Insulting Saint Stephen

In a country where it often feels as if nothing is sacred any longer, it's good to know that the authorities are on top of the most important issues of the day.

Soldiers may be beheaded in the street whilst the police cower behind their car waiting for back up, allowing ordinary members of the public the vibrant opportunity to be enriched by listening to the verses of the Koran the blood-drenched killers are quoting; young girls may be forcibly hooked on drugs and gang raped by predatory Pakistanis whilst their fathers, banging on the door outside, are arrested for "racially aggravated harassment."

You might look at the above and think that this is a country which has lost its way, in which all aspects of the justice system were a toothless (although doubtless extremely expensive) joke.

Fear not. Forget Muslim morality patrols in Tower Hamlets, decapitated soldiers, calls for further decapitations - the real threat to law and order in London today comes from football fans not being quite complimentary about the importance of the Stephen Lawrence case - and when it comes to the truly important issues of the day, Old Bill and the CPS are still at the top of their game:

A group of seven football fans have received a total of six years in prison and a football ban of 52 years after they were heard singing on a train following their team’s FA Cup match.

The Met and the British Transport Police (BTP) launched an investigation, called Operation Midas, into allegations the men were chanting about Gary Dobson.

The accused were believed to be Charlton fans, and the club worked with officers to identify a number of people in connection with the incident.

Its chief executive Stephen Kavanagh then accompanied them on a series of dawn raids from which nine suspects were arrested.

Today the men, aged between 22 and 31, were found guilty of racially-aggravated chanting at Blackfriars Crown Court.

All but one received custodial sentences, ranging from eight months to 18 months, along with eight-year banning orders from football grounds in Britain.

The other defendant received a six-month suspended sentence, a curfew order for six months between 8pm and 6am and a four-year stadium ban.

Baljit Ubhey, London’s Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: “As the Hate Crime Champion for the CPS I am committed to ensuring that CPS London works with its police partners to tackle this type of behaviour.

“I hope these convictions stand as a warning that racist and abusive behaviour will not be tolerated in our city.” 

Indeed, Baljit - I think we're all beginning to get an idea of just what will be tolerated and what won't in what was formerly "our city," and indeed "our country."

Hate Crime Champion at the CPS? I bet Baljit's services don't come cheap. Still, never mind - it's not as if the country is bankrupt, after all.

And I, for one, will sleep safely in my bed tonight knowing that these men are off the streets. Thought crime will simply not be tolerated in New Britain, and we all need to accept it and get the message.

Now, excuse me while I wait for the 6 am knock.

John Paul Onyenaychi Charged with Attempting to Kill 2 Police Officers

On Wednesday afternoon, a group of police officers and PCSOs were taking part in a routine activity in Ealing, west London.

As they were checking the tickets of passengers alighting from a bendy bus, they apparently stumbled across John Paul Onyenaychi, who was wanted for recall to prison. He'd been convicted for causing death by dangerous driving, and had breached his parole conditions after being released early.

Although he was initially stopped so the police officers could check that he'd paid his fare (which, of course, he had not), one of the officers recognised him and initiated a radio check, which confirmed that Onyenaychi was a wanted man.

He decided that he didn't want to return to prison, however, and pulled out a stanley knife:

Christmas shoppers screamed in horror as the knifeman slashed the throat of one officer before attacking a police community support officer – plunging a knife into his arms and hands as he went to the aid of his colleague.

He attempted to stab a second community support officer before he was subdued.

The constable who had his throat slashed is apparently stable after surgery, but his life was only saved because a surgeon was travelling on a passing bus and managed to keep him alive until he got to hospital.

Today Onyenaychi has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, and attempting to commit grievous bodily harm against the second PCSO.

What interested me most was the reaction of Boris Johnson, Mayor of London:

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said he was shocked by what had happened, adding: ‘There is no place for this in London.’

But unfortunately there is, isn't there Boris?

The reason such large groups of police officers were active like this in the first place is because the area has seen a surge in gang activity; gangs robbing people on buses, in the streets, using casual violence.

Casual violence against members of the public will eventually translate into casual violence against the police - particularly if the consequences are seen as negligible.

This Onyenaychi individual has already got away with killing one person, so why would he think twice about killing more?

Anyone capable of doing something like this belongs behind bars, preferrably for good. How many other such people are still roaming the streets? The Daily Mail article gives us some clue:

Ministry of Justice figures show 914 criminals are on the run even though they have committed new crimes or breached the terms of their release. The total includes 22 recalled between 1984 and 1999. Those wrongly on the streets include 18 murderers, five paedophiles and 17 convicted of carrying guns.

Police should find 75 per cent of recalled prisoners classified as high risk ‘emergency’ cases within 74 hours and three quarters of standard recalls should be completed within six days.

But since 2007 nearly 10,000 criminals were not back in jail within the target time.

If the authorities don't take sanctions against criminals seriously, why should the criminals?

***UPDATE 14:57***

Onyenaychi continued to show his contempt for the justice system whilst in court:

A man charged with attempting to murder two police officers has been remanded in custody after swearing at the judge.

District Judge Margot Coleman ordered John Paul Onyenaychi, 30, of Wise Road in east London, back to the cells after his outburst.

The injured officers have been named as PC Paul Madden, 23, and PCSO Piotr Dolata, 27.

***UPDATE 21:06***

The Daily Mail has more on what Onyenaychi got up to in court today. Whilst in the dock, surrounded by ten police officers, he treated the court to the following:

Shouting at District Judge Margot Coleman when asked for his full name, he said: 'My name’s ‘go **** yourself’ and where the **** is my solicitor?'

When his solicitor Aneurin Brewer appeared in court, he continued: 'You’re not my ******* solicitor. You’re not representing me.'

The hearing continued in Onyenaychi's absence after District Judge Coleman ordered he be taken back to the cell, before telling Mr Brewer, 'He was being extremely abusive and I’m not prepared to tolerate that behaviour in my courtroom.'

Whilst I fully agree with her decision, she's rather lucky she gets a choice in the matter, unlike some.

Some people have to deal with the likes of Onyenaychi daily due to the consistent refusal of the courts to actually attempt to punish criminals.

Hate Crime Is "Under-reported"

From the BBC:

Hate crime figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been published for the first time.

In 2009 a total of 52,028 crimes were recorded in which the offence was motivated by prejudice.

Victims were targeted because of race, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability or transgender issues.

Chief Constable Stephen Otter of police chiefs' body Acpo said: "By publishing this data... we hope to encourage victims and witnesses to come forward."

Interesting. Perhaps I can be of assistance - everyday I am emailed stories and news tips that don't make the national media, but seem to me to fit quite neatly into the category of "hate crime."

For example:

A LOUT who glassed a man in a Rawtenstall pub and left him with facial injuries has been jailed for 12 months - and banned from the premises for two years.

Burnley Crown Court heard how binge drinker Mohammed Miah, 26, struck victim Ian Parkinson, who he did not know, as he was on the dance floor of the Queen's Arms, with friends, around midnight.

Mr Parkinson suffered lacerations on his eyelid and cheek. He had no permanent damage to the eye itself but was left scarred.

After the unprovoked assault, days before last Christmas, the victim had trouble sleeping. He was very concerned about the scar and was worried about going out in town.

Miah, who has 13 previous convictions, was earlier jailed for two years for affray and was on bail for that offence, committed in the same pub, when he injured Mr Parkinson.

Yes, seems to be a lot of it about. Totally without motive, of course.

