Monthly Archive for March, 2009

Counting The Cracks In The Pavement

Published on March 31, 2009 in My back pages. Closed

written by nightjack from NightJack

“Political satire became obsolete when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.“

Tom Lehrer

How the hell did we get here with the likes of Copperfield, Bloggs and Gadget being joined weekly by more officers all telling tales of the ugly truths of current Criminal Justice? How did we get into a situation where the Circuit Judges are quietly revolting and the Magistrates are as unhappy as unhappy can be with being pushed around by the government? Why has serious and violent crime been on the up every year since 1997? What kind of people have been setting the policies that have kicked such a big hole between the Police and the public? Bluntly, who has had their hands on the wheel whilst public confidence in all arms of the Criminal Justice System has tanked. I have an over simplistic explanation. It’s time to name and shame.

I’m sitting here thinking that we have a Lord Chancellor who has presided as public confidence in the Criminal Justice System is dropping through the floor. Only 31% of us now feel any level of confidence in how our system deals with criminals. His reaction? Well Jack Straw has been busy doing the Hokey Cokey with Bill of Rights 1.1 and foisting a Sentencing Commission onto judges through the Coroner’s and Justice Bill. I say foisting because the rather grandly named Council of Her Majesty’s Circuit Juudges broke cover last week and said “We do not consider these sentencing proposals to have any benefit. The proposals are not sought by the judiciary or any other criminal justice group. They are unnecessary, costly and unwelcome.” That strikes me as judge speak for “Stop.“

We started this government with a Lord Chancellor called Lord McKay of Clashfern. Editor of Halsbury’s Laws of England, by most accounts an outstanding lawyer and judge, leader of the Scots Bar, basically a bloody good lawyer and well respected. Fit to be top judge? Oh yes. Man of substance. A man guaranteed to put the interests of a strong independent judiciary above party politics.

lord-mackay-of-clashfern007 A Distinguished and Experienced Lawyer

Cometh the blessed TonyBlair, cometh the old mate in the shape of Tony’s old boss Lord Irvine of Lairgs. He blows £650,000 of our money doing up his grace and favour pad including £59,000 on wallpaper. His career highlights involved marrying his best friends wife, introducing the Blairs and providing legal advice to the Labour Party throughout the 1980’s. A towering legal presence fit for the top judges spot? Possibly not but Tony liked him and he was keen on passing the Human Rights Act.

lord-irvine Tony’s Old Boss

As we slide gently down the ability curve, another mate of Tony’s got to wear the shiney golden robes. Step forward Lord Falconer of Thoroton. Lest you forget, he used to be Tony’s flat mate. Surely, you are thinking, he had more qualification than that? Well, he ran the Millenium Dome for a while, and he was Tony’s mate. At least he was some sort of lawyer and he made QC in 1991.

lord-falconer Tony’s Old Flatmate

That takes us back to the current incumbent Mr. John Whitaker Straw. Well he qualified as a barrister some years ago but since 1979, he has been a full time politician. That’s the man in charge of the Ministry of Justice. It shows.

Straw Some Bloke Who Used To Be A Lawyer A Long Time Ago

That’s how it has been for noble office of Lord Chancellor these last few years. Does the man at the top of the pile inspire any confidence in and of himself? The results are in.

That other twin pillar of the Criminal Justice System, the Home Secretary, how has that noble office of state fared?

We start with the incumbent Michael Howard QC. Say what you like about him but he qualified as a QC on merit in 1982. As a Home Secretary, he authored the quote “Let us be clear. Prison works. It ensures that we are protected from murderers, muggers and rapists, and it makes many who are tempted to commit crime think twice.” He was a Home Secretary who at least seemed to understand that the sentencing system needs to carry a little weight and that punishments need to enjoy general acceptance as fair. He appreciated the containment element of prison as well.

michael-howard Reasonably Good At Law Stuff

Next up, running the Cops, the previously mentioned John Whitaker Straw. Jack brought us R.I.P.A. , sent Pinochet back to Chile and said of pre Operation Desert Storm Iraq “”we have faith in the integrity of the Iraqi judicial process and that you should have no concerns if you haven’t done anything wrong.” Thank’s Jack.

jack_straw Perhaps Not Quite So Good At Law

All things must pass and in 2001, it was time for David Blunkett. Regular readers will know my opinions on his reign. A career politician with all the knowledge and experience of law enforcement that you would expect from the preparation of Sheffield City Council and teaching. Seldom has so much damage been done to the Police Service by one man. Along with beefing up RIPA and taking a swipe at jury trial, he started us down the road towards National Identity Cards. He was forced kicking and screaming from office when it became clear that he was somewhat involved in speeding through the immigration status of his mistress’s nanny, and giving the same mistress free train tickets on the public purse. I can do no better than quoting the top cop of the time Lord Stevens “If you are ever asked to meet with Blunkett, under no circumstances should you go alone…he is a bully and a liar.” Just what you want to hear about the man running the Police.

