A Survival Guide for Decent Folk

An anonymous policeman blogger who has targeted the force and Government ministers was unmasked today after the High Court ruled against keeping his identity secret. Refusing a temporary injunction to prevent a newspaper from identifying the serving detective constable - who goes by the name of Night Jack - Justice Eady said that "blogging is essentially a public rather than a private activity".

For over a year, police detective 'Jack Night' chronicled his working life in an unnamed UK town on his remarkably frank blog Night Jack. His scathing and revealing posts on the reality of policing in Britain have won him an Orwell Prize. Now his ID has been exposed and he has received a written warning from his Force.



Today, the blogger was named as Richard Horton, 45, who serves with Lancashire Constabulary. Mr. Justice Eady also ruled that any right of privacy on the part of the blogger would be likely to be outweighed by a countervailing public interest in revealing that a particular police officer had been making such contributions. Mr Horton's counsel, Hugh Tomlinson QC, submitted that there was a public interest in preserving the anonymity of bloggers.


Richard Horton

The Judge ruled that the mere fact that Night Jack wished to remain anonymous did not mean either that he had a reasonable expectation of doing so. He added: "Those who wish to hold forth to the public by this means often take steps to disguise their authorship, but it is in my judgment a significantly further step to argue, if others are able to deduce their identity, that they should be restrained by law from revealing it." He said that Night Jack's blog mostly dealt with his police work and his opinions on a number of social and political issues relating to the police and the administration of justice.

Well I found his Blog compelling and every time Police complain of their hands being tied by “Bureaucracy” I remind myself that no too long ago their word was law when given in evidence in Court. So much so that a former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Denning, said it was better that Irish defendants should go to jail than he should concede their Appeal on evidence otherwise he would open up “an appalling vista” of Police corruption. Well due to the good work of West Midlands Police and Surrey Constabulary in the Birmingham 6 and Guilford 4 cases this appalling vista was well and truly opened up and the Police threw away public trust.



Indeed the recent comments by Suffolk’s Chief Constable that he would hold public order defendants in cells for 24 hours even though they had no intention of charging them shows the Police willingness to go to the edge of legality and beyond and use detention in Police cells to pressurise and intimidate defendants. I know of a complainant who was pressurised to pursue a complaint she wanted to withdraw by an ambitious newly promoted Police Sergeant and told that they would deliberately arrest and keep the other party in Police Cells over a weekend to ensure they would “crack.”



So I think Night Jack has done a public service with his Blog and in the interest of Blogging Freedom (Freedom FROM the Press) I reprint in full his Blog on A Survival Guide for decent folk, which uncannily echoes the Police Federation’s own advice to Police Officers facing internal investigation “Do not co-operate, say nothing, ring the Federation’s Solicitor, complain.”

Night Jack’s Blog has now been taken down on Wordpress.

www.nightjack.wordpress.com

A survival guide for decent folk.

In these days of us increasingly having to deal with law abiding folk who have fallen foul of the “entitled poor” and those who have learned how to use us to score points and exact revenge, I thought it would be a good idea to give out a bit of general guidance for those law abiding types who find themselves under suspicion or under arrest. It works for the bad guys so make it work for you.

Complain First

Always get your complaint in first, even if it is you who started it and you who were in the wrong. If things have gone awry and you suspect the cops are going to be called, get your retaliation in first. Ring the cops and allege for all you are worth. If you can work a racist or homophobic slant into it so much the better.



Make a counter allegation

Regardless of the facts, never let the other side be blameless. If they beat you to the phone, ring anyway and make a counter allegation against them. Again racism or homophobia are your friends. If you are not from a visible minority ethnic culture, may I suggest that that the phrase “You gay bastard” or similar is always useful. In extremis allege sexual assault. It gives us something to bargain with when getting the other person to drop their complaint on a quid-pro-quo basis.

Never explain to the Police

If the Police arrive to lock you up, say nothing. You are a decent person and you may think that reasoning with the Police will help. “If I can only explain, they will realise it is all a horrible mistake and go away”. Wrong. We do want to talk to you on tape in an interview room but that comes later. All you are doing by trying to explain is digging yourself further in. We call that stuff a significant statement and we love it. Decent folk can’t help themselves.

Admit Nothing

To do anything more than lock you up for a few hours we need to prove a case. The easiest route to that is your admission. Without it, our case may be a lot weaker, maybe not enough to charge you with. In any case, it is always worth finding out exactly how damning the evidence is before you fall on your sword. So don’t do the decent and honourable thing and admit what you have done. Don’t even deny it or try to give your side of the story. Just say nothing.



Keep your mouth shut

Say as little as possible to us. At the custody office desk a Sergeant will ask you some questions. It is safe to answer these. For the rest, say nothing.

Claim Suicidal Thoughts

A debatable one this. Claiming to be thinking about topping yourself has several benefits. If you can keep it up, it might just bump up any compensation payable later. On the other hand you may find yourself in a paper suit with someone watching your every move.

Always, always, always have a solicitor

Duh. No brainer this one. Unless you know 100% for sure that your mate the solicitor does criminal law and is good at it, ask for the Duty Solicitor. They do criminal law and they are good at it. Then listen to what the solicitor says and do it. Their job is to get you off without the Cops laying a glove on you if at all possible. It is what they get paid for. They are free to you. There is no down side. Now decent folks think it makes them look like they have something to hide if they ask for a solicitor. Irrelevant. Going into an interview without a solicitor is like taking a walk in Tottenham with a Rolex. Bad things are very likely to happen to you.



Actively complain about every officer and everything they do

Did they cuff you when they brought you in? Were they rude to you? Did they racially or homophobically abuse you? Didn’t get fed? Cell too cold? You are decent folk who don’t want to make a fuss but trust me, it pays to whinge and no matter how trivial and / or poorly founded your complaint there are people who will uncritically listen to you and try and prove the complaint on your behalf. Some of them are even police officers.

Show no respect to the legal system or anybody working in it

You think that if you are a difficult, unpleasant, sneering, unco-operative and rude things will go badly for you and you will be in more trouble. No sirree Bob. It seems that in fact the worse you are, the easier things will go for you if, horror of horrors, you do end up convicted. Remember to fake a drink problem if you haven’t developed one as a result of dealing with us already. Magistrates and Judges do seem to like the idea that you are basically good but the naughty alcohol made you do it. They treat you better. Crazy I know but true.

So there you go, basically anything you try and do because you are decent and straightforward hurts you badly. Act like an habitual, professional, lifestyle criminal and chances are you will walk away relatively unscathed. Copy the bad guys; it’s what they do for a living.