Let's try:

On Thursday 2 December between 5.35pm and 5.50pm in High Road, the victim, a 16 year-old boy, was attacked by two black males who punched him and stabbed him several times in the chest.

It is believed that the victim had been trying to run away from the suspects when they attacked him outside Park Vue dental practice, on the opposite side of the road to Wood Green bus garage in High Road, North London.

The incident spilled onto the southbound lane of High Road, causing traffic to swerve.

London Ambulance Service attended and the victim was taken to the North Middlesex Hospital where he was treated for puncture wounds to his chest and discharged the following day.

The suspects are described as being two black males, believed to be aged around 17 years and dressed in dark clothing.

Completely without motive too, I'm sure.

You see, what I think is the problem isn't "hate crime" - a purely subjective and politically motivated term; it's the fact that violent crime simply isn't taken very seriously anymore because it has become so common.

That goes for crime in general; even in the case of their precious "hate crime" all the police really seem to care about is massaging the statistics:

Mr Otter, Acpo's lead for equality, diversity and human rights, said: "Hate crimes cause a great deal of harm among victims and communities.

"Publication of the data underlines the commitment of the police service to tackle hate crime, build confidence and encourage victims to come forward so that under-reporting is reduced."

You see? All that matters is that under-reporting is reduced. Not justice for the victims, not removing the criminals from society and punishing them.

I also find it genuinely frightening that a senior police officer can't see that all crime causes a great deal of harm to victims and communities.

We're talking about real people and real suffering here, not abstract concepts and social experiments.

"The Muslim Boys" Attack Prisoner over Remembrance Day

The Daily Mirror reports that a white inmate at HMP Belmarsh was attacked and seriously injured by "The Muslim Boys" gang last week.

A different white inmate had chastised two members of the gang for failing to show any respect on Remembrance Sunday, when they continued a game of table tennis during the two minutes' silence. This prompted him to grab the ball to prevent the game.

In response, five members of the gang went looking for any white inmate they could find to exact revenge, and ended up attacking a man with boiling water and a glass jar in a sock, which left him needing emergency surgery.

Three of the attackers were sent to solitary confinement, whilst the other two gathered yet more members of the gang and attempted to ambush another white inmate, but he bested them.
Of course, The Mirror has nothing to say about the evils of racism and discrimination in this instance, simply quoting a prison insider:

Two white cons have been moved away, while the Muslim Boys will be dealt with at the prison. A Belmarsh source said: "Tensions are simmering. It's very worrying."

The article claims that "The Muslim Boys" are an al-Qaeda splinter group, but I'm not sure this is true - they are simply a glaring example of the remarkable hole this country has dug for itself through its immigration policies.

"The Muslim Boys" began as a group of mainly black criminals from south London who converted to Islam in prison. They regarded the name as something outsiders called them, referring to themselves as the "Poverty Driven Children" (good to see they at least learned one thing at school, then - it's all whitey's fault).

They acquired a fearsome reputation on the streets of Lambeth and Southwark, where their specialty was robbing drug dealers and demanding protection money from other criminals - all whilst wearing long leather coats and waving Mac-10 submachine guns.

As their power grew, they began intimidating local imams to open mosques in the early hours so they could pray after stealing, as well as forcing other young black men to convert to Islam at gunpoint.

At least one, Anthony Marriott, was shot in the head and killed for refusing them.

By 2004, pretty much all London's other black criminal gangs were united against them - but that only drove them to more violence.

In December 2004, PC Liam Morrow was shot in the legs after being alerted to suspicious activity:

PC Morrow, 23, was shot three times in his legs, in Madeira Avenue, Bromley, on December 20, last year.

Five officers went to the street just after midnight following reports four men in a car were acting suspiciously.

Khan and his three accomplices fled in the direction of Highland Road when officers approached them and PC Morrow was shot as they fled.

He returned to work in May and has vowed the incident will not affect his work.

He said: "I'm not scared. I have wanted to be a policeman all my life and nothing will stop me from doing my job."

Some linked the man convicted, Zartash Khan, to the Muslim Boys.

However, as the authorities crowed that many of the gang's leading figures were being jailed, its effectiveness was being reduced and it didn't have any "genuine Islamic links" anyway, it was well known by 2005 that the Muslim Boys were making a hell of a reputation for themselves in HMP Belmarsh:

Inside Belmarsh jail, the Muslim Boys have imported their savage and ferocious behavior. They have carved for themselves a unique position within the prison hierarchy, feared by inmates and treated with caution by prison officers. To achieve this, they have violently attacked inmates and staff alike.

In December 2005, a leaked internal security report from the jail stated: “Prisoners reported abuse, assaults, intimidation and threats. Some of the atrocities were carried out with impunity during associations causing victims to fear for their lives. Most of the perpetrators are believed to be members of the Muslim Boys gang who intensified their drive to recruit other prisoners to the fold. They force prisoners to accept the Muslim faith - those who refuse suffer assaults. They promise potential converts protection from other prisoners and staff who they challenge at every opportunity.”

A month later, a source inside the prison stated: “The Muslim Boys’ gang master orders most of the assaults on fellow prisoners. They rule through fear and are very hard to infiltrate.”

In February 2006, a prominent member of the Muslim Boys gang led an attack upon prison staff that led to a riot in the prison’s high security unit. A prison guard was set upon by two inmates. Two of these were Muslim Boys gang members. Another prisoner then joined in. The officer was hit around his head and upper body with a pool cue and also a sock that had been filled with cans of tuna. He received cuts and needed hospital treatment. The incident led to further violence in which two other prison guards were also attacked. One of these was punched and kicked in the shower block of the unit, and the other was assaulted in the medical treatment room. About ten prisoners and ten staff fought with each other, and five prisoners were given disciplinary action.

On Good Friday, April 14 2006, one member of the Muslim Boys was “punished” for trying to convert out of Islam. When the Belmarsh prisoner was in the toilet, eight Muslim Boys gang members attacked him. The victim received head injuries. When prison officers tried to intervene, they too were attacked. The Home Office denied that the attack had been a serious incident, but a spokesperson said that four men were being subjected to “administrative action.”

In May 2007, a leading member of the Muslim Boys gang again led an attack upon Belmarsh prison staff. On the morning of May 4, this individual was asked to hand over his laptop computer to a prison officer. In March 2006 the prison had controversially authorized the issue of laptop computers costing £1,000 apiece ($1,958) to 28 of the prisoners in the jail, including terror suspects and Abu Hamza. The prison authorities argued that these computers were to be used for prisoners to prepare their legal defenses.

The Muslim Boys gang member had been suspected of using a smuggled card to enable his laptop computer to be connected to the internet. He refused to give the computer to the officer and then punched and kicked him. Other prisoners then joined in, brandishing pool cues. When the security alarm was sounded, three more prison officers were attacked, in what was regarded by staff as a pre-planned assault. One of the prison officers received a broken chin and another underwent shoulder injuries.

And the prison authorities are only just concerned about "tensions simmering over"?

No - they are concerned that the public will find out just who runs parts of HMP Belmarsh, and their masters at the Home Office (or the "Justice Ministry" are whatever it's called this week) will be held to account at the ballot box, as they deserve to be.

Policing in the New South Africa

The sad decline of South Africa from a First to a Third World nation continues.

Nothing is driving that change quite like the incompetence and corruption found in South Africa's police force, as the following two stories demonstrate.

