Tuesday 31 May 2016

Plead Guilty And We'll Let You Go

I was contacted last week by Stuart Gilgannon, a lawyer from Wisconsin USA, who is extremely unimpressed with Scottish justice.

To cut a long story short, while on holiday in Scotland, Stuart got caught up in an altercation with an off-duty Police Scotland officer and his police colleague on a train.

When the train reached the next station Stuart was arrested.

Stuart, a member of the public, was calculatedly provoked and induced by a Scottish police officer who had taken an oath to help, protect and support the public. It's a truly disgusting state of affairs.

Stuarts account of what happened is VERY different from the police officers version of events. But the two off-duty coppers backed each other up by giving the same story, so it was Stuarts word against theirs.

The charge against Stuart was entirely based on false and misleading statements from police.

Now if it had been me, I would have had no hesitation in going to trial and challenged the police's stories in court. Sheriffs no longer automatically believe the police over a member of the public because Sheriffs know that police lie all the time - they see it in their courts every day. If the officers in Stuarts case had lied about what happened there's every a chance their stories would've fallen apart under close scrutiny in the witness stand - after all, that's what courts and trials are for.

But Stuart lives in the USA.

He had a flight to catch back to the USA (which he missed by the way). The prospect of a court trial and the intermediate diets etc that take place before would have cost him thousands of pounds in legal fees and thousands of pounds in travel between the USA and Scotland to fight this case.

The Procurator Fiscal knew this.

So Stuart got bludgeoned in to taking it on the chin.

The Procurator Fiscal offered Stuart a plea bargain deal whereby Stuart plead guilty and accepted a £500 fine - so he could get on his way back home to Wisconsin.

Everyone walked away totally happy with the deal, the police, the procurator fiscal, the court, the defence solicitor.

Except Stuart.

He isn't happy.

And neither am I.

Justice was denied to Stuart. He was steamrollered in to pleading guilty, two lying coppers walked away from trouble they caused absolutely scott-free and that's just not right.

The Crown office should be pursuing justice, not taking advantage of a persons personal circumstances to put the squeeze on him and prise an easy prosecution out of him.

Regular readers of this blog know that I have long argued that if the Crown office was more willing to prosecute police officers who give false statements there would be less cases of police officers trying to back each other up to get innocent members of the public 'done'.

But until that happens, we, the public, are at the mercy of lying police officers.

Police lie in courts all over Scotland every day to help their buddies in the Crown office get prosecutions. The Crown office reciprocate by not prosecuting the police officers when it all goes pear-shaped and cops get caught out in the witness stand lying to the court - you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours and all that (see my previous post for a real world example of how this Police Scotland scam works).

Police get a fantastic deal from the Crown office.

Members of the public like Stuart and I don't get such a good deal from them though.

Remind me again in who's interests the Crown office work?

Here's Stuarts full letter to me:

Hello Kenny,

I came across your blog today and your story and desire to expose wrongdoing in Scotland stuck a powerful (no pun intended!) cord with me, particularly in light of my very recent experiences.

I must confess that this time last week, I might have found a lot of the anecdotes/stories that we often hear of in Scotland regarding the police service and wider "establishment" a bit fanciful and maybe brought about by personal grudges and victim complexes etc.  

I have had my eyes opened as to the inner workings of my home country and I am still having a very hard time coming to terms with it.  I now realise that many of the notions I have held regarding Scotland's ethos with regards to transparency, democracy, equality etc have been extremely naive and overly-idealistic.  

As an ex-pat, being Scottish has always been a strong part of my identity and now I am not sure exactly how I feel about that.  

If nothing else, I just wanted to let you know that you have gained a very strong supporter of your work here in the United States.  

In case you are interested, I have been the subject of recent media attention following my recent visit to watch the Scottish Cup final with my father and brother.  

My overly-idealistic and naive approach to life in Scotland led me to believe that I could walk through Glasgow late at night and board a train heading towards Ayrshire with a Hibs shirt and scarf prominently displayed the day after a contentious football match with Rangers, and that the worst thing I would need to endure would be some verbal abuse.  

Boy, was I proven wrong!   

The rest, as they say, is history:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/hibs-fan-lawyer-assaulted-duty-8034220#dMoFs2xTsoyiJAwI.97

Incredibly I was not approached for my own version of events prior to publication by the journalist in question.  

I was for this one, though:  

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/380568041.html

See any difference between the two?  

It is a shame when you need to travel 3500 miles for a bit of objectivity and integrity.

Regards,

Stuart Gilgannon

Monday 30 May 2016

Safe Keeping

Police Scotland are under fire for taking a vulnerable woman - who had wandered off - to a hotel and dumping her there alone when she could have been a danger to herself or others.

As if that's not bad enough, when they were then asked to assist to take the vulnerable woman to hospital they refused.

Seems to be the MO for Police Scotland these days.

They don't mind dragging the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society in to a court of law knowing they are less likely to be able to defend themselves and they can get an easy conviction against them.

But when it comes to actually helping and protecting the poor and vulnerable they just don't want to know.

We certainly know who's side Police Scotland are on these days - and it's not the public's, that's for sure.

Just out of interest I thought I'd Google the words police + scotland.

Here's what came up:


Look at the top result and the byline. 

It reads "Police Scotland - Keeping People Safe"

Someone at Police Scotland is having a laugh, surely?

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeenshire/884455/ifyouchangethisheadlinereadthecopy-police-ordered-to-review-handling-of-incident-involving-woman-with-mental-health-issues/

Sunday 29 May 2016

Go Catch Some Burglars

Wonderful news just in.

Glasgow Crooked City Council are to cut £3 Million worth of funding for 100 police officers due to budget cut backs.

I'm delighted.

100 less police officers is wonderful news for the Scottish public. It means there are 100 less officers lying in courts every day to try to convict innocent members of the public and have them made in to criminals for no reason except to falsify the crime figures to show success and justify their own existence.

Even if each of those 100 police officers only arrested and charged a dozen poor and vulnerable innocent members of the public per week, by my calculations we'll have prevented over 60,000 innocent victims of police corruption from the poorest areas in Scotland from conviction for crimes they did not commit.

Now that really is wonderful news.

As for the other 17,000 or so Police Scotland officers who are still in a job and out there 'at large'...

...go catch some burglars.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14416453.Council_cuts___3m_funding_for_Police_Scotland/

Saturday 28 May 2016

Unlucky 13

Remember the police Counter Corruption Unit (CCU)? They were the unit that was formed to investigate and expose corruption in the police - only to be found to be corrupt themselves.

Well, police bosses have just confirmed that the CCU committed 13 breaches of spying regulations.

Basically they illegally spied on people without permission. Well, maybe that's not strictly true. The spying was certainly illegal but it wasn't done without permission - they signed off the permission to do it themselves (like my wee bit of sarcasm there eh)!

Rogues, the lot of them.

The only thing worse than corrupt organisations is when they are public organisations run by people who claim to work for our benefit while secretly seeking to harm us.

There is nothing worse.

But these charlatans will get away with it.

They always do.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14417113.Scandal_hit_Police_Scotland_unit_confirms_13_spy_rule_breaches/

Friday 27 May 2016

Police Hate You Filming Them

Q. What happens when your dog bites another dog?

A. 40 police officers, including a helicopter, arrive at your home to 'have a word'.

An Asian family from Cambuslang in Glasgow found themselves targeted by dozens of Police Scotland officers who called them black b****s, assaulted and abused them, and threatened them with tasers - all because the family dog wasn't on a lead.

What police officers put this family through was disgusting. Take a look here.