A Survival Guide for Decent Folk

An anonymous policeman blogger who has targeted the force and Government ministers was unmasked today after the High Court ruled against keeping his identity secret. Refusing a temporary injunction to prevent a newspaper from identifying the serving detective constable - who goes by the name of Night Jack - Justice Eady said that "blogging is essentially a public rather than a private activity".

For over a year, police detective 'Jack Night' chronicled his working life in an unnamed UK town on his remarkably frank blog Night Jack. His scathing and revealing posts on the reality of policing in Britain have won him an Orwell Prize. Now his ID has been exposed and he has received a written warning from his Force.



Today, the blogger was named as Richard Horton, 45, who serves with Lancashire Constabulary. Mr. Justice Eady also ruled that any right of privacy on the part of the blogger would be likely to be outweighed by a countervailing public interest in revealing that a particular police officer had been making such contributions. Mr Horton's counsel, Hugh Tomlinson QC, submitted that there was a public interest in preserving the anonymity of bloggers.


Richard Horton

The Judge ruled that the mere fact that Night Jack wished to remain anonymous did not mean either that he had a reasonable expectation of doing so. He added: "Those who wish to hold forth to the public by this means often take steps to disguise their authorship, but it is in my judgment a significantly further step to argue, if others are able to deduce their identity, that they should be restrained by law from revealing it." He said that Night Jack's blog mostly dealt with his police work and his opinions on a number of social and political issues relating to the police and the administration of justice.

Well I found his Blog compelling and every time Police complain of their hands being tied by “Bureaucracy” I remind myself that no too long ago their word was law when given in evidence in Court. So much so that a former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Denning, said it was better that Irish defendants should go to jail than he should concede their Appeal on evidence otherwise he would open up “an appalling vista” of Police corruption. Well due to the good work of West Midlands Police and Surrey Constabulary in the Birmingham 6 and Guilford 4 cases this appalling vista was well and truly opened up and the Police threw away public trust.



Indeed the recent comments by Suffolk’s Chief Constable that he would hold public order defendants in cells for 24 hours even though they had no intention of charging them shows the Police willingness to go to the edge of legality and beyond and use detention in Police cells to pressurise and intimidate defendants. I know of a complainant who was pressurised to pursue a complaint she wanted to withdraw by an ambitious newly promoted Police Sergeant and told that they would deliberately arrest and keep the other party in Police Cells over a weekend to ensure they would “crack.”



So I think Night Jack has done a public service with his Blog and in the interest of Blogging Freedom (Freedom FROM the Press) I reprint in full his Blog on A Survival Guide for decent folk, which uncannily echoes the Police Federation’s own advice to Police Officers facing internal investigation “Do not co-operate, say nothing, ring the Federation’s Solicitor, complain.”

Night Jack’s Blog has now been taken down on Wordpress.

www.nightjack.wordpress.com

A survival guide for decent folk.

In these days of us increasingly having to deal with law abiding folk who have fallen foul of the “entitled poor” and those who have learned how to use us to score points and exact revenge, I thought it would be a good idea to give out a bit of general guidance for those law abiding types who find themselves under suspicion or under arrest. It works for the bad guys so make it work for you.

Complain First

Always get your complaint in first, even if it is you who started it and you who were in the wrong. If things have gone awry and you suspect the cops are going to be called, get your retaliation in first. Ring the cops and allege for all you are worth. If you can work a racist or homophobic slant into it so much the better.



Make a counter allegation

Regardless of the facts, never let the other side be blameless. If they beat you to the phone, ring anyway and make a counter allegation against them. Again racism or homophobia are your friends. If you are not from a visible minority ethnic culture, may I suggest that that the phrase “You gay bastard” or similar is always useful. In extremis allege sexual assault. It gives us something to bargain with when getting the other person to drop their complaint on a quid-pro-quo basis.

Never explain to the Police

If the Police arrive to lock you up, say nothing. You are a decent person and you may think that reasoning with the Police will help. “If I can only explain, they will realise it is all a horrible mistake and go away”. Wrong. We do want to talk to you on tape in an interview room but that comes later. All you are doing by trying to explain is digging yourself further in. We call that stuff a significant statement and we love it. Decent folk can’t help themselves.

Admit Nothing

To do anything more than lock you up for a few hours we need to prove a case. The easiest route to that is your admission. Without it, our case may be a lot weaker, maybe not enough to charge you with. In any case, it is always worth finding out exactly how damning the evidence is before you fall on your sword. So don’t do the decent and honourable thing and admit what you have done. Don’t even deny it or try to give your side of the story. Just say nothing.



Keep your mouth shut

Say as little as possible to us. At the custody office desk a Sergeant will ask you some questions. It is safe to answer these. For the rest, say nothing.

Claim Suicidal Thoughts

A debatable one this. Claiming to be thinking about topping yourself has several benefits. If you can keep it up, it might just bump up any compensation payable later. On the other hand you may find yourself in a paper suit with someone watching your every move.

Always, always, always have a solicitor

Duh. No brainer this one. Unless you know 100% for sure that your mate the solicitor does criminal law and is good at it, ask for the Duty Solicitor. They do criminal law and they are good at it. Then listen to what the solicitor says and do it. Their job is to get you off without the Cops laying a glove on you if at all possible. It is what they get paid for. They are free to you. There is no down side. Now decent folks think it makes them look like they have something to hide if they ask for a solicitor. Irrelevant. Going into an interview without a solicitor is like taking a walk in Tottenham with a Rolex. Bad things are very likely to happen to you.



Actively complain about every officer and everything they do

Did they cuff you when they brought you in? Were they rude to you? Did they racially or homophobically abuse you? Didn’t get fed? Cell too cold? You are decent folk who don’t want to make a fuss but trust me, it pays to whinge and no matter how trivial and / or poorly founded your complaint there are people who will uncritically listen to you and try and prove the complaint on your behalf. Some of them are even police officers.

Show no respect to the legal system or anybody working in it

You think that if you are a difficult, unpleasant, sneering, unco-operative and rude things will go badly for you and you will be in more trouble. No sirree Bob. It seems that in fact the worse you are, the easier things will go for you if, horror of horrors, you do end up convicted. Remember to fake a drink problem if you haven’t developed one as a result of dealing with us already. Magistrates and Judges do seem to like the idea that you are basically good but the naughty alcohol made you do it. They treat you better. Crazy I know but true.

So there you go, basically anything you try and do because you are decent and straightforward hurts you badly. Act like an habitual, professional, lifestyle criminal and chances are you will walk away relatively unscathed. Copy the bad guys; it’s what they do for a living.

A Conspiracy too far?