Here is the first, from The Herald:

TRAFFIC officers yesterday brazenly defied orders from superiors not to wear uniforms and drive official vehicles to a memorial service for the Nelson Mandela Bay traffic officer shot dead after allegedly being involved in an armed robbery at the weekend.

Mhlophe Menye died in a shoot-out after a high-speed chase following a robbery at the Metlife Plaza Wimpy Bar in Kabega Park, Port Elizabeth.

Traffic Department vehicles almost filled the parking area outside the Nangoza Jebe Hall.

A large group of uniformed officers gathered inside the hall where the service for Menye was held.

The programme for service showed the emblems of the Traffic Department and the municipality printed on the back.

The DA condemned the traffic officers’ action and the municipality has vowed to “investigate the matter and take necessary action”. DA caucus chairman Gustav Rautenbach, chairman of the safety and security portfolio committee, said the action would “tarnish the image, divide traffic officers in the metro and undermine law enforcement”.

“Its sends a negative signal to the public that all traffic officers are not to be trusted,” he said.

Departmental spokesman Luncedo Njezula said: “It is up to the director to investigate the issues around the memorial service and to take the necessary action.”

He said management opposed the use of official vehicles and the wearing of uniforms at the service.

“Management felt that given the circumstances surrounding his death it would not be wise to do so,” he said.

However he said the department had no knowledge of the insertion of municipal emblems into the programmes.

The service was addressed by colleagues who are also officials of the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).

Menye was presented as a hero and praised for his “courage in fighting for the rights of workers”.

Union official Ginger Nangu said traffic officers like Menye, who “had guts to challenge the undermining of rights of workers”, were needed.

Menye’s supervisor, Mbulelo Ngwenze, was more candid, describing him as “troublesome”, “defiant” and “not easy to deal with”, but that he had carried out his duties diligently.

A union officials said the Menye issue had divided traffic officers. Those who were critical of the circumstances surrounding his death chose to boycott the service.

Menye‘s wife, children and other relatives were among those who attended the memorial service.

I often criticise the current state of Britain, but this story is simply surreal. A serving police officer being involved in an armed robbery is bad enough - but his colleagues attending his funeral in uniforms and marked vehicles, before declaring the man a hero?

That should quite simply be beyond belief. No wonder crime is soaring in South Africa if criminals and policeman perceive they are on the same side.

Here is the second story, from Africa News:

One of South Africa's police stations has been turned into a gun shop where weapons are being sold to criminals. The administrative clerk from Alexandra police station, Aubrey Tshamana, is before court for allegedly selling six R-5 rifles and 16 handguns for officers and the Sandton police station.

Detectives from the Johannesburg Organised Crime Unit are investigating whether the weapons could have been part of those used in the recent spate of violent robberies at some shopping malls. Tshamana, 26, appeared at the Alexandra Magistrate's Court on Wednesday. His case has been postponed to next week and he will be kept at high-risk holding cells.

The guns have not been recovered and it is believed they could have been sold for as little as R3 500 ($440.817) for a rifle and R1 000 ($125.716) for a handgun.

AfricaNews reporter said Tshamana could be charged with more serious crimes if any of the guns he allegedly stole are linked to armed robberies at malls.

Increasingly, gun licences are hard for civilians to get hold of in South Africa, and thus formerly legal weapons have to be handed in to the police.

Are the public, including vulnerable groups like white farmers, being systematically disarmed simply so the police can sell the guns to criminals?

The circular insanity simply beggars belief - or should.

Police Target Gangs with Refreshing Honesty

A police action has been launched in High Wycombe to target gangs of teenage muggers who prey largely on other young people.

The pattern of crime goes a little beyond that, however, and the police have been refreshingly honest about it:

Police chose to launch the six-week operation after attacks by mostly Asian and afro-Caribbean gangs on white teenagers last summer, police said.

Obviously, there isn't as much noise being made as if the ethnicities in this report were reversed.

Although I'm not one to use the ridiculous term 'hate crime', I would say that such attacks transcend mere robbery and enter the realm of racist crime - what's good for the goose is certainly good for the gander.

Even if the police won't recognise this aspect fully, at least they are no longer bound by political correctness to the point where they pretend to be blind to it.

Here is the full report from Bucks Free Press:

A POLICE operation targeting robbery hotspots has slashed muggings of young people by 100 per cent, officers said.

Patrols including stop and search on the Rye, Desborough Road, Eden and a skate park saw robberies fall to zero from 177 last year, they said.

This was among 12 to 19-year-olds. Operation Gauntlet will run to the end of the school holidays.

Police chose to launch the six-week operation after attacks by mostly Asian and afro-Caribbean gangs on white teenagers last summer, police said.

DC Paul Bowen said: “Officers would still stop large groups regardless of ethnicity but they would have at the back of their mind that the robberies are committed by this group of ethnic minorities.”

About 80 per cent of last year’s robberies were committed by gangs of Asian and afro-Caribbean people, he said.

Of last year’s attacks, 44 included the showing or threat of a knife.

Some 73 were stopped and searched this year. This led to five arrests on drugs charges.

He said: “It is unusual to see so many people involved in a robbery.”

Officers also visited schools before pupils broke up for the summer to mark property so it can be returned to its owner if recovered.

Yet DC Bowen said the operation was not needed all year round as the robberies were common to the summer months.

Anyone stopped was given a “receipt” by police.

A knife arch and drugs swab kit was used by officers to demonstrate how they are tackling crime.

With thanks to a reader, Sarah, who sent this tip in.

Automatic Rifle Fire Aimed at Danish Police in Vollsmose

This is a story translated from the Danish press which first appeared at Gates of Vienna:

The first article, from yesterday’s Jyllands-Posten, was translated by Zonka:

Throwing bottles at the police in Vollsmose

A group of policemen from Fyn had to hastily put an injured driver into their patrol car, when bottles and other projectiles were thrown at them in the Odense suburb Vollsmose.

A police patrol attempted to stop a car that caught their suspicion, but the driver escaped. At first he managed to outrun the police, but the officers found him shortly thereafter, as he had an accident in a roundabout at Vollsmose Allé. The driver was unconscious for a bit, but before the ambulance arrived, people in the area started congregating and attacking the police with whatever was at hand.

Thus the driver was taken outside the area and transferred to the ambulance at a safe distance from the disturbance. No officers were harmed, according to the first reports.

The trouble didn’t stop there: the Enrichers escalated from bottles to bullets.

Kepiblanc has translated an article from today’s edition the tabloid BT:

100 people tried to stop ambulance

Live rounds fired at police in Vollsmose

Live rounds were flying past local policemen in Vollsmose, while trying to assist colleges after a traffic incident.

The situation became nasty last night in the Vollsmose suburb Odense when a 19-year old BMW-driver tried to escape the police and then crashed his car. When the ambulance arrived at the scene, the mood was so nasty that some 100 bystanders tried to block the ambulance.

“Finally, the police had to get the driver out of the car and into a patrol car in order to drive him over to the ambulance,” says Chief Inspector Hans Frederiksen of the Funen Police to BT.

It escalated to vandalism, and around midnight four cars at the parking lot were set ablaze, including the wrecked car.

10 bullets fired at the police

When two policemen from the Vollsmose precinct arrived, ten shots were fired at them, possibly from an automatic rifle. The shots were fired from a green area some 50 meters away.

“One of our colleagues could actually see the muzzle fire and hear the rounds flying past. This means close proximity, and the shots were surely aimed at the policemen,” says the chief inspector.