2607909 Gleeful Wrecker

Now David Blunkett was replaced by Charles Clarke. Another career politician with a side line in running a PR agency. He was another man wedded to identity cards with a regrettable ambition to have all communications data stored for law enforcement purposes. According to his successor, he left a Home Office unfit for purpose.

charles-clarke More Of The Same

Enter Dr. John Reid. The doctorate was in history. The doctoral thesis was a Marxist analysis of the slave trade. From there until parliament he was a full time political organiser, you can guess which party. He was surpisingly sound on building more prisons, closing up our porous borders and sorting out the Probation Service but he did not survive the departure of the blessed Tony and the accession of the Dear Leader.

john_reid_photo 60 Watts In A 20 Watt World

That brings us to Jacqueline Jill Smith, another academic but sans doctoral thesis this time. You all know the score with Jacqui. Total expenses hog. Second home that isn’t. Lots of TVs and a lovely fireplace. The current Home Secretary has made a signed claim for her husband’s prOn and trousered the resultant cash. We don’t ask for much before she claims her expenses but at least she could have pretended to check them and weeded out the obviously bogus stuff. Maybe her husband could have done better by her for his our £40,000 a year. Either way she made a blatantly bogus claim and she is set on brazening it out.

jacquismithportrait Born To Wear Clown Shoes

I detect a downward slope. We start of with one of the greatest lawyers of his age and we end up with errrm Jack Straw. We start off with a man who understands the public expectations that punishments should fit crimes and we end up with a petty expenses fiddler who tries to pretend she hasn’t been caught red handed. Now I’m not claiming that there was ever any golden age of the Criminal Justice System. That would be foolish, but I am just pointing out that there is a case to be made that the people in the key jobs may not have been the best possible choices .

death_spiral An Unsubtle Visual Reference

The original post can be found http://nightjack.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/counting-the-cracks-in-the-pavement/

News Roundup

Published on March 31, 2009 in Police, firefighters, motorists, scotland and snippets. Closed

written by Noddy from Welcome to Toy Town™

April Fool's day came early to Toy Town™ as the local Hazmat incident team swung into full farce.

If weeds could read, they would be killing themselves laughing.

© Chill Bill
Published by Toy Town™ Times

The original post can be found http://uisgebeathaagusleann.blogspot.com/2009/04/news-roundup.html

Bottoms Up.

Published on March 31, 2009 in Noddy. Closed

written by Noddy from Welcome to Toy Town™

Some time ago, well actually over three years ago, I posted this.

It was my turn recently to reach the wrong side of the half-century.

I was the lucky recipient of a new all singing and dancing laptop (had to be very careful not to spoonerise that one) since my desktop has been upgraded to the max after it was bought in 2000. I also received a fair few bottles of uisge-beatha. I am amazed how folk know what to buy me!

Whilst out for a meal to commiserate with friends (I hired a telephone kiosk), I was advised by one of the assembled crumblies that I was to wait with trepidation for a wee parcel from the Health Board now that I was officially reognised as old and decrepit and apparently therefore a coffin dodger. I was given the heads up in respect of the fact that I would receive a poop collection kit for my good self to send a sample off to check my bowels, colon and other unmentionables were not suddenly collapsing or riddled with some awful disease now that I had reached THAT age.

Now let me assure you that reaching ....... it's still hard to say it...... 'L' will do ...... is painful enough without indeed receiving said kit a mere 3 days after my birthday. Can't they give us a period of grace?

Just to show how grateful I am, I will wait till my effluent is at its most pungent and then despatch it to those who have a really good jobbie! That'll learn 'em.

© Noddy
Published by Toy Town™ Times

The original post can be found http://uisgebeathaagusleann.blogspot.com/2009/03/bottoms-up.html

Ready And Waiting….. and waiting, and waiting….