After recent Police actions in the UK many are asking where is the right to protest? Indeed taken in conjunction with the increase of the Surveillance State (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/05/surveillance-britain.html ) and the creeping increase in arbitrary administrative justice with spot fines and penalties many are concerned at the erosion of civil liberties in a land which claims to be the home of democracy. Lawful protest has become more difficult in the UK with an exclusion zone around Parliament, state sponsored snooping, stopping and detaining protestors on the way to demonstrations and aggressive and deliberately violent “policing” of demonstrations including the tactic of “kettling” or penning up demonstrators for hours on end. Increasingly the Police in the UK are not forming the “independent mind” required of them when they take their Oath of Office but instead of upholding the law they are increasingly setting themselves above the law and becoming attack dogs for vested interests. So where does this leave the Policing consensus for these very expensive and increasingly unaccountable taxpayer funded “Public Servant’s”, sworn and empowered to uphold the “Queen’s Peace?”

Take for instance the recent attempt to widen the Law of Conspiracy. In Nottingham, England 114 possible demonstrators have been arrested, but not charged in connection with a suspected plan to protest at a power station. Where would this tactic have left the woman’s suffragettes, civil rights campaigners or the Ramblers who trespassed on Kinder Scout to establish the right to roam in Britain's countryside? Are these Stasi tactics of anticipating a crime which may or may not be committed a sign Britain is on the slippery slope to a Police State?

Police have defended their decision to arrest 114 environmental campaigners in connection with a suspected plan to protest at a power station. The men and women were held in Sneinton Dale, Nottingham, on Monday and later released on Police bail. Police said they had been planning to cause "prolonged disruption" at Ratcliffe-On-Soar power station. Meanwhile, the BBC has reported that the station's owner E.ON had already warned its staff about possible protests. No-one has been charged in relation to the case.


Ratcliffe-On-Soar power station

In a letter sent to around 17,000 staff employed nationally by E.ON last month, the company's chief executive said protesters had already tried to shut down power stations and get access to the firm's offices over controversial plans for the company's new Kingsnorth coal-powered station. Staff were also sent a leaflet offering personal safety advice and telling them how to handle possible encounters with protesters. This begs the interesting question did the Police form an “Independent Mind” based on their own evidence or did they proceed on the basis of representations from a German owned commercial power generator?

The local Nottinghamshire MP has criticised police for using "SAS-style" tactics during an operation to arrest more than 100 environmental activists before they had even begun protesting. Eco-campaigners and civil liberty groups have questioned the circumstances surrounding the mass arrests, thought to be the largest single pre-emptive raid on a group of demonstrators in British history. Police used more than 200 officers from five forces to arrest 114 men and women in Sneinton, Nottinghamshire, early on Monday morning because they were allegedly preparing to cause "prolonged disruption" to the nearby Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station. Those arrested were found inside the privately owned Iona school, which was closed for the Easter break, and were charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass and criminal damage.



Nottinghamshire Police have defended the raid, saying they believed the protesters intended to engage in an unlawful demonstration that risked shutting down the power plant. Officers found bolt-cutters and locking equipment and suspect that the activists were planning to chain themselves to vital equipment inside the power plant. All those arrested were released on bail yesterday pending further inquiries.
Alan Simpson, the Labour MP for Nottingham South, has questioned the nature of the pre-emptive strike, saying it had serious repercussions for the right to free assembly and had utilised overly heavy-handed tactics. "I am absolutely baffled by the sheer scale of the police operation," he said. "It was very Orwellian. What we saw was over-the-top, smash-and-grab, SAS-style; pre-emptive policing that was massively disproportionate to what was happening on the ground. The scale of policing was what you would expect to be used for a terrorist event or the break-up of a major crime syndicate, not to stop an environmental protest."

Mr Simpson also questioned why it was necessary to smash two double-glazed doors at the Iona school, which has now had to put in new doors and flooring. The school's owners said they had no idea protesters were meeting there. No environmental group has yet claimed responsibility for the planned protest. It is believed groups associated with the Climate Camp network were involved.

More than 200 officers from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and British Transport Police took part in the raid at the Iona School in Sneinton shortly after midnight on Monday. Supt Mike Manley of Nottinghamshire Police said large amounts of equipment had been found, including food and various devices used for climbing, cutting and locking on to machinery. He said: "We think it was a sophisticated attempt to disrupt what we now believe was Radcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. Our information was that it wasn't to be a lawful protest. This was to be a criminal act against a power station. Had that taken place, we would have now been policing a major protest at a major power station."



There were no reported injuries and local residents said handcuffed suspects sang loudly as they were led away. No-one has been charged with any offence. On Tuesday the nursery at Iona School was closed while workmen repaired doors damaged in the raid. The school said it was distressed at the disruption and damage caused, and the group had had no permission or authority to meet there. Officers also said that some of those arrested had links to climate change groups which had protested at Kingsnorth power station in Kent, Heathrow Airport and Drax power station in north Yorkshire. However, police would not name any organisations.

The coal powered power plant which uses old technology and is highly polluting, which is eight miles south-west of Nottingham, has seen protests by environmental campaigners in the past, including members of Eastside Climate Action. Bob Andrews, from the group, denied any connection with the latest incident. However, he said direct action was the only way to bring about a change in energy policy. He said: "We're saying we've got to change policy, and (the government and E.ON) are not doing it. They're not taking the science seriously. It's got to change. Stop burning fossil fuel."


The polluting power of an old technology coal power station

David Porter, chief executive of the Association of Electricity Producers, said campaigners' calls to stop burning fossil fuels made no sense. "If you suddenly close down our power stations that would be a suicidal policy. The economy of the UK would be seriously disrupted. And there would be social implications of that. It's a nonsensical approach to the problem."

Police tactics when dealing with protests have been placed under heavy scrutiny in the past two weeks following the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in London. Mr Tomlinson died of a heart attack shortly after apparently being hit and pushed to the ground by a baton-wielding riot officer. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating.

Protest and free speech are crucial parts of political life, with a strong British history, yet a variety of measures undermine them. Laws intended to combat anti-social behaviour; terrorism and serious crime are routinely used against legitimate protesters. Free Speech has been a victim on the 'War on Terror', with offences of 'encouragement' and 'glorification' of terrorism threatening to make careless talk a crime.

What is more surprising is that the Police have previously been found both to be lying in information they released about a similar demonstration at a power plant, also owned by E.On, in Kent in August and prosecutions against demonstrators who had actually entered the plant and scaled the chimneys were thrown out by English Courts. Police minister Vernon Coaker had to apologise for telling Parliament that 70 officers were injured dealing with protests at Kingsnorth power station. His comments came after it was revealed that injuries sustained during policing at the Climate Camp in August included insect stings and heat exhaustion. There were only 12 reportable injuries, according to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the Liberal Democrats. More than 1,000 officers were involved in policing the event near Hoo in Kent, a ratio of 2:1 of the 500 demonstrators involved.

