Julia

No it's not another Orwell based screed, but I wanted to see if I could sneak a reference in anyway.

Instead it's this story, via JuliaM: do read it for yourself. It's heartbreaking and sickmaking. Aside from the suicide, which might have any number of long term causes, a man was indeed treated as essentially guilty before any reasonable process of investigation was carried out.

This complaint alone would have been enough for me -or anyone working with or near "vulnerable people" to lose my job and never be able to work in education again, since it would have appeared on the enhanced CRB check all such workers have to go through.

Think about this world we're living in. You can lose jobs, opportunities, have the police record your details, be bailed without any due process, simply for being completely and utterly innocent.

You can lose your job and never get it back purely on the basis of a false, unsubstantiated complaint. And you become, on the way, just another automatic suspect on the DNA database. Your DNA routinely searched whenever a crime happens, just in case you did it. There is also no possibility of a mistake, obviously.

Let us also not think that the police believe in the concept of innocence. A year or so ago a top policemen said on Radio 5 that he had found that people wrongly arrested were often guilty of other things, so they should definitely have their DNA recorded.

Just when - and why - did the concept of innocence disappear?

Let's just repeat that earlier point though, because it's worth it: you do not need to be guilty of anything to lose your job and have your life ruined.


"If that's justice, I'm a banana."

Fuck Me, That's Harsh

Jeezus, a minimum of 17 years for beating the shit out of a poor innocent fucker and killing him! Fucking hell that is a bit much isn't it? I mean, it's not as if it was a hate crime, eh? I mean, they were just beating one poor cunt to death, weren't they? Not an entire group of society, so it's ok, surely? And they were, er, sort of young, even if they had previous, which only goes to show how, like totally disadvantaged they were. I mean, not like I would have tackled those cunts at the scene, no way, but really, if you kill someone it's not like you should give up all of your rights, because, like, the point of human rights is that they're absolute, yeah? No-one can take them away. Oh, wait, yeah, well some buggers will always take away your rights but nothing gives you the right to take away any of their rights. Why? Because they're absolute. What? Yeah, but that's, like, an accident, so it can't be stopped. Just because you're killed, or some twat like your dad or your grandad, it doesn't mean you've got the right to take away their rights, I mean you just don't know what they've suffered. Plus, their rights are absolute. Yeah, well, so are yours. Yeah, but's it's like, absolute with regard to the state if you're a healthy adult, not absolute with regard to evil cunts. No, we don't really think there's any such thing as evil. It's like, Thatcher and that. So it's kind of, sometimes an excuse. It's complicated: the sort of thing a twat like yourself wouldn't really get. No, obviously, absolute rights can't stop murder and that. So, no, you don't have an absolute right to live. No-one does. But, sort of, the state can't just go taking lives away. Yeah, but that's different, they've consented, or they're not really human anyway. Yeah but that's also different, because that's war, innit? Collateral damage, sort of thing. No-one meant to. Anyway, you can't kill people just because they've killed someone, also you can't lock someone up for life because they'll have nothing to live for and that isn't fair, like. Yeah, but that's a bit simplistic: it's not really their fault, they're disadvantaged, see. Oh, yeah, I know we said that in 1965, but, let's face it, we can't lock someone up for 50 years just because they've beat some poor innocent cunt to death for no reason can we, I mean that just isn't, fucking fair, is it? You don't deserve to lose your chances in life just because you've beat the fucking daylights out of some cunt and left his brains on the pavement, do you? Yeah, but it's an isolated incident, it means nothing, the guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yes, I know it was his driveway but it was still the wrong place. He should of locked himself in his bog and called the cops. Yeah but they can't be blamed can they, they're busy people, no-one could blame them if they didn't come to a sort of minor sounding incident sort of thing, yeah? Anyway it just goes to show that alcohol should be loads more expensive, because it's Stella drinkers like you who become murderous bastards. Yeah, you. How much have you had tonight anyway? You stupid old twat. I could have you for that. Yeah, straight up. Go on, you can buy me a pint for that. Or I'll tell the barman you're Alistair Darling.