But what the piece of scum PC John Donaldson (who was later reprimanded by the Sheriff for his attitude in court) did not know, was that CCTV cameras had caught his every move. He purposely pressed the panic alarm on his uniform when it was unnecessary just to cause an onslaught of fellow officers to arrive, all desperate to throw their weight around and crack a few heads. The other 40 officers are every bit as bad as their buddy Donaldson.

Now ALL charges against the family have been dropped, including the one that the family assaulted and abducted a female officer who, CCTV showed, had spent less than 4 minutes in the house! Maybe it was an alien abduction where time and space was condensed in to less time than it takes to boil an egg.

Ah, the camera never lies. Serves these scum Police Scotland officers right.

Had police not been caught on camera I shudder to think what these 40 coppers would have done to this family (and hey, it's not over yet - police will have it in for them big style now).

As you'd expect, there is now to be an investigation in to the whole fiasco <yawn>.

But come on, we all know how that's gonna pan out.

The lesson here is that the camera is a mighty weapon against an untrustworthy Police Scotland.

At all times I carry more than one recording device on me because it's well known that if you try to film Police Scotland officers with your mobile phone they grab the phone off you, throw it to the ground and stamp on it to destroy the evidence. They then concoct a story to say you resisted arrest or were abusive towards them and in the ensuing scuffle your phone was 'accidentally' broken.

I'm reliably informed that some Procurator Fiscals are even able to keep a straight face when their police pals recount these stories of accidentally broken phones in the witness stand.

I don't know who deserves the Oscar the most, the Crown office or the Police.

But I do know who deserves the prize for being the biggest piece of disgusting human garbage in Cambuslang. Take a bow PC John Donaldson.

Thursday 26 May 2016

The Police Are Getting Younger

Meet the latest recruit to Police Scotland and the only police employee this blog is ever gonna fall in love with.

He's a 7 week old German Shepherd...and quite frankly he's way too cute for his own good. Just look at that wee face!

And I'm sure his arrival has been a welcome boost for the failing Police Scotland PR team who have been struggling to get anything positive in to the press for years.

But, as is always the case with untrustworthy Police Scotland, there's always a darker and murkier side to everything they do - even when they're flaunting pics of a cute little puppy in a police hat.

You see, Police Scotland have named the puppy "Bodie".

Younger readers won't be old enough to know the significance of this name, but I do.

In the late seventies and early eighties one of the most popular TV shows of the era was an ITV program called "The Professionals". It was a one hour police type drama about a fictional government security agency called CI5 - a bit of a play on CID and MI5.

Anyway, the two stars of the show were called Bodie and Doyle.

Bodie was a party animal and notorious womaniser with a hard-man image who enjoyed football and drinking and was entirely happy to break the law as long as it got him a result.

Now I've got nothing against Bodie the puppy. I think he's adorable and I wish him a long and distinguished career.

I just wonder why Police Scotland would be so impressed with a hard man who beats people up and breaks the law that they'd want to call one of their police dogs after him?

It pretty much tells us all we need to know about how Police Scotland view themselves.

As for me, I think "Dixon" would have been a better name for the little puppy.

"Dixon Of Dock Green" was an old seventies TV program too.

However Dixon was a good law abiding copper who stood up for all things honest, fair, and decent in our society.

He helped, supported, and protected the public.

And that sort of thing just doesn't resonate with untrustworthy Police Scotland.

Wednesday 25 May 2016

Justice Guaranteed To Be Done

Aha justice at last!

The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner has just completed his report in to the death of Janet McKay, the 88-year-old dementia sufferer who went missing. You may remember her body was found in Clydebank nine days after she disappeared.

Police Scotland have already apologised to Janet McKay’s family after it emerged that a possible sighting of her had not been passed on to the call-handling centre or the inquiry team.

So that's it. Pretty conclusive eh? Police messed up, and a woman died as a result.

Oh, wait a minute.

I've just noticed the PIRC have said "A report on the commissioner’s findings has been sent to the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service for their consideration."

OK, change the headline at the top of this post.

Justice has just been guaranteed NOT to be done.

The corrupt Crown office always cover up for - and refuse to prosecute - their buddies in untrustworthy Police Scotland.

So there will be NO prosecutions and NO justice now that the Crown office are involved.

Oh well, it was a nice dream while it lasted.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/133893/pirc-report-on-police-handling-of-pensioner-search-given-to-prosecutors/

Tuesday 24 May 2016

Corroboration - Who Decides?

Chris Marshall in the Scotsman has written a good piece about the 'corroboration' dilemma in Scots law and how the issue is unlikely to go away any time soon. He also makes some good points about other problems with our justice system. Well worth a read (click here).

Corroboration, in case you don't know, is basically where TWO pieces of evidence are required to get a prosecution. It's supposed to be a safeguard against mistakes and, well, it seems to work pretty well for the most part.

As an example, if someone robs a bank, CCTV showing his face plus a gun with his fingerprints on it could be considered the two pieces of corroborating evidence required to prove he did it and secure a conviction.

It makes sense. Corroboration forces essential checks and balances to be applied to every case, lest an innocent person be convicted by mistake.

So what's not to like about corroboration?

Well, corroboration is a double-edged sword. It can also apply to two police officers sticking to the same story in their evidence in order to get someone 'done'.

It's a serious problem when police concoct the same story in order to 'back each other up' - a thing they do every day in life.

Police insult our intelligence when they claim this doesn't happen. While I'm at it, they also insult our intelligence when they say they are merely reporters for the Procurator Fiscal when everyone with a brain in their head knows police arrest people purely based on their own opinion of who they think the bad guy is - then try to cobble together evidence afterwards to make it fit. Struggling to find evidence? No problem. Two police officers will simply 'back each other up', to provide the corroboration needed to get the prosecution.

I'm reminded of the time I referred to a young Police Scotland officer as "that wee deaf laddie" because when his colleague said something to me that she should not have said and I challenged her, her police colleague ("the wee deaf laddie") said to me "I didn't hear her say that".  Frustratingly, I was talking to them alone at the time and the secret recorder I always carry with me when I speak to police had been switched to OFF instead of ON by mistake (aarghhh) so it would have been my word against two police officers. Since they had already made it quite clear that they would corroborate each other I didn't even bother taking it further, no point.

Anyway, getting rid of corroboration would certainly reduce bent coppers backing each other up. But at what cost? Would it then only need ONE bent coppers story to convict you? That's even worse surely?

Bottom line is that the question of corroboration and its place in Scottish justice is an extremely complicated one and there is no easy answer.

The debate will rage on and the only thing we, the public, can hope for is that we will be consulted before a decision is made. We need to be given the necessary information and arguments for and against from each side in order that we can make an informed decision on this important piece of law.

My real concern though is that this will be decided, not by the public, but by lawyers in the justice system who have a vested interest in the resulting decision.

Monday 23 May 2016

Whistle While You Work

Police Scotland have told their officers to stop listening to music while they are at work.

Now I have to be honest, I had no idea that police listened to music when they were at work so I was more than just a little bit surprised to read this.

Surely it must be seriously distracting from the important job police do when a tranny is blaring out across the room? (edit: for my younger readers and the politically correct brigade out there, the word "tranny" is an old fashioned term for a transistor radio - it's not a suggestion that cross-dressing police officers stand in the corner of incident rooms belting out "I am what I am")

However I digress.

It seems that distraction, obvious as it is, is not actually the reason bosses have told our bold boys in blue to turn off Bowie@Breakfast and Boogie&Arlene.

They say it's for cost cutting reasons.

Now I'm truly stumped. What costs could listening to the wireless possibly have?