Published on March 31, 2009 in 1. Closed

written by inspectorgadget from POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG

The President of the United States has arrived. The Ministers are gathering. Her Majesty’s Government is ready to host the G20. On the other side, the anarchists have organised themselves into groups (I know… I know…. but even anarchists have to be organised in our crazy world). How does the UK defend itself from the coming onslaught? By sending ME and my team of bumpkin oiks from Ruralshire, that’s how!

Oh, and about 3000 officers from the Met TSG.

girl-cop

Female riot cop practises her “Paddington Stare” tactic.

Once again, we will be living out of our infamous riot vans. Surviving only on a diet of Haverdogs, doughnuts and coffee. And we are not allowed to watch the Playboy Channel by the way. That would be against out Diversity Pledge because it would be demeaning to women. Or something.

My van is the same one which broke down (causing much hilarity) on the motorway during Operation “Let’s Show Some Rain-soaked Students How Tough We Are When There Are 1000 Of Us Together” at Kingsnorth last summer. In London, faced with a proper threat from really dangerous violent nutters, we are deprived of (being allowed to use) the basics that every other two-bit nation on earth has in these situations: CS Gas Grenades and Baton Guns.

insp-gadget

Inspector Gadget.

Faced with violence and disorder I can deploy my famous Dunkirk Spirit and shout things like “I say, steady on, we haven’t even been properly introduced” and “Calm down Old Bean, it’s only the world economy after all” safe in the absolute knowledge that later on in Court the Magistrates will do absolutely nothing to the people who attack me. But we love the camaraderie on these occasions and we like to be present when history is made. That being; the vain hope that Sergeant Dan will eventually, one day, make the tea!

If you want to meet me this week, make your way to Docklands or Westminster and look in the 5th line back from the front (Ruralshire are not trusted at the front and rightly so) for the van with it’s bonnet up, and officers standing around cursing the steaming engine. In the van, you will find an Inspector eating doughnuts and waiting for action. And waiting, and waiting…………..

Gadget Note: mainstream media reports that there are only six forces supporting the Met at the G20 are incorrect. I have seen carriers from at least four forces not mentioned in the reports.

The original post can be found http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/ready-and-waiting-and-waiting-and-waiting/

Freeloading

Published on March 31, 2009 in IT, gravy train and music. Closed

written by Noddy from Welcome to Toy Town™

What with all sorts getting their media free of charge lately I thought I'd be of public service.

Don't know if you've discovered SPOTIFY.

Try it and see why I'm hooked.

If you want to lug in to the sharn I listen to you can click here once you have the software downloaded.

© Noddy
Published by Toy Town™ Times

The original post can be found http://uisgebeathaagusleann.blogspot.com/2009/03/freeloading.html

Back to the Grindstone

Published on March 31, 2009 in The Job - Experience. Closed

written by 200 from 200 Weeks

It was back to the grindstone this week. Someone died on the roads. People die on the roads every day. Most are preventable tragedies.

Once something like this happens people spring into serious work mode. There’s little time for personal involvement; there are procedures to go through. Fatal accidents on the major roads is where we earn our bucks in the control room, that & pursuits. Sometimes routine gets in the way of appreciating that the once living body hanging out of the car was someone’s wife & mother.

Shutting the major road network while a road death is investigated has major implications, especially during the day when traffic flow is at its heaviest. The government don’t like it, it’s bad for business & companies lose millions when their business is delayed by a few hours. Not for the first time have I been approached by the officer in charge of the control room to ask me how long the X-road is going to be shut because some government department has been on the phone asking for it to be opened ASAP.

So we’re on the radio dealing with all the demands of the many officers tasked to deal with the RTC, on the phone liaising with other authorities; for instance we need to get Highways out to reinforce road closures which we’ve sent other units to set up. We’re typing everything everyone says on the radio & phone onto the incident log, speaking with the boss in the control room & other members of staff asking them to ring so-and-so on our behalf because there’s only 2 of us (1 sometimes) & it’s enough just to deal with radio traffic let alone everything else expected of us.

We spend some of our radio airtime telling officers we’ve already done whatever it is they are requesting because we like to think we’re professional, have done an awful lot of fatal accidents & have some idea of the requirements before anyone has asked for them. This doesn’t stop them asking for them, several times sometimes, and wasting valuable airtime (especially true on pursuits when the world & his wife wants to make suggestions or tell you what are basically insignificant bits of information when all you really need to do is listen to the officer behind the target vehicle).

