Chinese man held over earthquake photos
A teacher in China has been detained for posting images on the internet of schools that collapsed in the devastating Sichuan earthquake, a rights group said yesterday.
"The "re-education through labour" system allows police to incarcerate a crime suspect for up to four years without the need for a criminal trial or a formal charge".
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Why doesn't the IOC pull out of the Beijing games?
Why doesn't the IOC pull out of the Beijing games?
Given that...
"CHINA has reversed a key pledge made ahead of the Olympic Games with an announcement that it will censor the internet used by foreign media".
George Clooney states he is against a boycott "It's always more important to keep a line of communication open".
However, this is the problem, the Chinese authorities in relation to the internet are not keeping the lines of communication open.
"With the games scheduled to open on August 8, Amnesty International issued a scathing assessment of China's record on Tuesday, saying many of its citizens' protections and freedoms have shrunk since Beijing won the right to hold the Olympics".
I could well understand it if the Chinese mentioned Guantanamo Bay to George Bush when he mentioned that "human rights and religious freedom should not be denied to anyone".
If the Chinese authorities put as much effort into securing human rights in China as they are doing for the Beijing games, this would be a welcome sign. Instead they are sticking up two fingers, not just to the IOC and Bush but also to the rest of the world.
If China likes censorship so much, perhaps they should be censored from holding the 08 08 08 Olympic games?
UPDATE: Beijing 2008 Was a Bad Bet by the International Olympic Committee
The IOC bet on China improving, and has lost the bet. It is being claimed that it is now time to pay.
Given that...
"CHINA has reversed a key pledge made ahead of the Olympic Games with an announcement that it will censor the internet used by foreign media".
George Clooney states he is against a boycott "It's always more important to keep a line of communication open".
However, this is the problem, the Chinese authorities in relation to the internet are not keeping the lines of communication open.
"With the games scheduled to open on August 8, Amnesty International issued a scathing assessment of China's record on Tuesday, saying many of its citizens' protections and freedoms have shrunk since Beijing won the right to hold the Olympics".
I could well understand it if the Chinese mentioned Guantanamo Bay to George Bush when he mentioned that "human rights and religious freedom should not be denied to anyone".
If the Chinese authorities put as much effort into securing human rights in China as they are doing for the Beijing games, this would be a welcome sign. Instead they are sticking up two fingers, not just to the IOC and Bush but also to the rest of the world.
If China likes censorship so much, perhaps they should be censored from holding the 08 08 08 Olympic games?
UPDATE: Beijing 2008 Was a Bad Bet by the International Olympic Committee
The IOC bet on China improving, and has lost the bet. It is being claimed that it is now time to pay.
The Dark Knight Miliband is on his charger
The Dark Knight Miliband is on his charger
"If Labour gets itself together under a Miliband leadership, the Conservatives are going to have to leave the shallow end of the pool and make a brave case for a different version of a radical new vision: the fight is well and truly on, not just for the leadership of Labour, but for which party has the right to call itself genuinely progressive".
David Miliband has too many skeletons in his closet to be a serious contender in the rat race for Number 10 Downing Street. For example, misleading Parliament, and in turn misleading the people, over his support of the use of torture orchestrated by the CIA during flights of extra-ordinary rendition. And, his undue political interference in the McCann case, leading the Portuguese authorities not to proceed with a case against the McCanns over the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine. This was not a case of our country right or wrong, but about a British couple who sought to evade Portuguese justice for crimes committed on foreign territory. They should have been made to face the music.
If it is accepted, nevertheless, that David Miliband has broken away from the rat pack and is racing for Number 10 Downing Street, as someone has said in the comments "It is much more likely that Gordon will appoint Miliband Deputy PM, Harriet Harman is Deputy Leader remember".
I was impressed with that for a few seconds, until I thought 'why would Miliband settle for second best?'. If he succeeded, as was minded to, he could appoint Alan Johnson as his Deputy Primeminister. Some are saying this would be a 'dream ticket'. Why did I think of Ghost train? Platform for change. Perhaps, nightmare might be more apt.
I liked Janet Daley's parting shot. However, there is something odd about the Conservative's seeking to campaign as being "genuinely progressive". My dictionary states "Opposed to innovations or change; desirous of maintaining established conditions and institutions".
Life row tougher than death row
Life row tougher than death row
I think it is erroneous for Mark Hughes to claim that this headline is accurate "The man who can't escape death row". Quite clearly, Kenny Richey did escape death row. The problem he has is that he cannot escape life row. In spite of the misconception, life is tougher outside than life inside. My advice to Kenny Richey is get used to it.
The problem I have with John McManus and MOJO, is not that he is incorrect with what he states, but that one of the arguments of incapacitation theory is that prisoners need to be kept in longer to reintegrate them into society by way of a long drawn out process. In effect, they argue that to deinstitutionalise a prisoner it requires institutionalising a prisoner further. As a result of this I served 10 years longer than was really necessary to protect the public.
Hacker loses extradition appeal
Hacker loses extradition appeal
A Briton accused of hacking into top secret military computers has lost a Law Lords appeal against being extradited to stand trial in the US.
I think there is something rather disturbing about a country which allows for the illegal Guantanamo Bay regime to operate to set itself up as a global police force demanding other countries surrender its subjects for a dose of US justice.
BAE: Justice is blind
BAE: Justice is blind
Fraud office wins appeal over BAE Saudi arms deal
PA
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
The Serious Fraud Office won its Law Lords appeal today against a court ruling that it acted unlawfully in halting a corruption inquiry into a lucrative arms deal between Saudi Arabia and BAE Systems.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) took the case to the House of Lords after the High Court upheld a legal challenge brought by anti-corruption campaign groups.
Jonathan Sumption QC, for the SFO, told five Law Lords at a hearing this month that its director made a "legal and appropriate" decision to stop the inquiry in late 2006 after receiving threats from the Saudi Arabian government to withhold cooperation on critical issues of anti-terrorism.
"The SFO director was convinced that Saudi Arabia wasn't bluffing," he said.
In April, two judges in the High Court ruled that the Saudi threat was a "successful attempt by a foreign government to pervert the course of justice in the United Kingdom".
Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Sullivan said the SFO and the Government made an "abject surrender" to "blatant threats".
Lords overturn Saudi probe ruling
The House of Lords has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) acted lawfully when it halted its investigation into a Saudi arms deal.
Fraud office wins appeal over BAE Saudi arms deal
PA
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
The Serious Fraud Office won its Law Lords appeal today against a court ruling that it acted unlawfully in halting a corruption inquiry into a lucrative arms deal between Saudi Arabia and BAE Systems.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) took the case to the House of Lords after the High Court upheld a legal challenge brought by anti-corruption campaign groups.
Jonathan Sumption QC, for the SFO, told five Law Lords at a hearing this month that its director made a "legal and appropriate" decision to stop the inquiry in late 2006 after receiving threats from the Saudi Arabian government to withhold cooperation on critical issues of anti-terrorism.
"The SFO director was convinced that Saudi Arabia wasn't bluffing," he said.
In April, two judges in the High Court ruled that the Saudi threat was a "successful attempt by a foreign government to pervert the course of justice in the United Kingdom".
Lord Justice Moses and Mr Justice Sullivan said the SFO and the Government made an "abject surrender" to "blatant threats".
Lords overturn Saudi probe ruling
The House of Lords has ruled that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) acted lawfully when it halted its investigation into a Saudi arms deal.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
UFO spotted in Cornwall
UFO spotted in Cornwall
An unidentified frolicking oaf, wearing shorts made from a pair of curtains, has been spotted on a beach in Cornwall by a passing Sun photographer...
Perhaps, this chap needs to put on some sun block cream as there is a danger of him getting over exposed in the Sun...
An unidentified frolicking oaf, wearing shorts made from a pair of curtains, has been spotted on a beach in Cornwall by a passing Sun photographer...
Perhaps, this chap needs to put on some sun block cream as there is a danger of him getting over exposed in the Sun...
The real cost of prison: It's the economy stupid
The real cost of prison: It's the economy stupid
Moral, social and political arguments for and against prison are all very well. But what about value for money?
"It might be true that incarceration reduces re-offending, but the cost of the prison system still has to justify that reduction. Is the cost of cutting offending through prisons too high? Could alternatives provide better value for money?".
Kevin Marsh argues that:
"Alternatives to prison seem to deliver a better return on public money".
Moral, social and political arguments for and against prison are all very well. But what about value for money?
"It might be true that incarceration reduces re-offending, but the cost of the prison system still has to justify that reduction. Is the cost of cutting offending through prisons too high? Could alternatives provide better value for money?".
Kevin Marsh argues that:
"Alternatives to prison seem to deliver a better return on public money".
A and E Winehouse
A&E Winehouse
"Trouble singer Amy Winehouse has been admitted to the accident and emergency unit of a London hospital".
An ambulance was called to the 24-year-old singer's house in Camden, north London and she was taken to University College Hospital at around 8.40pm.
"Trouble singer Amy Winehouse has been admitted to the accident and emergency unit of a London hospital".
An ambulance was called to the 24-year-old singer's house in Camden, north London and she was taken to University College Hospital at around 8.40pm.
Dog appears in Indian court charged with biting
Dog appears in Indian court charged with biting
A seven-year old mongrel has appeared in a local court in India's eastern Bihar state charged with breaching the peace by barking at passers-by and even biting some of them.
One poor old mongrel spent nearly 10 years in prison in India!
I am very tempted to ask that my dog Rocky attends my Crown Court hearing on September 8 as it is alleged that he bit a Park Warden...
A seven-year old mongrel has appeared in a local court in India's eastern Bihar state charged with breaching the peace by barking at passers-by and even biting some of them.
One poor old mongrel spent nearly 10 years in prison in India!
I am very tempted to ask that my dog Rocky attends my Crown Court hearing on September 8 as it is alleged that he bit a Park Warden...
Monday, July 28, 2008
Labour should engage in a which hunt not a witch hunt
Labour should engage in a which hunt not a witch hunt
Who could replace Gordon Brown ought to be where the energies go within the Labour Party rather than waste them on a witch hunt for any plotters who desire to unseat him in an undignified manner.
What makes the Derby such an interesting race is that a complete outsider can win.
I wouldn't put money on a Thatcher clone who is also blind and dyslexic, if Harriet Harman, recently speaking about Gordon Brown, cannot see what is wrong with this then she is the wrong person for the job: “He is the solution, not the problem”. Perhaps, if she had got the words solution and problem in the right order...
Because both Jack Straw and David Miliband supported torture via flights of extra-ordinary rendition, I would rule them out as unfit to run.
That leaves the field pretty wide open...
Who could replace Gordon Brown ought to be where the energies go within the Labour Party rather than waste them on a witch hunt for any plotters who desire to unseat him in an undignified manner.
What makes the Derby such an interesting race is that a complete outsider can win.
I wouldn't put money on a Thatcher clone who is also blind and dyslexic, if Harriet Harman, recently speaking about Gordon Brown, cannot see what is wrong with this then she is the wrong person for the job: “He is the solution, not the problem”. Perhaps, if she had got the words solution and problem in the right order...
Because both Jack Straw and David Miliband supported torture via flights of extra-ordinary rendition, I would rule them out as unfit to run.
That leaves the field pretty wide open...
My advice is to take a holiday where The Sun don't shine
My advice is to take a holiday where The Sun don't shine
ConservativeHome is reporting that David Cameron is relaxed on holiday with his wife Samantha. And, notes that the Sun has photos to prove this. Call me cynical, but this just looks like a photo opportunity to me. Could you relax on holiday knowing that a Sun photographer is watching your every move? As Sam and Dave packed their suitcases, bucket and spade, swimming trunks, suntan lotion, Sun photographer...
