Clowns In Blue, Just Like The Ones Here...

If they wear blue, that is? Might be brown. 

A veteran cop has revealed how political correctness may prevented (sic) police arresting the man accused of throwing a thermos of hot coffee on a baby. Nine-month-old baby Luka was at a picnic with his mother and friends at Hanlon Park, in Brisbane's south, on August 27 when a stranger approached and poured hot coffee over the infant, badly scalding him.

At this point, is anyone at all surprised?  

Despite CCTV clearly capturing the face of the suspect, police failed to find or detain him, and detectives revealed on Monday that the now-identified 33-year-old accused attacker had managed to flee overseas. Former Australian Federal Police detective superintendent David Craig criticised Queensland Police for not showing the suspect's face in their first public alert despite having a clear picture, and for being deliberately vague in describing him.

'His description was reported as "a person [with] tan skin…" that doesn't narrow it down very much,' Mr Craig told Channel Seven's Sunrise program. 'He should've been called out as a man of Asian appearance, just as we do people of Caucasian appearance. It didn't happen quickly enough in this case.

'This is not racial vilification terms. These are identifying terms.'

It seems it's not just the UK police that get hung up on identifying terms then.

The 33-year-old man accused of carrying out the attack was in NSW on August 28 - a day after the incident in Brisbane. He flew out of Sydney Airport on August 31 with his own passport just 12 hours before police confirmed his identity. A warrant has since been obtained for his arrest for alleged grievous bodily harm, a charge which carries a possible life sentence.

Only if caught. And he's not likely to come back now, is he? 

Just Declare Victory, Then?

A chief constable has said her acknowledgment that her police force was “institutionally racist” unsettled and hurt some officers but insisted it has allowed the force to make vital changes.

Such as..? 

A series of changes have been made, including changes to the force’s stop and search policy, the introduction of alternative ways of dealing with young people accused of crime, and the running of cultural awareness training programmes for officers.

So her patch is now a crime-free paradise, is it?  

There have been a series of fatal stabbings in and around Bristol in the past 12 months.

Oh! Guess not.  

Crew said she believed her openness had made them easier to investigate.

Have they all been solved then?  

“Without the acknowledgment and the work we’ve done, I think we’d been in a very difficult, very different place.

“Had I not acknowledged that institutional racism exists, I’m sure the communities most directly affected would not trust us. Without trust there is no consent, and without consent we no longer have legitimacy to police.”

Doesn't sound like it, or she wouldn't be waffling about 'community engagement'. You know, the same 'community' that is forever stabbing each other and then whining about the police attempts to stop them doing it.  

Crew has won plaudits for her force’s attempts to put rape suspects’ credibility and not their victims’ at the centre of sexual offences investigations, and she said the plan was to take lessons learned from that to try to improve how it served victims from Black and ethnic minority communities.

“Do we need to have a particularly enhanced kind of response if you’re a minoritised victim of crime? That could be quite controversial, so we are getting some legal and ethical feedback.”

Yes, two-tier policing will be 'quite controversial', I guess you could say!  

Holiday Season Headlines...

Every year, as holiday season gets underway, the headlines about drowning inevitably have to make way for headlines like these:

And I wonder just how many of these stories are from folk who treat foreign cops the way they would behave with UK cops, forgetting that they are in a foreign country where they do things rather differently...

The holiday nightmare, which took place on May 11 a day after the pair arrived in the country, began after they decided to head back to their hotel after spending an evening drinking cocktails.The man said one local had tried to pull his girlfriend's bag away from her and, after he had told him to stop and started walking back to the hotel, he had heard a police car pull up near them.

Ah, and had they had one too many? And gave the Turkish cops the sort of lip they'd give a British bobby? 

A spokesperson for West Midlands Police added: 'Officers spoke to two people at Birmingham Airport on May 13 who made several allegations they were assaulted whilst abroad. They were supported by officers and provided with advice.'

A spokesperson for the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: 'We are supporting a British couple following an incident in Turkey and are in contact with the local authorities.'

It won't stop people going to foreign counties on holiday secure in the belief that they are just like the UK, only warmer. 

Who'd Be A Cop These Days?

Mouayed Bashir, 29, who had mental health issues, died after being restrained with his hands cuffed behind his back and his legs bound together at his family’s house in Newport, south Wales.

