Thanks for pointing that out nephorm. You are definately one smart nerd. I was a kid when all that happened so I wasn’t aware of how it all played out. I just remember seeing the ads on tv then hearing the movie was banned.
Loose tool I don’t think it’s the dental care. My father has some real horror stories to tell about the dentist in the RAF. My relatives who still have teeth usually go into their own pocket and seek out the American style dentists over there.
This story gives a good example of how useless the authorities are there.
Masked men caught on church roof stealing lead… but that’s not enough evidence, say police
By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 12:02 AM on 07th June 2008
When three masked men were caught on the roof of an ancient church that had been stripped of lead worth £100,000, villagers felt their prayers had been answered.
Police arrived in time to catch the trio - in balaclavas and masks - red-handed.
Lead had been taken off and rolled up nearby ready to be taken away.
But to the astonishment of residents they only got a caution because officers decided they may just have been admiring the view
After ten thefts of lead in as many months from St Helen’s Church in Treeton, South Yorkshire, locals had become so desperate they had even set up their own undercover operation to catch them.
However, police let the suspects off because of ‘insufficient evidence’.
The men had nothing incriminating in their possession when searched and no fingerprints could be taken from the stolen lead.
Churchwarden’s wife Carole Robinson says 85 per cent of the lead on the roof has been taken.
She added: 'It was beyond belief. The police said they could claim they had only gone up to look at the view. It left people furious.
‘We have been plagued with lead thefts and when we finally catch men on the roof they let them off.’
The roof is covered with plastic sheets while officials raise £100,000 to fix it, plus the same amount to repair the tower of the church, which is in the Domesday Book.
Builders have erected scaffolding to replace the roof with stainless steel sheets, but thieves have used it to get easier access and steal lead they could not reach before.
Residents spotted the men on the roof after evening service on Sunday.
Mrs Robinson said: 'The police arrived and the men came down and in effect gave themselves up.
'It seemed they had been caught red-handed. Lead had been removed and rolled up ready to be carried off.
‘But the police said lead was not the kind of material you could get fingerprints from and they did not have enough evidence to take them to court because they could not link the men to the lead. I felt totally vulnerable. The law seems to be on the side of the criminals.’
Suggestions from police that the men were just ‘youths’ caught on scaffolding were angrily refuted.
She said: ‘They were men aged between 20 and 30 and they had balaclavas and gloves. I think it’s quite wrong for the police dismiss this as youths playing on the scaffolding.’
But Chief Inspector Jason Harwin said: 'Four officers, including a dog handler, spoke with three youths who were on the scaffolding.
'Officers searched all three and examined the surrounding area but found no evidence that any offences had been committed, nor that the youths possessed any articles with
which to commit any offences. Officers had no power to arrest these youths. They were warned to stay away from the property.
‘Operations have been conducted to catch offenders stealing lead but these have been to no gain. Work is continuing to tackle the issue.’
Thefts of lead from church roofs have become a national problem. Ecclesiastical Insurance, which covers 95 per cent of Anglican churches in Britain received 2,000 claims relating to lead thefts worth £6million in 2007. In 2005, there were 80 claims for £300,000.
So, I take it that requiring evidence to convict someone is a bad thing then?
[quote]vroom wrote:
So, I take it that requiring evidence to convict someone is a bad thing then?[/quote]
Based on my read, it sounded like there was plenty of evidence to charge them.
[quote]Loose Tool wrote:
Based on my read, it sounded like there was plenty of evidence to charge them.
[/quote]
The “read” is something that is easy to manipulate via a one-sided story.
However, if there was enough evidence to change them (and I’d agree it sounded open and shut based on the story) I’d sooner point to having friends on the force or a payoff than blame all things liberal.
[quote]vroom wrote:
Loose Tool wrote:
Based on my read, it sounded like there was plenty of evidence to charge them.
The “read” is something that is easy to manipulate via a one-sided story.
However, if there was enough evidence to change them (and I’d agree it sounded open and shut based on the story) I’d sooner point to having friends on the force or a payoff than blame all things liberal.[/quote]
But it is the liberals who have made such a mess of Britain. It is the liberals who keep coming up with ill thought out laws that are making the country ever more lawless.
[quote]Sifu wrote:
But it is the liberals who have made such a mess of Britain. It is the liberals who keep coming up with ill thought out laws that are making the country ever more lawless. [/quote]
Ever more lawless?
Is this the perennial older person thinking the world is going to hell in a hand-basket?
Here is another good example of how incompetant the liberals are.
Harriet Harman (aka Harriet Harperson) is the head of the ministry of justice. She is the person responsible for law and order. Because of her position in the government she has round the clock police protection, yet she can’t even secure her own home. The rest of the country is even more vulnerable.
[quote]Sifu wrote:
Here is another good example of how incompetant the liberals are.