ConservativeHome is reporting that David Cameron is relaxed on holiday with his wife Samantha. And, notes that the Sun has photos to prove this. Call me cynical, but this just looks like a photo opportunity to me. Could you relax on holiday knowing that a Sun photographer is watching your every move? As Sam and Dave packed their suitcases, bucket and spade, swimming trunks, suntan lotion, Sun photographer...
Nick is a Right old Herbert
Nick is a Right old Herbert
Just because Nick Herbert has the same first name as the slang term for prison, it does not mean that the shadow justice secretary for the Conservative Party and MP for Arundel and South Downs knows what he is talking about.
For example, Nick Herbert erroneously states "Let's set aside the obvious, if uncomfortable, fact that part of the purpose of prison is to punish".
You would have thought that somebody in his position would know the legal position. That is, that prisoners are sent to prison as punishment and not for punishment. It is the role of the judge or magistrate to punish when the sentence of the court is meted out. It is not the role of the Prison Service to punish prisoners with the regime.
If Nick Herbert cannot even get the basics right how can he be trusted with the more complex criminal justice matters?
As my foster father used to say to me "You're a right old Herbert"!
Just because Nick Herbert has the same first name as the slang term for prison, it does not mean that the shadow justice secretary for the Conservative Party and MP for Arundel and South Downs knows what he is talking about.
For example, Nick Herbert erroneously states "Let's set aside the obvious, if uncomfortable, fact that part of the purpose of prison is to punish".
You would have thought that somebody in his position would know the legal position. That is, that prisoners are sent to prison as punishment and not for punishment. It is the role of the judge or magistrate to punish when the sentence of the court is meted out. It is not the role of the Prison Service to punish prisoners with the regime.
If Nick Herbert cannot even get the basics right how can he be trusted with the more complex criminal justice matters?
As my foster father used to say to me "You're a right old Herbert"!
Father of murdered Billie-Jo has 'discovered new suspect'
Father of murdered Billie-Jo has 'discovered new suspect'
Sion Jenkins, the former teacher whose teenage foster daughter, Billie-Jo, was found bludgeoned to death, has claimed to have found a new suspect in the case.
What did he do, look in the mirror?
The photofit of the suspected killer looks remarkably like Sion Jenkins...The camera never lies...
Knife crime on increase in Westminster Village
Knife crime on increase in Westminster Village
The knives are out for Gordon Brown. Gordon Brown faces plot by Labour MPs amid double blow in polls
And more of the same...
Labour needs a new leader - even if that means a coup
Ministers must now act ruthlessly. The party lacks direction, and the public has already made up its mind about Brown
Tories have no policies but the public have had enough of Labour...
Tories ready to rule, say voters
The public believe David Cameron and the Conservative Party are ready to govern the country but are still not sure what they stand for, according to a poll carried out by ComRes for The Independent.
CPS lawyer loses his briefs
CPS lawyer loses his briefs
A lawyer who is on long-term sick leave for stress is advertising his services as an 'erotic' actor on the internet.
And Jailhouselawyer wins second prize and covers his blushes with the rosette.
A lawyer who is on long-term sick leave for stress is advertising his services as an 'erotic' actor on the internet.
And Jailhouselawyer wins second prize and covers his blushes with the rosette.
Tory MP Derek Conway given a 12 month sentence
Tory MP Derek Conway given a 12 month sentence
We know that disgraced Tory MP Derek Conway stole money from the public purse for his family. It is a further disgrace that he is only required to repay a fraction of what he stole. And it is disgraceful that he has been given a year to repay £13,160. Especially, given that "After the investigation by the Commissioner for Standards, Mr Conway made a profit of £163,000 from the sale of a property in Kent".
It is not being given a year to repay which hurts so much as his not being given a year in custody to teach him and all those other crooks at Westminister a lesson.
We know that disgraced Tory MP Derek Conway stole money from the public purse for his family. It is a further disgrace that he is only required to repay a fraction of what he stole. And it is disgraceful that he has been given a year to repay £13,160. Especially, given that "After the investigation by the Commissioner for Standards, Mr Conway made a profit of £163,000 from the sale of a property in Kent".
It is not being given a year to repay which hurts so much as his not being given a year in custody to teach him and all those other crooks at Westminister a lesson.
Fire destroys pier...
Fire destroys pier...
The Grand Pier at Weston Super Mare has been gutted by a huge fire.
You would have thought after other piers have been destroyed by fire that something would have been done to protect against this happening again...
And a burnt out Peer of another kind, Lord Archer of Weston Super Mare...
The Grand Pier at Weston Super Mare has been gutted by a huge fire.
You would have thought after other piers have been destroyed by fire that something would have been done to protect against this happening again...
And a burnt out Peer of another kind, Lord Archer of Weston Super Mare...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Lazy sunny Sunday afternoon...
Lazy sunny Sunday afternoon...
The heatwave is continuing here in Hull, so this is what I intend to do...
Meanwhile...
Gordon Brown is up Shit Creek, in a canoe, without a paddle. Perhaps, the best thing he can do now is a disappearing act in Panama? A sort of John Stonehouse meets John Darwin.
There is that old saying that the devil finds work for idle hands, given that those old kids are on Schools Out at Westminister, 6 weeks is a long time for the plotters to be jockeying for position.
Who could fill the cavity left by Brown? There's Young Gun, Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, versus The Old Dog, Justice Minister, Jack Straw.
There is already talk that Labour could be out of office not for one but at least two elections.
The heatwave is continuing here in Hull, so this is what I intend to do...
Meanwhile...
Gordon Brown is up Shit Creek, in a canoe, without a paddle. Perhaps, the best thing he can do now is a disappearing act in Panama? A sort of John Stonehouse meets John Darwin.
There is that old saying that the devil finds work for idle hands, given that those old kids are on Schools Out at Westminister, 6 weeks is a long time for the plotters to be jockeying for position.
Who could fill the cavity left by Brown? There's Young Gun, Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, versus The Old Dog, Justice Minister, Jack Straw.
There is already talk that Labour could be out of office not for one but at least two elections.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Pc convicted of assaulting child
Pc convicted of assaulting child
A police officer has been convicted of assaulting a 12-year-old boy at a Manchester police station.
This thug was charged with upholding the law and not a licence to take the law into his own hands. Because he lied at least 3 times he should have the book thrown at him.
Cornish pasty in European battle for protected status
Cornish pasty in European battle for protected status
The Cornish pasty could get protected status from the European Union to safeguard the savoury pastry for the county.
"The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced it will take the Cornish Pasty Association's (CPA) application for Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) to Brussels.
If successful, only pasty makers in Cornwall that use traditional methods and recipes for the meat and vegetable snack will be able to use the trademark, preventing copy-cat manufacturers from branding and marketing their products as Cornish pasties.
It will bring the savoury pastry in to line with other delicacies officially recognised by Europe such as Champagne, Parma ham and Whitstable oysters".
What about the dear old Yorkshire Pudding?
Barrister who defended terror suspects appointed director of public prosecutions
Barrister who defended terror suspects appointed director of public prosecutions
A human rights barrister who won a House of Lords case which resulted in terrorist control orders being declared illegal has been appointed the country's top prosecutor.
"Keir Starmer QC, who has played a key role in a number of cases against the Government, will take over when Sir Ken Macdonald steps down as director of public prosecutions at the end of October".
Some years back I recall a solicitor who defended prisoners cases, and I had a lot of respect for him. Then one day, I applied to see the then Visiting Magistrate and now Independent Monitoring Board, and was shocked to see that it was the solicitor. In my view, he had sold out. It is a shame to see that Keir Starmer has done the same. I feel that the opposition's tactic if you can't beat them get them to join you lacks being honourable. I may be too harsh a judge, in this case, time will tell.
A human rights barrister who won a House of Lords case which resulted in terrorist control orders being declared illegal has been appointed the country's top prosecutor.
"Keir Starmer QC, who has played a key role in a number of cases against the Government, will take over when Sir Ken Macdonald steps down as director of public prosecutions at the end of October".
Some years back I recall a solicitor who defended prisoners cases, and I had a lot of respect for him. Then one day, I applied to see the then Visiting Magistrate and now Independent Monitoring Board, and was shocked to see that it was the solicitor. In my view, he had sold out. It is a shame to see that Keir Starmer has done the same. I feel that the opposition's tactic if you can't beat them get them to join you lacks being honourable. I may be too harsh a judge, in this case, time will tell.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Painter fined for smoking in his own van
Painter fined for smoking in his own van
A painter and decorator has been fined £30 for smoking in his own van because it was deemed to be a workplace.
Gordon Williams, 58, of Llanafan, near Aberystwyth, west Wales, was on the way to buy teabags for his wife when he incurred the on-the-spot fine.
He claims the van is insured as a private vehicle and he only uses it to travel between jobs. He has lodged an appeal with Ceredigion county council.
"Of course there are tools and things in the van, but a barrister would carry about documents in a briefcase in his own car. This is no different to my mind," he said.
Williams had lit up after being stopped by police for a routine roadworthiness check. A council official approached him and handed him the fixed penalty notice.
The self-employed painter and decorator said he had gone to the garage to buy teabags for his wife and was not travelling to work.
"I take the wife shopping in the van. It is my private vehicle as well as my work van. I was just having a cigarette and causing no bother to anyone else. But this is like big brother is watching you."
A passenger in his van, who had also just lit up, received a £30 fixed penalty notice as well.
A spokesman for Ceredigion county council said that it would be inappropriate to comment on individual cases.
I am sure that the legislation did not intend that a private vehicle should be deemed to be a place of work, this is not a burger van or an ice cream van which might be covered. How something which travels from A to B becomes a work place is beyond me.
A painter and decorator has been fined £30 for smoking in his own van because it was deemed to be a workplace.
Gordon Williams, 58, of Llanafan, near Aberystwyth, west Wales, was on the way to buy teabags for his wife when he incurred the on-the-spot fine.
He claims the van is insured as a private vehicle and he only uses it to travel between jobs. He has lodged an appeal with Ceredigion county council.
"Of course there are tools and things in the van, but a barrister would carry about documents in a briefcase in his own car. This is no different to my mind," he said.
Williams had lit up after being stopped by police for a routine roadworthiness check. A council official approached him and handed him the fixed penalty notice.
The self-employed painter and decorator said he had gone to the garage to buy teabags for his wife and was not travelling to work.
"I take the wife shopping in the van. It is my private vehicle as well as my work van. I was just having a cigarette and causing no bother to anyone else. But this is like big brother is watching you."
A passenger in his van, who had also just lit up, received a £30 fixed penalty notice as well.
A spokesman for Ceredigion county council said that it would be inappropriate to comment on individual cases.
I am sure that the legislation did not intend that a private vehicle should be deemed to be a place of work, this is not a burger van or an ice cream van which might be covered. How something which travels from A to B becomes a work place is beyond me.
Ministers 'duped by US' over Guantanamo inmate's torture claim
Ministers 'duped by US' over Guantanamo inmate's torture claim
The Government faces accusations that it has been duped by the US military after Foreign Office officials claimed that a UK resident held for four years in Guantanamo Bay without contact with other prisoners was not being kept in solitary confinement.
A letter sent to lawyers representing Binyam Mohamed, the last Guantanamo inmate with the automatic right to British residency, also asserts that there is no evidence to support any of his accusations of torture.