ABD, which presents with symptoms such as extreme agitation, paranoia, rapid breathing and sweating, is a state that can be exacerbated by restraint and can lead to cardiac arrest.

So he died of acute behavioural disturbance (ABD)? Not so, Reader, not so... 

In a narrative conclusion, the jury said Bashir had taken an unknown quantity of cocaine that resulted in him developing symptoms “in keeping” with ABD. They gave the medical cause of death as “intoxication with cocaine and the effects of cocaine, following a period of restraint”. They said he was restrained “for his safety and the safety of others”.

What else could the police do with someone who was not open to reason for two distinct causes - mental illness and illegal drugs? Of course he had to be restrained! Syill, at least this jury saw sense. 

Not so the coroner: 

Caroline Saunders, the senior coroner for Gwent (Ed: Yes, Reader, she has form...), said she would write to the police to ask about ABD training, in particular a package from the College of Policing that instructs officers to “speak up, speak out” if they observe that a restrained person is in distress.

Outside court, Bashir’s brother Mohannad Bashir said: “We want ABD to be recognised and taken seriously. The family believe police training needs to be modernised, overhauled and updated.”

But he didn't die from ABD! He died as a result of taking illegal drugs! And you yourselves called the police... 

On 17 February 2021, Bashir’s parents became concerned about his behaviour. He had barricaded himself in his room and was smashing furniture and shouting. They dialled 999 and pleaded for help.

And the police came and immediately helped by restraining him from smashing up the family house. How is it their fault that he died? Even with the threat of ABD death or extreme cocaine intoxication, they had no other choice.

In their submissions to the inquest, Bashir’s family said that when police decided to restrain Bashir, they did not consider they could be putting his life at risk.

Of course not; the immediate threat had to be dealt with to stop other lives - yours, theirs - being put at risk. They did their job the best they could under the circumstances, and are you grateful? No.

What Use Are The Police..?

It took thieves just 47 seconds to steal Rosie Wetherhill’s ebike from outside a Chinese takeaway.

Wetherhill, a 23-year-old bike courier from Leeds, had considered locking her bike to the railing when she went in to collect the order, but she knew the takeaway was fast. So she locked the back wheel with a D-lock instead. A mistake. As she saw her £1,300 ebike disappear around a corner, Wetherhill felt a sense of dread. “I knew I would probably never see that bike again,” she says. “Because I know how it is.” The bike wasn’t insured. She’d only had it for two months. She called 999, and told police that the bike was fitted with a tracking device, but it wasn’t working. They told her to call back if it started working again.

A few days later, an officer called. “He told me that if there was CCTV from the Chinese takeaway, then I would need to go and get that myself because the police were not going to do it for me,” says Wetherhill. “It was quite insulting.”

It's more than that, it's utterly appalling. Whet are they being paid to do, if not this? 

“It’s a crime where there is no jeopardy for the perpetrators,” says Tom Parker, 35, a marketing worker from near Epsom. In July, Parker witnessed two teenagers stealing a bike outside a Surrey train station. “I ran at them, shouting,” Parker says. They threw the bike at him and disappeared. Parker called 999. “‘We can’t do anything,’” he recalls the handler telling him, advising him to take the bike home. “But then,” Parker told her, frustrated, “I’ve stolen it!”

I always thought they staffed the emergency lines with the dumbest recruits, and it seems I'm right... 

Parker posted about the incident in a local Facebook group. The following morning, he rang Surrey police. “I said, ‘I have this bike. I don’t want it in my garage. I can’t be the guardian of it for ever.’” The police officer told him to keep posting on Facebook. “They said,” he remembers, “‘We can’t call it a crime, because no one has reported it.’ I said, ‘It is a crime! I saw it happening.’”

Is it laziness? Is it lack of care? Are they told to limit the number of crimes recorded? 

Is it all three? 

Just as he was beginning to despair, someone got in touch via Facebook. His bike had been stolen that evening – and he had reported it to the Metropolitan police. He shared his crime reference number with Parker and Parker reunited him with the bike. A few days later, Parker received an email from the police. He says it advised him that no one had reported the bike stolen. “I responded,” Parker says, “and said, ‘They did report it. Here’s the attachment. I consider the matter closed, because I gave the bike back!’”

Can we ever trust the crime figures, if they are collated like this? No wonder they keep repeating the mantra that 'crime is down'... 