According to information obtained by the Liberal Democrat political party, Kent Police officers and staff suffered only 12 reportable injuries, four of which involved direct contact with another person. The minister’s apology came after it was revealed that injuries sustained during policing at the Climate Camp in August included insect stings and heat exhaustion. More than 1,000 officers were involved in policing the event near Hoo in Kent. The Lib Dems said the eight other injuries included being "stung on finger by possible wasp", "officer injured sitting in car" and "officer succumbed to sun and heat". Kent Police confirmed that 12 officers were required to retire from duty because of their injuries.


Kingsnorth activists found to be acting with "lawful cause" by the Courts

The six Greenpeace activists who were charged were then cleared of causing criminal damage during the protest over coal-fired power which breaches Britain’s treaty undertakings on carbon emissions. The activists were charged with causing £30,000 of damage after they scaled Kingsnorth power station in Hoo, Kent. At Maidstone Crown Court Judge David Caddick said the jury had to examine whether protesters had a lawful excuse. The defendants said the protest was lawful because it aimed to prevent damaging emissions. Energy firm E.ON said lives had been put at risk.

So the important question to be answered by the forces of Law and Order and the Crown Prosecution Service is how did they feel entitled to arrest 114 people on suspicion of “Conspiracy to engage in Aggravated Trespass and to Cause Criminal Damage” when in entirely identical circumstances substantive charges have been thrown out by the Courts? The other important question is how, if any of these 114 people who were deprived of their liberty, are actually charged with an offence they can receive a fair trial given the amount of prejudicial comment presented as fact to the media by the Police? Those of us who care about Civil Liberties will be interested in the answers to these questions, if we ever hear them?


Police confining demonstrators during G20 demo, London, 1st April 2009

A Conspiracy too far?

After recent Police actions in the UK many are asking where is the right to protest? Indeed taken in conjunction with the increase of the Surveillance State (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/05/surveillance-britain.html ) and the creeping increase in arbitrary administrative justice with spot fines and penalties many are concerned at the erosion of civil liberties in a land which claims to be the home of democracy. Lawful protest has become more difficult in the UK with an exclusion zone around Parliament, state sponsored snooping, stopping and detaining protestors on the way to demonstrations and aggressive and deliberately violent “policing” of demonstrations including the tactic of “kettling” or penning up demonstrators for hours on end. Increasingly the Police in the UK are not forming the “independent mind” required of them when they take their Oath of Office but instead of upholding the law they are increasingly setting themselves above the law and becoming attack dogs for vested interests. So where does this leave the Policing consensus for these very expensive and increasingly unaccountable taxpayer funded “Public Servant’s”, sworn and empowered to uphold the “Queen’s Peace?”

Take for instance the recent attempt to widen the Law of Conspiracy. In Nottingham, England 114 possible demonstrators have been arrested, but not charged in connection with a suspected plan to protest at a power station. Where would this tactic have left the woman’s suffragettes, civil rights campaigners or the Ramblers who trespassed on Kinder Scout to establish the right to roam in Britain's countryside? Are these Stasi tactics of anticipating a crime which may or may not be committed a sign Britain is on the slippery slope to a Police State?

Police have defended their decision to arrest 114 environmental campaigners in connection with a suspected plan to protest at a power station. The men and women were held in Sneinton Dale, Nottingham, on Monday and later released on Police bail. Police said they had been planning to cause "prolonged disruption" at Ratcliffe-On-Soar power station. Meanwhile, the BBC has reported that the station's owner E.ON had already warned its staff about possible protests. No-one has been charged in relation to the case.


Ratcliffe-On-Soar power station

In a letter sent to around 17,000 staff employed nationally by E.ON last month, the company's chief executive said protesters had already tried to shut down power stations and get access to the firm's offices over controversial plans for the company's new Kingsnorth coal-powered station. Staff were also sent a leaflet offering personal safety advice and telling them how to handle possible encounters with protesters. This begs the interesting question did the Police form an “Independent Mind” based on their own evidence or did they proceed on the basis of representations from a German owned commercial power generator?

The local Nottinghamshire MP has criticised police for using "SAS-style" tactics during an operation to arrest more than 100 environmental activists before they had even begun protesting. Eco-campaigners and civil liberty groups have questioned the circumstances surrounding the mass arrests, thought to be the largest single pre-emptive raid on a group of demonstrators in British history. Police used more than 200 officers from five forces to arrest 114 men and women in Sneinton, Nottinghamshire, early on Monday morning because they were allegedly preparing to cause "prolonged disruption" to the nearby Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station. Those arrested were found inside the privately owned Iona school, which was closed for the Easter break, and were charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass and criminal damage.



Nottinghamshire Police have defended the raid, saying they believed the protesters intended to engage in an unlawful demonstration that risked shutting down the power plant. Officers found bolt-cutters and locking equipment and suspect that the activists were planning to chain themselves to vital equipment inside the power plant. All those arrested were released on bail yesterday pending further inquiries.
Alan Simpson, the Labour MP for Nottingham South, has questioned the nature of the pre-emptive strike, saying it had serious repercussions for the right to free assembly and had utilised overly heavy-handed tactics. "I am absolutely baffled by the sheer scale of the police operation," he said. "It was very Orwellian. What we saw was over-the-top, smash-and-grab, SAS-style; pre-emptive policing that was massively disproportionate to what was happening on the ground. The scale of policing was what you would expect to be used for a terrorist event or the break-up of a major crime syndicate, not to stop an environmental protest."

Mr Simpson also questioned why it was necessary to smash two double-glazed doors at the Iona school, which has now had to put in new doors and flooring. The school's owners said they had no idea protesters were meeting there. No environmental group has yet claimed responsibility for the planned protest. It is believed groups associated with the Climate Camp network were involved.

More than 200 officers from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and British Transport Police took part in the raid at the Iona School in Sneinton shortly after midnight on Monday. Supt Mike Manley of Nottinghamshire Police said large amounts of equipment had been found, including food and various devices used for climbing, cutting and locking on to machinery. He said: "We think it was a sophisticated attempt to disrupt what we now believe was Radcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. Our information was that it wasn't to be a lawful protest. This was to be a criminal act against a power station. Had that taken place, we would have now been policing a major protest at a major power station."