You need to sort out road closures, sometimes with little in the way of free resources. If you don’t get a road closed you might end up with thousands of vehicles trapped on a closed motorway or dual carriageway with nowhere to go, for maybe four or 5 hours, or longer. And in the summer you might have to get extra resources to tour the queues with bottles of water you have to source from somewhere. Agencies which monitor traffic flow need to be advised of road closures & delays & alternative routes so they can get the information out to the media for braodcast on traffic update radio stations.

There’s all sorts of people need updating, supervisors both on the road & inside the control room, other departments, accident investigation, family liaison officers, highways. Someone has to do that i.e. us. Garages need to be organsised & briefed, the vehicles need to be examined, if the casualty/fatality(ies) haven’t gone in the ambulance undertakers need to be arranged, hospital mortuary staff need to be told to be on standby to open the mortuary. People need to be rebriefed - at regular intervals.

So things can get quite hectic. This isn’t to say that it’s not hectic out on the road, it is, I’ve done it, many times. But when you’re out there dealing you tend to have a specific task. Once your road closure is on that’s really it, apart from telling motorists repeatedly that this section of road is closed, and no you can’t go down there, and it’s a shame you’re going to be delayed for an important meeting/iminent flight/whatever, but someone died & we have to investigate it. The controllers have to pull everything together, in real time and be aware of exactly who is doing exactly what, where & when. You really don’t have time to fart let alone draw breath.

Meanwhile, a police officer somewhere is preparing to knock on a door to tell someone their wife & mother to their children isn’t coming home, ever.

Back to the grindstone.

The original post can be found http://200weeks.police999.com/archives/1411

Angry People

Published on March 31, 2009 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Stressed Out Cop from Stressed Out Cop

Stressedoutcop sends peace and love to fellow Blogger Ian Bone. I don't necessarily agree with what you say but I will defend your right to say it. What say you Ian about the policing pledge? How can I satisfy you?

* BEWARE naughty swear words in video*

The original post can be found http://stressedoutcop.blogspot.com/2009/03/angry-people.html

Canada, anyone?

Published on March 31, 2009 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by PC Plastic Fuzz from The Plastic Fuzz

This blog’s become very international recently. I’ve had contact with, and consequently posts about, all kinds of international policing. We had Sheriff’s Cadet Margarine, who I hope we’ll hear more from soon. We had Robb WJ Ellis and an introduction to him and his life as a white policeman in Zimbabwe.

Now I’ve had contact will Bill Gibbons, who runs Regent Protection Services Ltd. This is a security firm in Canada. They are looking to get a similar uniform to our PCSOs over here and are just waiting on a new Act to come in to play before they’ll start.

Pictured below are a couple of pictures of Bills patrol cars.

Bill reckons that Calgary City police are now about 10% ex-British Police officers. He has also kindly offered to give work to any British cops moving over there while they wait for their student officer course to begin. Which I’m sure you’ll agree, is incredibly kind of him.

For any officers looking to move over to Canada and would like to be put in to contact with Bill, who can offer work, drop me and email and I’ll introduce you.

The original post can be found http://policecommunitysupportofficer.blogspot.com/2009/03/canada-anyone.html

Simply not cricket.

Published on March 30, 2009 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by whichendbites from WHICHENDBITES

Well there I was, just checking that I had not over-extended myself with my expenses claim by way of any adult pay-per-view films and I was totally distracted by the cricket. I was drawing the comparisons with how some rather complicated things could be confused and I would not want to get into the mire for inadvertently claiming for things I had not had, were deemed to be a bit out of order or were simply too inappropriate for the tax payer to stump up for on my behalf.

I have missed out on my telephone, internet and cable TV support as I just have to cough up for that myself. I do not have a second home so must make do with a mortgage and pay all my own domestic bills like every other normal working person. I am not even able to get some money for my son to go to Uni and work as a researcher for me.

Perhaps I should have tried to become an MP and got some tremendous expenses package as a right and be done with it all. Some of the claims are simply not cricket.

I decided to forget it and concentrate on the cricket, which seemed a lot easier to understand.

Cricket…………..It’s a funny old game. But is it easier than political expenses ?