Harriet Harman (aka Harriet Harperson) is the head of the ministry of justice. She is the person responsible for law and order. Because of her position in the government she has round the clock police protection, yet she can’t even secure her own home. The rest of the country is even more vulnerable.[/quote]
I don’t see how this really has anything to do with your claim that the country is going to hell in a hand basket because of liberals…
You should take a look at crime statistics. All measures of crime have gone up over there. It is the liberals who wanted gun conrol. In the first five years after the 1997 gun control act the rate of gun crime doubled.
Today if someone in Britain shoots a home invader they will be arrested for murder like Mr. Martin.
It is the liberals who do everything they can to make it safe for criminals to commit crime.
It is the liberals who changed the rules for crime reporting so that the statistics for murder could be reduced with out the murder rate being affected. Yet the murder rate still has gone up.
Luckily, I live over here in Colorado, US. If someone tries to physically harm you, you are allowed protect yourself. If the person is killed, then are you are still not responsible as you were fighting back for self defense. Thank you for the Make My Day law.
Hey gun control works! Just look at Japan:
See, people don’t kill people, just those evil guns.
[quote]Natural Nate wrote:
Hey gun control works! Just look at Japan:
See, people don’t kill people, just those evil guns.[/quote]
you really shold look at Japans homicide numbers at large. A determined guy works with the tools at hand.
[quote]vroom wrote:
Sifu wrote:
But it is the liberals who have made such a mess of Britain. It is the liberals who keep coming up with ill thought out laws that are making the country ever more lawless.
Ever more lawless?
Is this the perennial older person thinking the world is going to hell in a hand-basket?[/quote]
We’re bewildered by you crazy youngsters. You seem to have a limited concept of justice.
Oh well, that’s what happens when old libs teach idiotic youngsters that there is no right or wrong, that you have to see ‘the big picture’, and the young idiots swallow all that koolaid.
[quote]Sifu wrote:
It is the liberals who do everything they can to make it safe for criminals to commit crime.
[/quote]
Of course. Why do you think they did what they did? Libs love to incite violence and chaos, so they can introduce repressive measures and take power. Libs live for power.
Did you really think that libs care about people? LOL! Libs just want power. They are nasty little fascists in the making.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Sifu wrote:
It is the liberals who do everything they can to make it safe for criminals to commit crime.
Of course. Why do you think they did what they did? Libs love to incite violence and chaos, so they can introduce repressive measures and take power. Libs live for power.
Did you really think that libs care about people? LOL! Libs just want power. They are nasty little fascists in the making.
[/quote]
I could lol if it wasn’t you, HH. But you do, nevertheless, examplify the divide in american culture.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Sifu wrote:
It is the liberals who do everything they can to make it safe for criminals to commit crime.
Of course. Why do you think they did what they did? Libs love to incite violence and chaos, so they can introduce repressive measures and take power. Libs live for power.
Did you really think that libs care about people? LOL! Libs just want power. They are nasty little fascists in the making.
[/quote]
What we are seeing in Britain today is the death of the free society. The liberals have created the conditions of lawlesness which they will then be required to step in and resolve with draconian measures.
The thing is they have enough laws on the books today to deal with the problems but the police and courts don’t enforce them.
If you read the news you will see that the society is going through all this hand wringing about what to do about young people carrying knives. There are all kinds of calls for tough sentences for any kid caught with a knife. What they don’t call for is tough sentences for murder. Kids are carrying knives because they are more worried about getting murdered than they are about getting arrested.
Another problem with the liberals is they keep coming out with these half baked rights acts which go way too far. The liberals are doing this because they want people to get thoroughly fed up with hearing about human rights. The liberals don’t care about human rights they want to discredit human rights.
What is happening today in Britain is an object lesson of what will happen in the US if Obama becomes president and along with a democrat controlled congress sets about tearing up the second amendment.
[quote]Sifu wrote:
What is happening today in Britain is an object lesson of what will happen in the US if Obama becomes president and along with a democrat controlled congress sets about tearing up the second amendment.[/quote]
Yet most people fail to see that because they are afraid of being labeled as racist or prejudice, so they blindly follow Obama. Then there are the ones that think that they are being open minded because they don’t care if there is a black president, so they go out of their way to make others notice them and their beliefs, although they themselves are the ones that are most racist.
Here is another example of getting away with murder in Britain. In Britain if you call a hitman in front of witnesses and he comes and kills someone in front of the same witesses the police will only interview you.
Murder at the checkout: Shopper ‘killed in Sainsbury’s after queue-jumping row’
A shopper has died after he was attacked in Sainsbury’s in a row over queue-jumping.
Kevin Tripp, 57, was hit so hard in the face as he waited by the checkouts that he collapsed to the floor unconscious and in a pool of blood.
Horrified shoppers, including young children, saw the father-of-one crumple to the ground. He was taken to hospital but died late last night.
Tony Virasami, 37, from Catford, south-east London, appeared in court today charged with his murder and was remanded in custody.