There were no reported injuries and local residents said handcuffed suspects sang loudly as they were led away. No-one has been charged with any offence. On Tuesday the nursery at Iona School was closed while workmen repaired doors damaged in the raid. The school said it was distressed at the disruption and damage caused, and the group had had no permission or authority to meet there. Officers also said that some of those arrested had links to climate change groups which had protested at Kingsnorth power station in Kent, Heathrow Airport and Drax power station in north Yorkshire. However, police would not name any organisations.

The coal powered power plant which uses old technology and is highly polluting, which is eight miles south-west of Nottingham, has seen protests by environmental campaigners in the past, including members of Eastside Climate Action. Bob Andrews, from the group, denied any connection with the latest incident. However, he said direct action was the only way to bring about a change in energy policy. He said: "We're saying we've got to change policy, and (the government and E.ON) are not doing it. They're not taking the science seriously. It's got to change. Stop burning fossil fuel."


The polluting power of an old technology coal power station

David Porter, chief executive of the Association of Electricity Producers, said campaigners' calls to stop burning fossil fuels made no sense. "If you suddenly close down our power stations that would be a suicidal policy. The economy of the UK would be seriously disrupted. And there would be social implications of that. It's a nonsensical approach to the problem."

Police tactics when dealing with protests have been placed under heavy scrutiny in the past two weeks following the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests in London. Mr Tomlinson died of a heart attack shortly after apparently being hit and pushed to the ground by a baton-wielding riot officer. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating.

Protest and free speech are crucial parts of political life, with a strong British history, yet a variety of measures undermine them. Laws intended to combat anti-social behaviour; terrorism and serious crime are routinely used against legitimate protesters. Free Speech has been a victim on the 'War on Terror', with offences of 'encouragement' and 'glorification' of terrorism threatening to make careless talk a crime.

What is more surprising is that the Police have previously been found both to be lying in information they released about a similar demonstration at a power plant, also owned by E.On, in Kent in August and prosecutions against demonstrators who had actually entered the plant and scaled the chimneys were thrown out by English Courts. Police minister Vernon Coaker had to apologise for telling Parliament that 70 officers were injured dealing with protests at Kingsnorth power station. His comments came after it was revealed that injuries sustained during policing at the Climate Camp in August included insect stings and heat exhaustion. There were only 12 reportable injuries, according to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the Liberal Democrats. More than 1,000 officers were involved in policing the event near Hoo in Kent, a ratio of 2:1 of the 500 demonstrators involved.

According to information obtained by the Liberal Democrat political party, Kent Police officers and staff suffered only 12 reportable injuries, four of which involved direct contact with another person. The minister’s apology came after it was revealed that injuries sustained during policing at the Climate Camp in August included insect stings and heat exhaustion. More than 1,000 officers were involved in policing the event near Hoo in Kent. The Lib Dems said the eight other injuries included being "stung on finger by possible wasp", "officer injured sitting in car" and "officer succumbed to sun and heat". Kent Police confirmed that 12 officers were required to retire from duty because of their injuries.


Kingsnorth activists found to be acting with "lawful cause" by the Courts

The six Greenpeace activists who were charged were then cleared of causing criminal damage during the protest over coal-fired power which breaches Britain’s treaty undertakings on carbon emissions. The activists were charged with causing £30,000 of damage after they scaled Kingsnorth power station in Hoo, Kent. At Maidstone Crown Court Judge David Caddick said the jury had to examine whether protesters had a lawful excuse. The defendants said the protest was lawful because it aimed to prevent damaging emissions. Energy firm E.ON said lives had been put at risk.

So the important question to be answered by the forces of Law and Order and the Crown Prosecution Service is how did they feel entitled to arrest 114 people on suspicion of “Conspiracy to engage in Aggravated Trespass and to Cause Criminal Damage” when in entirely identical circumstances substantive charges have been thrown out by the Courts? The other important question is how, if any of these 114 people who were deprived of their liberty, are actually charged with an offence they can receive a fair trial given the amount of prejudicial comment presented as fact to the media by the Police? Those of us who care about Civil Liberties will be interested in the answers to these questions, if we ever hear them?


Police confining demonstrators during G20 demo, London, 1st April 2009

Real Coppering by Real Coppers?

The Celtic Sage is not the only one dismayed at the forces of Law and Order having lost their direction and is seemingly not the only one railing against closed police stations, call centre prioritisation and policing driven by political correctness and central targets. The middle classes have lost confidence in the police, a stark report has warned. They fear they have been alienated by a service which routinely targets ordinary people rather than serious criminals, simply to fill Government crime quotas. The attitude of some officers has also led to spiralling complaints about neglect of duty and rudeness. The report from the Civitas think-tank says incidents which would once have been ignored are now treated as crimes - including a case of children chalking a pavement.

Its author, journalist Harriet Sergeant, says she was also told of a student being arrested, held for five hours and cautioned for keeping a London Underground lift door open with his foot. The report warns that a generation of young people - the police's favourite soft targets - are being criminalised, putting their future prospects at risk. Some offences being prosecuted are now so minor that senior officers have even begun talks with the U.S. authorities to prevent such a "criminal record" stopping decent citizens obtaining a visa to cross the Atlantic.

One member of the public gave a telling comment;

"I live in an area of central London which the police have effectively abandoned, and despite being a high crime area, we have no CCTV on any of our streets and no community police. When I was the victim of crime, the police told me to move house. As if life is that simple. When I have attempted to report crimes they have told me to phone the council or passed the buck in some other way. However, I have a criminal record due to some extremely petty law enforcement which they were very happy to jump on and resulted in a punishment that far exceeded the crime and has limited my whole life from a work and travel perspective."


Harriet Sergeant

Meanwhile responses to crimes such as burglary are slow and statements given by victims of serious crime are often left lying idle for months, the report warns. An apparent emphasis on motoring crimes is another negative factor. Miss Sergeant warns: “The loss of public confidence is a serious matter. The police cannot police without the backing of society. Without trust and consensus it is very difficult and costly to maintain law and order.”

Her report says: “Complaints against the police have risen, with much of the increase coming from law-abiding, middle-class, middle-aged and retired people who no longer feel the police are on their side.” In 2006-7, there were 29,637 complaints - the most since records began 17 years ago.

Miss Sergeant said this was due in part to the law-abiding middle-classes becoming upset by the “rudeness and behaviour” of officers. The report details how officers are expected to reach a certain number of “sanction detections” a month by charging, cautioning or fining an “offender”. Arresting or fining someone for a trifling offence - such as a child stealing a Mars bar - is a good way of hitting the target and pleasing the Home Office. Amazingly, the chocolate theft ranks as highly as catching a killer. They also have to get their quota of “politically correct” crimes such as harassment, racial and domestic violent often pressurising unwilling complainants. Amazingly the Police Service have to report to the Home Office each month on an arcane set of 86 KPI's (Key Performance Indicators). Somebody should tell the jawless wonders in the Home Office that the key part of KPI is "Key"!

