming back to that incident. We have still got to make a decision about whether her evidence is worthy of belief.”

She's a proven liar. If that doesn't help with the decision, what will? 

'This Private Company Is Failing...'

'..so let's employ another to check them!'. This is the logic here:

Criminal checks on home-to-school transport drivers will be independently checked, it has been announced - following claims it should not be "for the contractor to self-police".

Birmingham City Council cabinet member Cllr Sharon Thompson has said an external company will support the council in verifying disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks on all drivers.

Presumably their own staff haven't proved up to the task? 

A report published by Birmingham City Council noted that 59 out of 110 employees at North Birmingham Travel involved in the contract did not appear to have a documented DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check in place.

Sixteen staff had 'positive disclosures' - meaning they included cautions, convictions or other criminal disclosures, which are not an automatic bar but are subject to further scrutiny - but "officers could only assure themselves about two".

A further allegation said a document relating to DBS checks appeared to have been tampered with.

At least the private companies' services can be dispensed with by cancelling the contract. We're stuck with the local authority staff. 

Compare And Contrast, Pt 783245896512

A teenage car thief who killed a father-of-three when he rolled over his head after stealing his vehicle has been jailed for less than five years.

The boy, who was 14 at the time of the crime and is now 15 so cannot be named because of his age, sped off in restaurant-owner Mohammed Islam's silver Mercedes, as the owner shouted 'No! No! No!' and held on to the car.

He went 'flying' as the teenager — who has an IQ of 66 — 'floored' the vehicle, Manchester Crown Court heard.

A car thief and killer at 14. What was the victim doing at the same age, I wonder?  

Mr Islam, 53, who came to the UK alone from Bangladesh as a 14-year-old, had worked 'tirelessly' all his life, first to bring his family over to Britain and then to build up a successful restaurant business.

Ah.  

Simon Csoka QC, mitigating, said the teenager has significant learning difficulties and an attention deficit disorder, but was now making progress.

In what..? 

He added: 'He does have comprehension of the enormity of the loss he has caused.'

Does he? That's nice. 

With an IQ of 66 I was expecting this to be another case of the products of cousin marriage within the victim's own 'community', but looking at the co-defendant names, I'm not so sure... 

Co-defendant Connor Read, 18, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal, was given 13 months detention suspended for two years and ordered to do 120 hours unpaid work.

A second teenager, aged 15, is yet to be sentenced for conspiracy to steal. Two others, both aged 18, are due in court on the same charge on Tuesday.

Hmmm... 

And Would You Open Up Your Surgery For Them To Have It?

Covid vaccines have been a remarkable success, but if we are to enhance public safety and return to normality, we must build on that achievement.

Interesting you talk about 'coverage', because Janet Street Porter points out:

...the real scandal is happening at GP's surgeries all over the country. And I don't think money is the problem.

Waiting rooms lie empty, lines of freshly sanitised chairs sit without any occupants. Signs on external doors say 'do not enter without an appointment' - so the sick stay at home and potentially shorten their lives, forced to hang on to the phone waiting for ages or try and log on, remember their NHS number, password and navigate a complicated website.

It's easier for Michael Gove to enter a nightclub mask-less and make a complete tit of himself, than it is to meet your local GP face-to-face.

Seems they are only willing to do this now if they are weilding a needle like an eager Spanish DEFRA vet. 

GPs are holding 3.4million fewer face-to-face appointments a month compared with before the pandemic. The shocking figures reveal the scale of the shift towards consultations held remotely.

The Alzheimer’s Society said virtual appointments do not work for people with dementia, while Labour, which analysed the NHS England data, said the shift increased the risk of serious illness being misdiagnosed.

But who cares about serious illness when we have a version of the flu to worry about? 

Good Riddance, And Thank God You've Failed...

Prisons reflect society back to itself: they embody the ways we have failed, the people we have failed, and the policies that have failed, all at immense human – and economic – cost.

We haven't failed the people in prison; they've mostly failed themselves. 

As chief executive of the prison reform charity the Howard League for the past 35 years, reforming prisons has become my life’s mission. In October, I will leave my work with one sad but inescapable conclusion: prisons are the last unreformed public service, stuck in the same cycle of misery and futility as when I arrived.