After being held for 6 years the US has now decided to charge him and put him on trial. I feel that fairness is lacking in this case. The authorities have to be above board to judge a case, and in this case they are clearly not.
The Government faces accusations that it has been duped by the US military after Foreign Office officials claimed that a UK resident held for four years in Guantanamo Bay without contact with other prisoners was not being kept in solitary confinement.
A letter sent to lawyers representing Binyam Mohamed, the last Guantanamo inmate with the automatic right to British residency, also asserts that there is no evidence to support any of his accusations of torture.
After being held for 6 years the US has now decided to charge him and put him on trial. I feel that fairness is lacking in this case. The authorities have to be above board to judge a case, and in this case they are clearly not.
Corrupt Tory vows to fight to keep his seat
Corrupt Tory vows to fight to keep his seat
I agree with David Cameron that the theft of taxpayers money by Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton is indefensible. And yet, this pair of Tory crooks are doing precisely that trying to defend the indefensible. It does not help matters when "the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner found that Sir Nicholas and his wife Ann, the MP for Congleton, had "unknowingly" broken parliamentary rules by claiming taxpayer-funded expenses for a house on which they had already paid off the mortgage".
You know when you pay off a mortgage that there is no outstanding money to pay on it. And you know when you claim expenses to pay off what has already been paid off, that this is fraud. And the legal maxim states "ignorance of the law is no excuse". So, why is the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner making pathetic and unbelievable excuses for this crooked pair rather than condemn them outright for their actions?
It is pathetic that Sir Nicholas Winterton is now claiming that David Cameron is being unlawful in an age discrimination attack upon him. It has nothing to do with ageism and everything to do with rooting out corruption. There again, if Sir Nicholas Winterton does not know when he is doing wrong he may be suffering from senile dementia and therefore its time for him to move on...
I agree with David Cameron that the theft of taxpayers money by Sir Nicholas and Ann Winterton is indefensible. And yet, this pair of Tory crooks are doing precisely that trying to defend the indefensible. It does not help matters when "the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner found that Sir Nicholas and his wife Ann, the MP for Congleton, had "unknowingly" broken parliamentary rules by claiming taxpayer-funded expenses for a house on which they had already paid off the mortgage".
You know when you pay off a mortgage that there is no outstanding money to pay on it. And you know when you claim expenses to pay off what has already been paid off, that this is fraud. And the legal maxim states "ignorance of the law is no excuse". So, why is the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner making pathetic and unbelievable excuses for this crooked pair rather than condemn them outright for their actions?
It is pathetic that Sir Nicholas Winterton is now claiming that David Cameron is being unlawful in an age discrimination attack upon him. It has nothing to do with ageism and everything to do with rooting out corruption. There again, if Sir Nicholas Winterton does not know when he is doing wrong he may be suffering from senile dementia and therefore its time for him to move on...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Streams of consciousness
Streams of consciousness
I first published this as a comment over at Liberal Conspiracy blog. It was largely off topic, still I think it deserves a wider audience so I have republished it here.
It was no secret before, nobody thought to ask. I don’t troll. But, now and again I will play mind games. I still smile when I think of the amount of times some on Guido’s blog thought I was you. Had I posted under my own name, Guido would not have allowed my comments through. Remember how many attacked me not under their own names. I learned about this from you, although you were pointing out how the Right did it, I thought I could do this. Three years ago I was computer illiterate. Two years ago I got a computer. In between then and now, I went on CIF. It was an education. Got involved in some flame wars, and was the last man standing along side billstickers. Sunny called me a racist. It wasn’t true. In the end he apologised. I’m still on the banned list at Iain Dale’s Diary, which is a shame because it means Total Politics refuses to acknowledge Total Bollocks written by axetogrind. As Jailhouselawyer is a co-author of the non-aligned blog, it does not take a rocket scientist to work out who is behind it. Communication is a fine thing. Recently, in New Zealand the police decided to offer the lad a job who has Aspergers Syndrome and was involved in computer hacking fraud big time. So, why am I on the dole? I’m in the job market. Why has the foremost expert on prison law and criminal justice not got a job? Are people frightened of me? Not because of violence but because of what I know? I would go to the source if I wanted to know something.
Tonight I caught Diana Johnson MP trying to avoid me in the street. She didn’t when she wanted my first vote in 25 years prior to the last election. Ok, she had her dog with her and my dog Rocky did let her’s know he was Top Dog. He’s not really aggressive, nor dangerous, he does some chest beating. I see through him, I know he’s scared at times. Tell me about it. I was 20 and looked 14 with a mental age about the same, in a man’s world, “Monster Mansion”, HMP Wakefield. I was like a shadow on the wall. I look up and and the vultures are waiting to swoop down on this “chicken”. I look around and see the biggest guy around, I decide to form an alliance with him. Henry a gypsy, Romany, he said. When Dale claims to know where the term chav comes from, he was wrong, even the Telegraph knows it comes from Romany for boy. Nowt wrong with a chav. The term has been bastardised. Can’t blame the youth of today for it. Henry was convicted of rape, a senior police officer’s daughter. He said she consented and it was only when it was discovered who she had had sex with that it became rape. I don’t know the facts, I didn’t judge him, I felt I needed a friend to help me get through in a maximum security prison. Henry was without doubt the strongest physically pound for pound on the Wing, and in the prison, at weightlifting, until I took it up and at first he laughed at me. But, I soon became the strongest pound for pound at Bantam weight 9 stone, 127 lbs. Sorry Europe, I don’t understand metric. It doesn’t compute. To cut a long story short, Henry was used by the screws to sort out a problem inmate. Then at the end of the Association period, we walked out of his cell and I pointed out to him the group of six inmates at the other side of the Landing. I said don’t run, confront them or they will go after you like a pack of wolves. We walked over and it went off straight away. I had read about Alexander the Great, we stood back to back, a young Screw tried to blow his whistle but couldn’t get a peep out because he was so shit scared. I indicated to Henry that we ought to throw the Screw over the landing onto the safety netting for his safety. His bum hitting the wire sent off a little peep on his whistle. It was heard by Officer Daley, my Personal Officer, he came running to hit the alarm bell. I noticed his face was as white as a Senior Officer’s shirt. Then I got distracted from what was happening about me because I was in the middle of a fight. Henry got hit on the head by a stainless steel food tray. Split his scalp open like a knife cutting into a green outside red inside melon. Blood everywhere, down his face, T-Shirt. It looked worse than it was. Nevertheless, Henry panicked when another three inmates jumped in on the other side, and broke ranks and fled, Banging himself up in a Pad. He said afterwards, when he was licking his wounds, it was only then that he realised he had deserted me in the face of nine enemies. I thought I had the situation contained, when I feel a pair of arms come from behind pinning mine down. I flipped him over my back and shoulders, and recognise Mr Daley on his way down.” Oh sorry, Mr Daley”, I said, stooping to pick him up, “You caught me unawares. Are you ok?”. Can’t say I thought much of his thinking going for me when nine others were going for me at the same time. Perhaps, he had his reason(s). Soon after, the Heavy Mob arrived. By then it was all over. I was safe. I had survived. Henry was in the hospital for treatment and observation. I asked Mr Daley if I could bang up in Henry’s Pad instead of my own, he said it was ok. There was a 25 inch TV on a shelf above the door, it was plugged into a spare light socket, and there was a V-Shaped portable-TV ariel on the window ledge. One day, a woman in a block of flats across the road saw the TV ariel through her binoculars and phoned the prison to report it. She was asked why she was looking at the prison through binoculars as it was against the Official Secrets Act. I was not then a Jailhouselawyer so I didn’t know. I did opine, when I entered the gates of Armley Prison in Leeds in 1971, that the law stopped outside of the prison gates. Twenty years later, Lord Justice Woolf, following the Strangeways Prison riot on April Fools Day 1990, in his Report stated that justice stops outside the prison gates. I was B Wing’s Three’s Landing Cleaner, it was written in marker pen on a huge white board at the Centre Office. Next to Hirst: 836208. Mr Daley shouted me one day, I looked over the Three’s Landing, He said go and check Henry’s window ledge to see if there is a portable-TV ariel on it. There was, I moved it to mine, then went back to check the window ledge and went to report that there wasn’t the last time I looked. It was a honest response. Was he issuing a warning to get rid of it from view? They didn’t want Outsiders knowing what went on inside our prisons.
Tonight, I accosted Diane Johnson MP, who I haven’t seen since the last General Election. Both dogs got agitated a bit, I was short of breath after running after her and Rocky wanting to go and remind her dog who’s Top Dog around here. And Kathleen who has ME, had just said I was bad tempered, as in short tempered, with Rocky’s whining whilst we were talking in Judge Humphrey’s and his partner’s kitchen in their house. He’s a dog. Dogs like food. He’s a Golden Labrador X with some kind of a hound the Rescue Centre informed me. Therefore, he sniffs for food and other scents more than most breed of dog. IMHO. Just an observation.
I said to Diana Johnson, as she went behind her iron railings and gate, I was considering chaining myself to the railings, as a protest about the lack of government response to the ECtHR judgment in the Prisoners Votes Case. I said, Kathleen has ME, and it was not fair that I have to go begging there for money. The government states that I need £110 per fortnight to survive, NatWest Bank and Yorkshire Water have decided 50% of that will be taken for overdrawn on nothing in my account, when a DD goes in and the money is not there to cover, and the other is for back debt. I have back pain. Not severe, just tingly. It’s the Chill Out Zone, John Lee Hooker playing. I said, why is it when I am so knowledgeable on crime and prison and law and the rest of it, I am unemployed.
In the kitchen, Kathleen got an ash tray out for us to have a smoke. Oh dear, I thought, and said, this is what I was trying to tell you, I took the tobacco pouch out of my shirt pocket and displayed the dog ends I had been smoking from my saved emergency rations. Old habits die hard.
When I came out after the five years, I went to Bath. Where Clarence Mitchell lives. It was 1974. That’s three years and seven months, it would have been three and four but for the escape from Lewes Prison in May 1973. I had the money that Henry and I had earned running a smuggling racket with Ronnie Rackett a civilian workman in the Building Yard. One time we got an order for a 3.10 shotgun and a .38 revolver, Security (Burglars) turned the jail over when word got out. It was intended to do a hit, gangster on gangster, I said to Henry we should rethink the situation, it would have been bad PR for the Prison Service, therefore we would have got a hard time as a result. The guns went out the same way they had come in, in a compressor towed by a dumper truck. They even had the Army in with metal detectors scanning the football field gardens and veg patch.
Was there a man with night-vision binoculars watching some activity in Praia da Luz on the evening of May 3 2007?
Martin, Kathleen and Humphrey’s son is at Oxford. He works on and off for Dianne Johnson MP, who I mentioned I was talking to earlier tonight. I said, we really have to look at the issues of penal reform giving that neither the government nor penal reform groups do anywhere near enough. Lets hope Shami Chakrabati gets Liberty involved. I said, I felt that the government was stalling until the Tories get in at the next election… Thatcher is becoming a faded memory. My reasoning was that the government would rather, if they felt they were going to lose, abdicate responsibility to the Tories. I did not support the government move to go to war with Iraq. Still, I voted for Labour. My elected MP could be asking questions in the House, why the State is letting me down badly. Why soon it will be eat or heat in the fuel poverty of Winter.
From Hull to eternity…
I first published this as a comment over at Liberal Conspiracy blog. It was largely off topic, still I think it deserves a wider audience so I have republished it here.