Miss Sergeant says performance-related bonuses of between £10,000 and £15,000 a year for police commanders depend partly on reaching such targets. This leads them to put pressure on frontline officers to make arrests for the most minor misdemeanours. Officers said at the end of a month, when there was pressure to hit the target for that period, they would pursue young men as the most likely “offenders”. Offences could include scrawling a name on a bus stop in felt-tip or playing ball games in the street. One officer was so concerned he told his teenage son to be careful at the end of each month.


The pamphlet, parts of which were serialised by the Daily Mail earlier this year, says the police themselves are angry at the way they have to “make fools of themselves”. There were high levels of 'bitterness and frustration' and the targets were 'bitterly resented'. One officer told how he was pressed to charge children playing with a tree with “harassment”. The same offence was used against a drunken student dancing in flowerbeds, who aimed a kick at a flower.

At the cost of £550 per household and rising there are two factors irritating the mugged masses:

1. Coppers chasing targets and looking to fill quotas. This allied with trying to make an impact by running “high visibility” operations which are hugely wasteful of resource but are designed to grab attention and create the appearance of "activity". Result no coppers on the streets, no neighbourhood policing, closed police stations and relying on automated penalising with speed cameras and the like.

2. The Justice Gap. Even when brought to book the retards laugh at the system. They get “community orders” which are laughable and breaches are not followed up, the Probation Service is overworked and can’t follow up as several recent murders and serious crimes have demonstrated, the Prosecution Service (which prioritises on targeting Naomi Campbell!) has 30% of cases failing because of bad paperwork or missing deadlines, fines are not collected from the great unwashed and if they get to Prison they get automatic remission and let out early and the main educational benefit is learn the trade from old lags! Result; there is now very little relationship between Crime and Punishment.

Real Coppering by Real Coppers?

The Celtic Sage is not the only one dismayed at the forces of Law and Order having lost their direction and is seemingly not the only one railing against closed police stations, call centre prioritisation and policing driven by political correctness and central targets. The middle classes have lost confidence in the police, a stark report has warned. They fear they have been alienated by a service which routinely targets ordinary people rather than serious criminals, simply to fill Government crime quotas. The attitude of some officers has also led to spiralling complaints about neglect of duty and rudeness. The report from the Civitas think-tank says incidents which would once have been ignored are now treated as crimes - including a case of children chalking a pavement.

Its author, journalist Harriet Sergeant, says she was also told of a student being arrested, held for five hours and cautioned for keeping a London Underground lift door open with his foot. The report warns that a generation of young people - the police's favourite soft targets - are being criminalised, putting their future prospects at risk. Some offences being prosecuted are now so minor that senior officers have even begun talks with the U.S. authorities to prevent such a "criminal record" stopping decent citizens obtaining a visa to cross the Atlantic.

One member of the public gave a telling comment;

"I live in an area of central London which the police have effectively abandoned, and despite being a high crime area, we have no CCTV on any of our streets and no community police. When I was the victim of crime, the police told me to move house. As if life is that simple. When I have attempted to report crimes they have told me to phone the council or passed the buck in some other way. However, I have a criminal record due to some extremely petty law enforcement which they were very happy to jump on and resulted in a punishment that far exceeded the crime and has limited my whole life from a work and travel perspective."


Harriet Sergeant

Meanwhile responses to crimes such as burglary are slow and statements given by victims of serious crime are often left lying idle for months, the report warns. An apparent emphasis on motoring crimes is another negative factor. Miss Sergeant warns: “The loss of public confidence is a serious matter. The police cannot police without the backing of society. Without trust and consensus it is very difficult and costly to maintain law and order.”

Her report says: “Complaints against the police have risen, with much of the increase coming from law-abiding, middle-class, middle-aged and retired people who no longer feel the police are on their side.” In 2006-7, there were 29,637 complaints - the most since records began 17 years ago.

Miss Sergeant said this was due in part to the law-abiding middle-classes becoming upset by the “rudeness and behaviour” of officers. The report details how officers are expected to reach a certain number of “sanction detections” a month by charging, cautioning or fining an “offender”. Arresting or fining someone for a trifling offence - such as a child stealing a Mars bar - is a good way of hitting the target and pleasing the Home Office. Amazingly, the chocolate theft ranks as highly as catching a killer. They also have to get their quota of “politically correct” crimes such as harassment, racial and domestic violent often pressurising unwilling complainants. Amazingly the Police Service have to report to the Home Office each month on an arcane set of 86 KPI's (Key Performance Indicators). Somebody should tell the jawless wonders in the Home Office that the key part of KPI is "Key"!

Miss Sergeant says performance-related bonuses of between £10,000 and £15,000 a year for police commanders depend partly on reaching such targets. This leads them to put pressure on frontline officers to make arrests for the most minor misdemeanours. Officers said at the end of a month, when there was pressure to hit the target for that period, they would pursue young men as the most likely “offenders”. Offences could include scrawling a name on a bus stop in felt-tip or playing ball games in the street. One officer was so concerned he told his teenage son to be careful at the end of each month.


The pamphlet, parts of which were serialised by the Daily Mail earlier this year, says the police themselves are angry at the way they have to “make fools of themselves”. There were high levels of 'bitterness and frustration' and the targets were 'bitterly resented'. One officer told how he was pressed to charge children playing with a tree with “harassment”. The same offence was used against a drunken student dancing in flowerbeds, who aimed a kick at a flower.

At the cost of £550 per household and rising there are two factors irritating the mugged masses:

1. Coppers chasing targets and looking to fill quotas. This allied with trying to make an impact by running “high visibility” operations which are hugely wasteful of resource but are designed to grab attention and create the appearance of "activity". Result no coppers on the streets, no neighbourhood policing, closed police stations and relying on automated penalising with speed cameras and the like.

2. The Justice Gap. Even when brought to book the retards laugh at the system. They get “community orders” which are laughable and breaches are not followed up, the Probation Service is overworked and can’t follow up as several recent murders and serious crimes have demonstrated, the Prosecution Service (which prioritises on targeting Naomi Campbell!) has 30% of cases failing because of bad paperwork or missing deadlines, fines are not collected from the great unwashed and if they get to Prison they get automatic remission and let out early and the main educational benefit is learn the trade from old lags! Result; there is now very little relationship between Crime and Punishment.

Save the St. Reatham One!