And when they do show a touch of concern, it's for the wrong people:

In Cambridge, police estimate that 70% of cycle crime is committed by people with substance abuse problems. “We have these chaotic, disastrous offenders,” says Tudor, “who tend to have heavy drug habits. They take bikes opportunistically. They sell them for a flat fee to informal handlers within local criminal networks, usually for about £50.” Tudor has interviewed these offenders. “They come across as quite vulnerable,” she says.

Funny, normal people would say that's how the victims of crime should be described. 

These incidents have eroded public trust in the police even further. “We have these ideas of what the police are there for,” says Andy Higgins of policing thinktank The Police Foundation. “If something bad happens, the police are there for you. Or they should be.” In policing terms, bike theft is a high-volume, low-level crime. But that’s not how its victims experience it. “These things may be mundane and transactional from the police point of view,” says Higgins, “but they actually are not to many people.”

Indeed. And if they can't get the little stiff right, why trust them on larger stuff? 

Police forces had their real-terms funding cut by 19% from 2010/2011 to 2018/2019. “People get very angry about the police and their shortcomings,” says Tudor. “But they are operating in a very limited sphere. They are constantly given political directives they have to adhere to. They have funding cuts. They have staffing cuts. It is an impossible task.”

Not when they can send so many police after the fact, no... 

"We don’t train officers to pick up something and throw it at a suspect..."

Well, why not? It works!

Law enforcement officials have said Duprey had been trying to sell narcotics to a group of plain-clothed narcotics enforcement officers. As Duprey tried to flee on a motorbike down the sidewalk, an officer identified as narcotics Sgt Erik Duran flung the cooler at him.

He fell off and died. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.  

A witness also told the Daily News that Duprey was moving north on the bike with the police in pursuit.

“Then he took a U-turn and was riding on the sidewalk … The cop then took my cooler, which was filled with soda cans, water bottles, and hit him,” the witness said.

So he prevented this animal mowing down an elderly person or a child. He should be given a medal, not a suspension.  

A lawyer for Duprey’s family, Jonathan Roberts, called it “tragic” that “yet again a poorly-trained NYPD officer has taken the life of another young man so unnecessarily”. He added that the family planned to seek justice.

You got that. No, we did, the law abiding majority. And it seems what the US starts, we here in the UK slavishly follow... 

Never A Truer Word Spoken...

Speaking at the vigil, one of Harvey's uncles said: 'We're all tarred with the same brush here, especially given what happened on Monday.

'But this is the true Ely. Look how many people have turned out to pay their respects.'

And how do they do that? By blocking the roads and littering the surrounding area:

 Pity the farmers in the surrounding area...

'The only difference between Monday and today is that the police aren't here.'

Don't really blame them, do you? 

'They were just young boys. Everyone rides bikes and scooters around here. Yes, we find them annoying but that's just what they do.

'But as soon as those coppers saw they had no helmets they should've stopped.'

There are no responsible adults in the place who feel it's their job to raise chilren correctly? Then build a wall around the place and leave them to their own devices... 

"The writer is a serving police officer in a non-metropolitan English police force..."

Well, he probably shouldn't be, if this is his attitude towards his colleagues:

“The thing is, Sarge, she’s already made one allegation of rape tonight so there’s no way I’m going out on my own to her house. I’ve got my own safety to think about.” The detective’s words left me momentarily speechless.

It was the early hours of a busy weekend, and I was the CID night sergeant on duty. A local woman had been out with a new boyfriend and allowed him to walk her home but not to enter her flat. He had pushed her inside and raped her, then left. She had called 999 and reported the rape and was waiting for a police response. All our uniformed colleagues were tied up with the usual, “night-time economy” domestic abuse incidents, mental health crises and custody duties that fill response officers’ night shifts. And I’d had the temerity to ask an experienced male detective to make contact with the woman, visit her to reassure her that she was now safe and to begin to record evidence in his notebook while a female colleague travelled from the other side of the county to assist with forensic evidence recovery.

Note that there's no 'she alleged', or 'she reported' there in his statement. And the lack of imagination that anyone could be concerned at the prospect of having the same accusation levelled at them is breathtaking.

I’m about to retire after decades in the force...

Your colleagues will be safer with you gone. 

And When Will They Hold A Hearing Into The HR Department?

A hearing to decide Mr Karim's compensation will be held at a later date.