When Police Scotland became the one big centralised force in 2013 were cops ordered to stop listening to Radio Clyde in the West and Radio Forth in the East and only listen to one big central station like Radio Scotland? Did the BBC send the detector van round and hit them for royalties?

Or perhaps every time the theme tune from 'The Sweeney' comes on air, police feel the need to beat up members of the public and the doctors bills for police officers with sore fists are mounting up?

I don't know.

My best guess is that bosses feel that music has had some sort of a corrupting influence on our coppers and by cutting it down, it'll cut down corruption, therefore reducing complaints against officers and the legal costs of defending them.

Perhaps police were listening to Transvision Vamp's "Baby I don't care" when they got together with the Crown office and the HSE to decide a bin lorry driver who lied to the DVLA and mowed down six members of the public should not be prosecuted?

Perhaps they were listening to Korn's "I will protect you" when they sabotaged the Coulson trial?

Perhaps they were listening to Nero's "Crush on you" when they took Sheku Bayoh in to custody?

Who knows.

One thing's for sure though. When their good buddies down at Hillsborough were on duty that fateful day in 1989, Fleetwood Mac's "Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies" must have been blaring out of every coppers Sony Walkman.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/police-scotland-tell-cops-right-7696080

Sunday 22 May 2016

When The Laughter Ceases

A week ago I reported on how Police Scotland had become a laughing stock on twitter with their tweet about how they'll come to your house at the weekend and pursue you for things you say.



Now that the hilarity has died down and the funny memes the public have posted in response to Police Scotland's ill thought-out tweet have receded, we can start to look a little bit closer at what Police Scotland really meant by posting that infamous tweet.

And I'm angry. Very angry.

Stifling freedom of speech is the first and obvious issue that comes to mind. Police Scotland should be PROTECTING our free speech, not trying to arrest us for it. So ask yourself. Do they really work for us...or do they work for themselves and their political and corporate masters? Do they seek to help support and protect the public or do they seek to target us? How do you feel when you see a police car in your rear view mirror. Do you feel safe - or do you feel anxious?

You decide.

Next up is the defamation laws on libel and slander. These are CIVIL laws. That means they have absolutely NOTHING to do with police. Police only have jurisdiction over CRIMINAL law, not CIVIL law. In a nutshell, police have no power or authority to arrest anyone anywhere for defamation (slander/libel). In fact police themselves can be arrested for trying to do this to you - they would be breaking the law.

Sam Hooper, from the Conservatives for Liberty group put it wonderfully. He said:

"Let’s call a spade a spade: this is tyranny. When an enforcement arm of the state can post jocular messages on social media warning citizens to be on their best, blandest and most inoffensive behaviour on pain of arrest, we do not live in a free society any more."

Well said Sam. There's an old saying that says when the government fear the people you have democracy, but when the people fear the government you have tyranny.

So here's my message to untrustworthy Police Scotland regarding this blog and the T-H-I-N-K threat they have aimed at my blog, me, and all members of the Scottish public:

T - is it true? 
Yes, I tell the truth on my blog and if you, Police Scotland, disagree, I challenge you to arrest me for defamation (slander/libel) which you do not have the legal authority to do. Go on, I dare you, it'll be my pleasure to see YOU in the dock.

H - is it hurtful?
Yes, I am reliably informed that many of my posts on this blog hurt the feelings of many police officers in Scotland. But I don't care about you, just as you don't care about me and the Scottish public. And rest assured, I care even less about your feelings. I only care about your corruption and bringing it to the attention of the Scottish public (who you think it's ok to target day in and day out). I challenge you to arrest me for hurting your feelings Mr Plod.

I - is it illegal?
No. Everything on this blog is completely legal and I challenge you to arrest me if you believe it is not - then we can let the courts decide (and I can sue you afterwards). Speaking of what's legal and what's not, it hasn't gone unnoticed that you, Police Scotland, like to boast about how much you enforce the law and adhere to what's legal. So may I take this opportunity to remind you that slavery was legal, apartheid was legal, and Hitlers Nazi party was legal. I could go on but you get the idea...

N - is it necessary?
Yes. The Scottish public must be made aware of your corruption. Only then can they decide if they feel compelled to withdraw their support for Police Scotland causing your organisation to disintegrate and fail - and be replaced with a new honest, decent, just, and fair system which helps, supports, and protects us, the public, not benefits you and your political and corporate masters.

K - is it kind?
Come on, if you've read this far do you honestly think I have any notion whatsoever of being kind to the motley crew of rogues we have come to know as 'Police Scotland'? Perhaps if you were kind to us, the public who pay your wages and who's benefit you claim to work for while secretly seeking to harm us, we my just be kind to you. But as it is...

So do us all a favour and pass a message on to your head tweeter at Police Scotland that he or she should T-H-I-N-K before telling us, the public, what to do.

Remember your place Police Scotland.

We tell YOU what to do, not the other way round.

And don't you ever forget it.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/andrewalker/2016/04/04/police-threaten-to-arrest-anyone-hurtful-on-twitter-n2143400

Saturday 21 May 2016

It's Official - Police Are A Bunch Of Psychos

According to a Freedom of Information request obtained by the BBC, the number of police officers and staff who are taking long-term sick leave for psychological reasons has gone up 35% in the last 5 years.

In 2010, 4,544 psycho coppers needed time off to sort their head out.

By 2015 the number of sicko psycho plods had risen to 6,129.

Now, you could be forgiven for thinking that the headline I've attached to this post and the language I have used above is extremely derogatory and mercilessly uncaring to victims of mental illness.

It's not.

I personally do regular voluntary work with people with mental health issues. No one knows the seriousness of this illness and the anguish sufferers face more than I do, I can assure you.

The derogatoriness and uncaring you read in my words above are targeted towards POLICE who claim to have these long-term psychological and mental health issues.

Because you see, corrupt police are very crafty when it comes to covering up their mistakes.

Every police officer knows that the best defence they can have when caught wrongdoing is to claim some sort of ill health. And claiming mental ill health is the best excuse of them all.

They get what's known in police circles as 'a double-dunt' out of this type of defence.

The offending officers get to say they were mentally unfit at the time of the incident so that's why they did what they did.

Similarly, if this defence doesn't prove to be quite enough, they can then further claim that they are still mentally unfit and therefore too unwell to stand trial.

At each stage police officers know they can always rely on their friends and colleagues in the Crown office NOT to prosecute them because the Crown office needs police officers to lie in court for them every day to help get prosecutions against members of the public. The Crown office's unwillingness to prosecute police is considered a natural payback for this part of the deal.

However the Crown office needs to be careful. They have to protect themselves from public criticism so need to come up with a good excuse NOT to prosecute the police.

Hence the 'mental health' excuse. It's the perfect excuse for the Crown office not to prosecute.

Remember the two ace cards, those two well-worn phrases I told you the Crown office like to trot out when they don't want to prosecute people who should be prosecuted (the two phrases that no one anywhere can force the Crown office to change their mind on)?

1. Not enough evidence in law to prosecute

2. Not in the public interest to prosecute.

If a police officer claims he (or she) was mentally unfit at the time he committed his crime, the Crown office can say that it would be very difficult to prove in law that the officer was aware of how his actions on that day could result.

If a police officer claims to be mentally unfit after the crime, the Crown office can use that as an excuse that it's not in the public interest to prosecute a mentally ill person.

See how it all works now?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35965223

Friday 20 May 2016

Police Scotland's Two Day Week

Last week I wrote about the death of Andrew Bow who died despite Police Scotland being alerted about concerns for his welfare 'more than two days' before he was found dead.

We now find out that the phrase 'more than two days' actually means A WEEK.

So why is this significant?

After all a week is 'more than two days'.

Am I just being pedantic?