The St. Reatham One - 29 May 2008

The Celtic Sage has long cast a cold eye on the abusive behaviour of British Airways (BA) and the so called British Airports Authority (BAA) to the cattle (their expression is “self loading cargo”) who have to use their quasi monopolies which have been protected from full competition by cartel behaviour of various sorts. BAA is actually a front for a Spanish brick company called Ferrovial who overpaid with nearly £1 Bn of borrowed money for what it thought was a Cash Cow to find out it neither had the management skills or resources to husband it properly and this Cow would leave messy cow pats everywhere, particularly at the inept opening of Terminal 5 where the feisty Streatham One was caught up in the opening chaos. (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/up-up-and-away-with-baa.html )
BAA has a dominant monopoly on airport capacity in the south of England and British Airways has a dominant position on slots from Heathrow which allows it to charge 30% more for an equivalent Business Class flight to New York than is available from Paris or Amsterdam. Yup, neither BA nor BAA need lessons in how to abuse customers or screw excess profits out of their cartels.

So the Celtic Sage is totally unsurprised at the behaviour of the Plods as the day after BAA reported its first quarterly loss and on the day British Airways announced increased fuel surcharges and that the rest of its flights won’t move to Terminal Five until October (thereby blocking its competitors from moving into Terminal 4) Supermodel Naomi Campbell was today charged with five offences over an alleged air rage incident at Heathrow. The charges, which include three offences of assaulting police, follow an incident last month when she was removed from a flight for Los Angeles after an alleged row over lost luggage.
(http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/up-up-and-away-with-baa-no-2.html )

In fact British Airways and BAA were so bad that they have succeeded in generating sympathy for Naomi “Anger Management” Campbell who was led off one of their planes by Police called by BA staff after she paid £6,000 for a First Class fare to Los Angeles and BA lost one of her bags which contained an outfit for a memorial service she was attending.

The alleged incident occurred on a BA flight which was due to leave for Los Angeles from Terminal 5 on 3 April. Ms Campbell will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on 20 June, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Her lawyer, Simon Nicholls said she was "bitterly disappointed" to learn she will be prosecuted. He told reporters: "She respects that decision and she hopes this matter is dealt with expeditiously."

The British Airways "First Experience" 3 April 2008

The CPS said Ms Campbell has been charged with three counts of assaulting a constable, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000. She also faces one count of disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, which is punishable by a fine of up to £2,500, and two counts of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour towards cabin crew, which comes with a maximum penalty of £1,000.

Moments later, the Crown Prosecution Service formally announced the charges in a statement, saying: "The CPS has authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Naomi Campbell with five offences in relation to incidents that occurred on a stationary aircraft and within Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport, London, on 3 April 2008. "Ms Campbell has today been charged with three offences of assaulting a constable, one offence of disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress and one offence of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour to cabin crew. "These are summary offences which can only be tried at a magistrates' court."

The alleged incident occurred after the supermodel was told by staff in the first-class cabin that one her bags had been lost. They told her that she would have to leave the flight, causing Campbell to allegedly respond with an angry tirade which led to police being called. Reports claimed she had yelled "a***holes. You are all a***holes" at police and described BA staff as "bloody fools" as she allegedly lashed out verbally and physically. Female staff reportedly collapsed in tears as the incident escalated. After armed officers arrived, she was eventually taken off the plane in handcuffs. Although there has been no official confirmation, BA is understood to have imposed a lifetime ban on Campbell.

Well there are two issues hear where you may feel we should be supporting the Streatham One as an unlikely martyr figure for passenger rights and protection of passengers from an expensive publicly funded Constabulary (You know the one you don’t see on the streets, who don’t respond to burglaries, who replaced Police Stations with call centres, etc;) which has abandoned its statutory independence to become attack dogs for an abusive Transport Industry.

1. Why did the Police (armed officers no less) feel they had to become involved in a civil dispute between a customer who paid £6,000 for a service and an inept airline which failed abysmally to deliver the promised service to Naomi Campbell. Now Naomi is feisty and the Celtic Sage is aware of her reputation with Irish lads (take a bow Adam Clayton from U2!) but did she really put burly armed Constables in flak jackets waving handcuffs and pepper sprays in fear? And exactly who was being harassed having paid a premium rate to get to Los Angeles for a memorial service (Note; generally, people are only buried / cremated once) to be told by the airline that SHE would have to leave the plane because THEY had lost a bag (Indeed they lost thousands of bags) SHE had entrusted to THEM for safe keeping!

We wuz scared, Your Honour!

Why do the Police feel able to use draconian security legislation applying to airports to intimidate passengers who simply want to go from A to B?

2. Why are ALL airline customers at such a disadvantage when airlines use unfair contract terms to ignore the clear contract to get them and their luggage from A to B. Here is what BA’s website promises all who pay through the nose for their “First Experience.”

• Effortless travel
• A queue-less, personalised and stress free environment to check in your baggage
• Choice and control
• “Your secluded “demi-cabin” guarantees space and privacy
• Continue relaxing within our arrivals lounge
• Our specially trained First crew will provide you with a discreet yet attentive service, ensuring that all your personal needs are taken care of.

Well you couldn’t make it up could you; you don’t need to be a Naomi Campbell to feel harassed at the gap between the marketing guff and the reality. Perhaps the St. Reatham One should consider suing British Airways for what the law terms “unjust enrichment” by promising a service it clearly was in no position to deliver. Just as she won a legal precedent against the media over privacy maybe she can now establish another legal precedent;that merely by buying an airline ticket and entering an airport we do not agree to abandon our Civil Rights and our Consumer Rights. It is worth noting that since Naomi was harassed and abused on the 3rd April 2008 the MD of Heathrow Airport and the two British Airways Directors most closely involved in the T5 Fiasco have been sacked and BA have confirmed tha 19,000 bags have been lost permanently. Strangely, the only person arrested as a result of the fiasco has neen Naomi Campbell. Surely it can't be a case of the PLODs and the Crown Prosecution Service translating the "Public Interest" into desperately seeking publicity? This is much of what passes for Policing and the Justice System in the UK today; High Visibility; Zero Substance.

And as for the Court appearance I look forward to the evidence of a lardy armed copper in flak jacket “Well your honour, I looked at this tall, unarmed, Jamaican IC3 with a loud voice, funny accent, threatening big hair and larger than average lips and I immediately felt apprehensive for my safety. I have been off sick with diagnosed Post Naomi Stress Syndrome (PNSS) ever since and have taken to beating my wife more than normal and messing up my overtime claim.” Hopefully Lenny Henry will be in court gathering material for his next sketch! It's an opportunity too good to miss Lenny!

All together now, FREE THE ST. REATHAM ONE!!

Save the St. Reatham One!