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in, but not in the field. The side that is in, is not in the field, only the side that is out is in the field. The team that is in are in to bat until they are out and then they take the turn to be out in the field and not in because the other team will now be in and not in the field. The teams consist of eleven players on each side but they have another called the twelfth man, obviously. Each man that’s in the team that’s in eventually gets out, and when he’s out the next man in the team that’s in, comes in until such time that he is out until all the men in the team that is in, are out. There is only one man in the team which is in that is not out because he will be left by himself and will not be out. He will still be in but his team will be out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. These can be called not out, obviously. The team that is out try to get the team that is in, out, by throwing a hard ball at the wickets. Despite the ball being hard the game is not called hardball, it is called cricket. Hardball just wouldn’t be cricket. These are two sets of three long bits of wood close together. Each of the selected players from the team that is out and trying to get the team that is in, out, throw the hard ball from one set of wickets towards the other set six times. This is called an over. The over is over when the six times have been achieved. Then another six times of throwing the hard ball from the other end of the wicket. The wicket is the piece of ground, usually grass, that the game is played on with sets of wickets at each end making targets for the team that is out to try to hit to get the team that is in, out. Do not be confused between the wicket and the wickets. The wicket is the piece of grass in a measured distance of 22 yards. The wickets are the three long pieces of wood that form the targets for the team that is out to try to hit to get the team that is in, out. When they are all out, apart from the last man who does not get out, the side that was out now comes in and the side that was in but is not out, tries to get the side that is now in, out. There are many ways of getting out once you are in. The team that is out will try these ways to get the team that is in, out, and vice versa. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. This happens until all the men in the team that are in, are out. Except for the man who is in the team that is in but he will not be out, although his team will be out. There are two men called umpires who stay all out the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. The players from both teams obey the word of the umpire. To show disrespect is simply not cricket. The ground where the game is played is not confined to the wicket. It is played in a field and surrounded by a line or markers that signify the boundary of the playing area. A player for the team that is in, can hit the hard ball, thrown at him by a player of the team that is out, as one of his six balls per each over. If the ball is hit and goes beyond the boundary after hitting the ground within the line known as the boundary, then it is called a boundary and scores the princely sum of 4 runs. If it crosses the boundary without touching the ground then it score a greater number of 6 runs. Players from the team that is in, use a long piece of wood to hit the hard ball when it is thrown at them by the team that is out and trying to get the team in, out. It is not like the long pieces of wood known as the wickets, but a larger piece of wood called a bat. The players of the team that is in, use the bat to hit the hard ball and try to get it to go away from the wickets so they can score a run if they run the full length between the wickets and run on the wicket but not in the area of the wicket where the team that is out thrown the ball at the wickets to get the players in the team that are in, out. Whilst the players of the team that are in, are running on the wicket but between the wickets, but not on the area of the wicket that the team that is out throw the hardball towards the wickets to try to get the player of the team that is in, out, and the hardball hits the wickets whilst the player is running between the wickets but inside the white markings between the wickets on the wicket, the umpire may decide that the team that is out has got the batsman who is in and running between the wickets, but still on the wicket, to be out and not still in. In these circumstances that player from the in team is in fact out. He does not join the team that is out but goes of the field to wait for his team to be out and then try to get the other team out when they become in. The player from the team who hits this boundary does not have to run between the two sets of wickets as the four or six runs are his and added to his total until such time that he is out and no longer in. For all the rest of his runs, he has to hit the hard ball when it is thrown at him and run between the two sets of wickets and is granted one run for each time he is able to run a full length of the wicket distance, as defined by two white lines. If a player from the team that is out can throw the hard ball to hit the wickets whilst the player who is in is running between the two sets of wickets, then that player is deemed to be out by the umpires. When both teams have taken turns to be in and to try to get the team that is in, out, they do this all over again. So they have been in and all the men have been given out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out. The score are counted by someone who counts the scores for each of the teams that have been both in and out. The team with the highest score of runs or sometimes with the least amount of players who have been out whilst their team was in, are declared the winners. That is the end of the game, usually, but if for any reason that the game is abandoned or drawn, there can be a winning draw or possibly something that no one really gets to grips with, the Duckworth Lewis method of deciding who has won the game. This is where it gets a little complicated. This is for calculating the winner by a mathematical formula that no one understands. A bit like MP’s expenses probably. Perhaps the same decides both.

On second thoughts………………………..Cricket and politics are surprisingly similar. One side is in and the other side is out. The side that is out tries to get the side that is in, out. etc etc etc.

The original post can be found http://whichendbites.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/simply-not-cricket/

The people we meet.