Surely there's nothing really wrong here is there?

Well, yes, there is.

You see, a member of the public, a neighbour, called Edinburgh City Council to report that the windows in Andrews flat were broken. And Edinburgh City Council immediately contacted Police Scotland about it.

Therefore Police Scotland knew about this a full week before Andrew was found.

But police didn't respond to it until a second member of the public, another neighbour, called them - meaning Andrew wasn't found until SEVEN days after the first call to Police.

As they say, the devil is in the detail.

Untrustworthy Police Scotland don't want you to know about the original call they got from Edinburgh City Council the week before.

They want to spin it to look like the first they knew about Andrew was a coupe of days before he was found (i.e. when the second member of the public called them).

In the shady world of Police Scotland and their culture of cover-up it looks better for them if the public think they left Andrew lying dead for a just couple of days rather than a week.

This case has all the classic hallmarks of damage limitation for Police Scotland.

They're trying to 'play down' their cock-up.

The fact that a member of the public has lost his life and lay dead for a week before Police Scotland did anything is of no importance to them.

More proof if ever it were needed that Police Scotland work for their own benefit, not the public's.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/police-scotland-told-of-andrew-bow-week-before-body-was-found-1-4090642

Thursday 19 May 2016

Fatal Accident Inquiry For M9 Tragedy

Such is the public outcry, there MUST be a fatal accident enquiry in to the M9 tragedy. It's so obvious that Police Scotland messed up big time here, that even the Lord Advocate has admitted that a FAI is all but inevitable.

You may remember, that's the tragedy in which Lamara Bell and John Yuill lay dead for three days in their crashed car on the M9 despite a member of the public reporting the accident to Police Scotland.

There are many unanswered questions.

For example, former chief constable Sir Stephen 'I've got an ego as big as a' House says an officer wrote down details of the initial call on a scribble pad but we know that official guidance says that a pen and paper should have be used for these calls. So what went wrong there?

We know that call centre staff have admitted that the delayed response to the M9 tragedy was not an isolated incident. So how often do these things happen?

We also know that senior officers at Police Scotland admitted at a high-level meeting more than six weeks before the M9 incident that the performance of control rooms was "in a critical condition". So what did they do about it?

And that's just for starters.

Yes, indeed, there are lots of questions and Lord Advocate Frank 'I'm anything but frank' Mulholland has pretty much assured us that there will be a fatal accident enquiry when his Crown office get the report through and are in a position to order it.

But there's something much more important here that most people are missing.

Sir Stephen House is no longer the chief constable of Scotland.

Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland is getting the boot shortly so he'll be out the door too by the time any FAI is completed.

Both of these men will be long gone by the time any enquiry comes to any conclusion about anything.

And that's the real problem and the bigger scandal.

The 'pattern' I talk about so much on this blog will repeat itself, I guarantee.

So my prediction, here and now, is that:

1. There will be a long passage of time between the date of the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill and the conclusion of the FAI enquiry. Drawing things out is important when untrustworthy Police Scotland and the corrupt Crown office want to cover up things and distance themselves from them.

2. It will then be concluded that this incident happened on the watch of Stephen House and Frank Mulholland - who now no longer work for Police Scotland and the Crown office.

3. We'll be told that the officers who messed up and were primarily to blame no longer work for Police Scotland.

4. We'll also be assured that 'lessons have been learned' and 'new procedures have been put in place' etc to prevent this kind of thing ever happening again.

Oh, and no one will be prosecuted.

Have I missed anything?

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/121267/lord-advocate-inconceivable-no-fai-into-fatal-m9-crash/

Wednesday 18 May 2016

The Mystery Of The Missing Evidence

Police Scotland have advised that the gun that killed Willie McRae and other vital evidence has gone missing.

Willie McRae was a Glasgow lawyer and SNP activist who was found shot dead in his car in the 80's. Police did everything they could to label it as a traffic accident - until a nurse cleaning his head wound noticed a bullet hole.

After that, they then tried to label it as a suicide.

Police gathered no forensic evidence from the scene at the time.

Police didn't take any fingerprints from the scene either.

Police also secretly removed his car, then put it back a mile away from where it was originally was. No one knows why but it's reckoned they wanted to distance the car from where the gun was found.

And now we discover, more than 30 years on, that a pile of evidence has disappeared completely - including the gun that was used to kill him.

Strange eh.

Willie McRae had been a very vocal critic of the Westminster government when they tried to dump nuclear waste in Scotland.

He had also discovered a paedophile ring operating within Westminster and was working on exposing it.

So I reckon all we need to do to solve the mystery of todays missing evidence is cross check the senior officers working in Police Scotland right now who have connections to Westminster MP's from 30 years ago. Shouldn't take long. There can't be that many.

But wait a minute, I've just remembered. If we do that it will involve the police investigating the police...and we all know how that always turns out.

Oh well, it was a good idea while it lasted.

And so the mystery continues and a murderer, protected by a person or persons in the higher echelons of Police Scotland or the Government, is still out there roaming free.

Move along now sir, nothing to see here.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14400576.Revealed__key_evidence_missing_on_mysterious_death_of_SNP_activist_Willie_McRae/

Tuesday 17 May 2016

The Incompetence Of Motherwell Police

When William Linton, 25, got dumped by his girlfriend he decided to take action to impress her and try to win her back.

So what kind of theatrics did young William get up to in order to try and impress the ex burd?

Well, for starters, he smashed the window of a police patrol car, defaced their notebooks, and stole a set of handcuff keys.

But that's not all.

With the aid of a cleaner who kindly opened the main door of the police station when he buzzed, he was able to walk right in to Motherwell Police Station, get in to an unlocked CID room and take pictures of himself sitting behind a senior officers desk wearing a police hat after rifling through a pile of confidential files and paperwork.

Oh, and he had a good 4 hours in there to do it all before finally being disturbed!

This is VERY embarrassing for Motherwell police.

While I most certainly do not condone what William Linton did, I'm never the less very happy this incident occurred.

The reason I'm very happy this incident occurred is because it has served to alert us to various security holes at the Motherwell station, which is one of our major police divisional headquarters.

It gives our police an opportunity to review and fix those security breaches so that this kind of thing can never happen again.

OK, so I admit, it's no secret that I have had considerable experience of dealing with a number of police officers based at Motherwell police in the past and I have found them ALL to be extremely arrogant, very incompetent, and corrupt. In fact out of all the police officers in all the various police stations in Glasgow I have had the misfortune to deal with, Motherwell police are by far the worst.

But I'm not gloating.

Honestly, I'm not.



http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/man-broke-motherwell-police-hq-7680073#LwWEMtq0Sw9ZOFhU.97

Monday 16 May 2016

Pssst: Wanna Buy Some Cheap DNA?

Every day innocent members of the public who should never have been arrested or brought before a judge walk out of our courts with not guilty verdicts thanks to eagle eyed Sheriffs who throw the cases out.

We should be truly thankful that Sheriffs and JP's are on the side of truth and justice and most are not easily fooled. They sit in judgement of so many cases, day in and day out in their court rooms, that they can see right through corrupt Procurator Fiscals and lying police officers trying to get innocent members of the public banged up to achieve targets. (by the way, the police and Crown office completely deny that they have targets - yeah right, excuse me while I bend over double with laughter).

But have you ever wondered what happens to all the evidence, data, intelligence, DNA, fingerprints, etc the police and the Crown office collected from the innocent members of the public they failed to fit up?

Does it get destroyed?

Does it hell.

It should, but it doesn't.

And that's what brings me to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and Police Scotland's latest bright idea to make a few quid.

They've decided they're gonna SELL forensic data on to other agencies in the UK and Europe.

