International Law

The prison law war: When is ok not ok?

Posted on January 22, 2008
The prison law war: When is ok not ok?I first came across the name of Mark Leech sometime during 1988-89 when I was in Wakefield Prison. A fellow prisoner had painstakingly copied verbatim into a prison notebook in longhand, Mark Leech's article in the Left wing newspaper Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism...

3 into 1 doesn't go

Posted on January 22, 2008
3 into 1 doesn't goOriginally, I missed this story when I scanned my usual media haunts this morning but picked it up at Barnacle Bill's place.At first glance, it appears that a Titan jail will be created out of 3 existing prisons. However, upon closer inspection, it emerges that what we have here is a Prison Service cost cutting exercise...

Jack Straw fails to do his duty

Posted on January 22, 2008
Jack Straw fails to do his dutySpeaking at a special event on the future of human rights legislation, Mr Straw indicated the Government should do more to encourage people to vote.Funny you should state that Jack, because if you drafted the Bill to legislate to allow convicted prisoners to vote they would not need any encouragement to vote they would simply cast their vote...

Extremism taken to the limit

Posted on January 21, 2008
Extremism taken to the limitSorry, I cannot pay my speeding fines because I am dead. At least, that's what my death certificate states...

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US agents insured against 'terror' lawsuits

Posted on January 21, 2008
US agents insured against 'terror' lawsuitsBy Tom Leonard in New YorkLast Updated: 1:13am GMT 21/01/2008Thousands of CIA, FBI and Secret Service agents are taking out insurance policies to cover them against the growing risk of being sued in the line of duty...

The secret world of prison: Issue 1

Posted on January 20, 2008
The secret world of prison: Issue 1This article raises the question whether the conduct of a member of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) was too independent for the liking of the Home Secretary and now the Minister of Justice? The whole purpose of the independent is to display conduct which is independent of the Prison Service to ensure fair monitoring...

Too ?Independent? for the Independent Monitoring Board?

Posted on January 20, 2008
Too ?Independent? for the Independent Monitoring Board?Law change on undercover consA man who once spent time in prison and is now a member of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at Norwich Prison, has forced the government to change the law ? banning IMB members from having access to information, previously unknown to exist, which isgathered by prisoners or staff who have been acting as under cover intelligencegathering agents...

Tony Hitler

Posted on January 20, 2008
Tony HitlerWell, that didn't take long did it?Hat-Tip to Ron.

Ready salted and cheese flavoured...

Posted on January 20, 2008
Ready salted and cheese flavoured...In mid 1971, I was 20 years of age (but looked 14), and had been transferred from Armley Prison in Leeds to Walton Prison in Liverpool enroute to Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire. That Leeds to Wakefield is only 10-15 miles, it was strange that the Prison Service goes via Liverpool...

Madeleine: The Missing Link

Posted on January 20, 2008
Madeleine: The Missing LinkMetodo 3 the private detective agency employed by the McCanns have released an artist's impression of a suspect that they claim may have abducted Madeleine McCann.Anthropologists are excited about this discovery as the leaving no stone age man unturned...

Old boot

Posted on January 19, 2008
Old bootAfter the floods recede near her homethere are tell-tale signs that HeatherMills may have gone on a long walk toescape the media.Hat-Tip to Inside Time

Richard Branson in difficulty climbing Northern Rock

Posted on January 19, 2008
Richard Branson in difficulty climbing Northern RockLeave no stone unturned...

Pain in the arse and his dog Rocky

Posted on January 19, 2008
Pain in the arse and his dog RockyThis still is taken from the Prisons Video Magazine issue 67 Summer 2007. I found it in Inside Time the national newspaper for prisoners November 2007 issue and beneath it is this text:"The latest edition of PVM, No. 67, now available in your prison, looks at various stories of people readjusting back to normal life...

Hanging in the balance

Posted on January 19, 2008
Hanging in the balanceAmid diplomatic turmoil between Britain and Russia, one of the world's greatest post-Impressionist masterpieces was finally hung at the Royal Academy in London yesterday.This raises the question; should the war criminal Tony Blair be hung?"Russia cancelled the exhibition just before Christmas because it was concerned that its paintings might be seized in London...

A rant and rave

Posted on January 18, 2008
A rant and raveLast night, or to be exact 5 minutes into this morning, I started to watch Nightwatch - Emergency on ITV, which I had seen advertised on Teletext, and it was confirmed what I was watching when the title came up. Therefore, what was the point of having the spare prick at a wedding? Namely, "Hi...