Published on March 30, 2009 in Uncategorized. Closed

written by Constable Confused.com from Constableconfused.com

A couple of days ago I was sent to a "domestic" just after coming on duty at 07:00. I arrive and am greeted by a bedraggled older female who has smeared lipstick and the unmistakable make-up effect that comes from crying. The first words she says to me are something like I have had head problems since I was 19 and have been sectioned loads, I shrug my shoulders and then comes the clincher, I have taken 18 paracetamol tablets. Oh drat.....either way I am going to be spending sometime at the hospital with her. Her partner comes out and states that she has wrecked their flat and has been talking to herself for the last few days. She then starts telling me that she wants to die as her 27 year old daughter won't talk to her and there is nothing worth living for. I look at the odds, leave her there with a tissue. No, that won't do on this occasion. Lock her up breach of the peace....no hospital will soon be my home for a few hours as she has taken an overdose. I bite the bullet and tell her she is being detained under section 136 of the mental health act. She then thanks me and tells me that she has felt herself getting worse in her head but there is no way that she will voluntarily go to the doctor.
Off to Notgreatside County Hospital and do the deed. Oh well, my citizen focus/policing pledge/victim charter and all the other bollocks will go on hold today. She is unfortunately quite scantily clad (not good on this one) and starts asking me personal questions. According to her I am her best friend now. A colleague arrives to assist with toilet/fag breaks. She too soon becomes a best friend. She was initially volatile and obviously didn't like the medical staff, she was handcuffed whilst they examined her as she lashed out at them.
Eventually she calms down and after telling us what she has done to herself in the past and how bad life has become since she got divorced about 6 years ago and meeting her new partner. He is also a regular customer and I know from previous dealings that he is pure pondlife. It appears that there is some common ground. She remembers me from one incident where I attended their flat and actually had to fight him as he wasn't too keen on getting arrested for what was a borderline very serious assault on her.
In order to pass the time we stared talking about her previous life and even with the circumstances she was currently under, I believed her. She is 51, and appears quite educated. She was up to speed on political matters and current affairs. Her current lifestyle has taken it's toll but she was obviously once attractive. I ask her more about her daughter and she shows me a photo of an oriental looking beautiful young girl stood next to her at a family party, despite the features the resemblance is incredible.
In confidence she asks me if she can tell me her life story since her dad died when she was 17, how her mum couldn't look after all 6 kids and essentially kicked her out. The welfare system wasn't quite as geared up as it is today and she found herself homeless. She reverted to society's oldest profession and earned a living servicing the sailors at the docks. One sailor in particular was good to her and as the ship was undergoing repairs she ended up spending a lot of time with him on the ship. To quote her exact phrase she became a "ship's whore". The ship was registered in Malaysia and the crew mostly hailed from there. Eventually the ship left and so did she. She told me about captain's bribes to port officials, customs inspections and various other encounters she had whilst hiding on the ship with the full consent of the captain who she also serviced as part of her "fare". The hiding places she described were incredible but believable. She frequently re-assured me that this was all true as she knew she was going for an extended stay at a hospital and there was no way I would ever be able to prosecute her.
Eventually the ship docks in Malaysia and calm as you like she leaves the ship with her favourite sailor and disappears into society. She tells me about the good times and the bad she has there and produces a dated photo showing a younger version of her on some gorgeous beach along with an oriental male, she is clearly pregnant and looked happy.
Anyway moving on daughter is born and as you have to pay for medical services the fact that she shouldn't really have been in the country was never a problem. She went on to tell me that she found out she was allergic to prawns when eaten in vast quantities and also when a fish fin cuts your leg, all be it dead and through a bag, it can be poisonous and cause infection.
Eventually the bubble burst about 8 years ago when her brother died in a car crash. She was then faced with the problem of getting back to the UK. She had never owned a passport as she was effectively a stow away and had been an unseen member of society. She went to the British consulate and explained her circumstances. They were duly helpful and the only hiccup came with her 19 year old daughter who was subsequently made a British citizen in Malaysia.
When she returned for the funeral the rot started in her life. Circumstances effectively caused her to lose her mind. No money to return to her adopted home and nowhere to live. Her mum was still alive but in sheltered accommodation.
Anyway her life crumbled and 8 years later she was sitting in a chair in an assessment room at a hospital........ again. Her husband has since passed away following their divorce and his family want nothing to do with her after this length of time.
She was subsequently admitted to the care of a mental health unit and she appeared genuinely relieved.
I know that all this should be taken with a pinch of salt when her frame of mind is considered but for once I genuinely believed her. Her attention to detail was too much for her to make it up.
I know that the vast majority of people who are sectioned by the police are there through their own alcohol/drug induced problems but sometimes there are people there who have genuinely been dealt a shitty hand.

The original post can be found http://constableconfused.blogspot.com/2009/03/people-we-meet.html