Ahhh, punting DNA on to foreign police forces. What could possibly go wrong.

I've heard of some hair-brained schemes in my time but this one really takes the biscuit.

https://www.holyrood.com/articles/news/police-chiefs-keen-share-forensic-services-other-agencies-boost-income

Sunday 15 May 2016

Police Are A Laughing Stock On Twitter

Police Scotland have been made to look a laughing stock by twitter users over a tweet they posted (below).



It looks like the wimps at untrustworthy Police Scotland have become so thin skinned that if you don't say 'kind' things to them they'll come to your house at the weekend and arrest you.

In response to the "is it kind?" question, one twitter user voiced his concern that Police are advising that if he happens to say something they don't like, then uniformed officers using force have the legal right to turn up at his house.

The majority of responses are comical though, making Police Scotland look like a right bunch of wallys.

Cutting responses from some twitter users include one with a pic of Taggart telling his officers "Thur's been a tweet".

Another user (making a clear dig at the "is it necessary?" question) posted a pic of a dog on a skateboard and asks Police Scotland if he'll be getting a visit from them this weekend for posting such an "unnecessary" pic?

Reading through the pile of hilarious tweets from members of the public at Police Scotland's expense gave me a right good laugh...until I took a wee look at a few of the posts I've written on this blog.

Then I stopped laughing, very abruptly.

Dozens of posts on this blog - maybe even hundreds - could easily be viewed as hurtful and unkind to the thin skinned wimps at Police Scotland. I'm sure the fact that those posts are also true, legal, and very, very necessary (in order to expose police corruption) won't wash much with untrustworthy Police Scotland.

So...I've decided to cancel all my plans for this weekend and please feel free to bake me a cake with a file in it.

Because it looks like I'll be getting 'a visit' from the twittering boys in blue this Saturday or Sunday.

Oh well, at least if they're coming over to my place to arrest me this weekend it saves me having to hand myself in.

Especially when it seems half the police stations are closed at the weekend and the other half are closed permanently.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-35946349

Saturday 14 May 2016

Police Fail To Respond - AGAIN

Whether it's failing to respond to routine calls from the public asking for help or leaving people dying in a car on the M9, you can always rely on untrustworthy Police Scotland NOT to do their job.

The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC) is currently investigating them in the recent case of the death of 36 year old Andrew Bow in Edinburgh.

As is usual during an ongoing investigation, they won't give any details of why the police are in the frame regarding this particular case. However a PIRC spokesman has said "The investigation will focus on the initial police response leading up to the incident, which included a report of concern about the welfare of the occupant of the property".

It pretty much looks like the police received a report about Andrew but did nothing about it. Reports are already coming in that Police Scotland were called and alerted with concerns about his welfare more than two days before the mans body was found.

Next thing they'll be telling us the call went through to the infamous Bilston Glen call centre.

Oh dear, wait a minute, the BBC have just reported on the case (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-35951105) and you'll never guess....the call was indeed made to Bilston Glen.

Who'd of thunk it eh.

I'm in no doubt that after this investigation is completed and the PIRC report comes out, senior police officers will come out of the woodwork and defend their failings and tell us lessons have been learned etc. Again.

Oh and I nearly forgot...no prosecutions of the police officers or call handlers involved will be pursued.

And the Crown office will rely - as they always do - on their two ace card phrases which can never be challenged.

1. "not in the public interest to prosecute"

2. "not enough evidence in law to prosecute".

Yeah those two phrases always work well for the corrupt Crown office and their buddies in untrustworthy Police Scotland when they don't want to prosecute one of their own.

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/police-probed-over-discovery-of-man-s-body-1-4088368

Friday 13 May 2016

Shop Thy Neighbour

Crimestoppers launched a new campaign in Scotland on 31st March.

It's called 'Scene it herd it' and it's asking the public to report rural crime to the police anonymously.

The spin untrustworthy Police Scotland have put on this latest project is to say that most of Scotland is classed as 'rural' and rural communities usually know each other very well - so to avoid retributions from your neighbours should you report them for crimes, an anonymous police hotline will provide the solution.

Of course, if arrests are made and prosecutions pursued (which is the whole point of the scheme), the 'anonymous' person who reported it in the first place will still have to turn up in court as a witness.

I'm not sure they've really thought this one through!

It's also a fact of life that many Scots find 'grassing' on their neighbours a little bit distasteful (it's a culture thing). Then there's others who don't feel comfortable reporting anyone to untrustworthy Police Scotland because they know that police don't bother to investigate any more - they form an opinion of who the bad guy is and afterwards try to cobble enough evidence together to support their opinion. No one feels good knowing that they could be helping police jail an innocent person. No one.

But police don't care about any of this.

They only care that after the disastrous centralisation of Police Scotland in to one national force, they are losing the battle of local policing - and incompetent and lazy Police Scotland want to use the new 'Scene it herd it' idea to make you, the public, do their job for them.

Still think Police Scotland's 'shop thy neighbour' scheme is a good idea then?

http://www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happening/news/2016/march/crimestoppers-launches-rural-crime-campaign-across-scotland

Thursday 12 May 2016

807 Police Scotland Officers Resign

807 Police Scotland officers have resigned since the new centralised Police Scotland came in to being.

This is a worrying statistic and not just for obvious reasons.

When you breakdown the figures they reveal that the resignations have come from:

748 constables

42 sergeants

10 inspectors

7 chief inspectors

Now it should be pretty obvious to everyone that a boss doesn't resign because he doesn't like his employee or what he's doing. It's the exact opposite. An employee will resign if he doesn't like his boss or agree with what management are doing.

So even when you factor in the fact that there are more constables in a police force than there are sergeants, inspectors, and chief inspectors, this still makes grim reading and leads to only one conclusion:

Ordinary coppers are leaving Police Scotland in their droves because of the corruption they see going on in the higher ranks.

We now have a critical situation in Police Scotland where good, decent, honest coppers not only dislike what they see going on - they also realise that there is no chance of promotion unless they participate in the 'corrupt ways' of the upper echelons.

Many good, honest, and decent coppers are simply not prepared to be involved in this corruption.

Officers who refuse to back up their corrupt colleagues find themselves branded outcasts among their fellow officers. They are not considered to be 'team players' and as such will never be recommended to a higher rank.

For good, honest, and decent coppers who are trying to climb the ladder and further their career in order to support their family, there comes a time when they realise that it's never gonna happen.

So there is only really one option...resign.

And good, honest, and decent officers in Police Scotland are doing it in their hundreds.

http://www.heart.co.uk/scotland/news/local/807-police-officers-quit-single-force/#gggzjgKfJ8Em15oG.97

Wednesday 11 May 2016

Police Scotland Found To Be Negligent IMPORTANT UPDATE

OK, let me just update you on my post yesterday about Police Scotland accidentally discharging a firearm at a power station.

If you read yesterdays post, you could be forgiven for thinking that this incident happened at a nuclear power plant.

It didn't. I just let you think that.

The incident happened at Longannet power station in Fife, which is a coal fired power station. There was NO chance of this becoming a nuclear accident.

At no point whatsoever did I actually say it was a nuclear power station. But by casually mentioning Chernobyl in the same post I simply let your imagination assume it was.

That's not all.

I also added a picture of two armed officers on routine patrol which would have led you to think that the officer who accidentally discharged the firearm was just an everyday PC Plod you might see on your local High Street any day of the week.

It wasn't - I just let you think that.

The incident actually happened during an exercise involving a specialised police firearms unit armed with Heckler & Koch G36C Carbine assault rifles. Ordinary everyday PC Plods like the ones in the picture I attached do not walk around our local streets routinely armed with Heckler & Koch G36C Carbine assault rifles.