Rounds located

This morning the police are present in force in order to investigate and find out who fired the rounds. Police dogs have found five cartridges.

Meanwhile the remains of cars set ablaze during the night are being removed. A total of six vehicles are completely incinerated and another one is totally wrecked.

And here’s another article, this one from today’s Jyllands-Posten, as translated by Zonka:

Gunshots against police officers in Vollsmose

Police had to withdraw from the Odense suburb Vollsmose late Thursday evening, after a driver who was chased by the police ended up in an accident.

It happened around 21:30.

Up to 100 people prevented an ambulance from reaching the place, and Fyens Police reports that several patrol cars were hit by bottles and stones.

The situation, according to Fyens Stiftstidende [local newspaper], was so bad that the officers had to transport the car driver in the patrol car and drive to a nearby road where he could be transferred into an ambulance.

Not in critical condition

“He was taken to the hospital and his condition is not critical. We know who he is, so we have something that we need to talk to him about. But he is not under arrest,” says the duty-chief Hans Frederiksen to Fyens.dk.

As the disturbances took form, cobblestones were torn up, and around midnight four cars were set ablaze at the parking lot at Bøgeparken as well as a hedge on Bodvej.

Shot at the police

At 23:00 two officers from the local police in Vollsmose arrived, and when one officer stepped out of the patrol car, 8-10 rounds were fired from a area of greenery at a distance of approximately 50 meters — likely from an automatic weapon.

“None of the shots hit the officers, but it was close. They could see the gunfire from the weapons and feel the bullets flying by,” says the duty-chief to Ritzau.

According to Fyens Police the situation ended at 02:00

We are also treated to a very useful translation of politically correct Danish media code words:

Vollsmose is one of our largest no-go areas, situated just outside Odense (the birthplace of author Hans Christian Andersen). A BMW-driver means a young Muslim in a stolen car, driving insanely fast, ignoring traffic lights, all traffic regulations, and with the car’s boom-box at full volume. “Bystanders” means the ever-present mob of riff-raff, namely his countless brothers, first and second cousins, uncles and assorted scumbags. “Investigating” means asking a few polite questions (don’t want to upset anyone’s feelings, do we…?) knowing very well that no answers will be given, after which the case is archived with no further ado.

Greater Manchester Police Receive Urdu Lessons

This should really help with what the government call 'integration and community cohesion'; could it be that there is little to begin with?

Members of the Rochdale South Neighbourhood Policing Team went back to school to take the classes, which have been held in the heart of the community.

The classes were designed to help improve officers knowledge of the culture and to strengthen links with the local Asian community.

Twelve police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) from the Kingsway and Milkstone and Deeplish wards started the six-week language course on 1 August. The classes have been taking place at Castlemere Community Centre, Deeplish Community Centre and Sparth Bottom Community Centre all in Rochdale. They have been so successful that future courses are now being planned.

PCSO Madasir Nasir arranged the classes, which were taught by town magistrate Ghulam Rasool Shazad. The first few lessons gave officers the opportunity to learn simple phrases such as ‘hi’, ‘how are you?’ and ‘my name is’.

These are the first to be delivered on Rochdale Division and it is hoped that the new language skills will help in everyday police work.

Inspector Michelle Hughes for the Rochdale South Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “The feedback we have had so far has been brilliant. Everyone who has done the course has been able to use it in their job and they have found that it immediately helps to break down barriers.

“It is really appreciated by members of the public who lack confidence in their English language skills and shows that our police officers are committed to strengthening their relationships with the local Asian community.”

Mr Shazad who is a trained Urdu teacher, said: “I have been very pleased with the commitment shown by these officers to the classes and by the speed that they have been learning.

“They have been excellent and have definitely exceeded my expectations. So far they have been learning the history of the language and its origins as well as being taught basic words and nouns as well as sentence structure.

“I do believe that these lessons will have huge benefits to both the police and the local community.”

Yes, wasting our tax money on this nonsense should really help the police enrich their Urdu vocabularies - but aren't they supposed to be fighting crime?

If they really feel the need to pander to certain 'communities', let them fly to the subcontinent and learn on their own time.

Paris on Riot Alert - Situation Normal (II)

The violence in Bagnolet, sparked by a criminal who was fleeing police killing himself in a motorbike crash, continued last night:

The suburbs of Paris were once again the scene of violence Monday evening following the death of 18-year-old Yakou Sanogo, who was killed Sunday in a motorbike accident as he was being pursued by a police car.

Several cars, a bus, and rubbish bins were set ablaze in the eastern suburb of Bagnolet, in what appeared to be a game of hide and seek between police and groups of local youth.

In the neighbourhood from which the victim hailed, police were targeted with projectiles at just before 11pm Paris time (GMT+2).

Officers say there were no serious injuries. Monday’s incidents were reportedly less severe than those on the night of the accident. “Tension is starting to go down again,” the mayor of Bagnolet, Marc Everbecq, told AFP.

An investigation is underway to determine whether the police have any responsibility in the accident. Some residents in Bagnolet accuse the police of having “pushed” Sanogo.

According to the official autopsy, Sanogo’s died of a “thoracic injury” sustained when he crashed into a metal barrier at a street that had been closed to entry.

The autopsy yielded no evidence of other injuries, which was presumed to rule out the theory that Sanogo had been hit by the police vehicle.

Now, whose fault is all of this?

The Mayor of Bagnolet, Marc Everbecq, has some thoughts for us:

I know that extreme right groups are rampant at this time. Their words are ugly. Those people who benefit from the difficulties that immigrants have to go home if they are not happy here, forget that France colonized the countries and that those bourgeois French made them come here to exploit them.

But this small fact racist fascists never talk about because they are on the side of exploitative employers. Their racism has therefore only one purpose: divide the exploited to improve the the grip of the exploiters. Racism is the poison that kills society. Thus, it is not only the immigrants who are challenged. Through them, also the French workers who are crushed to bend the spine and are less strong before the bosses. You see, go howl with the wolves fascists do nothing good. And we do not get caught by the legitimate frustration caused by these tensions.

Did you get that?

Racism and France's history are to blame for the problems she faces today, not the importing of millions of unassimilable immigrants.

In fact, even suggesting the latter is a huge part of the problem, and the legitimate frustrations you may have about your car being burned, your house stoned, your daughter harassed, you son beaten should not mould themselves into criticisms of multiculturalism or the French state.

It would be funny if such a dangerous man were not the mayor.

Robert Marchenoir, writing at Gates of Vienna, answers the usual media bias and provides background to this incident:

The first dispatches, such as the WSJ article, mentioned that the deceased motorcycle rider was a pizza delivery man.

This is disingenuous, because it suggests that a lawful, hardworking citizen was harassed by the police while minding his own business and helping the economy run.

Actually, he wasn’t delivering pizza at the time. He rode a trial motorcycle unlicensed for use on public roads. Furthermore, he was doing so in a noisy, disruptive, aggressive and dangerous way, as immigrant youths have taken to doing in city estates, for fun as well as to assert their dominance on public space.

Such antics generally include revving up the engine constantly in order to do as much noise as possible, riding on the back wheel, and riding very fast in residential areas. It’s called a “rodeo” in French.

Residents of “enriched” neighbourhoods are routinely submitted to that particular form of harassment. Beyond the annoyance and aggression, it’s definitely dangerous for pedestrians, children, old people and even other drivers.

In Bagnolet, on the day of the accident, this had been going on for quite a while when the residents complained, and the police came to the scene.