Chairman Brown in Beijing

Posted on January 18, 2008
Chairman Brown in BeijingAs the prime minister sets out his market stall and sells Britishness to China, is he guilty of selling out on human rights issues?Yes.China is still failing (in the words of Amnesty's Kate Allen) "to honour the promises it made, when bidding for the Olympics, to improve human rights...

YouTube's dancing prisoners denied new licence to thrill

Posted on January 18, 2008
YouTube's dancing prisoners denied new licence to thrillDance all you want behind locked doors, but you aint gonna dance in the street...

The silly season

Posted on January 18, 2008
The silly seasonLabour: "Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime".Police response: Police cast as villains in panto rowAn amateur dramatics group staging a pantomime version of Pirates of the Caribbean in Carnon Downs, Cornwall, has been told by police to keep two plastic swords and a pop-gun under lock and key whenever the props are not being used on stage...

Police arrest innocent Rocky and let guilty paedophile free

Posted on January 17, 2008
Police arrest innocent Rocky and let guilty paedophile freeIf the police did not busy themselves with falsely arresting and imprisoning innocent dog walkers, then perhaps they would not have released the paedophile on their most wanted list.

The cost to the taxpayer of MPs representing their own interests

Posted on January 17, 2008
The cost to the taxpayer of MPs representing their own interestsI think it is incredible that they work for us and yet they vote themselves their own pay rises. I recall when Gordon Brown was officially chancellor (he still is unofficially because Darling is just a puppet), he insisted that the public sector kept pay rises below the rate of inflation...

Politically incorrect

Posted on January 17, 2008
Politically incorrectPhoto: Stolen from Ron.

Lesbian soldier Kerry Fletcher wins case

Posted on January 17, 2008
Lesbian soldier Kerry Fletcher wins caseA lesbian soldier who endured lewd sexual innuendo from a senior staff sergeant who claimed he could "turn her straight" could win compensation of more than £400,000, after winning her case against the Ministry of Defence...

Fair trial groups attack EU prison plan

Posted on January 17, 2008
Fair trial groups attack EU prison planFair trial campaigners have given warning that there will be miscarriages of justice under European Union plans to hand over Britons tried and convicted in absentia by foreign courts.Kafka is alive and well and living in Europe...

Pigs can fly

Posted on January 17, 2008
Pigs can flyPrince William gets no preferential treatment here.You mean just like Cornet Wales not having to go to war in Iraq?As a viewer on BBC 1 Look North pointed out, it does help when Grandma owns the Flying Club!Flying Officer Wales "had the comforting presence of his instructor by his side"...

Man's best friend or dangerous dog?

Posted on January 16, 2008
Man's best friend or dangerous dog?According to Wikipedia:"The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is a piece of UK legislation that was introduced in response to various incidents of serious injury or death resulting from attacks by aggressive and uncontrolled dogs, particularly on children...

Author's murder trial to be held in secret

Posted on January 16, 2008
Author's murder trial to be held in secret"A judge has ruled that parts of a murder trial must take place in secret next week in order to protect national security".WTF?Why does the Crown using the Crown Prosecution Service wish to prevent the public from hearing the defendant's defence to the charge? It would appear that there is something not straightforward about this case...

The silence of the lamb

Posted on January 16, 2008
The silence of the lambIt's a slow news day. The Daily Telegraph reports Girl vanishes near Madeleine McCann site. I would hardly call a distance of 120 miles "near". But that has not stopped Metodo 3, the private detective agency employed by the McCanns, from trying to create a link to Madeleine's disappearance, like the bumbling Inspector Clouseau played by Peter Sellars in the Pink Panther films...

My bonnie lies over the ocean (but not about her age)

Posted on January 15, 2008
My bonnie lies over the ocean (but not about her age)Old bloggers never die they just keep blogging on. Ask Gingersnaps, she should know having just reached the ripe old age of 41...

DJ Andy Kershaw jailed over restraining order

Posted on January 15, 2008
DJ Andy Kershaw jailed over restraining orderBy Nigel BunyanLast Updated: 7:12pm GMT 15/01/2008Andy Kershaw, the BBC radio presenter, has begun a three-month prison sentence after being warned that his life was turning into a "Greek tragedy". Kershaw, 48, was jailed on the Isle of Man for breaking a restraining order taken out by his ex-girlfriend after he pestered both her and the new man in her life...

Day in court

Posted on January 15, 2008
Day in courtHere is the weather forecast. It was pissing it down this morning in Hull and there was a wind. Naturally, my umbrella costing a £1 from the Pound Shop blew inside out and parted from the stem before I had even reached the magistrates court...

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