I failed to tell you that too.

Now let me be clear. I didn't tell any lies. I just didn't tell you the full story.

I left your imagination to make up parts of the story in an attempt to paint this incident out to be much, much, worse than it really was. I wanted to make Police Scotland look as bad and as incompetent as possible.

Why?

Simple.

You see, I was contacted some time ago by a journalistic source who told me that Police Scotland had stopped him for a very minor speeding offence. When it came to court, the police told the court that the alleged offence had taken place outside a school.

The police's inference to the Sheriff was that this was not a minor offence, but rather, a serious offence where innocent school children could've been maimed or killed by the alleged speedster.

But what the police failed to tell the court was that the school had been closed for years!

There was no school. There were no school children.

See how the police tried to 'talk up' that charge to make it appear much worse than it was?

This is how untrustworthy Police Scotland work when they're trying to get convictions against innocent members of the public.

So all I did with the post you read yesterday was to do the same thing back to them.

The difference between me and untrustworthy Police Scotland though is I'm honest. Unlike them, I don't say things which are misleading or untrue - hence this update to give the important reasons why I wrote yesterdays post the way I did and the point I used it to prove.

Ahhhh, good ole' Police Scotland. You really don't like it when the public turn the tables on you and use your own dirty trick tactics against you now do you?

What goes around...

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Police Scotland Found To Be Negligent

The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC) has ruled that an incident in which police discharged one of their firearms during a training exercise at a power station was negligent and preventable.

With disasters like the nuclear accident at Chernobyl still fresh on our minds, what the hell were Police Scotland thinking using firearms and live ammunition at a power station?

It adds nothing to an already diminishing public confidence in untrustworthy Police Scotland to know that they can't be trusted with firearms.

The PIRC added that if police practice and procedures had been rigorously followed, the incident (in which an officer tried to unravel the sling of the Heckler & Koch G36C Carbine assault rifle) would not have happened.

It was just luck that no-one was injured and no-one happened to be standing near the wall which one of our bold boys in blue decided to pepper with bullets.

As you would expect, untrustworthy Police Scotland are trying to spin this as being just a 'one-off' incident.

But it has to be said said that the next time I see two armed PC plods like the ones in the picture below strolling along my high street, I'll be running for cover rather than asking them for the correct time...





http://www.scottishlegal.com/2016/03/30/pirc-finds-accidental-firearms-discharge-was-negligent-and-preventable/

Monday 9 May 2016

1 Down 17,000 To Go

Police Scotland officer Detective Constable Stuart Galloway, from Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, has been jailed for 8 months.

You may remember he is the cop who lied to a sexual abuse victim that her alleged abuser had been arrested and was going on trial, when in fact DC Galloway had done no such thing.

It's worth noting what Sheriff John McCormick told him as he was passing sentence. Sheriff McCormick said "Public trust in police officers is essential. This is particularly so where allegations of sexual assault require investigation. Failure to investigate such allegations can have serious consequences for the alleged victims of crime as well as those accused of crime. Here there is not only a failure to investigate but a concerted attempt to explain delays and conceal any failure."

Well done Sheriff McCormick in getting another corrupt Police Scotland officer off our streets.

Just another 17,000 or so to go...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-35927966

Demand Justice For Sheku Bayoh

The solicitor for Sheku Bayo's family is quoted in the Scotsman newspaper today as making a statement yesterday that everyone should read. I've reprinted it below:

Aamer Anwar said "Over the course of the last year the Bayohs have met families who also lost their loved ones at the hands of the police. They told the Bayohs that there is something deeply shameful about a system where people are unlawfully killed at the hands of our protectors, yet the perpetrators remain free. As we have seen from Hillsborough, it is instinctive for police officers to blame the dead rather than their own and for families to be placed in the perverse situation of relying on the police for the truth."

The family are still fighting for answers from untrustworthy Police Scotland and the corrupt Crown office. They are meeting with Lord Advocate today - the same Lord Advocate who stubbornly refuses to prosecute the bin lorry driver. No prizes for guessing how that's gonna go then...

I would urge anyone who, like me, demands truth, justice, and honesty from our public officials to email a complaint to the Crown office and the Scottish Parliament. You can also tweet your complaint. Details below:


TWEET:
@shekubayohrip @nicolasturgeon @COPFS Friends of Sheku Bayoh 1 year on demand 1Public enquiry 2Public apology 3Release cctv 4Legal aid


EMAIL 1:
nicola.Sturgeon.msp@scottish.parliament.uk,scottish.ministers@gov.scot

WE DEMAND JUSTICE FOR SHEKU BAYOH

Dear Nicola Sturgeon

We support the family of Sheku Bayoh and demand the truth from the Scottish Police to know what happened to him on 3 May when he died so tragically in Kircaldy.

1. A Public enquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh.
2. A public apology from Scottish Police for the mishandling the case of Sheku Bayoh’s death including the release of misleading information that they have released about Sheku Bayoh and his death
3. Immediate release of the CCTV to the public that shows what happened between the police and Sheku Bayoh
4. Immediate access to Legal Aid to help the Bayoh Family to fight their case

These are actions that we believe will help lead us to know the truth about what happened to Sheku Bayoh.

When will we have the truth?

Yours sincerely,

(Your Name)


EMAIL 2:

complaints@copfs.gsi.gov.uk

WE DEMAND JUSTICE FOR SHEKU BAYOH

Dear Lord Advocate

We support the family of Sheku Bayoh and demand the truth from the Scottish Police to know what happened to him on 3 May when he died so tragically in Kircaldy.

1. A Public enquiry into the death of Sheku Bayoh.
2. A public apology from Scottish Police for the mishandling the case of Sheku Bayoh’s death including the release of misleading information that they have released about Sheku Bayoh and his death
3. Immediate release of the CCTV to the public that shows what happened between the police and Sheku Bayoh
4. Immediate access to Legal Aid to help the Bayoh Family to fight their case

These are actions that we believe will help lead us to know the truth about what happened to Sheku Bayoh.

When will we have the truth?

Yours sincerely,

(Your Name)

Sunday 8 May 2016

Another Glasgow City Council Disaster

My prediction is that Jobs and Business Glasgow (Scotland's biggest jobs quango) will soon cease to exist.

They are already under police investigation for alleged misuse of EU funds and we now hear that pretty much every director has resigned (well, at the last count there was only one director left).

Interestingly, a senior source at Jobs and Business Glasgow (JBG) has been quoted as saying "...they were concerned that with councillors on the board it raised the potential of conflicts of interest over who they were acting in the best interests of"

So here we have an organisation, run by Glasgow Crooked City Council, which is in serious trouble, is facing fraud allegations, and at it's heart has councillors who's motives for being there are, let's just say, a little more than suspect.

Come on. Seriously guys. You must've known how this was all gonna end...

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14390558.Major_blow_to_police_probe_jobs_quango_as_directors_resign_en_masse/

Saturday 7 May 2016

Terrorists VS Speeders

Chris Marshall of the Scotsman newspaper asks if Police Scotland are fully prepared for a Paris or Belgium style attack.

After his analysis, the answer ends up being we just don't know.

Police cannot give us exact details of any suspected attacks they are monitoring or how they intend to go about preventing them - for obvious reasons.

So the article ends with the conclusion that we just have to put our blind faith in Police Scotland and hope they know what they're doing.

And that bothers me.

Because I, and most members of the public I speak to, have little or no faith in Police Scotland. In fact a recent poll showed that the public do not report more than half of violent crimes to the police with 36% saying it's because they have no confidence that police will respond or do anything.