Because he should never have been taken on in the first place!

The tribunal in central London heard the trainee joined the Metropolitan Police in 2015 as a probationer police constable, and passed an initial hearing test.

How?!? And is that initial test now being revised as a consequence of this debacle?

...the police officer was also made to complete role play tests to prove his ability to work at an operational level. Senior officers conducting the tests were concerned Mr Karim was over-reliant on the Rogers Pen and that if he used it in a real street policing scenario, someone could knock it out of his hands, the tribunal was told.

During a 'police chase' test, the officer's hearing aid battery ran out, and Mr Karim had to stop and change it, the panel heard. In another test scenario, moreover, Mr Karim had to ask for messages to be repeated and said the blue lights were giving feedback to his hearing aids - describing the sound as 'torture.'

All the officers who conducted the tests believed 'Mr Karim was not capable of becoming a fully operational and effective police officer'.

Maybe they should be moved to HR forthwith to oversee future recruitment? 

I'm not saying that being deaf should rule someone out of any job in the police, but it should be clear as daylight to anyone with a smidgen of common sense that operational front-line coppering is not that job...

A further claim of direct discrimination - in which he accused the Met of making a 'stereotypical assumption' that his hearing impairment 'rendered him incapable' of doing the job - was dismissed, however.

As it should have been. But why did the Met ever think he would be capable in the first place? Did identity politics overrule common sense. Again? 

Was She An Orphan, Graeme..?

E-scooter deaths have doubled since police stopped seizing them on the roads, a coroner has warned after a 14-year-old rider died in a collision with a minibus.

Fatima Abukar was riding a battery powered e-scooter in East Ham, London, when she lost control while alongside a minibus and fell under its wheels.

And...her parents? Shouldn't they have come in for some stick too? 

In a report calling for action to prevent future deaths, Graeme Irvine, senior coroner in east London, said there was a direct correlation between the rise in deaths and Scotland Yard’s decision last November to no longer routinely seize e-scooters being ridden illegally on public roads.

Are we really losing any potential brain surgeons? 

Britain’s biggest force announced officers will only confiscate them from repeat offenders or when ‘necessary to keep the public safe’.

I'm not sure how you can have 'repeat offenders' if you don't enforce the law in the first place... 

Remember, 'They Work For You'...

...while the police, who won't bother to turn up for your burglary unless the criminals are injured in the course of the crime, well, they work for them, clearly:

Retired teacher Fran Swan and yoga instructor Beverley Glock both tried to register for a meeting in a nearby village, hosted by West Dorset MP Chris Loder. But after they submitted questions about sewage in the online registration form, Mr Loder wrote to say the meeting was specifically for villagers in Chideok - but said he would 'see what he could do'.

And what could he do to ensure democracy was upheld? Well...

And at 7.30pm last Thursday, the night before the meeting was due to take place, a police officer arrived at Ms Swan's home to ask the 70-year-old about her intentions.

What a snivelling little weasel of a man. And what a misstep by the police. 

And it gets worse: 

Mr Loder told the Mail it was necessary for him to inform the police about 'anything out of the ordinary' as he and his family have received threats in the past.

The Tory MP added that it was 'unusual to receive the interest of two people who were not invited to attend a localised surgery', and cited the murder of Sir David Amess who was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery in 2021.

But not by a retired yoga instructor and teacher from a nearby village, Chris, so even the bumpkin farce down there in Dorset should have performed a better risk assessment.

A Dorset Police spokesman said officers from its neighbourhood policing team 'wished to understand the intentions' of the women 'to ensure that public safety was preserved and any lawful protest could be facilitated'.

He added: 'Dorset Police would like to apologise if the attendance of a police officer to the home address of individuals going to the meeting caused alarm.'

I suspect that was exactly what they wanted to cause.  

It's Our Money She's Won..!

The Met Police has paid out £10,000 in damages to a Christian evangelist preacher for wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment.

Hatun Tash was twice arrested at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park after reporting to officers that she was being harassed and threatened by Islamic demonstrators.

A good win for freedom of speech? Yes, undoubtedly. But the police aren't paying it, are they? 

And until they are, personally, there's no reason for them to ever stop, is there?

Education, Education, Education..?

Boxer Amir Khan has thanked the Metropolitan Police for helping with his case after they charged three men in with stealing his £72,000 watch at gunpoint.