The St. Reatham One - 29 May 2008

The Celtic Sage has long cast a cold eye on the abusive behaviour of British Airways (BA) and the so called British Airports Authority (BAA) to the cattle (their expression is “self loading cargo”) who have to use their quasi monopolies which have been protected from full competition by cartel behaviour of various sorts. BAA is actually a front for a Spanish brick company called Ferrovial who overpaid with nearly £1 Bn of borrowed money for what it thought was a Cash Cow to find out it neither had the management skills or resources to husband it properly and this Cow would leave messy cow pats everywhere, particularly at the inept opening of Terminal 5 where the feisty Streatham One was caught up in the opening chaos. (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/up-up-and-away-with-baa.html )
BAA has a dominant monopoly on airport capacity in the south of England and British Airways has a dominant position on slots from Heathrow which allows it to charge 30% more for an equivalent Business Class flight to New York than is available from Paris or Amsterdam. Yup, neither BA nor BAA need lessons in how to abuse customers or screw excess profits out of their cartels.

So the Celtic Sage is totally unsurprised at the behaviour of the Plods as the day after BAA reported its first quarterly loss and on the day British Airways announced increased fuel surcharges and that the rest of its flights won’t move to Terminal Five until October (thereby blocking its competitors from moving into Terminal 4) Supermodel Naomi Campbell was today charged with five offences over an alleged air rage incident at Heathrow. The charges, which include three offences of assaulting police, follow an incident last month when she was removed from a flight for Los Angeles after an alleged row over lost luggage.
(http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/up-up-and-away-with-baa-no-2.html )

In fact British Airways and BAA were so bad that they have succeeded in generating sympathy for Naomi “Anger Management” Campbell who was led off one of their planes by Police called by BA staff after she paid £6,000 for a First Class fare to Los Angeles and BA lost one of her bags which contained an outfit for a memorial service she was attending.

The alleged incident occurred on a BA flight which was due to leave for Los Angeles from Terminal 5 on 3 April. Ms Campbell will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on 20 June, the Crown Prosecution Service said. Her lawyer, Simon Nicholls said she was "bitterly disappointed" to learn she will be prosecuted. He told reporters: "She respects that decision and she hopes this matter is dealt with expeditiously."

The British Airways "First Experience" 3 April 2008

The CPS said Ms Campbell has been charged with three counts of assaulting a constable, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000. She also faces one count of disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, which is punishable by a fine of up to £2,500, and two counts of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour towards cabin crew, which comes with a maximum penalty of £1,000.

Moments later, the Crown Prosecution Service formally announced the charges in a statement, saying: "The CPS has authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Naomi Campbell with five offences in relation to incidents that occurred on a stationary aircraft and within Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport, London, on 3 April 2008. "Ms Campbell has today been charged with three offences of assaulting a constable, one offence of disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress and one offence of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour to cabin crew. "These are summary offences which can only be tried at a magistrates' court."

The alleged incident occurred after the supermodel was told by staff in the first-class cabin that one her bags had been lost. They told her that she would have to leave the flight, causing Campbell to allegedly respond with an angry tirade which led to police being called. Reports claimed she had yelled "a***holes. You are all a***holes" at police and described BA staff as "bloody fools" as she allegedly lashed out verbally and physically. Female staff reportedly collapsed in tears as the incident escalated. After armed officers arrived, she was eventually taken off the plane in handcuffs. Although there has been no official confirmation, BA is understood to have imposed a lifetime ban on Campbell.

Well there are two issues hear where you may feel we should be supporting the Streatham One as an unlikely martyr figure for passenger rights and protection of passengers from an expensive publicly funded Constabulary (You know the one you don’t see on the streets, who don’t respond to burglaries, who replaced Police Stations with call centres, etc;) which has abandoned its statutory independence to become attack dogs for an abusive Transport Industry.

1. Why did the Police (armed officers no less) feel they had to become involved in a civil dispute between a customer who paid £6,000 for a service and an inept airline which failed abysmally to deliver the promised service to Naomi Campbell. Now Naomi is feisty and the Celtic Sage is aware of her reputation with Irish lads (take a bow Adam Clayton from U2!) but did she really put burly armed Constables in flak jackets waving handcuffs and pepper sprays in fear? And exactly who was being harassed having paid a premium rate to get to Los Angeles for a memorial service (Note; generally, people are only buried / cremated once) to be told by the airline that SHE would have to leave the plane because THEY had lost a bag (Indeed they lost thousands of bags) SHE had entrusted to THEM for safe keeping!

We wuz scared, Your Honour!

Why do the Police feel able to use draconian security legislation applying to airports to intimidate passengers who simply want to go from A to B?

2. Why are ALL airline customers at such a disadvantage when airlines use unfair contract terms to ignore the clear contract to get them and their luggage from A to B. Here is what BA’s website promises all who pay through the nose for their “First Experience.”

• Effortless travel
• A queue-less, personalised and stress free environment to check in your baggage
• Choice and control
• “Your secluded “demi-cabin” guarantees space and privacy
• Continue relaxing within our arrivals lounge
• Our specially trained First crew will provide you with a discreet yet attentive service, ensuring that all your personal needs are taken care of.

Well you couldn’t make it up could you; you don’t need to be a Naomi Campbell to feel harassed at the gap between the marketing guff and the reality. Perhaps the St. Reatham One should consider suing British Airways for what the law terms “unjust enrichment” by promising a service it clearly was in no position to deliver. Just as she won a legal precedent against the media over privacy maybe she can now establish another legal precedent;that merely by buying an airline ticket and entering an airport we do not agree to abandon our Civil Rights and our Consumer Rights. It is worth noting that since Naomi was harassed and abused on the 3rd April 2008 the MD of Heathrow Airport and the two British Airways Directors most closely involved in the T5 Fiasco have been sacked and BA have confirmed tha 19,000 bags have been lost permanently. Strangely, the only person arrested as a result of the fiasco has neen Naomi Campbell. Surely it can't be a case of the PLODs and the Crown Prosecution Service translating the "Public Interest" into desperately seeking publicity? This is much of what passes for Policing and the Justice System in the UK today; High Visibility; Zero Substance.

And as for the Court appearance I look forward to the evidence of a lardy armed copper in flak jacket “Well your honour, I looked at this tall, unarmed, Jamaican IC3 with a loud voice, funny accent, threatening big hair and larger than average lips and I immediately felt apprehensive for my safety. I have been off sick with diagnosed Post Naomi Stress Syndrome (PNSS) ever since and have taken to beating my wife more than normal and messing up my overtime claim.” Hopefully Lenny Henry will be in court gathering material for his next sketch! It's an opportunity too good to miss Lenny!

All together now, FREE THE ST. REATHAM ONE!!