So you've wasted your life just as surely as those behind bars? How fitting, karma's working overtime here... 

Minister after minister has done nothing to address the central question haunting our prison system: what is it all for?

It's to punish the guilty and keep the innocent safe from their depredations. What else could it be for?  

At the heart of prisons is the fact that they are fundamentally unjust. They embed and compound social, economic and health inequalities.

Ah, yes. If someone commits crime, it's never because they are greedy or bad - it's because they were 'driven to it' by factors outside their control. 

What would your solution be, then Frances, were someone ever stupid enough to grant you any real power? 

The whole system needs radical overhaul, starting with a swingeing reduction in the number of people we imprison. Custody is the most drastic and severe response the state has at its disposal and should only be used in exceptional and rare instances – either for the most egregious crimes, or when someone poses a serious and continuing threat to public safety. Abiding by that principle would virtually empty our prisons of women and children, and drastically reduce the number of men behind bars.

And drastically increase the crime rate. Brilliant plan! 

Over the past 35 years, I hope that I have contributed to making things just a bit better. I am most proud of the work we have done with police forces to reduce the arrests of young people, saving hundreds of thousands of children from experiencing the trauma and lifelong damage of being arrested.

Young people like these, you mean? You sicken me more than they do, 

But It's Not 'Beyond Shocking' At All, Is It?

On Wednesday, a 14-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of his murder and a second boy, also 14, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. Both are now in custody at an east London police station.

Detective Inspector John Marriott, of the Met's Specialist Crime Command, said: 'We believe that James confronted a group of youths causing a disturbance and was stabbed as a result.

'The brutality of this response is beyond shocking and our thoughts are with James' family who have been left devastated by their loss.'

But it's not at all 'beyond shocking'. Is it? It's inevitable, when thugs are allowed to do as they please without any fear of the police: 

Today, Mr Markham's wife, Candice, told the Mirror: 'The boys were walking around with metal poles. They were swinging them and shouting at my daughter.

'It's just disgusting. It's not the first time - you see them walking around and smashing bottles in the street.'

Indeed, they are apparently well known in the area. It didn't take the police long to sweep them up, did it?

Chief Superintendent Richard Tucker, responsible for local policing in Waltham Forest, said: 'The Met remains committed to tackling violence across London and I would like to reassure the community that we will do everything we can to track down those responsible for this attack.

'I understand the concern this incident will cause and I would like to reassure residents that you will continue to see additional officers in the area over the coming days.'

Perhaps if you'd come along to bolt the stable door before the horse galloped over that hill, there wouldn't be a grieving widow right now, and a family destroyed. The knife wielders of course bear the majority of the responsibility for that, but I cannot say, hand on heart, that the local police farce that has proven so utterly ineffective doesn't also bear some.  

Can you, Reader?

No, It's A Stain On Your Organisation's Reputation...

Former Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter (Ed: Surely not..?!) last week described the Wembley scenes as 'a stain on our country's reputation'.

Why? Like millions of other people, I was sitting at home watching it, not taking part. And millions of others were having a meal out, watching TV, painting the bedroom, reading a book...

Why should it be 'a stain on our reputation'? 

The Metropolitan police farce, however, has questions to answer:

The male Metropolitan Police officer, who has not been named, had been speaking about the chaotic scenes at the London stadium during England's match against Italy on July 11.

The officer told The Times that he and his colleagues had not been 'allowed' to use robust deterrents as senior members of the force were reluctant to give the go-ahead.

He told the publication: 'The best we did was manhandle them down the ramps away from the stadium...

'It's all about the brand image. It is just annoying we are held back from doing our job. We are in public order gear for a reason.'

Do I detect the cold, clammy hand of the Dame of Disaster herself here? 

The officer also made a series of claims to suggest that authorities were not adequately prepared.

He said that many officers attending were hesitant due to being newly trained in public order policing.

Funny, when I'm newly trained in something, I can't wait to put it into practice. What sort of people are they hiring here? 

"I'm Only Interested In One Thing..."

Detective Sergeant Caroline Brannan was found to have breached Kent Police's standards of professional behaviour, which amounted to gross misconduct, at an online hearing.

And what did this one do? 

Earlier this month a panel heard how the officer, who has served at both Northfleet and Medway stations, tasked junior officers with "improper" personal errands.