Yesterday the police charged Ahmed Bana, 25, Nurul Amin, 24, and Dante Campbell, 20, over the incident on April 18.

Amazing that the police caught them, but then they weren't the sharpest tools in the drawer...rather like their victim: 

Speaking after the charges were announced, the Olympic medallist tweeted: ‘I would like to thank the Metropolitan Police.

'They were always in communication with me & Sadiq Khan for pushing this case on his end.

‘Gun culture is on the increase in the UK, and we need to educate our youth to stay away from this.’

Wait, what? 'Gun culture'..? Who on earth is this moron trying to kid? It's not 'gun culture' that's the issue here, it's gang culture. It's the 'why should I bother getting a job when I can prey on others?' culture. 

It wasn't even a real gun, FFS! 

Scotland Yard said the three suspects, all from north London, have been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.

Bana and Campbell have also been charged with possession of an imitation firearm.

Campbell has also been charged with possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate.

Someone who buys ammunition for a fake gun is beyond educating, wouldn't you say? 

California 2.0 Here We Come!

The cost of living crisis will trigger an increase in crime and officers should use their “discretion” when deciding whether to prosecute people who steal in order to eat, the new chief inspector of constabulary has said.

Well, great! We haven't got the climate of California, but we'll soon have their rather 'interesting' approach to retail:

When asked how policing could avoid being seen as the arm of an uncaring state, he said forces across England and Wales were skilled in dealing with the tensions and dynamics of their communities.

Mainly by giving up, turning a blind eye and running away, or in extreme cases, surrendering. 

Cooke said he was not advocating an amnesty for people who commit crimes of poverty, nor “giving a carte blanche for people to go out shoplifting”.

Yes, you absolutely are.  

H/T: i.r.jackson via email

How To Ensure We Continue To Have An Inner City Drug Problem?

Well, this will certainly help!

The police panel, led by Hackney’s Basic Unit commander, Marcus Barnett, admitted that the Met has a problem with officers viewing inner London children as “adults”, adding that what happened to Child Q would probably not have happened to a child living in the Cotswolds, as an example.

Well, maybe because in the Cotswolds, a child is unlikely to go to school smelling so strongly of cannabis that teachers are concerned, perhaps? 

The meeting also revealed that Barnett knew about the girl being strip searched in January 2021. Officers were called due to a teacher wrongly suspecting that she had cannabis.

Not an unreasonable assumption, given her clothes stank of it.  

He added that the school “probably should not have called us and we should probably have understood very quickly that we had no role to play there”.

Why not? Drugs are illegal, aren't they? Aren't you always boasting about your successes when you find some?

"Better put them back, lads. The boss said we've no role to play here after all..."

What exactly do you think you're playing at? Reflexively cringing in front of the mob won't head off the usual suspects at the pass, will it? 

Chanel Dolcy, a solicitor at Bhatt Murphy, which is representing the family in proceedings against the police, said Child Q had launched civil proceedings against the force and her school seeking to hold both institutions to account “to ensure this never happens again to any other child”.

Translation: "Open the taxpayer's pockets, there's more money to be made!" 

And Your Efforts Will Be for Nothing...

"On behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, I would like to pay tribute to the courageous and dignified way N'Taya's family and friends have conducted themselves during the entire legal process.

They have had to hear the most traumatic evidence relating to their beautiful daughter during the trial. "

Not the least of which was their daughter's fatal stupidity in choice of partner: 

Liverpool Crown Court heard Diakite was previously accused of assaulting his partner in October 2020. However, the next day, after police had visited their Prince Alfred Road home and recorded the young mum's allegations on bodycam, she made a retraction statement.

/facepalm 

Diakite, of Prince Alfred Road, Wavertree, will be sentenced on Monday, March 21. High Court judge, Mr Justice Stephen Morris, directed that the asylum seeker, from the Ivory Coast, must attend court for that hearing.

Anyone aware of any wars on the Ivory Coast that might have provided a need to seek asylum? No? Me neither... 

DCI Speight said:"We have increased the number of officers in our specialist domestic abuse teams and have also used domestic violence prevention notices, as well as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Schemes (DVDS), also known as Clare's Law, which gives someone in a relationship 'the right to ask' for information from various agencies, including the police, about a partner's previous convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings for any offence of violence."