Usually the police do not bother to intervene when they receive such complaints, firstly because there are so many of them, and secondly because it’s very dangerous to try and stop those rogue riders.

They usually flee from the police, and, not infrequently, get killed in an ensuing accident. Then the police find themselves in a life-threatening situation while “elder brothers” congregate and a riot breaks out.

Coming next in the scenario, the immigrant community pretends that the “youth” has been killed by the police, the authorities chicken out and put the police version on the same level as the immigrants’, the policemen are submitted to a humiliating inquiry, and politicians, from the right and the left alike, call for an improved “dialogue” and more public funds being poured on city estates.

This incident was not different.

Knowledgeable bloggers researched the wrecked motorcycle from published media images, found out that it cost 6,000 euros, and asked how an 18-year-old was able to purchase one with the wages of a pizza delivery job.

Notice the cookie-cutter paragraph at the end of the WSJ dispatch:

“Tensions between young people and police have long simmered in housing projects in France’s suburbs, feeding on poverty, unemployment and anger over discrimination against minorities.”

This has been printed and said so many times that nobody bothers with a reality check any more. Surely it should be a matter for thought that in this particular incident, the aforementioned explanation is just a load of [insert expletive here].

“…feeding on poverty…”: nope. Not when you’re able to afford a €6,000 motorcycle (that’s $8,500) at age 18.

“…unemployment…”: nope. This one had a job delivering pizzas, as the mainstream media obligingly rushed to inform us.

“…and discrimination against minorities”: nope. Actually, it’s rather the opposite. Try riding a motorcycle in a city at 51 km/h if you’re a white, aboriginal French person. You’ll quickly get a hefty fine, and points will be nipped off your license. If you don’t pay, you might even land in prison.

Paris on Riot Alert - Situation Normal

Last night a 'youth' riding a motorbike was asked to pull over by a police car after residents spotted him driving erratically.

Like any innocent, upstanding citizen would, he made off at high speed and lost control of his motorbike, killing himself.

This led to a spate of vandalism and violence, during which 'only' one bus shelter and twenty nine cars were destroyed, a handgun was fired at police, a school and local shops had their windows smashed and a local police station was "targeted".

The authorities are now engaged in a major hand wringing exercise, blaming anyone but the criminals and the violent thugs who used his death as an opportunity to cause mayhem:

The French department of internal police affairs launched an investigation among police staff on Monday, a day after an 18-year-old man died while fleeing a police vehicle on a motorbike in the Parisian suburb of Bagnolet.

According to Le Monde, Yacou Sanago, a pizza deliverer, lost control of his motorbike 30 metres from his place of work on the Boulevard Raspail at around 8 pm. A police car asked him to “pull over to the right for a check”, according to the French daily, quoting a source involved in the investigation.

The young man took flight and lost control of his motorbike.

Brice Hortefeux, the French interior minister, said in a statement that locals had actually called the police because the youth was riding recklessly, “having a rodeo on two roads”.

Hortefeux announced he would hold a meeting with 20 community associations on August 31 on the theme of police-community relations.

Sanago’s death has aggravated feelings of resentment between police and residents of the poorer suburbs outlying the north and east of Paris.

Shortly after the incident, protests and vandalism erupted in the young man’s home town. A bus shelter was destroyed and garbage bins were set on fire. Youths also targeted the area’s police station.

“Close to 29 vehicles were set on fire and rioters shattered windows of shops and a school,” said a statement by the interior ministry.

Calm returned in the early hours on Monday.

Ahead of an autopsy scheduled for Monday, investigators took testimony to determine the circumstances in which Sanago died.

Of central concern is the question as to whether the police car might have hit the young man’s motorbike.

An investigator told AFP: “The police car didn’t touch him. There was no contact between the motorbike and the police car.”

In 2005, the accidental death of two youths from the Paris region who were trying to evade police sparked more than two weeks of rioting that spread across the country.

Some French reports indicate that at least ten men with iron bars stormed into a police station to confront officers after the accident, and a stun gun had to be used.

Of course, these incidents of violence are a common occurrence in France, and it is rare that they are deemed worthy of being reported fully in the French press, let alone translated into English.

In Toulouse on Saturday night, police arrested a 'youth' at a roadside checkpoint.

Naturally, his friends took exception to this, and spent the rest of the night setting rubbish bins on fire, then violently attacking the police and fire brigade when they arrived on the scene.

The police described these criminals as 'just kids'; all night these 'kids' threw anything they could get their hands on off of high balconies at the police officers below, then barricaded themselves into flats when the officers stormed into the corridors.

On 29th of June, all of the following happened in just one night (the number next to the incident describes the specific geographical area in which it took place, based on the French number plate system):

Tremblay-en-France (93): mortars fireworks taken against the policemen. In the night from Saturday to Sunday in the city of "large", a police patrol was targeted by projectiles and smoke from mortars with fireworks. One hundred hooligans were involved in skirmishes. One was arrested.

• Mantes-la-Jolie (78): Val Fourré Clashes between police and hundreds of thugs. An identity check degenerated when thugs launched projectiles at the police. The police called in reinforcements to identify and complete their checks. The thugs were dispersed by firing tear gas and flashball. No arrest.

• Drancy (93): a young biker was taken to hospital in critical condition after colliding with a police officer. He tried to escape a police control while riding, no helmet on a moto-cross. Source

• La Courneuve (93): Case of Kalashnikov fire on a police van. Three thugs in police custody were brought before the magistrate in Bobigny. On 17 May, a police netted two guards overnight had been an ambush in the district of "4000" in La Courneuve. The police had been shot a with a Kalashnikov.

• Bagneux (92): A man shot and wounded. Around 11.25 am the author of the aggression has come to the door of the apartment of the victim. When the occupant opened it, he shot with a handgun and then fled.

• Val-d'Oise (95): A cashier is accused of having misappropriated credit card numbers of more than 200 customers. The damage is around 250 000 €.

Well, this is the bad news - the good news is that France has a President and Establishment fully committed to further immigration and diversity.

Should be fun to visit there in about ten years, shouldn't it?

The Police DNA Database is "Racist"

From The Guardian:

Almost one in four black children over 10 have had their profiles placed on the police DNA database. The disclosure has sparked claims from the chair of an influential parliamentary committee that the disparity with white children is undermining social integration.

About a million children have been added since the national DNA database started in 1995. However, there has been a dramatic rise from 2004, when police were given the power to add the profiles of people routinely arrested, even if not convicted of a crime. According to new figures obtained by the campaign group Genewatch, almost 45,000 black children aged 10 to 17 in England and Wales – about 23% of all black children in the age group – have been added to the database in the past five years. By contrast, the DNA profiles of just under 10% of white youths aged 10 to 17 – about 440,000 children – have been added. "The racial bias in the database is shocking and black children have been disproportionately affected," said Helen Wallace, director of Genewatch. In the vast majority of cases, the children's profiles have been retained once they turned 18 and became adults.

Keith Vaz MP, chair of the home affairs select committee, said: "Such disparity in the treatment of different ethnic groups is bound to lead to a disintegration of community relations and a lack of trust in the police force."

The figures have raised questions about the government's desire to retain the DNA profiles of children – arrested but never convicted of crimes – for up to six years and of adults for up to 12 years. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned the government risks breaking European law because ministers have failed to provide "clear, justifiable reasons for holding on to DNA data from people who had not been convicted of a crime." In a lengthy submission to the government, the commission said the government's proposals for the retention of DNA profiles failed to recognise there were a disproportionate number of young black men, vulnerable people and children on the database.