How do you feel? Do you feel safe? Do you feel Police are concentrating on the bad guys?

Or do you, like me, feel that Police Scotland officers spend more time with a speed gun targeting the general public and making them in to criminals rather than going after real criminals?

What we can safely assume is that after a terrorist attack, Police Scotland will be lucky if they catch the terrorists. They'll be very lucky if they get even a handful of convictions. After the Glasgow Airport terrorist attack in 2007, they only got ONE successful conviction against the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, a Plod with a speed camera in his hand can easily get a dozen convictions in a couple of hours in an afternoon.

Go do the maths.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/chris-marshall-is-police-scotland-properly-prepared-for-a-brussels-style-attack-1-4085475

Friday 6 May 2016

Public Should NOT Support Police And Procurator Fiscals In Court

It's common knowledge now that Police completely bungled the Emma Caldwell case - big time. As more facts come out about it, things go from bad to worse for Police Scotland.

A recent comment by one of the detectives involved in the case, Geoff Fisher, sparked my interest.

When asked if he believed that police had purposely pursued a line of enquiry against persons they knew to be innocent and not involved in the murder in order to get a return on the money they'd already spent on the case, he answered "yes, 110%".

This strikes at the heart of everything that is wrong with Police Scotland and the Crown office.

It also fits exactly with my experiences of dealing with untrustworthy Police Scotland and the corrupt Crown office and the way they try to fit up innocent people just to get a conviction on their books and close a case.

They are completely willing to arrest and prosecute a person they know to be innocent rather than 'lose face' and have to admit they spent public money going after the wrong person. They are quite happy to steal the liberty of an innocent man and destroy his life rather than say "Oops, we got it wrong, better look for the real culprit now".

That's the sad state of affairs in our crumbling justice system right now. Results (for them) are more important than truth and justice.

I remember during my case telling the Crown office Procurator Fiscal that I was innocent and the data on the mobile phone they had seized during my arrest would prove this. Now, you would think that any Procurator Fiscal hearing that, and keen to get to the truth, would have the phone interrogated and have the evidence brought before the court of law.

But instead, corrupt Procurator Fiscal Calum Forsythe tried to HIDE the evidence from the court. The last thing he wanted was proof coming before the court that I was innocent and that he was trying to get a conviction against an innocent man. Mr Forsythe and his buddies in Police Scotland had already spent a right few quid trying to get me 'done'. They certainly weren't going to allow a silly little thing like the TRUTH to get in the way of their case.

But I'm delighted to say they failed.

I got a Sheriff to ORDER corrupt Procurator Fiscal Depute Calum Forsythe to hand over the phone to me. The evidence which showed I was completely innocent was extracted from it and the rest, as they say, is history.

So it's not unusual for untrustworthy Police Scotland and the corrupt Crown office to try to pull all sorts of dirty tricks and hide evidence just to get a conviction. They do it every day.

Members of the public don't realise this though - which is why I publish this blog and write guest articles on this subject for other publications. The public are amazed when they learn that Police Scotland and the Crown office are happy to pursue people they know to be innocent just so they can 'successfully' close a case and justify all the money they spent on an investigation.

The fact that the good guy ends up in a jail cell and the baddie - in Emma Caldwell's case, a murderer - get's away scott-free is unimportant to them.

So now you know who's best interests Police Scotland and the Crown office really work for. Just remember this the next time you go as a witness for the Police or Crown office in a court case.

The Police and the Crown office are most certainly NOT the good guys in a court case. So listen very carefully to the defence solicitors arguments and take what the Police and Procurator Fiscals say in a court of law with the tiniest grain of salt.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14386786.Detective_on_Emma_Caldwell_sex_worker_murder_case_savages_original_Strathclyde_Police_probe/

Thursday 5 May 2016

And So The Pattern Repeats

We have learned that a court has alerted Police Scotland that there may be even more breaches of spying legislation than originally thought.

This is kinda strange.

Why would the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) feel the need to make the police - who did the illegal spying in the first place - aware that there may have been more illegal spying taking place than first thought? The police already know only too well how much illegal spying went on - because it was the police who actually did the illegal spying in the first place. Sheeeez!

Anyway, what it boils down to is that every other day we see more and more details about the illegal police spying scandal come out in to the open.

In fact it's getting so bad that I reckon it won't be long before the top cop in charge of the department involved in the illegal spying retires or steps down to make way for a new broom to come in and do the usual deflecting of all blame from police by apologising and pointing the finger to the old regime for past mistakes.

You know the script - it always ends with 'it was the last lot wot did it, not me', 'I've now cleaned house', 'it can never happen again', and the obligatory 'lessons have been learned' and all that.

Oops, I forgot. That's already started to happen.

Happy retirement Deputy Chief Constable Neil Richardson.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14386201.Police_Scotland_notified_of_more_potential_spying_breaches/

Wednesday 4 May 2016

Simple Pleasures

The best bar in Scotland awards have been announced. There were 11 categories of awards and two of the pubs who won awards are in my home town of Glasgow.

Congratulations to both.

I don't drink alcohol so this story wouldn't normally be of much interest to me, but my ears perked up when I heard that the award for the best hotel bar went to to a hotel in Blythswood Square, Glasgow.

Because it has to be said that I remember many years ago, back in the old Glasgow, when Blythswood Square was rather better known for another, ahem, type of hospitality.

I think the best and most diplomatic way I can put this is to say that Blythswood square used to be famous (or to be correct, infamous) as a meeting place where one could engage, for a price, with certain ladies of rather liberal morals. You get the idea.

So when one of the judges said that the awards are "all about quality of experience" and "customer care and quality being applied to every aspect of a visit" I couldn't help but chuckle.

It's nice to know that quality, pleasurable experiences are still being had by all in good old Blythswood Square!

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14385614.Glasgow_has_joint_best_bar_in_Scotland/

A Lesson In Justice

The Law Society of Scotland’s criminal law committee have issued a stark warning that a proposed new domestic abuse law intended to protect victims of psychological abuse lacks clarity and could open the floodgates to "malicious complaints".

Grazia Robertson says: "...we believe there needs to be more clarity on what any gap in existing law might be and need to examine if existing law is working effectively. It will also be essential that any offence extending beyond physical abuse or behaviour currently forbidden by the law, is clearly defined..."

As a victim of a false accuser myself, I have already written extensively about this subject, not just in this blog but in other publications too.

False accusers are often unaware of the extent to which they cause chaos in their victims lives. However many do it especially to cause as much chaos as possible to their victim.

So right away we already have a framework to base some kind of sliding scale of punishments for those false accusers who maliciously seek to cause harm to others.

Police are not skilled or trained nearly enough to spot false accusers. Funds are urgently required for this type of training. A side issue relating to this which has to be looked at is that I do not personally believe that police truly want to expose false accusers. Getting an arrest is what drives Police, not getting to the truth. Hey, the court can sort out all that truth stuff later as far as police are concerned.

If a false accuser walks in to a police station armed with enough documentation that looks reasonably good enough as evidence, why would police NOT want to help the false accuser have his or her wife or husband arrested? The truth would be a lesser result for police. And please don't trot out your official line that police only arrest if the evidence stacks up - you're just insulting everyone's intelligence. I'm talking about a serious issue here so put away your official PR book for a moment and treat it as such.

It saddens me that none of this stuff I'm discussing here ever gets spoken about and that's just plain wrong. It's a taboo subject.

The establishment seem to be under some misguided notion that when it comes to domestic abuse, or any kind of abuse for that matter, that they walk some kind of tight-rope where flushing out a false accusers story and rejecting a genuine victims story are somehow connected and exposing false accusers can hurt how genuine victims are treated. They have this idiotic idea that there's some sort of overlap, and the weeding out and dismissing of a false accusers story can have some sort of negative effect on a genuine victim.

