International Law

Police officers suspended over beatings video

Posted on May 08, 2008
Police officers suspended over beatings video"More than a dozen police officers have been taken off the streets of Philadelphia while officials investigate a video showing three men being kicked and beaten after being pulled from their car".I can't wait for the inquiry or jury to clear them...

Guardian: Prison special

Posted on May 07, 2008
Guardian: Prison specialToday the Guardian is running a Prisons special. Well worth a read. It's about time there was some positive media coverage given all the crap that was flying about last week about cushy prisons.

Gordon Brown sentenced to 12 months

Posted on May 07, 2008
Gordon Brown sentenced to 12 months55% of Labour voters want Gordon Brown to resignPerhaps electing Gordon Brown to succeed Tony Blair by way of a written agreement on a beer mat in some restaurant was not such a good idea after all?

Chelsea siege gunman 'was a barrister'

Posted on May 07, 2008
Chelsea siege gunman 'was a barrister'"A gunman shot dead by police after a five hour stand-off was a practising barrister, it was revealed today.Mark Saunders, 32, was named locally as the man at the centre of a gun battle in upmarket Markham Square, Chelsea, in West London...

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Judge's son kicks bucket after jumping off a bridge

Posted on May 07, 2008
Judge's son kicks bucket after jumping off a bridge"In 2000, after a family party, he was jailed for four months for drink driving, his second conviction".There's hope for Guido yet...

Is this a good example of a government that listens?

Posted on May 07, 2008
Is this a good example of a government that listens?"Cannabis is expected to be reclassified as a class B drug today as ministers prepare to over-rule their own expert drugs panel".

Jolly Roger jolly dee old chap

Posted on May 07, 2008
Jolly Roger jolly dee old chapYesterday James Higham of Nourishing Obscurity posted a pirate themed quiz. Therefore, I blame him for the fall out associated with this story. Surely, this is political requiring planning permission for a flag other than a national one?

New kid on the blog

Posted on May 07, 2008
New kid on the blogBall & Chain"About Melawschoolinmate Currently detained in Georgetown University Law Center, a facility of approximately 2,000 inmates. The inmates are often driven to work 16+ hours a day for no pay and are constantly verbally demoralized by staff...

McCanns: The ball's in your court

Posted on May 07, 2008
McCanns: The ball's in your courtDear Gerry and Kate McCann, Clarence Mitchell, the McCann Camp, and lawyersBig mistake fighting a war on too many fronts. According to Abraham Lincoln: "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time"...

MPs say give us back the money we stole from you

Posted on May 06, 2008
MPs say give us back the money we stole from you Still on the crime does pay theme, our poor MPs who are paid over £60,000 per year plus expenses, that's over a £1,000 per week, now want a £15,000 - £20,000 pay rise to claw back the expenses money they have been prevented from stealing from the public purse...

Crime it seems does pay

Posted on May 06, 2008
Crime it seems does payThere is something absurd about a case where the State freezes the assets of a convicted criminal said to be worth £4.5M, so that he cannot pay his legal costs and has to rely upon State funded Legal Aid. However, because the State has cut funding of Legal Aid to such an extent it is not worth a barrister's while to represent clients and they refuse to accept briefs...

Housing plan for ex-inmates

Posted on May 06, 2008
Housing plan for ex-inmatesA scheme to re-house ex-offenders in some of Hull's 600 empty council homes has been put forward.Video link from BBC 1 Look North.Thanks to Ron for alerting me to this story.And, £2M to be spent fencing residents in on an estate in an attempt to keep criminals and druggies etc out...

Location, location, location

Posted on May 06, 2008
Location, location, locationIn my experience of prison there are desirable and less desirable cells. A cell with a view is like gold dust. I have had one on the "Threes" in Lewes Prison which had a view over the Sussex Downs, and another in Winchester Prison, in the Segregation Unit, which only looked out to a small yard...

Panorama: Entertainment for dummies

Posted on May 05, 2008
Panorama: Entertainment for dummiesLast week it was being claimed that prisons were too cushy that prisoners did not want to escape.This week they are claiming that prisons are too cushy and prisoners are escaping.Do you get the feeling that somebody is shit stirring?Violent criminals 'escaping from open prisons'"Hundreds of dangerous offenders, including murderers, are being sent to low security open prisons to ease jail over-crowding and then escaping, a television documentary will claim"...

Drunk holiday couple face child neglect charges

Posted on May 05, 2008
Drunk holiday couple face child neglect charges"A British couple on holiday in the Algarve face neglect charges after an alleged all-day drinking session left them in hospital and their three young children in care".Compare and contrast the authorities action in this case with the inaction in the McCanns case.