It was no secret before, nobody thought to ask. I don’t troll. But, now and again I will play mind games. I still smile when I think of the amount of times some on Guido’s blog thought I was you. Had I posted under my own name, Guido would not have allowed my comments through. Remember how many attacked me not under their own names. I learned about this from you, although you were pointing out how the Right did it, I thought I could do this. Three years ago I was computer illiterate. Two years ago I got a computer. In between then and now, I went on CIF. It was an education. Got involved in some flame wars, and was the last man standing along side billstickers. Sunny called me a racist. It wasn’t true. In the end he apologised. I’m still on the banned list at Iain Dale’s Diary, which is a shame because it means Total Politics refuses to acknowledge Total Bollocks written by axetogrind. As Jailhouselawyer is a co-author of the non-aligned blog, it does not take a rocket scientist to work out who is behind it. Communication is a fine thing. Recently, in New Zealand the police decided to offer the lad a job who has Aspergers Syndrome and was involved in computer hacking fraud big time. So, why am I on the dole? I’m in the job market. Why has the foremost expert on prison law and criminal justice not got a job? Are people frightened of me? Not because of violence but because of what I know? I would go to the source if I wanted to know something.
Tonight I caught Diana Johnson MP trying to avoid me in the street. She didn’t when she wanted my first vote in 25 years prior to the last election. Ok, she had her dog with her and my dog Rocky did let her’s know he was Top Dog. He’s not really aggressive, nor dangerous, he does some chest beating. I see through him, I know he’s scared at times. Tell me about it. I was 20 and looked 14 with a mental age about the same, in a man’s world, “Monster Mansion”, HMP Wakefield. I was like a shadow on the wall. I look up and and the vultures are waiting to swoop down on this “chicken”. I look around and see the biggest guy around, I decide to form an alliance with him. Henry a gypsy, Romany, he said. When Dale claims to know where the term chav comes from, he was wrong, even the Telegraph knows it comes from Romany for boy. Nowt wrong with a chav. The term has been bastardised. Can’t blame the youth of today for it. Henry was convicted of rape, a senior police officer’s daughter. He said she consented and it was only when it was discovered who she had had sex with that it became rape. I don’t know the facts, I didn’t judge him, I felt I needed a friend to help me get through in a maximum security prison. Henry was without doubt the strongest physically pound for pound on the Wing, and in the prison, at weightlifting, until I took it up and at first he laughed at me. But, I soon became the strongest pound for pound at Bantam weight 9 stone, 127 lbs. Sorry Europe, I don’t understand metric. It doesn’t compute. To cut a long story short, Henry was used by the screws to sort out a problem inmate. Then at the end of the Association period, we walked out of his cell and I pointed out to him the group of six inmates at the other side of the Landing. I said don’t run, confront them or they will go after you like a pack of wolves. We walked over and it went off straight away. I had read about Alexander the Great, we stood back to back, a young Screw tried to blow his whistle but couldn’t get a peep out because he was so shit scared. I indicated to Henry that we ought to throw the Screw over the landing onto the safety netting for his safety. His bum hitting the wire sent off a little peep on his whistle. It was heard by Officer Daley, my Personal Officer, he came running to hit the alarm bell. I noticed his face was as white as a Senior Officer’s shirt. Then I got distracted from what was happening about me because I was in the middle of a fight. Henry got hit on the head by a stainless steel food tray. Split his scalp open like a knife cutting into a green outside red inside melon. Blood everywhere, down his face, T-Shirt. It looked worse than it was. Nevertheless, Henry panicked when another three inmates jumped in on the other side, and broke ranks and fled, Banging himself up in a Pad. He said afterwards, when he was licking his wounds, it was only then that he realised he had deserted me in the face of nine enemies. I thought I had the situation contained, when I feel a pair of arms come from behind pinning mine down. I flipped him over my back and shoulders, and recognise Mr Daley on his way down.” Oh sorry, Mr Daley”, I said, stooping to pick him up, “You caught me unawares. Are you ok?”. Can’t say I thought much of his thinking going for me when nine others were going for me at the same time. Perhaps, he had his reason(s). Soon after, the Heavy Mob arrived. By then it was all over. I was safe. I had survived. Henry was in the hospital for treatment and observation. I asked Mr Daley if I could bang up in Henry’s Pad instead of my own, he said it was ok. There was a 25 inch TV on a shelf above the door, it was plugged into a spare light socket, and there was a V-Shaped portable-TV ariel on the window ledge. One day, a woman in a block of flats across the road saw the TV ariel through her binoculars and phoned the prison to report it. She was asked why she was looking at the prison through binoculars as it was against the Official Secrets Act. I was not then a Jailhouselawyer so I didn’t know. I did opine, when I entered the gates of Armley Prison in Leeds in 1971, that the law stopped outside of the prison gates. Twenty years later, Lord Justice Woolf, following the Strangeways Prison riot on April Fools Day 1990, in his Report stated that justice stops outside the prison gates. I was B Wing’s Three’s Landing Cleaner, it was written in marker pen on a huge white board at the Centre Office. Next to Hirst: 836208. Mr Daley shouted me one day, I looked over the Three’s Landing, He said go and check Henry’s window ledge to see if there is a portable-TV ariel on it. There was, I moved it to mine, then went back to check the window ledge and went to report that there wasn’t the last time I looked. It was a honest response. Was he issuing a warning to get rid of it from view? They didn’t want Outsiders knowing what went on inside our prisons.
Tonight, I accosted Diane Johnson MP, who I haven’t seen since the last General Election. Both dogs got agitated a bit, I was short of breath after running after her and Rocky wanting to go and remind her dog who’s Top Dog around here. And Kathleen who has ME, had just said I was bad tempered, as in short tempered, with Rocky’s whining whilst we were talking in Judge Humphrey’s and his partner’s kitchen in their house. He’s a dog. Dogs like food. He’s a Golden Labrador X with some kind of a hound the Rescue Centre informed me. Therefore, he sniffs for food and other scents more than most breed of dog. IMHO. Just an observation.
I said to Diana Johnson, as she went behind her iron railings and gate, I was considering chaining myself to the railings, as a protest about the lack of government response to the ECtHR judgment in the Prisoners Votes Case. I said, Kathleen has ME, and it was not fair that I have to go begging there for money. The government states that I need £110 per fortnight to survive, NatWest Bank and Yorkshire Water have decided 50% of that will be taken for overdrawn on nothing in my account, when a DD goes in and the money is not there to cover, and the other is for back debt. I have back pain. Not severe, just tingly. It’s the Chill Out Zone, John Lee Hooker playing. I said, why is it when I am so knowledgeable on crime and prison and law and the rest of it, I am unemployed.
In the kitchen, Kathleen got an ash tray out for us to have a smoke. Oh dear, I thought, and said, this is what I was trying to tell you, I took the tobacco pouch out of my shirt pocket and displayed the dog ends I had been smoking from my saved emergency rations. Old habits die hard.
When I came out after the five years, I went to Bath. Where Clarence Mitchell lives. It was 1974. That’s three years and seven months, it would have been three and four but for the escape from Lewes Prison in May 1973. I had the money that Henry and I had earned running a smuggling racket with Ronnie Rackett a civilian workman in the Building Yard. One time we got an order for a 3.10 shotgun and a .38 revolver, Security (Burglars) turned the jail over when word got out. It was intended to do a hit, gangster on gangster, I said to Henry we should rethink the situation, it would have been bad PR for the Prison Service, therefore we would have got a hard time as a result. The guns went out the same way they had come in, in a compressor towed by a dumper truck. They even had the Army in with metal detectors scanning the football field gardens and veg patch.
Was there a man with night-vision binoculars watching some activity in Praia da Luz on the evening of May 3 2007?
Martin, Kathleen and Humphrey’s son is at Oxford. He works on and off for Dianne Johnson MP, who I mentioned I was talking to earlier tonight. I said, we really have to look at the issues of penal reform giving that neither the government nor penal reform groups do anywhere near enough. Lets hope Shami Chakrabati gets Liberty involved. I said, I felt that the government was stalling until the Tories get in at the next election… Thatcher is becoming a faded memory. My reasoning was that the government would rather, if they felt they were going to lose, abdicate responsibility to the Tories. I did not support the government move to go to war with Iraq. Still, I voted for Labour. My elected MP could be asking questions in the House, why the State is letting me down badly. Why soon it will be eat or heat in the fuel poverty of Winter.
From Hull to eternity…
Tory held over sex act in loo
Tory held over sex act in loo
A TORY councillor was arrested for gross indecency after he was allegedly caught in a sex act with a man in a loo.
Robert Benson, 41, was taken to a police station and charged with engaging in sexual activity in a public toilet.
Benson — who has recently married — was nicked in South Harrow, North London.
A 56-year-old man from Essex who was with him was given a caution.
Benson, who sits on Harrow and Weald Council, has been suspended from the Conservative Party.
Tory group leader David Ashton said: “If somebody is charged with a criminal offence, they are suspended as part of our standard procedure.”
Benson can still sit on the council as an independent and could win back party membership if he is acquitted.
He is due to appear before Wimbledon magistrates next Wednesday.
I wonder what his newly wed wife will make of this? Or was it a marriage of public convenience?
Get on yer bike...I mean broomstick
Get on yer bike...I mean broomstick
David Cameron is to learn how to ride a broomstick after his bike is stolen outside Tesco...
At least now, for awhile, he won't be riding through any more red lights...
David Cameron is to learn how to ride a broomstick after his bike is stolen outside Tesco...
At least now, for awhile, he won't be riding through any more red lights...
Baby separated from her mother by police separated from commonsense
Baby separated from her mother by police separated from commonsense
Gingersnaps gets on her soap box about the Berry Hill police department response to a pregnant woman about to give birth and how a minor traffic violation led to her human rights being violated.
Well worth a read...
Gingersnaps gets on her soap box about the Berry Hill police department response to a pregnant woman about to give birth and how a minor traffic violation led to her human rights being violated.
Well worth a read...
UN alarmed over Congo prison hunger deaths
UN alarmed over Congo prison hunger deaths
The United Nations says it is alarmed by the number of deaths in a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At least 26 inmates have died from acute malnutrition at the main prison in the city of Mbuji Mayi in Kasai Oriental province since February.
Four inmates died of hunger last week alone.
The UN says it is particularly concerned because no measures are being taken to improve living conditions.
It says many of the inmates have not yet been convicted of any crime.
The UN is providing water to the prison on a weekly basis.
Hat-Tip to Ball & Chain
The United Nations says it is alarmed by the number of deaths in a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
At least 26 inmates have died from acute malnutrition at the main prison in the city of Mbuji Mayi in Kasai Oriental province since February.
Four inmates died of hunger last week alone.
The UN says it is particularly concerned because no measures are being taken to improve living conditions.
It says many of the inmates have not yet been convicted of any crime.
The UN is providing water to the prison on a weekly basis.
Hat-Tip to Ball & Chain
NZ judge orders 'odd' name change
NZ judge orders 'odd' name change
A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated - Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
"Officials had blocked Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucy and Yeah Detroit, he said, but Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence and Midnight Chardonnay had been allowed".
It is one thing to conceive a child in the number 16 bus shelter, but to then name the child Number 16 Bus Shelter is taking the piss and should not have been allowed!
A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated - Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
"Officials had blocked Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucy and Yeah Detroit, he said, but Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence and Midnight Chardonnay had been allowed".
It is one thing to conceive a child in the number 16 bus shelter, but to then name the child Number 16 Bus Shelter is taking the piss and should not have been allowed!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Terror police detain disabled boy
Terror police detain disabled boy
A police force has apologised after a disabled child and his parents were detained at a Channel crossing point under the Terrorism Act.
