It's a Fair Cop.......Cop!!!!!

And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse?

The corruption and devil-may-care cavalier attitude becomes evident or should I say evidence?

One presumes that all our Boys in BLUE are honest decent upholders of the law.....but it only takes one bad apple and the rest becomes a realisation!



Lesson One: Bread & Butter Policing

This is so called because it is basic policing - the staple diet of a police officer is statement taking. It is one of the first things an officer learns to do. It's essential to have a first hand account of what has actually happened at a crime scene, written, signed and validated.

Here is the ideal scenario.

(i) If you see a crime being committed — you call the police.

(ii) If you're lucky and they're not busy — they turn up.

(iii) If you're lucky and they're feeling brave — they arrest the criminal.

(iv) If you're lucky and the police are having a good brain day — they label any evidence available and take it with them — though its debatable if it's ever
seen again.

(v) If you're lucky and its not burger time — they take a statement.

(vi) If you're lucky and you know your rights — you read the statement.

(vii)If you're lucky and the police manage to copy down what you said
correctly — you sign it.

(viii)If you're lucky and the CPS think they have a good chance of a
conviction — it goes to court.

(ix) If you're lucky and your perpetrator hasn't got a good solicitor to get
him off — ie 'he comes from a broken home m'lud' - He's sentenced
usually to some paltry community service.

(x) If you're extra lucky you might get some kind of compensation for any
damage incurred. (Though hopes of this materialising is tantamount to winning the lottery as most of these perps don't have 2pence to scratch their backsides with so rule out any idea of moving to millionaires row).

(xi) If you're extra extra lucky and you manage all of the above — that might be your only brush with the law, but the chances are it won't be and you'll end up
a recurring victim of one kind or another.

Can you see the overall pattern emerging here?

Its mostly down to luck whether or not you get a conviction against a felon.

Well that is how it works in theory but in practise ......now that's another kettle of RED herrings!

In my case, because of course by now most of you will have realised that I am a special case, my local beat bobby didn't do any of the above.

He was called to my home late one night after my having experienced several items being thrown at my re-enforced windows, one so violently that it made the camera attached to the window
become dislodged.
I'm aware of what has been captured on video tape by the cameras and know who the perpetrator is — the grandson of a SEDGEFIELD BOROUGH COUNCILLOR and one no less than was asked by TONY BLAIR'S office to get in touch and help me.
He didn't of course and now I know why. His grandson was part of the gang that made my life intolerable.

My local beat bobby arrives takes the tape and says he will be back later to take a statement, and that was the last I saw of him until several days later when another incident with my neighbour coming into my garden and staring through my windows was reported. He comes out and says he would have a word. There was no mention of the previous incident or the taking of a statement. After having been let down so often - I thought that it was a case of another crime going nowhere as so many other incidents had even though they had been caught on camera too.
You could have knocked me down with a feather when several weeks later I get a letter through the post saying 'I would not be required at court as the youth had admitted guilt and my statement would not be needed to be read out.
ALARM BELLS START RINGING!!!!! WAIT A MINUTE - I HAVEN'T MADE A STATEMENT!

I rang the courts and was put through to the Duty Sgt - when I explained my position there was one of those sharp intakes of breath and he said an Inspector would be round to see me shortly.
I had no sooner put the phone down and made a cup of tea when there was a knock at the door and yes you guessed it AN INSPECTOR CALLS.

There stood the newly appointed

Community Inspector STEVE WINSHIP.

He came in introduced himself and showed me a statement housed in a clear perspex wallet. He asked me to read it and to check the signatures.
The statement was nothing like what I had recounted — it was totally inaccurate.
My name had been forged twice on the statement, once on the first page and finally at the end.
As an afterthought to make it look thoroughly authentic, my initials had been inserted where a crossing out had taken place.
But as I pointed out to the Inspector my name was spelled incorrectly - I do know how to spell my own name!

I was asked to furnish the Inspector with proof of my signature, my passport and my credit cards. He scrutinised these and then asked me to sign four blank pieces of paper as further proof of my identity.
He then took them and told me that there would be further investigations made. He asked me not to tell my beat bobby what had happened as he couldn't be sure yet who had forged my name on the statement. That's great so any one of his officers at the station could be considered a forger?
Only after he left did the seriousness of what had happened hit me.

A member of Her Majesty's Constabulary had forged my name on a Witness statement.

So after finally getting one of these vagabonds into court the only statement submitted at that time wasn't even signed by me!!!!!

It wasn't enough for me to have to be victimised day after day by low life and then ignored by the council, now I had to be cheated on by the police!

How low can you go ...... to the depths of despair obviously???