John Wadham, the EHRC's group legal director, said: "It would be sensible for the government to get this right now or it could face many expensive legal challenges."

Truly a headscratcher, this one.

It could either be racist bias, as Keith Vaz claims, or maybe - just maybe - it could be the fact that young black males are involved in crime at a frankly astonishing rate compared to their presence in the wider population.

You'll note that despite the disgusting bias of the police, it is only young black males who seem to be over represented, not Hindu girls or Chinese pensioners.

In all seriousness though, what is society to do?

Do the police just stop arresting black criminals to correct the "bias"? How serious does their crime have to be before protecting the public is more important that meeting the targets?

Black men are imprisoned at a rate which far exceeds their numbers as a percentage of the population; should we just let some out and give another group a turn, regardless of who statistically commits the most crime?

Then we have this nonsense from Keith Vaz:

"Such disparity in the treatment of different ethnic groups is bound to lead to a disintegration of community relations and a lack of trust in the police force."

Ah - but not the higher propensity some ethnic groups seem to have for criminal behaviour?

No, what leads to lack of trust in the police force is favouritism and treating certain groups leniently.

I'm sure most black people want black criminals off the streets; justice must be colour blind, or it is not justice.

But of course, in the world of The Guardian, the only way to resolve this situation is to pretend that all cultures and lifestyles are equal, and society is responsible for any disparity in the numbers.

I truly fear for the future if such thinking becomes more mainstream, and all the authorities care about is making the figures look acceptable to Big Brother rather than punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent - regardless of their colour.

The Police are Still Racist

As the previous post showed, catching violent criminals is not always something which the police do well.

That's OK - these days, they have other priorities, such as proving that they are not racist:

Racial discrimination still exists in the police, 10 years after a report described Britain's biggest force as institutionally racist, MPs have said.

While there has been some progress, black people are still more likely to be stopped and searched, according to the Home Affairs committee.

Chairman Keith Vaz warned of damage to community relations.

But the Association of Chief Police Officers said forces had "worked hard" to counter accusations of racism.

The committee looked at recommendations made by Sir William MacPherson following his 1999 inquiry into a Metropolitan police investigation of the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Sir William's conclusion that the force was "institutionally racist" led to 70 recommendations to counter discrimination within the police service.

MPs said while forces had met 67 out of the 70 anti-discrimination targets, they still failed to employ 7% of officers from ethnic minorities - roughly in proportion to the composition of the UK's population.

Mr Vaz said evidence suggested officers from these communities struggled to attain promotion and were more likely to be subject to disciplinary action.

"We are also particularly concerned at the discrimination which apparently persists within the force, in recruitment and promotion of black and minority ethnic officers," he added.

"The police service must now focus its efforts on tackling these issues within its own workforce."

The report concluded a disproportionate number of black and Asian people also had their profiles held on the police DNA database.

Mr Vaz said: "While there is such blatantly disproportionate representation of particularly black people in the criminal justice system... there will continue to be damage to community relations which in turn undermines police work."

Keith Bristow, of Acpo, told the BBC that attitudes within the police reflected those of wider society, where "of course there are some people that have racist views, the same as there are some people who have views about women".

"But I'd say as a service we have worked as hard if not harder than anyone else to make sure that we have the most balanced, fair and ethical workforce possible."

This is all such obvious nonsense it is shocking Yet still, the police have to suck up to the politically correct elite and take it seriously.

The fact is that both black and Muslim people are vastly over represented in the prison statistics.

This is because they are vastly more likely to be involved in crime than other groups, not because society has it in for them specifically.

The fact that the police catch criminals is not racist. Many 'ethnic minority' groups, such as Sikhs, Hindus and Chinese, are under represented in the prison population.

Why does this vile wave of institutionalised racism not affect them?

It's time for some honesty on these issues - but whilst the cash cow of 'racism' continues to pay out, don't bank on it happening.

Scotland Yard Blunder Allows Rapist to Go Free

A terrifying story of police ineptitude which scuppered the chances of bringing a beast who raped a pensioner to justice:

After working hard as a secretary for more than 30 years to raise her only son alone and buy a comfortable Victorian terrace house, Hazel Backwell was looking forward to a long and happy retirement.

Comfortably settled in a quiet - and seemingly safe - neighbourhood in Stratford, East London, the 66-year- old spinster enjoyed gardening, listening to radio discussion programmes and sharing a pot of tea with her best friend, who lived a few doors away.

But her contentment was shattered by the sickening ordeal she endured in the early hours of January 23, 1997.

As a BBC documentary will recount this Thursday, it would not only alter the course of her future, but precipitate landmark criminal proceedings with huge implications for British law.

Stirred at 4am by a disturbance in her downstairs bedroom, Hazel awoke to find a burly intruder standing on a chair by the window, his dreadlocks silhouetted in the halflight.

In menacing tones, the man ordered her to roll over and lie face down, whereupon he bound her wrists with flex, beat her with such savagery that he broke a rib and her mouth filled with blood, and raped her.

When the attack was over, he bundled her into a cupboard under the stairs - so small that he had to remove a vacuum cleaner and tool box to squeeze her inside - and barricaded the door with boxes.

He then made off with the few pounds that Hazel had saved to pay a vet's bill, leaving her trapped for 15 hours with the fear that she might die before anyone found her.

It was only when her friend, George Walpole, walked past the house the following evening and saw milk bottles on the doorstep and a light in the basement, where Hazel seldom ventured, that she was freed.

She spent three weeks in hospital, but never really recovered. Unable to face returning to her home, with its terrible memories, she hid from the world in a warden-controlled retirement home, where, five years later, she died.

'The death certificate says my mum died of emphysema but her life finished the day she was raped and locked in that cupboard,' her son David Backwell told me.

'She had been so outgoing and friendly, but from then on she was almost a recluse. She gave away her cat, put on a lot of weight and had a complete nervous breakdown. It's a very sad story.'

It is indeed - and this week, after I discovered how a breathtaking police blunder has ended any possibility that Hazel's attacker might be brought to justice, it took one final, wretched twist.

On the surface, this Thursday's documentary, filmed for the BBC by independent programme maker Mentorn, appears to offer new hope to Mr Backwell and his wife Margaret, who have suffered for 12 years in the knowledge that the rapist is still at large.

In a bold move, the programme makers have secured the right to name publicly the man who almost certainly committed the assault, a chilling character called Wendell Wilberforce Baker who was acquitted on a technicality.

Nine years ago, as the argument about his acquittal exercised Britain's finest legal brains, the Law Lords took the extremely rare step of granting him anonymity - a privilege normally afforded only to rape victims, not defendants.

But now his identity can be revealed because BBC lawyers have persuaded the Lords to overturn the order.

The documentary is thus able to make a compelling argument for Baker, now 52 and living with his girlfriend in a leafy part of East London, to face a retrial following the abolition, four years ago, of the double jeopardy rule, which prevented anyone being prosecuted for the same crime twice.

The programme explores whether DNA evidence, which was deemed inadmissible by the judge at his original trial at the Old Bailey in 1999, could be used at a new hearing, and possibly prove his guilt and concludes 'there could still be justice for Hazel'.

However, I have learned of an astonishing development - one that ends any possibility of a retrial and raises deeply troubling questions about police competence.