On one occasion in February 2018 she instructed DC Max Bresnahan to drive 20 miles to take her mobile to the Apple store in Bromley and to bring it back once repaired.

According to the statement given by the former officer he was told by DS Brannan that she had a job for him and was given the keys to a police vehicle.He was told that, if quizzed by store staff, he should say he was the officer’s husband.

Ah. That's the sort of integrity we've come to expect from the crop of diversity hires that have plagued the farces for the last 30 years, isn't it?

Did she have a defence? 

In her response the officer said that she had no clear recollection of these events and she believed DC Bresnahan either volunteered to take the phone or she had asked him to reasonably as he was making inquiries in the area.

That'll be a resounding 'No!' then... 

Then on a separate occasion the following year DS Brannan tasked another officer – PC Patterson – with accompanying her to the Wickes store in Maidstone to collect some flooring she had purchased.

The junior colleague was required to accompany the officer in collecting the order and then drop this off at the officer’s home address, taking him away from his duties for a significant period.

Nor was this the only thing they had on her! 

During the misconduct hearing DS Brannan also faced allegations that she had claimed for hours not worked and at an accelerated rate. Between May 2019 and November 2019 it was claimed the sergeant had made 12 overtime claims that were not legitimate.

This was on the basis that the hours claimed were not or could not have been worked and an overtime rate was falsely claimed.

But clearly it's not just the CPS that prove hard to convince...

But in its conclusion the panel decided, on the balance of probabilities, this allegation was not proven.

Ah, well. They have still other charges! 

However, in another serious allegation, the panel heard how on four separate occasions the team supervisor was found to have disclosed confidential and sensitive information to colleagues concerning investigations into serving police officers.

That's got to be it for her, right? Wrong! 

They said she also demonstrated "genuine remorse for what had occurred" and had undergone additional training.

As a result DS Brannan was not dismissed but handed a final written warning, to remain on her file for 18 months.

*sighs* 

Don't Try And Tell Me 'It's Not The Parent's Fault!'...

...especially in this particular case:

Nicola Leighton, 36, allegedly drove her son, Tyreese Ulysses, 19, and three other youths to the scene of the killing, a court heard.

Armed with machetes, the four teenagers allegedly stabbed 17-year-old Levi Ernest-Morrison to death.

The killing, in Hazel Grove, Syndenham, on April 10 is said to have been a “pre-planned” attack.

Mommie dearest as your getaway driver. That's pretty gangster, isn't it? 

Leighton, of Sydenham, Ulysses, of nearby Catford, and three youths, aged 14, 15, and 17, have been charged with Levi’s murder.

Usually with these street killings, the cry goes up 'What hope have the parents got..?' 

Imran Mirza, whose 19-year-old son Mohammed was fatally stabbed in Ilford in 2019, said: “Nothing has changed since my son died and if anything things are worse. These boys are becoming desensitised to violence. In the schools they need to teach them some humanity at an early age… The kids are living in fear, more action is need at all levels.”

If you're relying on schools to teach the basics of being human, rather than reading, writing and sums, you failed as a parent from the moment of conception. 

The New 'We Must Learn Lessons'...

The review calls for “critical lessons” to be “translated into action”.

Hmmmm. Yes, it's this case: 

Despite previously assaulting police and a restaurant worker, and hitting support staff with a brick, Bravery was not considered a risk to others at the time.

Shows how much they knew, eh? 

Bravery, who told horrified onlookers that social services were to blame for the atrocity, is currently serving a 15-year minimum prison term for attempted murder.

It's hard not to think he's partially right, while also being horrified that throwing a child off a high rook only attracts 15 years in the slammer... 

...the review also found that, while Bravery’s case was characterised by “appropriate efforts by professionals from across agencies to access assessment and treatment for (him)”, those efforts “were stymied due to the lack of services, placements and provisions that were suitable for his needs as an autistic young person with a co-existing conduct disorder diagnosis”.

Yes, he's the 'victim' here, according to these people. Doesn't that emphasis explain - at least partially - how things like this happen? 

A psychiatric report in 2018 said Bravery had learnt to use his autism as an excuse to evade responsibility for dangerous behaviour.

He's not the only one, is he?