It doesn't.

They are completely different. In fact, every case is different - or so you like to keep telling us Police Scotland.

It's all about INVESTIGATING things. Remember that Police Scotland? Remember good old fashioned Police work? Well do a little bit of it for a change please.

Check out every accusers story. You owe it to the innocent person who you may just be about to deprive of their liberty. Let me repeat that it in case you didn't quite catch it - you owe it to us.

If you have a genuine victim in front of you, his or her story will check out (and the victim will be quite happy to let you check it out AND give you all and any details you ask for).

It's the false accusers who don't want you to dig too deep in to their complaint in case you expose them. They're the ones that are sitting in your police station pushing the life out of you to go arrest the baddie. They're not too difficult to spot.

There are so many alarm bells that ring when you're dealing with a false accuser. It's really not rocket science. I've seen courts throw these cases out within MINUTES. You could too Police Scotland, if you wanted to. Just ask an accuser the right questions and check out their answers - you'll soon see the truth emerge.

We in Scotland need to get rid of this ridiculous idea that our justice system operates whereby Police Scotland charge as many people as possible with crimes and then throw it over to their buddies in the Crown office who pull out every stop possible to get as many successful convictions as they can.

That's not justice. That's hitting targets. That's point scoring. It's playing games with human lives.

Rest assured, I'm not naive. I do understand that MP's and MSP's are putting pressure on police and the Crown office to 'get results' so they can boast to their constituents how tough they've been on crime and get them to vote them back in to office again. I know how it works, believe me.

But there has to come a time where everyone can sit down together and honestly, yes I said honestly, admit to each other that our justice system can't continue to work like this because it is tearing the very fabric of society apart in its current state.

Justice is not about keeping police in a job.

Justice is not about keeping Procurator Fiscals in a job.

Justice is not about getting re-elected to a council or a parliament.

The people of Scotland are sick to the back teeth of you all. We are not lawyers yet we are in no doubt whatsoever what justice is.

It's truth.

It's fairness.

It's protection.

It's goodness.

It embodies every moral fibre of our evolution and is built in to our very souls.

It's high time all of you in our justice system started to practice it.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14422190.Lawyers_warns_of__quot_malicious_complaints_quot__risk_from_new_domestic_abuse_offence/

Tuesday 3 May 2016

The Anniversary Police Want You To Forget

Today is the anniversary of the death of Sheku Bayoh.

You may remember Sheku Bayoh was the young man who died in police custody last year.

Police Scotland would rather you didn't remember him though.

Because Sheku died when SEVEN police officers forced him to the ground and sat on top of him. Sheku never got up alive.

The family are still waiting for answers. Answers to questions such as why Police Scotland have given FIVE different stories about how it happened.

So, one year on, are we any closer to finding out the truth of how Sheku died and will any police be prosecuted for his death?

Well, consider this:

1. More than 1500 people have died in police custody in the last 25 years

2. More than 30% of them were of African or Asian descent

3. Not one official has EVER been prosecuted for ANY of those 1500 deaths

I'll let you decide.

A Bung For The Scaredy Cat

Councillor Watson McAteer has asked Police Scotland to become more pro-active in helping with the drug problems in Hawick. He says that class A drugs like heroin and cocaine are too easily available.

It's an admirable call to action but history tells us that our country's drug problem is unlikely to be solved easily - and it certainly won't be solved or even helped in any way by untrustworthy Police Scotland.

Sure, there will be a few raids and a rounding up of users and dealers at the bottom of the rung. But the Mr Bigs will never see the inside of a jail cell.

Now it's not for me to comment why Police Scotland rarely, if ever, get Mr Big.

But it has been suggested to me by others that many police officers are in the pocket of the main drug dealers at the top of the ladder and on the occasions when public opinion erupts and we scream at police to do something about the drugs in our streets they simply get their Mr Big paymasters to throw them a few minnows to arrest.

The idea is that when we, the public, see a few arrests and prosecutions, we are appeased. While the Mr Bigs continue as before.

Some have suggested to me that it's actually much simpler than that and that our police are just scared stiff of the big drug dealers. So they leave them well alone and concentrate only on the users and the lower level dealers.

Take your pick.

Of course if you ask Police Scotland they'll tell you they're doing a wonderful job, increasing public confidence, eradicating crime and drugs from our streets etc.

And such is the arrogance of Police Scotland, they actually think we believe them.

http://www.hawick-news.co.uk/news/local-headlines/police-urged-to-step-up-drugs-battle-1-4082094

Monday 2 May 2016

Police Scam The Public Again

A court has been told that a man who died in police custody may have been murdered.

The official story was supposed to be that Anthony Storrie - who died while in police custody in 2013 - died from a legal high overdose.

But a post-mortem has revealed that he actually died from a 'blunt force trauma'.

I can't think why police would want to stick to the 'legal high' story and not the 'murdered with a blunt force trauma' story, can you?

Anyway, the explanation we have been given from untrustworthy Police Scotland is that this all happened at a time when Police Scotland was in the middle of being formed - so there was some confusion as to how these kind of cases should be investigated.

Yeah right.

I once submitted a freedom of information request to Police Scotland but had it refused - because they didn't hold the information. According to them, their records now only go back as far as 2013 when the new Police Scotland came in to being.

All information pertaining to before 2013 no longer exists.

Or so they claim.

It's just a police scam of course. It's a trick they've came up with to prevent members of the public getting any information about shenanigans the police in Scotland got up to before April 2013.

It's an excuse NOT to give you information.

Do you remember the day Police Scotland came in to being? No, neither do I. Because it was just another day. The same police officers were still going about their daily beat doing the same things (and 'doing' the same people). The same police stations were still open. The same civilian employees in those police stations and offices were still at their same desks doing the same things. Nothing changed. The formation of Police Scotland was mainly administrative.

This idea that overnight a completely new and different police force were suddenly patrolling our streets is a complete none sense.

It's also an insult to our intelligence.

Shame on you Police Scotland.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14379345.Death_in_custody__quot_may_have_been_murder_quot____court_told/

Sunday 1 May 2016

Frank Mulholland Gets The Boot

It was only a matter of time after his disastrous handling of the bin lorry tragedy.

It is with great delight that we hear that Lord Advocate Frank 'I'm anything but frank' Mulholland is to get the boot from the Crown office.

Of course the Crown office are not quite phrasing like that. No, they prefer to use phrases like 'resigning', 'retiring' or 'not seeking to renew his contract' or, in this particular case, he's 'stepping down'.

But I prefer to phrase it differently. Because we all know he's being booted out because of his corruption and incompetence in the bin lorry tragedy.

Certainly the bin lorry fiasco is not the only corruption and incompetence this Crown office clown Mulholland has displayed during his disastrous tenure, but it is by far his most infamous.

So he 'steps down'. And true to form, it conveniently allows the establishment to set themselves up and get ready to deflect all criticism and blame for everything they did wrong during the Frankie boys time at the helm.

Corruption? Incompetence? Nope, not us guv. That must've happened when Frank Mulholland was the boss - and he's not here any more, sorry.

Yeah. Big boys did it and ran away.

The pattern is all too familiar.

The excrement is about to hit the ventilator big time and the Crown office know it. So the person responsible (the Frankie boy) 'steps down' so that a new stooge and apologist can be put in place to say 'sorry' for what happened previously.

So expect the new Lord Advocate apologist to spew out all those old well worn phrases such as 'it was down to people who no longer work here', 'I'm a new broom sweeping clean', and 'lessons have been learned' etc.

<yawn>