UK Policing News

Two paramedics have been arrested on suspicion of neglecting to perform a public duty following the death of a man in Brighton. South East Coast Ambulance Service said the men, aged 35 and 44, and both from Brighton, had been questioned and bailed to a date in January 2009. The pair have been suspended from the ambulance service pending the Sussex Police investigation. Barry Baker died at his home in Braybon Avenue on 29 November. 'Full co-operation' A spokesman for South East Ambulance said: "South East Coast Ambulance Service has suspended two male members of staff from duty as police conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the sudden death…

Source: http://www.gmp.police.uk/mainsite/pages/97...52C005A6BB6.htm Greater Manchester Police has received more than 5,000 999 calls over Christmas. Of all the 999 calls made between midday Christmas Eve and midday Boxing Day a significant portion of them were from people who did not need the police and 72 were hoax calls. Senior officers are today appealing to the public to only call 999 in an emergency – where there is a threat to life or a crime in progress. Call handlers must be allowed to focus their attention and resources on urgent calls where people actually need help from the emergency services. The following are some examples of calls received by GMP's o…

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it is illegal for the government to retain DNA profiles and fingerprints belonging to two men never convicted of any crime. The landmark decision could mean the more than 570,000 DNA profiles in the National DNA Database belonging to innocent individuals will have to be deleted. Police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland currently have powers to take DNA and fingerprints from everyone they arrest. The case was heard by the 17 judges of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The challenge was brought by two men from Sheffield. DNA was taken from Michael Marper, 45, when he was charged w…

Hopefully she's a local woman who'll be caught quickly. I know kids can be annoying at times, but it just goes to show how low some parts of society can be when a grown adult can kick a child in the face.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/notting...ire/7795709.stm (video on link)

Long leg of the law: Police unveil stilt-walkers as latest weapon in crackdown on binge drinking http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...lt-walkers.html So, did it work? It is one way of getting the girls.

A former Metropolitan Police officer has been sentenced to six years in prison for blackmailing 11 sex offenders and suspected criminals. Pc Amerdeep Singh Johal, 29, from Ilford, east London, used the force's criminal intelligence system, CrimInt, to access and download their details. Johal was found guilty on 12 counts of blackmail and one count of misconduct in a public office at the Old Bailey. He claimed he sent the blackmail letters last July under duress. Jurors rejected Johal's tearful claim that he had been forced to send out the blackmail letters by two men who had approached him and threatened his family. Judge Gerald Gordon told him: "You grossly a…

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11...court-told.html Credit-crunched building boss spat in police officer's face after row with his girlfriend, court told 180 hours unpaid work, 2 years inside. It is my view, that spitting is disgusting, into a Officers face, even worse.

Some excellent detective work there. Presumably the theory that was never proved was that either the owner was the driver, or possibly Johal was the driver who then colluded with the owner to ditch the car. They obviously knew what they were doing to be able to lose any forensic evidence.

Agree or disagree? http://www.publicservice.co.uk/feature_story.asp?id=11109 As the Home Secretary shelves legislation meant to increase police accountability, Lynda King Taylor talks to senior officers who say that to deliver a fair and equitable service government needs to think again.

Sheriff astonished as car thief released after a third of his sentence http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburg...hief.4817664.jp Published Date: 23 December 2008 A SHERIFF has described as "breathtaking" the decision to release an Edinburgh man sentenced to 32 months in prison on an electronic tag after serving just 10 months. Within a fortnight, Jason Montgomery was discovered in a stolen car in Galashiels and tried to escape after being cornered by a police car. The 22-year-old was said to be fleeing Edinburgh because his life was in danger and had been given the car by a man known only as "old Alex". But it emerged it had been stolen during a break-in to a ho…

A Broadmoor patient has pleaded guilty to killing former model Rachel Nickell, who was stabbed 49 times in front of her young son 16 years ago. The 23-year-old was attacked as she walked with her two-year-old son on Wimbledon Common in south-west London on 15 July 1992. Robert Napper, 42, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. An Old Bailey judge said Napper would now be held in Broadmoor indefinitely. Mr Justice Griffiths Williams said: "You are on any view a very dangerous man. "You still present a very high risk of sexual homicide which can only be managed in a high security hospital." Victor Temple QC, prosecuting, said…

I'm sure some of your will think this is a wonderful idea... But I think you need to consider the real reason for the number of sharp decline in prosecutions for Careless Driving. I don't think the amount of paperwork is really the issue, it's got more to do with the continued erosion of RPU resource (consider the dates 1986 to 2006) and a lack of willingness on the part of overstretched response resources to deal with 'traffic' matters. More new 'Speedy Summary Justice' and revenue creation... not to mention the apparent fulfilment of a target based on a false outcome, an FPN is not the same as a charge of Careless Driving and never will be. http://www.telegraph.co.uk…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7764069.stm In my view a terrible decision. Perhaps the judges should go and see a few families of murder victims or those who have been raped where the crime was solved by DNA. The Sally Ann Bowman murder comes to mind - her murderer was found from a DNA match when a sample was taken from him when nicked for D&D.