So what is the background to this extraordinary and complex case? When Hazel was attacked, her assailant left no fingerprints or other tangible clues.

The only physical evidence detectives could find came from swabs taken from her. These contained the culprit's bodily fluids and were duly run through the National DNA Database, which had been set up two years earlier and was already proving a vital tool in fighting crime. Initially, the computer threw up no matches.

But in January 1998, about a year after the rape, Baker was arrested for another crime - a burglary in Hackney. He gave police an alias but provided a saliva sample from which his DNA could be logged on the database.

A few months later, he was acquitted of this burglary and as the law then stated that the Forensic Science Service could retain only the DNA of people convicted of a recordable offence, it should have been destroyed.

In one of several basic mistakes in this case, however, it was left in the computer's hard-drive, and when another test was run, it showed a clear match with the DNA on swabs taken from Hazel.

According to genetic profiling experts, there was just a one in 17 million chance that the rapist and the cleared burglar - Wendell Baker - were not the same man.

Convinced they had their quarry at last, detectives arrested and charged Baker, then aged 41. He refused to provide a fresh DNA sample, so - as permitted by law - an investigating officer tugged out a fistful of his dreadlocks in the interview room.

This was necessary because only the roots of the hair contain a human's unique genetic code. This second DNA sample also matched that of the rapist.

But (not for the last time) there was a major legal hitch. Because Baker had been rearrested only on the basis of the saliva sample, which should have been destroyed, the defence argued that the genetic match must not go before the jury.

For their part, the prosecution attempted to persuade Old Bailey Judge Alan Hitching that the evidence was so 'clear, compelling and incontrovertible' that he should exercise his discretion and allow it to be heard.

Listening intently to this arcane legal argument from the visitors' gallery, Hazel's only son, David, shared their hopes. Speaking to me last week, the semi-retired security guard, now aged 54, recalled how he sat in court, praying that the man he felt sure had violated his mother's dignity, wrecking her last years, would not cheat justice.

But when the judge ruled in favour of the defence and threw out the DNA evidence, a gloating Wendell Baker walked out of court a free man.

Mr Backwell broke down and wept before delivering the news to his mother. She struggled to comprehend how the sadist who had done such unspeakable things to her could be freed on a mere technicality. 'My mum felt she had been victimised again,' he says grimly.

The bouquet of flowers Hazel received from the Crown Prosecution Service was scant consolation.

The CPS challenged the judge's ruling, but the Appeal Court upheld it. However, the case went to Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, and in December 2000 they ruled that judges could admit DNA evidence - even if it was obtained during an investigation that ended in acquittal.

The following year, prompted in part by this judgment, the then Home Secretary Jack Straw announced controversial plans to retain all genetic samples on the database indefinitely, even when the suspect was cleared.

These developments seemed of little importance to Hazel, of course, because the 800-year-old double jeopardy rule still stood: an individual could not be tried twice for the same crime.

So in 2002, when she was 72 years old, Hazel Backwell went to her grave believing that justice had failed her. Next week's documentary questions why it remains undone.

For, in the aftermath of the Stephen Lawrence case, the double jeopardy law was changed to allow repeat prosecutions where there is 'new and compelling evidence' and the offence is serious enough to be punishable by a life sentence.

Only two cases have subsequently been retried - and it was hoped Wendell Baker might be among the next to come before the courts.

That view was supported by one of Britain's leading authorities on criminal law, University College London Professor Ian Dennis, who opines that the DNA samples taken from Wendell Baker could certainly be classed as 'new' evidence, as they were never placed before the jury at the first trial.

Moreover, given that there is only a one in 17 million possibility that the database match is wrong, it is surely 'compelling'.

So why can Wendell Baker continue to rest secure in the knowledge that he will never again stand trial for the brutal rape of Hazel?

It is because, quite simply, Scotland Yard have made a monumental error. I can reveal that they have lost the file on the Backwell case.

And as it contained vital evidence, including, crucially, the deceased victim's statement, senior officers have privately agreed they would have no chance of persuading the CPS to reopen the Wendell Baker case, let alone of securing a conviction.

'Basically, the case papers don't exist any more,' a shamefaced Scotland Yard spokesman admitted to me. 'Hazel's statement would have been a key part (of the evidence). The file would have been key to any reinvestigation. Therefore, we don't have anything we could consider.

'It is obviously unfortunate that we can't find them (the papers). We have done some extensive searches, including checks to see if there was a copy at the court. There wasn't, unfortunately.'

Unfortunately? That seems a euphemistic way to describe such a serious professional failure.

Losing the file on a case, which, given its far-reaching implications, must surely rate among the more important on the Yard's unsolved crimes list, is scarcely credible.

As Hazel's son, who learned the truth in an apologetic phone call from the Yard several months ago, told me: 'It beggars belief.'

He says he has considered suing the police, but doubts he will do so. For, as he remarks: 'It won't bring back the papers, or my mum. And it's not going to bring this man to justice, is it?'

Given the depraved manner in which he allegedly attacked his mother, Mr Backwell fears it is only a matter of time before Wendell Baker strikes again.

This seems a reasonable assumption. Baker is a recurrent fixture in London's courts and he has convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, damaging property, and carrying a bladed instrument, with several more offences - including threatening to kill - ordered to lie on the file.

His one lengthy jail term appears to have been an 18-month sentence for affray - handed down in May 2001, more than four years after Hazel was raped and battered. He has also garnered a fearsome reputation among his own tough Jamaican-British circle for violence - as has his close family.

His ex-wife, Sandra, by whom he has three daughters (their son died in infancy), was jailed for life in 2005 for hacking a woman to death with a machete and baseball bat in South London.

She and her daughter by a previous relationship were convicted of killing an innocent woman who attempted to intervene when a long-running dispute with two female neighbours erupted.

At all events, viewers of this week's documentary will be left in little doubt about Wendell Baker's true nature.

Venturing outside his semidetached home, a stick in his right hand and a Rottweiler's straining leash in his left, he appears momentarily nonplussed when invited to comment on the case against him.

Then he launches into a foulmouthed and intimidating outburst: 'Go and **** your mother you

****! Get out of my face! **** off!' he snarls, unleashing a flurry of blows that injure the hand of one of the film crew. With that, Wendell Wilberforce Baker stalks off down the street, his simpering female companion in tow.

That this vile man will never face a retrial, even though the law has been changed precisely to prevent his ilk from slipping through the net, is truly a travesty of justice.

Just how much harm might accrue from that lamentably lost police case file, one shudders to imagine.

Non-Muslim WPCs Issued with Headscarves in South West England

In most European countries which suffer high rates of Muslim immigration, there will be a debate about whether or not the Muslim headscarf should be incorporated into the uniforms of the emergency services, to enable Muslim women to join should they so wish.

As usual, Britain leads the way in simpering, grovelling abject politically correct dhimmitude; Avon & Somerset Police have created a uniform headscarf which will be issued to all female officers, Muslim or not.

The day when they will be forced to wear it on the beat (not that any of them actually have a beat anymore) is probably twenty years or so away, but for the moment it is there if they should be called upon to enter a mosque.

Sean O'Neill in The Times calls this 'pioneering policing':

Non-Muslim female police officers issued with hijabs to wear during visits to mosques! Do we hear the familiar cry of: "Is this political correctness gone mad?" But take another look. The force pioneering the idea is Avon & Somerset which marked a significant success earlier this month with its policy of active engagement with Bristol's Muslim community.