The white couple with the mixed race disabled child were accused of child trafficking. What all this had to to with the Terrorism Act and ant-terrorist police is beyond me. Is there some connection I have missed other than the obvious erosion of civil liberties?
A police force has apologised after a disabled child and his parents were detained at a Channel crossing point under the Terrorism Act.
The white couple with the mixed race disabled child were accused of child trafficking. What all this had to to with the Terrorism Act and ant-terrorist police is beyond me. Is there some connection I have missed other than the obvious erosion of civil liberties?
Pc killer wins life term appeal
Pc killer wins life term appeal
A former US marine who murdered a policeman has won an appeal against his "whole life" prison sentence...
The American, 42, was told he will now serve a minimum of 37 years in jail.
Given his age, and the fact that he must serve a minimum 37 years before being considered for release, in other words, the Parole Board can decide he must serve longer, this is really a hollow victory and a waste of time and money. If he doesn't die in prison he will be so old and doddery by the time he gets released he will probably wish he was dead.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
How many Liberal Conspiracy readers does it take to change a light bulb?
How many Liberal Conspiracy readers does it take to change a light bulb?
57. comment by
jailhouselawyer
How many Liberal Conspiracy readers does it take to change a light bulb?
58. comment by
Leon
1000,
1 to change it and the other 999 to boycott the way it was changed.
59. comment by
jailhouselawyer
LOL.
64. comment by
Rumbold
“How many Liberal Conspiracy readers does it take to change a light bulb?”
Leon is right to say 1000, but wrong about their division of labour:
200 left wing bloggers to set up a Light Bulb-Changing Committee (LBCC) to assess the scope of light bulb-changing activities, and the various sub-committees to monitor whether or not diversity targets and other relevant legislation is being complied with.
50 for an independent LBC appeals panel (OffBulb), in case anyone disagrees with the LBCC’s decision.
10 needed to become full-time trade union officials, to ensure that LBCC employees are properly represented.
50 bloggers must make up the External Representation Committee (ERC), which liaises with other departments and represents the LBCC at EU and UN levels.
100 will become revenue officers, who are tasked with taxing the local population to provide this vital service. Non-payment of the light bulb tax is a criminal offence.
20 bloggers to form the environmental sub-group in order to ensure that the light bulbs are environmentally friendly. This will be achieved by going on a fact-finding mission to the Bahamas.
400 administrators are necessary, in order to administer the other administrators.
The remaining 170 bloggers will sit around complaining about how Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes think that they are the only ones who can change light bulbs, and how the left can change light bulbs just as well, if only they wanted to. At this juncture, someone will point out that the only reason Conservative Home has bloggers who can change light bulbs is because the site is externally funded.
The light bulb will remain unchanged.
66. comment by
BenSix
““How many Liberal Conspiracy readers does it take to change a light bulb?””
They won’t - they’re always in the dark*.
* Only snickering.
69. comment by
Sunny Hundal
Heh. that’s funny rumbold…
Very illuminating...
57. comment by
jailhouselawyer
How many Liberal Conspiracy readers does it take to change a light bulb?
58. comment by
Leon
1000,
1 to change it and the other 999 to boycott the way it was changed.
59. comment by
jailhouselawyer
LOL.
64. comment by
Rumbold
“How many Liberal Conspiracy readers does it take to change a light bulb?”
Leon is right to say 1000, but wrong about their division of labour:
200 left wing bloggers to set up a Light Bulb-Changing Committee (LBCC) to assess the scope of light bulb-changing activities, and the various sub-committees to monitor whether or not diversity targets and other relevant legislation is being complied with.
50 for an independent LBC appeals panel (OffBulb), in case anyone disagrees with the LBCC’s decision.
10 needed to become full-time trade union officials, to ensure that LBCC employees are properly represented.
50 bloggers must make up the External Representation Committee (ERC), which liaises with other departments and represents the LBCC at EU and UN levels.
100 will become revenue officers, who are tasked with taxing the local population to provide this vital service. Non-payment of the light bulb tax is a criminal offence.
20 bloggers to form the environmental sub-group in order to ensure that the light bulbs are environmentally friendly. This will be achieved by going on a fact-finding mission to the Bahamas.
400 administrators are necessary, in order to administer the other administrators.
The remaining 170 bloggers will sit around complaining about how Iain Dale and Guido Fawkes think that they are the only ones who can change light bulbs, and how the left can change light bulbs just as well, if only they wanted to. At this juncture, someone will point out that the only reason Conservative Home has bloggers who can change light bulbs is because the site is externally funded.
The light bulb will remain unchanged.
66. comment by
BenSix
““How many Liberal Conspiracy readers does it take to change a light bulb?””
They won’t - they’re always in the dark*.
* Only snickering.
69. comment by
Sunny Hundal
Heh. that’s funny rumbold…
Very illuminating...
Saddam Hussein's Rolls Royce put up for sale in eBay
Saddam Hussein's Rolls Royce put up for sale in eBay
A convertible Rolls Royce reputedly owned by Saddam Hussein has gone up for sale on eBay.
"The maroon Corniche sports car has a price tag of £185,000 and comes with papers confirming its ownership by the tyrannical former Iraqi leader.
The top-of-the-range car boasts heated, brown leather seats with red piping, a CD multichanger and a climate control system.
According to Steven Brown, the owner of car dealership Autocontinental, based in Redhill, Surrey, the car will be shipped from Baghdad to its new home within the next 28 days".
A convertible Rolls Royce reputedly owned by Saddam Hussein has gone up for sale on eBay.
"The maroon Corniche sports car has a price tag of £185,000 and comes with papers confirming its ownership by the tyrannical former Iraqi leader.
The top-of-the-range car boasts heated, brown leather seats with red piping, a CD multichanger and a climate control system.
According to Steven Brown, the owner of car dealership Autocontinental, based in Redhill, Surrey, the car will be shipped from Baghdad to its new home within the next 28 days".
Inmates 'sleeping in toilet area'
Inmates 'sleeping in toilet area'
Some prisoners are living and sleeping in toilets because of jail overcrowding, a report says.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons found Doncaster jail held almost 200 more inmates than it had been intended for.
Two-man cells had been turned into three-man cells by putting an extra bed in the toilet area.
Is this what is meant by a bog standard prison?
£2bn jail expansion not based on 'solid foundations'
£2bn jail expansion not based on 'solid foundations'
A £2.3 billion prison building programme to provide 10,500 extra spaces is not based on “solid foundations”, according to a critical Commons committee report published today.
The Government is accused of a “risky strategy” by focusing on spending large amounts on more jail spaces, including three Titan prisons each holding 2,500 inmates. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, embarked on the policy after a report by Lord Carter of Coles, a Labour peer, recommended a programme to deal with the rising number of offenders who are being imprisoned.
The Justice Committee’s report is scathing of Lord Carter’s work, saying that it failed to explain in any detail the evidence or reasoning behind the conclusions. It described Lord Carter’s review as “deeply unimpressive”.
I hardly think that because Lord Carter was best man at Jack Straw's wedding it makes him competent to judge on prison issues. This stinks of jobs for the boys.
A £2.3 billion prison building programme to provide 10,500 extra spaces is not based on “solid foundations”, according to a critical Commons committee report published today.
The Government is accused of a “risky strategy” by focusing on spending large amounts on more jail spaces, including three Titan prisons each holding 2,500 inmates. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, embarked on the policy after a report by Lord Carter of Coles, a Labour peer, recommended a programme to deal with the rising number of offenders who are being imprisoned.
The Justice Committee’s report is scathing of Lord Carter’s work, saying that it failed to explain in any detail the evidence or reasoning behind the conclusions. It described Lord Carter’s review as “deeply unimpressive”.
I hardly think that because Lord Carter was best man at Jack Straw's wedding it makes him competent to judge on prison issues. This stinks of jobs for the boys.
Ice cream vans threatened by new noise restrictions
Ice cream vans threatened by new noise restrictions
The jingling tunes of the ice cream van, a sound that epitomises summer, are to be curtailed by council bosses because they are too noisy.
Husbands who kill wives can no longer claim they were provoked
Husbands who kill wives can no longer claim they were provoked
Husbands who kill nagging wives will no longer be able to claim they were provoked, under a radical shake-up of the murder laws.
Suspects will also be prevented from pleading not guilty to murder by claiming it was a "crime of passion" because their partner was having an affair.
The reforms are designed to ensure domestic violence is treated as other forms of homicide.
As a result of the changes, battered wives who kill their abusers will be able to defend themselves against a murder charge by claiming diminished responsibility.
Around 100 men a year kill their former or current partners, and provocation - such as failing to cook a meal, or persistent nagging - is the main form of defence used by barristers.
In contrast, it is comparatively difficult for lawyers representing the 30 women a year on average who kill their partners to argue that they were provoked, as the crime tends not to take place in the heat of the moment, but is typically pre-planned.
Husbands who kill nagging wives will no longer be able to claim they were provoked, under a radical shake-up of the murder laws.
Suspects will also be prevented from pleading not guilty to murder by claiming it was a "crime of passion" because their partner was having an affair.
The reforms are designed to ensure domestic violence is treated as other forms of homicide.
As a result of the changes, battered wives who kill their abusers will be able to defend themselves against a murder charge by claiming diminished responsibility.
Around 100 men a year kill their former or current partners, and provocation - such as failing to cook a meal, or persistent nagging - is the main form of defence used by barristers.
In contrast, it is comparatively difficult for lawyers representing the 30 women a year on average who kill their partners to argue that they were provoked, as the crime tends not to take place in the heat of the moment, but is typically pre-planned.
Judge breached restraining order against ex-wife and her boyfriend
Judge breached restraining order against ex-wife and her boyfriend
A judge has been sentenced to 50 hours community service after he admitted breaching a restraining order imposed following a campaign of harassment against his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
He had been the subject of a restraining order imposed in May 2006, following a conviction for harassment, when trouble flared at the barbecue at his children’s school, where he was due to pick them up for a contact visit.
I do hope he has not been paid since 2005?
A judge has been sentenced to 50 hours community service after he admitted breaching a restraining order imposed following a campaign of harassment against his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
He had been the subject of a restraining order imposed in May 2006, following a conviction for harassment, when trouble flared at the barbecue at his children’s school, where he was due to pick them up for a contact visit.
I do hope he has not been paid since 2005?
Monday, July 21, 2008
McCanns not cleared for lack of evidence
McCanns not cleared for lack of evidence
I question the Attorney-General of Portugal, do you want your country to be the laughingstock of Europe? Think again and reopen the case.
They have enough evidence of child neglect.
They have enough evidence that there was no break in.
They have enough evidence that the McCanns lied about the break in.
They have enough evidence of a cover up.
They have enough evidence that Jane Tanner lied about seeing an abductor.
They have enough evidence that Gerry’s claim that the abductor was in the apartment at the same time as Gerry is false.
They have enough evidence that an innocent couple would not have gone to these lengths.
The case should have been taken to court. It must be remembered that the McCanns refused to answer 40 questions put by the PJ.
I question the Attorney-General of Portugal, do you want your country to be the laughingstock of Europe? Think again and reopen the case.
They have enough evidence of child neglect.
They have enough evidence that there was no break in.
They have enough evidence that the McCanns lied about the break in.
They have enough evidence of a cover up.
They have enough evidence that Jane Tanner lied about seeing an abductor.
They have enough evidence that Gerry’s claim that the abductor was in the apartment at the same time as Gerry is false.
They have enough evidence that an innocent couple would not have gone to these lengths.