Guns R Us

In the past year armed officers have been deployed 235 times across County Durham and Darlington, 141 more than in the previous year. While at one time unarmed officers were often first on the scene following reports regarding firearms, this is no longer the case. "People carrying air guns are potentially putting themselves in a dangerous situation. The more often armed officers are called to incidents involving air guns and other weapons the greater the chance that, at some point, the person who has sparked the alert will behave in a way that will end in tragedy,"said Supt McAloon.
Courtesy of Durham Constabulary Website.


The police are of course talking of the 1994 amendment on the 1968 Firearms Act which states unequivocally:
QUOTE:
Possession of firearm with intent to cause fear of violence
It is an offence for a person to have in his possession any firearm or imitation firearm with intent—
(a) by means thereof to cause, or
(b) to enable another person by means thereof to cause,
any person to believe that unlawful violence will be used against him or another person.”
(2) In Part I of Schedule 6 to that Act (prosecution and punishment of offences), after the entry relating to section 16 there shall be inserted the following entry—
“Section 16A
Possession of firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
On indictment
10 years or a fine; or both.
—”
2 Application of sections 20 and 46 of 1968 Act to imitation firearms
(1) In section 20 of the 1968 Act (trespassing with firearms), after the word “firearm”, in both places where it occurs, there shall be inserted the words “or imitation firearm”.
(2) In subsection (1)(b) of section 46 of that Act (power of search with warrant), after the word “firearm” there shall be inserted the words “, imitation firearm”.
(3) In Part I of Schedule 6 to that Act—
(a) in the entry relating to section 20(1), in the second column, after the word “firearm” there shall be inserted the words "or imitation firearm" and, in the third column, after the words “but not” there shall be inserted the words “in the case of an imitation firearm or; and
(b) in the entry relating to section 20(2), in the second column, after the word “firearm” there shall be inserted the words “or imitation firearm”. UNQUOTE


This is right and proper, no-one should live in fear of the possibility of firearms, imitation or otherwise being discharged in a public place.
BB Guns come under this catagory, they are not to be discharged in a public place as many of them fire metal ball bearings which can easily penetrate windows and cause severe injury.

So why then when presented with 8 minutes of video tape showing guns being fired across my property just feet from my windows does a police officer tell me to 'Forget about it - they're just BB guns'?


Below are a selection of excuses, sorry reasons why the police in their wisdom gave me this answer. See if you can pick the right one?


a) I'm a special case so don't warrant protection?

b) It's always been like that in this place, forget it!

c) We are too busy to help you (can't be ar$ed syndrome)!

d) What's one more crime anyway?

e) We don't care and you can't make us do anything!


THAT WAS A TRICK QUESTION:


Any one or all of the answers is probably right - one thing's for sure we will never really know, only the police have the answer and they're not telling!
So I was left traumatised and made to feel helpless.

Nobody who should have cared about my welfare and safety cared whether my windows were shot out or I suffered injury.

Caring is not in the police handbook!
(In my humble opinion .....of course)

It's only Human Nature after all!

Having had an audience with the mighty Caesar and see my pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears, I expect my masters thought that would be the end of my travail. They hadn't reckoned on the Custer element in me. In fact a senior police officer said 'We have severely underestimated your determination'. 'Yes, Sonny you have'! I'm not used to losing and certainly not to scum low life aided and abetted by local connections and nepotism at work.
Ok, so it might be judged reckless with hindsight to continue fighting for the
right to live a peaceful existence in my own home.
(That's sarcasm by the way)

There was a time in this country when people stood up for their rights, we fought oppression and thuggery and we were proud to have done so, but not now, now we are expected to accept and not answer back when mob rules and our property is damaged and our lives are ruined. If we dare to oppose them our windows are smashed, we are petrol bombed or even worse stabbed.

Not one person in the village of 2300 stood by me yet every one of them was aware of what was happening, I mean after all they had to pass my house everyday to go to the shop as it was slam bang centre to the village. They couldn't miss the damage, the bricks in the gutter, the glass all over the pavements coupled with the assortment of beer cans, whisky and vodka bottles and the odd pizza box or two.

That was the nature of the beast I was dealing with. Cowardice of the enth degree.

As I told their so called leaders many times over the coming months, 'They can't smash everybody's windows every night forever, there comes a time when we start to win the war'. And make no mistake this was a war I was fighting but I was fighting it alone. No-one wanted to know my troubles because if the truth be known if anything happened to any one of them and it did from time to time, they dealt with it themselves — the baseball bat mentality is alive and well even within the council!
Everybody expected me to just up and leave. That in itself is pretty near impossible, when you have crimes logged against your property that have to be declared on a SPIF (Solicitors Property Information Form) and you are living next to the worst neighbours in the village! Who the hell would buy a house with that kind of history? What was I supposed to do? Did they think I would be happy to spend the rest of my life playing human ping-pong back and forth between the Police who are by this time proving how ineffective they were in catching criminals and the council who were denying any liability to help me and were behaving like bullies.
Just because the majority of people in this farce never aspired to living a well- rounded normal life didn't mean I had to do the same!