And until women choose their partners with more care and - when that proves a mistake in spite of it - take action to protect themselves, it'll be yet another waste of time. 

Someone's Got To Make Some Changes...

...a year on from Everard’s death, the parents of Spinks have delivered a stark warning that mistakes are still being made in the cases such as their daughter’s.

“After everything that happened last year, the perception of the police with the general public is really low at the moment,” said her father, Richard Spinks. “They’ve got to realise people don’t trust them. They’ve got to do something, they’ve got to make some changes.”

They aren't the only ones though, are they? 

After her complaint, Sellers was fired from his job. Gracie was advised to report him to the police, but chose not to pursue a restraining order and asked police to caution him instead. Gracie had no more contact with Sellers, and as far as she and her family were concerned, the problem was dealt with.

It wasn't. Because the police don't have a crystal ball and can't predict who will turn out just to be a normal run-of-the-mill bitter ex, and who will turn out to be a murderer. 

Especially if they aren't assisted to do so by the victim... 

It later emerged that around a month prior to the attack, a rucksack containing weapons – a hammer, axe and knives – as well as Viagra had been found across the road from the field and handed in to Derbyshire constabulary. An investigation after Gracie’s death revealed that documentation in the bag, which Sellers frequently carried to work, had details on it linking it to his family home. The force is now being investigated by the police watchdog over its handling of Gracie’s original complaint against Sellers, and the rucksack.

The parents - understandably - point to this as a smoking gun. Perhaps they've seen too many police dramas where this would be taken seriously and prompt a confession from the miscreant. 

However, reality tells us that even if they had linked it, losing property - 'Oh, thanks, officers, I've been looking for this' - isn't a crime. 

There's A Lot Of Ignorance Going Around, Stella...

Stella Headley, co-founder of Rastafari Movement UK, said Ms Farrell's treatment was 'abhorrent'.

She said: 'Within our faith, females tend to cover their hair and the dress code is to wear longer skirts and dress modestly.

'We don't wear tight clothes and don't reveal flesh.'

Accusing the force of 'institutional racism', she added: 'There's an ignorance that runs through the force that doesn't respect people's faiths or cultures.'

Well, while we're discussing 'ignorance', what about ignorance of the law and how one behaves when there's a dispute? Because Hertfordshire Police had to put up with a lot from your client... 

Miss Farrell was arrested in August 2018 when she sat on her partner's car to stop it being towed away in Stevenage.

When she refused to give her name at the station she was moved to a cell monitored by round-the-clock CCTV.

As will always happen when you obstruct the police. Why would you assume that this would be a winning gambit?

Except...these days, it is: 

Deputy Chief Constable Michelle Dunn said: 'I am extremely sorry for any injuries that you suffered as a result of the actions of Hertfordshire Police.'

The force said detainees are now given 'joggers and jumpers'.

Miss Farrell had to appoint a solicitor to handle her civil claim for wrongful arrest after Hertfordshire Police's professional standards department rejected her complaint.

And £45,000 of taxpayer's money handed to this woman is the result. Plus the amount of wasted time and resources. 

Dal Babu, who was one of the UK's most senior British-Asian officers as a former Met chief superintendent, said Hertfordshire Police had made a 'catalogue of mistakes'.

They weren't the only ones, but they are on the hook for it. Enjoy the £45k (or however much of it is left after your legal fees are paid) but if you think I had a low opinion of the Rastafarian religion before, imagine how low it's sunk if you're a typical example of a follower...  

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... 

No, Please, Do Tell Us How You Suffer From 'Racism' Again...

...and how that's not a perfectly normal reaction from law abiding people when you act like this:

One man, who lives nearby, said shaken locals fear for their safety.

He said: 'They (the responding officers) had to wait for the riot police as back up before opening the gates on a public road. How do you think we local residents feel?

'The gates were locked another couple of times after the police opened them.

'The travellers have simply ignored the order. How can they be allowed to just do that? Law abiding citizens are being left to put up with this and suffer.

'We know police have the power to move them on but they're too scared. It is disgusting that this is allowed to continue.'

Yes, it's disgusting that West Mercia Police do absolutely nothing when travellers turn up and cause havoc, but they do have a long and undistinguished history of letting them get away with it, so it should hardly be surprising, should it?

They've now moved on, leaving their usual mess behind them. Would it be too much to hope they've moved somewhere close to the Chief Con or his relatives?