The conviction of Andrew Ibrahim, jailed for planning to carry out a suicide bombing at a shopping centre, was obtained because of contact between the mosque and the police. The picture above shows him on a reconnaissance visit to Broadmead shopping centre. It was the first terrorist case where mosque elders had alerted detectives to concerns about the behaviour of a suspect - Ibrahim, 20, a former public schoolboy, was arguing in favour of suicide bombing and had burns and scars on his hands from testing homemade HMTD high-explosive.

A mosque elder rang a police officer who took the call while on a canal boat holiday and alerted colleagues. Ibrahim was tracked down within 36 hours and a search of his flat uncovered explosives, detontators and a suicide vest.

All of that makes an assumption, however; that to respect Muslims or permit them their beliefs, you must submit to their rules and customs, always, even f you are not a Muslim yourself.

Policewomen already have a head covering which they can wear in a mosque, or anywhere else; it's called a hat.

To specifically have a uniform headscarf is unnecessary and patronising, and it does not send out a very good message from those who are supposed to be objectively enforcing the law, without fear or favour.

Is O'Neill seriously suggesting that the only way to stop 'moderate' imams from ignoring terror in their mosques is to submit to Islam ourselves?

If so, we are reaching the destination the terrorists wish to take us to - via a different route.

Here is the full story:

Women police officers are being issued with headscarves to wear when they visit a mosque.

They are expected to put the scarfs on shortly before they enter the mosque, in keeping with Islamic custom.

There are two versions - one matches the black of a police officer's uniform, while another goes with the blue uniforms worn by community support officers.

The headscarves are being given out by Avon and Somerset Police, and have the force's emblem sewn on.

They have already been given to seven officers, including Assistant Chief Constable Jackie Roberts, and eight community support officers who work with Muslim groups in the area.

Mrs Roberts said: 'It recognises and respects the cultural and religious practices of our communities. This is a very positive addition to the uniform and one which I'm sure will be a welcome item for many of our officers.'

The force said the scarves, which cost £13, can be used in other religious settings as a mark of respect - for instance to cover the shoulders of a non-uniformed officer in a church.

Islamic custom expects women to cover their head inside a place of worship.

During an official visit last year, the Queen wore a headscarf to tour the crypt and caverns of an historic Islamic shrine in Turkey.

Rashad Azami, Imam and director of the Bath Islamic Society, said: 'It is highly pleasing to see that Avon and Somerset Constabulary is introducing specially designed head coverings for female officers.

'This will go a long way in encouraging a trustful relationship between the police and the Muslim community. The police have been working closely with the Muslim community for the last few years.

'We hope this step will further strengthen the mutual relationship.'

Avon and Somerset Police caused a race row two years ago when it rejected 186 white job applicants at the first stage of selection.

The force received 800 applications for 180 jobs and 'deselected' white males to increase ethnic diversity. Chief Constable Colin Port apologised.

This year, the fire service unveiled full-length skirts, hijab headscarves and long- sleeved shirts for Muslim women recruits to wear in fire stations and for events such as school trips.

Again, the use of the term 'mutual relationship' is erroneous. Law abiding Muslims should have a duty to report crime anyway, without needing bribes such as this.

Their mutual relationship with the law and the state is either as normal, law abiding citizens of this country - or it is not.

If it is the latter, we need to ask ourselves searching questions indeed about the future of this country.

Political Correctness in Canada

A Canadian man originally from Jamaica has won a discrimination claim after being stopped by police whilst filling in for a postman in 2005.

The case basically determined that the officer in question, Constable Michael Shaw, committed the heinous act of 'racial profiling':

Ron Phipps admits he was criss-crossing Vernham Ave. the day he was stopped by police in the Bridle Path.

He was also wearing a Canada Post coat and carrying two mailbags while filling in for the regular letter carrier.

Toronto Police Const. Michael Shaw pointed that out to a new constable he was training as soon as they turned into the street. Shaw was also suspicious about Phipps, who is black, speaking to a homeowner but not delivering her any mail.

They also had instructions to investigate cut phone lines and look for suspects described as male, white and eastern European who were seen in a car.

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has ruled that by stopping Phipps on March 9, 2005, questioning him, trailing him and asking a white letter carrier to verify his identity, Shaw was guilty of racial profiling.

The fact that Phipps "was an African-Canadian in an affluent neighbourhood was a factor, a significant factor, and probably the predominant factor, whether consciously or unconsciously, in Const. Shaw's actions," adjudicator Kaye Joachim wrote in her decision last month.

At the hearing, Shaw contended each of Phipps' actions was suspicious, despite his uniform.

Joachim batted each one down.

"Letter carriers take vacation, retire and/or switch routes" so seeing a man with a mailbag he didn't know doesn't explain Shaw's suspicions, Joachim wrote.

"I do not accept Const. Shaw's evidence that the applicant was crossing the street back and forth in an unusual fashion. Const. Shaw was well aware that letter carriers do not stop at every house. It was not unusual to misdeliver mail and to go back and try to retrieve it.

"The fact that it was an African-Canadian male without a vehicle that attracted Const. Shaw's attention is what is unusual," wrote Joachim.

The ruling is just the first half of the case that started that chilly morning in March 2005.

The tribunal on Sept. 14 will hear the same accusations against the Toronto Police Services Board and Chief Bill Blair.

"This was always broader than Const. Shaw," Phipps said yesterday from his Thornhill residence.

"I know there is more than one Const. Shaw in the world."

This case is important, said law professor David Tanovich, because it is the second clear Ontario human rights tribunal ruling of racial profiling against police.

The first was against Peel Regional Police in 2007. Tanovich is academic director of the Law Enforcement Accountability Project at the University of Windsor.

"Most cases are not about overt racism. They're about stereotyping. I think the Bridle Path contributed. One of the assumptions is that this person is out of place," he said.

"The more positive findings we get, the greater focus on training and proper directives. Very few of these cases ever make their way to court."

Since the incident, Phipps said he has trouble sleeping and has lost weight, affecting his other job as a personal trainer. Medication to help him sleep has damaged his eyesight. He is "teased mercilessly" by co-workers, and his wife and parents fear repercussions from the police.

Phipps, 44, is asking for a financial award in the case; he won't say how much. He also wants the police to pair officers with partners "of a different race or culture" to teach them to "cope with difference."

Shaw is on "prolonged leave" from 33 Division, police said yesterday.

Phipps immigrated to Toronto from Jamaica as a child with his parents and seven brothers and sisters.

"I had no idea what racism was until I came to Canada."

In 1975, he was with a group of friends between 10 and 14 years old who stopped a police officer to ask directions, he said. Their response: "Do you pickaninnies think this is a cab?"

His own son is now 14. "I would like to be able to say, `If you have trouble, you can turn to a police officer.' But I can't say that."

We see a familiar pattern here; firstly, the cash of Canadian taxpayers being splashed around as if it grew on trees, but also the attitude of Phipps.

You'll note that despite Canada being so terribly racist, he won his claim and has apparently never considered returning to Jamaica to enjoy a well run, amiable society free of prejudice.

Whether he deserved to be stopped or not is open to debate, but I think the list of medical complaints he acquired after a policeman said 'excuse me' is stretching it a little.

All that aside, we also have the 're-education' angle: "He also wants the police to pair officers with partners "of a different race or culture" to teach them to "cope with difference."

Glancing at Toronto's most wanted list, I would assume that officers already have their fill of 'difference' whilst on the beat; no wonder their hearts aren't jumping with the joy of diversity.