Category Archives: UK Riots in August 2011

On Thursday the 4th August Metropolitan Police shot dead a man named Mark Duggan in Tottenham, London. Over the following week a wave of violence and looting took place in London and a number of other locations.

Blue Light Commissioner


According to todays Times the Government is about to extend the role of Police and Crime Commissioners to oversee Fire & Rescue Services. Apart from any Union opposition which the article focuses on, this is a mistake for several reasons. The most fundamental … Continue reading

Posted in Justice Issues, Parliament and Democracy, Police & Crime Commissioner, Policing, UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two blasts from the past


This week the Government has been forced to address two matters that have been bubbling away for more than a year. The High Court judgement over the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers (DRIP) Act which I wrote about extensively last … Continue reading

Posted in Data Retention and Investigatory Powers, Justice Issues, Parliament and Democracy, Police & Crime Commissioner, Policing, UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

20 months on the WC?


Political constipation is not unknown in the Home Office, but it is not something to be encouraged, particularly when other parts of the same department appear to have the Political equivalent of the runs. According to this report a request for … Continue reading

Posted in Data Retention and Investigatory Powers, Parliament and Democracy, Policing, UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

rarely used and rarely seen?


The anniversary of the Summer riots in 2011 is a mere month away. One of the consequences of the terrible scenes from Croydon and other parts of London along with a small number of urban settings across the UK is the … Continue reading

Posted in Parliament and Democracy, Policing, UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sentences I don’t understand


The value of custodial sentences for Andy Coulson and his fellow conspirators is surely questionable. As a society that locks up far more people than most of our neighbours his punishment is something that is hard to justify in terms of the best … Continue reading

Posted in Journalism, Justice Issues, Phone Hacking, Policing, UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

We’ve got it so we must use it!


Some of us are occasionally tempted to buy gadgets that we don’t need right now, but look shiny and new and persuade us that they will come in useful before too long. So the gadget comes home and you spend time getting … Continue reading

Posted in Community Safety, Justice Issues, Parliament and Democracy, Policing, UK Riots in August 2011, Youth Issues | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three months later…….


Three months after the London disturbances, another gang came to have fun in London last night intending to create some headlines. They consumed large quantities of alcohol and appear to have had a good time. These were not the rioters of August many … Continue reading

Posted in UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

How to avoid offence


In the context of a Summer of disturbances in some of our major cities we in Sussex are grateful that the copy cat actions did not reach our County boundaries. Some early indications of trouble were picked up in Crawley and … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Policing, UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How blind is our Justice System?


Our courts have been kept busy this Summer handing out a range of punishments to those who have broken our laws in many places. It is vital for the well-being of society that we have confidence that crimes are dealt with appropriately. Sentencing … Continue reading

Posted in Parliament and Democracy, UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

End the farce at New Scotland Yard!


As part of the famous handbag scene in Oscar Wilde’s farce, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell declares ‘To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.’ This same epithet … Continue reading

Posted in Phone Hacking, Policing, UK Riots in August 2011 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment