Of course, everyman and his uncle will have opinions on the verdict by a coroner's jury on the shooting by police of Mark Duggan. According to 'ten good men (and women) and true' who spent months listening to the evidence including several visits to the scene, the police have absolutely no case to answer. Yes, they (with two exceptions) indicated that Mark Duggan was technically un-armed having thrown a weapon away (but who knew for sure that was the only one!) seconds before the police opened fire but even so the officer was justified in shooting him dead. With all the dread inevitability of a particularly loud but off-key opera chorus the family went nuts and Duggan's mother, a prima diva, given her 10 seconds of fame before the cameras ruined it all by ending her harangue with a communist party, clenched-fist salute. My waining interest in any of it wained even further when Sky News brought on that mechanical mouthpiece, Lee Jasper, who proceeded to do what he does best because it's all he can do, that is, attempt to beat the world shouting record.
None of Duggan's family or 'friends' expressed any interest in what 'their darling boy' intended to do with the gun he had purchased from a well-known armourer to London's gangland. Would they and the gobby Lee Jasper have shown the least interest in, let alone regret for, say, a bank clerk, or an innocent passerby, who might have been shot dead by the gun their 'darling boy' had just purchased? I doubt it. As for the policeman concerned, what can one say except that perhaps 'he should have gone to SpecSavers'! Also, perhaps, he is need of more and better fire discipline training. However, the afore-mentioned ten good men and true heard all the details and came to the conclusion that he had no case to answer and that is good enough for me. Taking human life should never be carried out lightly but on the whole, by and large, taken in the round, as it were, London is a marginally better place without the likes of a vicious little scrote like Mark Duggan.
G'day David.
Some years ago we had a string of "n'er do wells" with long and violent criminal histories and prone to carrying concealed weapons sent to their maker via the marksmanship of the Victoria Police. At the same time the score in NSW was not so high.
A Commissioned Officer of VicPol was asked why he thought the Victoria Police killed more "n'er do wells" than their interstate comrades. With a straight face [and absolute honesty] he replied, "We train them better".
True but not very sensitive of him. :-)
And we had the usual string of Aunts and Uncles declaiming that "their boy" was just misunderstood and the nasty coppers had no cause to shoot him just because he pointed a gun at them.
Posted by: AussieD | Thursday, 09 January 2014 at 10:40
The big mouth on the TV this morning was his auntie Carole. I wonder what her background is? I read somewhere that she is American. She sounded just like a member of the SWP. Perhaps we could deport her to somewhere nice - Syria perhaps?
Posted by: backofanenvelope | Thursday, 09 January 2014 at 11:40
Her background? Well, just Google Dessie Noonan...
Posted by: JuliaM | Thursday, 09 January 2014 at 12:52
Thanks, AussieD, obviously Victoria is the place to stay on any visit to 'Oz'!
Yes, I think you're right, BOE, but, whatever, she looked like a real harridan - and Syria is too good for her!
Ah, dear Julia, for such a sweet lady I don't know how you stay sane after immersing yourself and your excellent blog in all the criminality and the legal shenanigans that goes with it. You do a public service and I think Dave should put you on the honours list, er, but I'm not holding my breath! And anyway, who'd want a medal from that prune!
Posted by: David Duff | Thursday, 09 January 2014 at 16:13
I'm just relieved that when the Met shot an unarmed man, it was a gangster this time.
Posted by: dearieme | Thursday, 09 January 2014 at 20:44
Don't worry, DM, I have every confidence that they'll get round to you eventually!
Posted by: David Duff | Thursday, 09 January 2014 at 21:02