The case should have been taken to court. It must be remembered that the McCanns refused to answer 40 questions put by the PJ.
Why has the village of Rothley got so many idiots?
Why has the village of Rothley got so many idiots?
"I think they (the Portugese police) didn't have any options so they took the easy option and accused them".
Doh!
Prisoners should be allowed mobile phones and internet access
Prisoners should be allowed mobile phones and internet access
Whilst I can understand the Prison Service seeking to crackdown on the supply of drugs going into prison, there is a wider issue here about the use of mobile phones by prisoners.
Recently, it emerged that prisoners were being charged 70% more than phone users outside by BT for phoning home. In my view, this cannot be justified given that prisoners only receive pocket money compared to the real wages received by people outside of prison. Therefore, it could be argued that prisoners should be allowed to have mobile phones in closed prisons.
Technology has moved forward. It used to be that prisoners would communicate by tapping out morse code messages on the heating pipes that run through the cells. These days I receive emails from inside, and know that my blog is read from those who have internet access on their mobile phones. I don't consider this to be a bad thing.
Not everybody outside who has a mobile phone and/or the internet uses it to call their drug dealer or access pornography. It would be deemed to be a breach of civil liberties if the authorities attempted to block general access for the sake of a few. And, I would argue that the same should apply within prisons.
UPDATE: It's worth pointing out that drugs do not get into prison via the mobile phone. That is just a source of communication. Nor do they get in via the prisoners internet connection. Drugs get in because there has been a security breach. That is the Prison Service's and Ministry of Justice responsibility.
Whilst I can understand the Prison Service seeking to crackdown on the supply of drugs going into prison, there is a wider issue here about the use of mobile phones by prisoners.
Recently, it emerged that prisoners were being charged 70% more than phone users outside by BT for phoning home. In my view, this cannot be justified given that prisoners only receive pocket money compared to the real wages received by people outside of prison. Therefore, it could be argued that prisoners should be allowed to have mobile phones in closed prisons.
Technology has moved forward. It used to be that prisoners would communicate by tapping out morse code messages on the heating pipes that run through the cells. These days I receive emails from inside, and know that my blog is read from those who have internet access on their mobile phones. I don't consider this to be a bad thing.
Not everybody outside who has a mobile phone and/or the internet uses it to call their drug dealer or access pornography. It would be deemed to be a breach of civil liberties if the authorities attempted to block general access for the sake of a few. And, I would argue that the same should apply within prisons.
UPDATE: It's worth pointing out that drugs do not get into prison via the mobile phone. That is just a source of communication. Nor do they get in via the prisoners internet connection. Drugs get in because there has been a security breach. That is the Prison Service's and Ministry of Justice responsibility.
Budget cuts threaten to slow miscarriage of justice reviews
Budget cuts threaten to slow miscarriage of justice reviews
Victims of miscarriages of justice will have to wait longer for their cases to be examined because of annual cuts of £300,000 in the budget of the organisation that investigates them, it emerged yesterday.
Staff at the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that examines suspect convictions, are "angry and dispirited", and the budget cuts are threatening to damage their work, according to their chairman, Prof Graham Zellick.
There is something not right about the Ministry of Justice which has failed to prevent the injustice of innocents being falsely imprisoned in the first place, reducing the budget of an organisation with the task of reviewing miscarriages of justice.
Victims of miscarriages of justice will have to wait longer for their cases to be examined because of annual cuts of £300,000 in the budget of the organisation that investigates them, it emerged yesterday.
Staff at the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body that examines suspect convictions, are "angry and dispirited", and the budget cuts are threatening to damage their work, according to their chairman, Prof Graham Zellick.
There is something not right about the Ministry of Justice which has failed to prevent the injustice of innocents being falsely imprisoned in the first place, reducing the budget of an organisation with the task of reviewing miscarriages of justice.
Government to criminalise the unemployed
Government to criminalise the unemployed
The government is to unveil plans to treat the unemployed in the same manner as those convicted of criminal offences and sentenced to community service orders and undergoing punishment. That is, force them to pick up litter and clean up graffiti.
Given that this is something that even a Thatcher government would not dared to have suggested should be setting off alarm bells in 10 Downing Street.
Knock, knock. The lights are on, but there is nobody at home...
The government is to unveil plans to treat the unemployed in the same manner as those convicted of criminal offences and sentenced to community service orders and undergoing punishment. That is, force them to pick up litter and clean up graffiti.
Given that this is something that even a Thatcher government would not dared to have suggested should be setting off alarm bells in 10 Downing Street.
Knock, knock. The lights are on, but there is nobody at home...
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Association of Prison Lawyers
Association of Prison Lawyers
Lawyers practising Prison Law are to form an association
With the knowledge of an association of lawyers being formed, who practice prison law, Inside Time asked Rikki Garg, Chairman of the Steering Group, to explain what had prompted this initiative.
“Following legal challenges brought by prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s, prison law developed into a specialist field in the 1990s after the CJA 1991 enshrined DLP prisoners' right to advocacy at their oral hearings.
“Every other area of law has an association that has developed their own formal contacts and consultation procedures with the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Court Service, the Legal Services Commission and other bodies of obvious influence, like the Lord Chancellor’s Department and the Ministry of Justice. It is therefore important that Prison Law practitioners have a recognised representative voice and body that will protect the right of those who we seek to represent - some of the most vulnerable people in society.
“It is also the case that the funding of prison law has, in recent times, been under more and more scrutiny, leaving those in custody often confused as to who can provide the necessary specialist advice. And more legal practitioners with criminal law contracts are providing a prison law service without possibly the necessary experience or training to support and underpin the advice they give.
“There is, therefore, a real need for an established voice for those legal practitioners committed to the growth and development of Prison Law, with the knowledge and expertise to ensure that those who practice have the necessary and relevant experience, education and training to deliver the service people in custody have the right to expect. A priority for the association will be to ensure the development of Prison Law in its own right and to raise standards beyond those which simply satisfy the Legal Services Commission.”
Will anyone be able to become a member; regardless of the size or experience of the firm/practitioner?
“Everyone who is currently providing legal advice in prison law may apply. Their current experience and training from any accredited training organisation will be acknowledged. Once established, the association hopes to provide specific training courses on a ‘not for profit’ basis for its members.”
So what’s the next step?
“A steering group made up of the country’s leading prison law legal representatives has been meeting regularly in the earlier part of this year to establish the association, and a draft constitution will be going out for consultation to everyone who has expressed their interest in the association shortly in advance of the association’s first AGM in July this year. After the AGM, the work of the association will begin with a sense of urgency to achieve the broad objectives mentioned in this article.”
Will readers seeing adverts for the various firms in publications such as Inside Time know which of them are association members?
“Once the first AGM has taken place, all of this sort of detail will be agreed and announced but the intention is certainly to ensure there is an end to any confusion about the credentials of prison lawyers, and that those seeking advice will be reassured by the existence of an impartial and recognised association which is focussed on maintaining and raising standards for those in need of this type of help and advice".
Lawyers practising Prison Law are to form an association
With the knowledge of an association of lawyers being formed, who practice prison law, Inside Time asked Rikki Garg, Chairman of the Steering Group, to explain what had prompted this initiative.
“Following legal challenges brought by prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s, prison law developed into a specialist field in the 1990s after the CJA 1991 enshrined DLP prisoners' right to advocacy at their oral hearings.
“Every other area of law has an association that has developed their own formal contacts and consultation procedures with the Law Society, the Bar Council, the Court Service, the Legal Services Commission and other bodies of obvious influence, like the Lord Chancellor’s Department and the Ministry of Justice. It is therefore important that Prison Law practitioners have a recognised representative voice and body that will protect the right of those who we seek to represent - some of the most vulnerable people in society.
“It is also the case that the funding of prison law has, in recent times, been under more and more scrutiny, leaving those in custody often confused as to who can provide the necessary specialist advice. And more legal practitioners with criminal law contracts are providing a prison law service without possibly the necessary experience or training to support and underpin the advice they give.
“There is, therefore, a real need for an established voice for those legal practitioners committed to the growth and development of Prison Law, with the knowledge and expertise to ensure that those who practice have the necessary and relevant experience, education and training to deliver the service people in custody have the right to expect. A priority for the association will be to ensure the development of Prison Law in its own right and to raise standards beyond those which simply satisfy the Legal Services Commission.”
Will anyone be able to become a member; regardless of the size or experience of the firm/practitioner?
“Everyone who is currently providing legal advice in prison law may apply. Their current experience and training from any accredited training organisation will be acknowledged. Once established, the association hopes to provide specific training courses on a ‘not for profit’ basis for its members.”
So what’s the next step?
“A steering group made up of the country’s leading prison law legal representatives has been meeting regularly in the earlier part of this year to establish the association, and a draft constitution will be going out for consultation to everyone who has expressed their interest in the association shortly in advance of the association’s first AGM in July this year. After the AGM, the work of the association will begin with a sense of urgency to achieve the broad objectives mentioned in this article.”
Will readers seeing adverts for the various firms in publications such as Inside Time know which of them are association members?
“Once the first AGM has taken place, all of this sort of detail will be agreed and announced but the intention is certainly to ensure there is an end to any confusion about the credentials of prison lawyers, and that those seeking advice will be reassured by the existence of an impartial and recognised association which is focussed on maintaining and raising standards for those in need of this type of help and advice".
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Child plays truant: jail the mother
Child plays truant: jail the mother
A mother has been jailed for two months for repeatedly failing to stop her child playing truant from school.
Is this the right answer to the problem? I don't think it is, but I don't know what the right answer is.
A mother has been jailed for two months for repeatedly failing to stop her child playing truant from school.
Is this the right answer to the problem? I don't think it is, but I don't know what the right answer is.
Another copper deposit found in Wales
Another copper deposit found in Wales
A police officer who was cleared of wrongdoing after punching a woman while trying to arrest her has died after being found in north Wales.
Remember this one?
A police officer who was cleared of wrongdoing after punching a woman while trying to arrest her has died after being found in north Wales.
Remember this one?
Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair given suspended sentence
Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair given suspended sentence
The country's most senior Asian officer has suspended an employment tribunal claim in which he had accused the Metropolitan Police of racism.
Perhaps, I'll burn the house down to keep warm?
Perhaps, I'll burn the house down to keep warm?
Millions of UK households are paying energy tariffs that are "unjust", the Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks has said.
Tell me about it! There is nothing just about fuel poverty. I don't know what I am going to do come Winter. Perhaps, I'll burn the house down to keep warm? (If my probation officer is reading this, I am only being sarcastic).
Millions of UK households are paying energy tariffs that are "unjust", the Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks has said.
Tell me about it! There is nothing just about fuel poverty. I don't know what I am going to do come Winter. Perhaps, I'll burn the house down to keep warm? (If my probation officer is reading this, I am only being sarcastic).
Jesus swept
Jesus swept
Vacuum in the work place? Nah, sweep it under the carpet...
"I've been using a broom since Jesus's old man was a carpenter".
Don't you dare move it's against Health and Safety laws...
Vacuum in the work place? Nah, sweep it under the carpet...
"I've been using a broom since Jesus's old man was a carpenter".
Don't you dare move it's against Health and Safety laws...
Belief and tradition have their place but road safety must come first
Belief and tradition have their place but road safety must come first
Road safety laws are against Amish religious beliefs! Whatever next?
Road safety laws are against Amish religious beliefs! Whatever next?