It is alleged his girlfriend summoned him to the store after she accused Mr Tripp of barging in front of her in the queue to pay.
Mr Tripp, who lived near to the store in Merton, south west London, and has a five-year-old daughter, is thought to have hit his head as he fell, causing critical injuries.
He was taken to nearby St George’s Hospital in Tooting where he was briefly resuscitated but later lapsed into a coma and died late last night.
Virasami was initially charged with grievous bodily harm but the charge was changed to murder when Mr Tripp died.
Appearing at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court today wearing a white t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, spoke only to confirm his name and address.
He was remanded in custody until September 18 when he will appear at the Old Bailey.
The woman believed to be his girlfriend has also been questioned by police.
Mr Tripp, a retired structural engineer, had battled with ill health for much of his life. He suffered from paralytic polio when he was born and then contracted ME 10 years ago.
Mauricette Kouadio, 40, a customer services staff member who saw him fall to the floor after the alleged assault, said: ‘He had a cut to his head, there was blood in his nose, his mouth was full of blood - it was everywhere. He got the wrong guy.’
She added: 'I waited with the man on the floor but he was unconscious. I called the ambulance and the police came.
‘The rude guy ran off with his friend but was caught by a security guard. I think he was arrested.’
Another witness said: ‘The victim was simply standing there. He was hit once and then slumped to the floor.’
A police source said last night: ‘There can be no more chilling example of yob Britain than an innocent man being subjected to a vicious attack in a supermarket over something so trivial.’
The victim was described as white and the attacker black.
Detectives were today examining CCTV footage from the store and were appealing for more witnesses from among the dozens of shoppers who were in the store to come forward.
Scotland Yard said the death would now be treated as a murder investigation.
A spokesman said today: 'A man assaulted in High Street, Merton, on June 10 died at 11.45pm on June 11 at St George’s Hospital, Tooting.
‘A post-mortem and formal identification will take place in due course.’
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s said: ‘We can confirm an incident took place at the Merton store on Tuesday night. We are currently helping the police with their inquiries.’
[quote]Sifu wrote:
Here is another example of getting away with murder in Britain. In Britain if you call a hitman in front of witnesses and he comes and kills someone in front of the same witesses the police will only interview you.
Murder at the checkout: Shopper ‘killed in Sainsbury’s after queue-jumping row’
A shopper has died after he was attacked in Sainsbury’s in a row over queue-jumping.
Kevin Tripp, 57, was hit so hard in the face as he waited by the checkouts that he collapsed to the floor unconscious and in a pool of blood.
Horrified shoppers, including young children, saw the father-of-one crumple to the ground. He was taken to hospital but died late last night.
Tony Virasami, 37, from Catford, south-east London, appeared in court today charged with his murder and was remanded in custody.
It is alleged his girlfriend summoned him to the store after she accused Mr Tripp of barging in front of her in the queue to pay.
Mr Tripp, who lived near to the store in Merton, south west London, and has a five-year-old daughter, is thought to have hit his head as he fell, causing critical injuries.
He was taken to nearby St George’s Hospital in Tooting where he was briefly resuscitated but later lapsed into a coma and died late last night.
Virasami was initially charged with grievous bodily harm but the charge was changed to murder when Mr Tripp died.
Appearing at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court today wearing a white t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, spoke only to confirm his name and address.
He was remanded in custody until September 18 when he will appear at the Old Bailey.
The woman believed to be his girlfriend has also been questioned by police.
Mr Tripp, a retired structural engineer, had battled with ill health for much of his life. He suffered from paralytic polio when he was born and then contracted ME 10 years ago.
Mauricette Kouadio, 40, a customer services staff member who saw him fall to the floor after the alleged assault, said: ‘He had a cut to his head, there was blood in his nose, his mouth was full of blood - it was everywhere. He got the wrong guy.’
She added: 'I waited with the man on the floor but he was unconscious. I called the ambulance and the police came.
‘The rude guy ran off with his friend but was caught by a security guard. I think he was arrested.’
Another witness said: ‘The victim was simply standing there. He was hit once and then slumped to the floor.’
A police source said last night: ‘There can be no more chilling example of yob Britain than an innocent man being subjected to a vicious attack in a supermarket over something so trivial.’
The victim was described as white and the attacker black.
Detectives were today examining CCTV footage from the store and were appealing for more witnesses from among the dozens of shoppers who were in the store to come forward.
Scotland Yard said the death would now be treated as a murder investigation.
A spokesman said today: 'A man assaulted in High Street, Merton, on June 10 died at 11.45pm on June 11 at St George’s Hospital, Tooting.
‘A post-mortem and formal identification will take place in due course.’
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s said: ‘We can confirm an incident took place at the Merton store on Tuesday night. We are currently helping the police with their inquiries.’
[/quote]
To be fair, I don’t see that this is getting away with murder. This case hasn’t run it’s course, yet.