McCanns: If you were guilty of killing your daughter and sought to evade justice would you assist the police investigation by taking part in a reconst

Posted on May 05, 2008
McCanns: If you were guilty of killing your daughter and sought to evade justice would you assist the police investigation by taking part in a reconstruction?At approximately 10pm, at Praia Da Luz, Portugal, on 3 May 2007, Kate McCann announced publicly that her daughter, 3 year old Madeleine, was missing...

Swans nesting

Posted on May 05, 2008
Swans nestingIt's a beautiful day in May and Rocky and I went for a walk to the large park at the end of Beresford Avenue off Beverley road (A1079). I noticed that the swans had built their nest and Mrs Swan was sat on 10 eggs. I decided to shoot this video but I did not expect it to come out as well as it did because I could not see the mobile phone screen for the brightness of the sun...

Petty fraudster was informant in botched Forest Gate raid

Posted on May 04, 2008
Petty fraudster was informant in botched Forest Gate raid"Scotland Yard's botched anti-terrorist operation in Forest Gate, east London, which led to the shooting of an innocent Muslim man, was based on the word of petty criminal serving a sentence for dishonesty offences unconnected to terrorism".

Disabled woman fined for permit slip-up

Posted on May 03, 2008
Disabled woman fined for permit slip-up"A traffic warden issued a £35 ticket to an 82-year-old sufferer of Parkinson's disease, who was asleep in a car, because her disabled parking badge was upside down.The car was legally parked in a disabled parking bay when Jean Raine felt unwell and took a rest...

McCanns: What's another year?

Posted on May 03, 2008
McCanns: What's another year?The McCanns are celebrating the anniversary of 1 year of evading responsibility and justice. As the Daily Telegraph points out, the McCanns claim that Madeleine was abducted between 9.15pm and 10pm 1 year ago. And that's it, it remains just a claim without any basis in fact...

Chinese build secret nuclear submarine base

Posted on May 02, 2008
Chinese build secret nuclear submarine base"China has secretly built a major underground nuclear submarine base that could threaten Asian countries and challenge American power in the region, it can be disclosed". click image to enlargeAnalysis: China's nuclear secret exposedDoes China pose a threat to global security?From my archives: Chink in America's suit of armour.

Prison staff walkout

Posted on May 02, 2008
Prison staff walkout"Staff at six prisons in Yorkshire walked out in a row over the handling of staff disciplinary procedures".Video link to the story here.

Prison guards have 'no control'

Posted on May 02, 2008
Prison guards have 'no control'"The Prison Officers Association (POA) has said its members "no longer feel they have control" over prisons after an officer was stabbed at a jail".

Muslim claim sparks prison review

Posted on May 01, 2008
Muslim claim sparks prison reviewFemale prison officers will be stopped from being present when male inmates are strip-searched, after a Muslim prisoner said he had been degraded.The inmate told the newspaper Muslim News in March he felt degraded, oppressed and provoked on a daily basis at Whitemoor Prison, Cambridgeshire...

Is this a down and out in London?

Posted on May 01, 2008
Is this a down and out in London?

Dirty Mac brigade or the circus clown?

Posted on May 01, 2008
Dirty Mac brigade or the circus clown?South of Watford there is a contest going on. I cannot help but think that Ken Livingstone in this photo reminds me of the Dirty Mac brigade who used to frequent pornography shops in Soho in the 1960s. And Boris the Buffoon is looking for a job as a clown in a circus.

Hull flood of support for LibDems

Posted on May 01, 2008
Hull flood of support for LibDemsI woke up late this morning undecided if I was going to bother to vote. Nevertherless, I dug out my polling card and put it in my jacket breast pocket before I went out with the dog for a walk. I intended to pass by the street where the polling station is situated...

The McCanns and Clarence Mitchell declare war on bloggers and forums

Posted on May 01, 2008
The McCanns and Clarence Mitchell declare war on bloggers and forumsVideo Clarence Mitchell attacks forums and chatrooms.

Legal Opinion: The justice strategy that introduces offenders to their victims

Posted on April 30, 2008
Legal Opinion: The justice strategy that introduces offenders to their victimsMeet-the-criminal programmes have won enormous support. So, asks Robert Verkaik, Law Editor, why isn't restorative justice being put to greater use?"When first mooted 10 years ago, it was an idea that broke with the conventional thinking on how to tackle crime...

Gordon Brown scuppers prisoners' 37.5% pay rise

Posted on April 30, 2008
Gordon Brown scuppers prisoners' 37.5% pay rise"A controversial plan to increase pay rates for prisoners while ministers are being deluged by the row over the 10p tax rate abolition was scrapped yesterday on the direct orders of Gordon Brown.The Prime Minister intervened to overrule the Prison Service Management Board after learning that it had given the go-ahead to increasing the minimum pay rate for an employed offender from £4 a week to £5...

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