Waste not want not leave it all over the place
Waste not want not leave it all over the place
The street outside my house is littered with full and overfull dustbins since last Wednesday, when the dustbin men refused to empty them because they were on strike. I have seen piles of rubbish dumped in the little park at the back of my house as people are forced to take action to clear away what they have paid council tax for. And, the Poles next door simply take their rubbish and dump it beside the B&B in the next street. And the other day, I noticed the burnt out remains of a wheelie bin on Beverley Road.
Therefore, I don't think changing the law to deny householders the right to have their rubbish collected by the council is a good move.
Haven't the police got anything better to do, when the council workers are refusing to pick up litter, than to tell a young girl to pick up a piece of litter?
The street outside my house is littered with full and overfull dustbins since last Wednesday, when the dustbin men refused to empty them because they were on strike. I have seen piles of rubbish dumped in the little park at the back of my house as people are forced to take action to clear away what they have paid council tax for. And, the Poles next door simply take their rubbish and dump it beside the B&B in the next street. And the other day, I noticed the burnt out remains of a wheelie bin on Beverley Road.
Therefore, I don't think changing the law to deny householders the right to have their rubbish collected by the council is a good move.
Haven't the police got anything better to do, when the council workers are refusing to pick up litter, than to tell a young girl to pick up a piece of litter?
Mark Leech: once a conman always a conman
Mark Leech: once a conman always a conman
There is an old saying in prison that goes like this: "Once a con, always a con". It may have had its origin in the abbreviation for convict, however, I have always understood it to mean once a conman always a conman. And, in the case of Mark Leech, this is certainly true.
I first came across the name of Mark Leech, in 1988, in Wakefield Prison, when another prisoner showed me a handwritten copy of an article he had painstakingly copied verbatim from a copy of Fight Racialism, Fight Imperialism (FRFI). The article related to how to take the Prison Service to County Court over lost property, and the author claimed to be Mark Leech, LLB (Hons). I must admit I was impressed, that is, until I tried to put into practice his advice. Mark Leech had not taken into account that the position was somewhat different for a Category 'A' prisoner, therefore I encountered a security hurdle which I had to negotiate to gain access to court. As it transpired, the Home Office settled the claim in full on the court steps.
I was later to discover that not only does Mark Leech not have Honours (Hons), he doesn't even have a law degree (LLB)! And yet, he tries to tell us he is the best person to inform prisoners which qualified lawyers are competent to advise and represent prisoners in the area of prison law. And, how does he judge this? Quite simply, those lawyers foolish enough to pay him money for a "Mickey Mouse" law course, and paying him money to advertise in his publications, they are deemed to be competent in his eyes. However, this so-called "judge" has a vested interest which gives the appearance of bias. Any lawyer worth his or her salts would tell you that such a judge's decision would be overturned upon appeal.
I have never professed to have a law degree. Nevertheless, I am arguably the foremost expert on prison law in the country. I say "arguably", for the simple reason I have never gone head to head with Mark Leech to establish my supremacy outside of my own mind. Certainly, in terms of cases won my total more than trebles Mark Leech's claim to have won 30 cases. During 1992/3 I taught Elkan Abrahamson prison law when he was a junior partner at Edwards and Sims in Liverpool. I recall him saying, at the time, he would give it 6 months. Elkan went on to specialise in prison law, and opened up his own shop as senior partner in AS Law in Liverpool. In my view, this is still the number one firm for prison law in the country.
I would express my frustration to Elkan at the ignorance of criminal law barristers when it came to the subject of prison law. Then one day he said to me that he had come across this young, new barrister, called Flo Krause. I trusted his judgement, and said, "alright, I'll give her a try". We've been together ever since, like The Three Musketeers. It wasn't just a battle against the Home Office that we were engaged in, but also a campaign to educate QCs and judges about prison law. A big difference between Mark Leech and myself is that I have not sold out. He boasts of his wealth, whereas I admit to be claiming Jobseekers allowance. I rely upon the support of friends for charity. At the outset, I told Elkan I was not interested in the money, but only in prisoners rights and developing prison law. With me this remains the case today.
In the prison law war that has broken out, I see my role as a sniper who has got Mark Leech in his sights for character assassination. This is because Mark Leech has taken it upon himself to snipe at friends of mine and engage in character assassination. One such friend is a fellow lifer called Ben Gunn. I recall we would sit at a table in Rye Hill Prison, with two other lifers, and they would jokingly try to wind me up by proclaiming that I was as bad as Mark Leech. He was held in such low esteem that they knew this jibe would get to me even though they were not being serious. And, its the same with lawyers, and those involved in prison reform, when they compare Mark Leech and myself, I win the popularity stakes hands down.
But, does Mark Leech deserve this bad reputation?
The case against Mark Leech
To begin with, other than his little knowledge being a dangerous thing, I didn't hold any animosity towards Mark Leech. But, word soon spread around jails that the so-called prison reformer wasn't all he made himself out to be. For me, the final nail in the coffin came in 1995, when I watched the Channel 4 documentary featuring Mark Leech entitled "Out of the Frying-Pan", and during the programme it emerged that he was a police informer. In prison society, the "nonce" (child sex offender) is on the lowest rung, and a "grass" (police informant) is down there amongst the lowest of the low, on the second rung of the ladder. This is not a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, rather it is a case of him walking into my firing line.
"On the twenty sixth September [2002], Mark Leech, ex-prisoner and prison reform entrepreneur was interviewed by the media concerning the transfer of Jeffrey Archer from North Sea Camp open prison to inner city Lincoln jail. Asked about the sort of prisoner held at Lincoln, Leech described them as the 'Riffraff of the Prison system', which seemed rather incongruous a remark to make by someone who has built a fairly lucrative career as a self-proclaimed supporter and representative of prisoners". My card describes me as a prison law and media consultant. I would say that this attack upon prisoners by Mark leech is a PR disaster. It may be the case that the Legal Services Commission pays the prison lawyers fees, however, it is the prisoners who are the clients and they call the tune and not he who pays the piper. In my view, those lawyers associated with Mark Leech could very soon very well find themselves tarred by the same brush. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Yes, there is money to be made in prison law. But, these greedy buggers are fighting over crumbs from Mark Leech's table. When it was me who planted the seeds for the wheat to make the bread.
"His [Mark Leech] detractors (and he still has some in the prison service) are waiting for him to fail: to prove that he is a con-man who always gets found out".
Mark Leech states: "If you lie, you're on a slippery slope. If you tell the truth, the chances are you're going to remain unemployed, on the dole. I'm going to tell the truth". You said it, pal. I tell the truth and am on the dole. In spite of his last sentence, he didn't, and I don't think he will like the slide downwards. My Temple of Truth is built on the high moral ground, and I look down upon someone who is a proven liar and fraudster.
"He's a chancer," says a former inmate at Grendon. "He comes across as some great prison reformer, but he's a self-publicist. It's all about Mark Leech".
"He's egotistical, arrogant and self-obsessed," says a member of prison staff who dealt with Leech during his stay at Grendon. "He only likes you if you are prepared to take him at face value, but everything he does is a cunning disguise. Trying to pin him down is like trying to pin down a jelly. He got thrown out of Grendon because he made no progress there. If you ask me, he does the cause of penal reform no good at all".
According to another staff member at Grendon, "We did not have any success there with con-men - because they had conned themselves first and foremost. I agree with all the good things Mark Leech says about Grendon, except for the fact that it redeemed him".
A judge has opined about Mark Leech: "He is highly intelligent, but not altogether reliable".
When Mark Leech came up with the idea of editing The Prisoners Handbook, it was serving prisoners who wrote most of the entries which Mark Leech claims the credit for. And, those lawyers who wrote articles for him did not get paid. Nor did those who gave talks at his prison law courses. When I gave two talks for his prison law course, I ensured that I got paid upfront on each occasion, and the feedback on both occasions was that my talks were the best part of the course!
It is not just laziness on the part of Mark Leech, his prison newspaper in which he charges solicitors for adverts, is called ConVerse, a con job more like, in that he regularly copies and pastes whole articles from the BBC website and Guardian/Observer etc and gives no credit to the original authors nor credits the source from which he plagiarizes them. Example here and here.
The attack upon Ben Gunn and Inside Time newspaper can be read here. If Mark Leech's character was holier than thou, he could be forgiven. But when he is shown up to be what he really is, then he has no excuse for attacking others.
(A work still in progress)
There is an old saying in prison that goes like this: "Once a con, always a con". It may have had its origin in the abbreviation for convict, however, I have always understood it to mean once a conman always a conman. And, in the case of Mark Leech, this is certainly true.
I first came across the name of Mark Leech, in 1988, in Wakefield Prison, when another prisoner showed me a handwritten copy of an article he had painstakingly copied verbatim from a copy of Fight Racialism, Fight Imperialism (FRFI). The article related to how to take the Prison Service to County Court over lost property, and the author claimed to be Mark Leech, LLB (Hons). I must admit I was impressed, that is, until I tried to put into practice his advice. Mark Leech had not taken into account that the position was somewhat different for a Category 'A' prisoner, therefore I encountered a security hurdle which I had to negotiate to gain access to court. As it transpired, the Home Office settled the claim in full on the court steps.
I was later to discover that not only does Mark Leech not have Honours (Hons), he doesn't even have a law degree (LLB)! And yet, he tries to tell us he is the best person to inform prisoners which qualified lawyers are competent to advise and represent prisoners in the area of prison law. And, how does he judge this? Quite simply, those lawyers foolish enough to pay him money for a "Mickey Mouse" law course, and paying him money to advertise in his publications, they are deemed to be competent in his eyes. However, this so-called "judge" has a vested interest which gives the appearance of bias. Any lawyer worth his or her salts would tell you that such a judge's decision would be overturned upon appeal.
I have never professed to have a law degree. Nevertheless, I am arguably the foremost expert on prison law in the country. I say "arguably", for the simple reason I have never gone head to head with Mark Leech to establish my supremacy outside of my own mind. Certainly, in terms of cases won my total more than trebles Mark Leech's claim to have won 30 cases. During 1992/3 I taught Elkan Abrahamson prison law when he was a junior partner at Edwards and Sims in Liverpool. I recall him saying, at the time, he would give it 6 months. Elkan went on to specialise in prison law, and opened up his own shop as senior partner in AS Law in Liverpool. In my view, this is still the number one firm for prison law in the country.
I would express my frustration to Elkan at the ignorance of criminal law barristers when it came to the subject of prison law. Then one day he said to me that he had come across this young, new barrister, called Flo Krause. I trusted his judgement, and said, "alright, I'll give her a try". We've been together ever since, like The Three Musketeers. It wasn't just a battle against the Home Office that we were engaged in, but also a campaign to educate QCs and judges about prison law. A big difference between Mark Leech and myself is that I have not sold out. He boasts of his wealth, whereas I admit to be claiming Jobseekers allowance. I rely upon the support of friends for charity. At the outset, I told Elkan I was not interested in the money, but only in prisoners rights and developing prison law. With me this remains the case today.
In the prison law war that has broken out, I see my role as a sniper who has got Mark Leech in his sights for character assassination. This is because Mark Leech has taken it upon himself to snipe at friends of mine and engage in character assassination. One such friend is a fellow lifer called Ben Gunn. I recall we would sit at a table in Rye Hill Prison, with two other lifers, and they would jokingly try to wind me up by proclaiming that I was as bad as Mark Leech. He was held in such low esteem that they knew this jibe would get to me even though they were not being serious. And, its the same with lawyers, and those involved in prison reform, when they compare Mark Leech and myself, I win the popularity stakes hands down.
But, does Mark Leech deserve this bad reputation?