I set myself a time scale. I decided to give them a chance to put things right and in the meantime I would be gathering as much evidence of their wrong doings as possible.
This took the form of my attending the Parish Meetings, a regular free-for all that would put a chimps tea party to shame, and to question the borough council over their non-existent Anti Social Behaviour policy and non existent ASB officer. An officer who should have been appointed as a matter of course according to the Gospel of St. Tone where we are all equal and should be afforded help and protection under Anti Social Behaviour legislation.
It also appeared to have been my new career move to advise Durham Constabulary on the finer points of beat policing as they seemed to ignore my crimes as much as possible — quoting the old well worn chestnut of 'Neighbourly Dispute' except that it wasn't one.
As I pointed out generally speaking a dispute has two sides to it and here I was just being continually victimised by a bunch of drunken thugs who had been out of control for years, left to run amok and used to getting their own way unchallenged.

But as a high ranking police officer pointed out to me at the time — 'Its only Human Nature after all'.
I hope that phrase is carved in stone as a memento mori to his time served in the force — nice to know he never believed in making a difference.................................... A FORCE NOT TO BE RECKONED WITH..............IN WHICH WE SERVE!

MP's ~ Motives Perverse

So where were we in this farce?

Oh yes! After having exhausted my avenues with the council and then going from the frying pan into the fire of Police suit-speak doublethink mentality, I decided to try the third major player in this game of life called 'pin the tail on the donkey'......my MP.

An MP is elected to represent his constituency and he swears allegiance to his party, the government BUT has a special responsibility to his constituents after all we gave him the job in the first place.
MP's are of course very busy people Ha! Ha! and as such have a whole flotilla of helpers that they claim expenses for one of which is their agent.

Yes, it was the FAT CAT's turn!

Not to be too downhearted I attempted to get my MP to help exert pressure on the police and Local Authority to stem the rising tide of crime against me.
The mayhem was still continuing only now the infernal infidels had half the village on their side not only through fear but because to be honest they were just criminally intent.
I am victimised and abused every single day, my house is continually damaged and I am left living in total isolation as nobody will come near the place except the resident low-lifers.

This of course is supposed to be a normal way of living according to Sedgefield Borough Council and Durham Constabulary who openly admitted they didn't know how to stop the problem....great!!!

However, I am still living with a microcosm of confidence that my Saviour is just around the corner.

I write to my MP's agent and he arranges a meeting .
This is great at last some progress.
My MP says he will get on to the Chief Constable to see what can be done.
Several weeks pass and eventually his office replies with a letter saying they hope I....... 'might keep an occasional contact with the village when I leave'.

Oh silly me, that is the solution, just up and go and sod everything else!!!!

I find this reply totally bewildering as my MP is a stalwart campaigner against Anti-Social Behaviour and none other than........wait for it ........................................

Anthony Charles Lyndon Blair QC..........

Oh Tony-Full-of-Baloney.... where do we go from here?

Aiming for Excellence

After being well and truly put in my place by council employees and Chief Execs alike and told not to bother them again,I did as they suggested I contacted the police.

Now we come to the 'never-never-make-believe' part of the story.

Those of you who have ever come up against any kind of criminal situation will think as I did that the police are there to help you?


WRONG, they are there to tick boxes and reach targets, assure the public they care and clear their desks at the end of the day.


Maybe that's a little unkind as I'm sure there are some decent police officers who go into the job hoping to make a difference.
Trouble is they don't because the system for want of a better word is weighted against the victim in society,that means you and me!

You can't win......and if you try to.....their dogma is
'How dare you criticise us'! Being honest can have its downside - especially when you are dealing with Local Authorities and the police. All they want is suit-speak and a sacrificial lamb.

Our Police (spent) Force are doing a great job manoeuvring paperwork from place to place until it gets 'lost'
in the boys-in-blue twilight zone.


The truth is out there but you'll never find it!

But I digress, I asked Durham Police for help and was firmly told by a visiting Sgt ' If you lived in Middlesbrough you wouldnt even warrant a visit with this kind of triviality'.

That's me told then..... How dare I ask for help?

According to the Gospel of Sgt. D. I should be grateful for small mercies, the odd brick through the window, the noise until all hours, the stench of an errant menagerie housed against my wall, although it doesnt say much for the standards that the *Smoggies have to endure.

So 'Aiming for Excellence' might be the tagline Durham Constabulary aspires to, but not too often eh?
Success is not a given in the North East of England, it's a b!oody miracle!


Here I am still stuck on the Magic Roundabout of Law and Order, and Accountability and no-one else is along for the ride.



*Smoggies - nickname for the inhabitants of Middlesbrough,
allegedly a crime hotspot according to the police - but remember this is the police speaking!