The case against Mark Leech
To begin with, other than his little knowledge being a dangerous thing, I didn't hold any animosity towards Mark Leech. But, word soon spread around jails that the so-called prison reformer wasn't all he made himself out to be. For me, the final nail in the coffin came in 1995, when I watched the Channel 4 documentary featuring Mark Leech entitled "Out of the Frying-Pan", and during the programme it emerged that he was a police informer. In prison society, the "nonce" (child sex offender) is on the lowest rung, and a "grass" (police informant) is down there amongst the lowest of the low, on the second rung of the ladder. This is not a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, rather it is a case of him walking into my firing line.
"On the twenty sixth September [2002], Mark Leech, ex-prisoner and prison reform entrepreneur was interviewed by the media concerning the transfer of Jeffrey Archer from North Sea Camp open prison to inner city Lincoln jail. Asked about the sort of prisoner held at Lincoln, Leech described them as the 'Riffraff of the Prison system', which seemed rather incongruous a remark to make by someone who has built a fairly lucrative career as a self-proclaimed supporter and representative of prisoners". My card describes me as a prison law and media consultant. I would say that this attack upon prisoners by Mark leech is a PR disaster. It may be the case that the Legal Services Commission pays the prison lawyers fees, however, it is the prisoners who are the clients and they call the tune and not he who pays the piper. In my view, those lawyers associated with Mark Leech could very soon very well find themselves tarred by the same brush. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Yes, there is money to be made in prison law. But, these greedy buggers are fighting over crumbs from Mark Leech's table. When it was me who planted the seeds for the wheat to make the bread.
"His [Mark Leech] detractors (and he still has some in the prison service) are waiting for him to fail: to prove that he is a con-man who always gets found out".
Mark Leech states: "If you lie, you're on a slippery slope. If you tell the truth, the chances are you're going to remain unemployed, on the dole. I'm going to tell the truth". You said it, pal. I tell the truth and am on the dole. In spite of his last sentence, he didn't, and I don't think he will like the slide downwards. My Temple of Truth is built on the high moral ground, and I look down upon someone who is a proven liar and fraudster.
"He's a chancer," says a former inmate at Grendon. "He comes across as some great prison reformer, but he's a self-publicist. It's all about Mark Leech".
"He's egotistical, arrogant and self-obsessed," says a member of prison staff who dealt with Leech during his stay at Grendon. "He only likes you if you are prepared to take him at face value, but everything he does is a cunning disguise. Trying to pin him down is like trying to pin down a jelly. He got thrown out of Grendon because he made no progress there. If you ask me, he does the cause of penal reform no good at all".
According to another staff member at Grendon, "We did not have any success there with con-men - because they had conned themselves first and foremost. I agree with all the good things Mark Leech says about Grendon, except for the fact that it redeemed him".
A judge has opined about Mark Leech: "He is highly intelligent, but not altogether reliable".
When Mark Leech came up with the idea of editing The Prisoners Handbook, it was serving prisoners who wrote most of the entries which Mark Leech claims the credit for. And, those lawyers who wrote articles for him did not get paid. Nor did those who gave talks at his prison law courses. When I gave two talks for his prison law course, I ensured that I got paid upfront on each occasion, and the feedback on both occasions was that my talks were the best part of the course!
It is not just laziness on the part of Mark Leech, his prison newspaper in which he charges solicitors for adverts, is called ConVerse, a con job more like, in that he regularly copies and pastes whole articles from the BBC website and Guardian/Observer etc and gives no credit to the original authors nor credits the source from which he plagiarizes them. Example here and here.
The attack upon Ben Gunn and Inside Time newspaper can be read here. If Mark Leech's character was holier than thou, he could be forgiven. But when he is shown up to be what he really is, then he has no excuse for attacking others.
(A work still in progress)
Friday, July 18, 2008
David Green and the Times: Prison doesn't work why don't you admit it?
David Green and the Times: Prison doesn't work why don't you admit it?
The simpleton, David Green, the director of the think-tank Civitas, is claiming that prison works and the failing is that we won't admit it. Stupid boy! His argument goes like this, whilst prisoners are inside they are not committing crimes outside therefore prison works. However, this is just stating the bloody obvious.
If prison works, why is the re-offending rate at 80%? This clearly proves that prison does not work.
It just goes to show that the Times has sunk to gutter level printing such garbage from the likes of David Green. Perhaps, Daniel Finkelstein is not up to the job as editor?
The simpleton, David Green, the director of the think-tank Civitas, is claiming that prison works and the failing is that we won't admit it. Stupid boy! His argument goes like this, whilst prisoners are inside they are not committing crimes outside therefore prison works. However, this is just stating the bloody obvious.
If prison works, why is the re-offending rate at 80%? This clearly proves that prison does not work.
It just goes to show that the Times has sunk to gutter level printing such garbage from the likes of David Green. Perhaps, Daniel Finkelstein is not up to the job as editor?
Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans
Smaller prisons work better – but that hasn't stopped the government forging ahead with its plans for mega-jails
If society wishes not to improve the Criminal Justice System, and see re-offending rates go through the roof, and waste billions of taxpayers money for no good purpose, then it will do well to ignore this call to stop the government in its tracks.
Smaller, more manageable prisons is the way forward. Look to the Swedish example for proof of this.
Smaller prisons work better – but that hasn't stopped the government forging ahead with its plans for mega-jails
If society wishes not to improve the Criminal Justice System, and see re-offending rates go through the roof, and waste billions of taxpayers money for no good purpose, then it will do well to ignore this call to stop the government in its tracks.
Smaller, more manageable prisons is the way forward. Look to the Swedish example for proof of this.
It maybe a gas but this isn't funny
It maybe a gas but this isn't funny
The Guardian is reporting Gas prices 'could rise 70%'
I am fuming. Two x 25% rises last year, 1 x 17% rise this year, and a proposed rise of another 70%! The government must compensate the poor for this totally unacceptable position. Prices go up pounds and my Jobseeker's allowance goes up pennies!
Nelson Mandela: Happy 90th birthday
Nelson Mandela: Happy 90th birthday
Mandela: a man of all the people
He makes the likes of Margaret Thatcher pale into insignificance.
Mandela: a man of all the people
He makes the likes of Margaret Thatcher pale into insignificance.
Baa bum bugger...
Baa bum bugger...
The Telegraph is reporting that a man has been arrested for sex attacks on sheep.
And there was me thinking it was just a joke about what they get up to in Wales...
The Telegraph is reporting that a man has been arrested for sex attacks on sheep.
And there was me thinking it was just a joke about what they get up to in Wales...
Mark Leech - the "prison reformer"
Mark Leech - the "prison reformer"
By Ben Gunn
How do you wind up an egomaniac? Ask Mark Leech... All I did was ask if he was a little too close to the Prison Service, and he went nuclear. Little old me gets plastered across a whole page of his Converse paper, and he entertained my mates by summoning the whole weight of his intellect to call me an idiot, liar, ignorant, malicious and - my favourite - full of shit. Classy guy, eh?
Of course, when I question someone's motives I expect a comeback. What I don't expect is an article that relies on lies, half truths, and twisting reality. But then I've never had a run in with Mark Leech before. That he felt the need to take up a page in his paper to shout abuse at a me seems just a teeny bit desperate, don't you think? And seeing conspiracies against himself just makes me feel slightly sorry for the man. Medication, anyone?
Responding to Mark Leech is like addressing a particularly bad probation report - you have to find the bits of truth that sneaked in by accident before you can reply. All I did was wonder if Mark Leech's relationship with the Prison Service was a bit too close for a man claiming to be a prisoner's friend, and I was even fair enough to give him credit for the battles he fought during his sentence. But even this mild question gets me abused. Leech has a reputation of being a bully, and his piece only confirms what people who know him have told me in private. If only the libel laws were more flexible, I'd share the juicy bits!
The response from Leech was of a level of defensive viciousness that I normally expect from a psychology report - a lumbering piece cobbled together from half-truths and twisted reality. It was brilliant in its level of self-deception. But then if you spend that much time playing footsie with the Prison Service you're bound to pick up some of their habits.
What a touchy sod he is. As he wrote in his piece, "...when the smearing starts it's generally an indication that you've got the opposition on the ropes..." So when his first paragraph includes the claim that I knowingly wrote lies and am full of shit, I take it to mean that I have touched a nerve that's as big as his ego.
Of course, you could ignore anything I say because its all part of the Vast Conspiracy. John Bowers sits at the centre of a spiders web of power, the Dr Evil of Inside Time, pulling stings of puppets like myself so that we just spout the anti-Leech line that Inside Time holds so dear. Apparently. Nurse...!
At no point did I criticise Converse; a legal paper for cons can only be a good thing. That Leech feels the need to so strongly abuse Inside Time makes me wonder who feels the most threatened. Inside Time is run by a charity, the New Bridge; the money from Converse goes to keep up Leech's whirlybird lifestyle..
My beef with his Prison Law Course was not just its cost - and I apologise for getting the figures wrong. Not bad research, just me sending an unfinnshed draft to Inside Time instead of the final version. My point was that at over £700 it is way out of reach of most cons, particularly the long-termers who can make best use of it on the landings. I want prisoners to be empowered, not having to rely on solicitors. In itself, I wasn't going to criticise the course. But a course that is so easy that no one fails it isn't worth a damn.
Readers may be helped, by knowing that there is a history between Leech, AS Law solicitors and Flo Krause. The prominence he gives to her losses in court are not just fair reporting, they are a deliberate dig, and people who are aware of the history feel that it is pretty pathetic on Leech's part. Notice that he doesn't name other barristers losses. When Flo loses it is because she takes on cases that push the boundaries, she is willing to take a chance to make the system better. She also wins a lot - (7 cases in the European Court alone) - but that won't be reported by Leech. Remember who told you about this personal beef he has - it wasn't him. At least with me you know I won't hide my agenda.
My original point was a question - is Leech too close to the Prison Service for a man claiming to be the nations premier prison reform campaigner? In his defence, Leech defended the old Director General's achievements. He somehow forgot to mention that under DG Narey the weight and depth of our imprisonment increased hugely. So we get to crap in stainless steel instead of plastic. Whoopee. That the amount of property we have is limited, that the drug culture has been sent into a smackhead tailspin, that domestic visitors are staying away in droves, that Education has been gutted of meaning, and that we are perpetually screwed by psych courses- these are things that matter, and they are down to Narey, Leech's best mate. Narey couldn't even force the screws to call us "Mister". Narey helped stand on our throats, and now Leech wants to pass him a medal. Claiming positive changes in prisons are due to Narey is to dismiss the blood and sweat of cons who have fought in recent years.
Two final points. Firstly, Leech asks, "what has Gunn ever done to improve the prisoners' lot?" I had a 10 year tariff; I have served nearly 30. No violence in prison. You have no idea what I do, because it is done down in the trenches and not up in front of the cameras. It is people like me who deal with the daily crap that weighs cons down. Abuse me all you like, but remember this -¬ While your rewards are the houses and helicopters, my reward has only been prison pay, 20 extra years, and the satisfaction of knowing that now and then I just may have helped someone to resist abuses of authority. When I pitch in for my fellow cons it isn't for good money or the endorsement of the Prison Service.
And secondly, a question. For a man claiming not to be in bed with the Prison Service, and who wants to be known as a champion of prisoners', then why is it that your websites carry adverts for people wishing to become screws? Luckily for you, we can't get the web and so you have managed to keep this dirty little secret away from cons. But now we know, and the cons can make up their own minds.
I'm bored now, so I just can't be arsed to go through his feeble abuse line by line, arguing the toss. And as I don't own my own newspaper, then I have a strict word limit. One day...