SURELY NOT!

[Paul Kennedy]

Headlines from the Daily Mail:

 

Once again, no one's to blame: Baby P died despite 60 visits from social services who betrayed Victoria Climbie

 

And an article from the Daily Telegraph:

 

The 17-month-old infant was placed on a child protection register and supposedly closely monitored by social services, health visitors, doctors and police.

 

But a catalogue of "systematic" failures meant that by the time his lifeless body was found on August 3 last year, it was too late to rescue him from the sustained abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother, her boyfriend and their lodger.

 

A total of 50 injuries were found on his body - 15 to the mouth - while his ribs and spine had been broken and his blonde curly hair shaved off.

 

His mother's partner - his "step-father" - was described as sadist with a fascination with Nazi memorabilia, while his mother was portrayed as "a slob, completely divorced from reality" who put her partner before her own child.

 

Born in March 2006, Baby P first came to the attention of the authorities when he was nine months old and briefly went into foster care before being returned to his mother within weeks.

 

Social worker Maria Ward was appointed to the family and, over the next eight months, noted a series of marks and injuries on the boy.

 

At the trial of his step-father and lodger Jason Owen, a jury heard how Baby P's mother repeatedly lied to the authorities and concealed her son's bruises by smearing them with chocolate.

 

Not only did care workers decide he did not need to be taken into care, but police told his mother she would not be prosecuted despite being arrested twice for suspected child cruelty.

 

In addition, a medical inspection by a paediatrician from Great Ormond Street Hospital two days before he died allegedly failed to spot what the prosecution claimed was probably an already broken spine.

 

Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat said Baby P was sitting up and wiggling his feet, which the prosecution argued was impossible. She has since been suspended pending further investigation.

 

The failures in care were criticised by MPs and charities, prompting Children's Minister Beverley Hughes to order a nationwide review.

 

MP Lynne Featherstone said Baby P had fallen through "safety net after safety net".

 

The family, who cannot be named for legal reasons, live in Haringey, north London, and were under the care of the same social services responsible for Victoria Climbie, who was tortured to death in 2000.

 

Mor Dioum, director of the Victoria Climbie Foundation, set up to improve child protection, said: "This case is worse than Climbi?. The signs were there but were not followed."

 

It emerged on Tuesday that just three people from the Haringey Local Safeguarding Children Board (HLSCB) received written warnings about the affair - two social workers and a lawyer.

 

Its chairman Sharon Shoesmith insisted no one would be sacked: "This was a family that needed, and was given, extensive help and support.

 

"The very sad fact is that we can't stop people who are determined to kill children. I am satisfied that the action that should have been taken was taken."

 

Dr Jane Collins, chief executive of Great Ormond Street, said: "Clearly we didn't get things right, he died, so we need to do better. All we can do is our best, but sometimes it's not good enough."

 

Detective Superintendent Caroline Bates, of the Met's Child Abuse Investigation Command, said police errors had caused a delay at the start of the abuse inquiry, but had not been significant to the outcome.

 

"With hindsight, having the benefit of a major investigation, we know quite clearly that the mother was lying and trying to subvert agencies involved with the family.

 

"It is devastating, it is hugely distressing that a child has died in these circumstances and it is a matter of great professional distress that this has happened."

 

In June last year "police officers felt very strongly that he should not be returned" to his mother, she said. Ms Bates insisted times had changed since the Climbie case and said the new offence of causing or allowing the death of a child had resulted in the successful convictions.

 

Baby P's mother, her boyfriend and Owen face up to 14 years behind bars for causing or allowing the death of a child and will be sentenced on December 15.

 

And this quote which beggars belief

 

"Dr Jane Collins, chief executive of Great Ormond Street, said: "Clearly we didn't get things right, he died, so we need to do better. All we can do is our best, but sometimes it's not good enough."

 

Just a thought, why not sack people for what has been a gross failure of "the system".......again.

 

I recall that after the Victoria Climbie case, the Authorities said "lessons had been learned"....seems they have been quickly forgotten!

[Paul Kennedy]

The word British banned by a Welsh Council:

 

The word ?British? can be as offensive as ?negro? and ?half-caste?, according to a race relations body.

 

The publicly-funded organisation?s views have been adopted by Caerphilly council in South Wales for a leaflet advising staff on how to deal with the public.

 

In a section on what words or phrases not to use to avoid causing offence, the leaflet solemnly informs the council?s 9,000 workers: ?The idea of ?British? implies a false sense of unity ? many Scots, Welsh and Irish resist being called British and the land denoted by the term contains a wide variety of cultures, languages and religions.?

 

Daily Mail...who else

[Paul Kennedy]

Daily Mail:

 

"A prisoner branded 'a grave risk to the public' by a judge was on the run last night after giving guards the slip on a day trip to the supermarket.

Dangerous Stephen Edwards, 44, was browsing the fruit and veg aisle at an Aldi store in Manchester city centre when he escaped on Wednesday.

His disappearance remained a secret from the public for almost 24 hours before police put out a public appeal.

A nationwide manhunt has been launched for Edwards who was jailed for life in 2001 for stabbing his sister-in-law Julie Tuck up to 31 times and keeping his estranged second wife Anita hostage in a five-hour gun siege at their home in Chippenham, Wiltshire."

 

Unbelieveable

[Evil Sid]

after reading this i could say that my mind boggles at the fact but really it is beyond the boggling stage.

 

a convicted dangerous criminal allowed out to do some shopping at aldi.

then allowed to roam around presumably not handcuffed to his escort

and then they are surprised that he managed to escape

 

add to that the fact they did not inform the public for 24 hours. did they think he might come back??.

 

not to mention the expense of the trip in the first place. all the planning, the cost of at least two escorts and the subsequent costs of a now nation wide manhunt.

 

honestly words fail

[asperity]

I'm sorry to say that I no longer find stories like this unbelievable. sad isn't it?!?!?!?

[observer]

The main reason for institutional failiures by the likes of social services, is that they can't win. If the take away kids as a precaution they are criticised - so the whole management ethos is now about watching yer back and ticking all the boxes - individual judgement and initiative are a thing of the past.

[Paul Kennedy]

A Baby P item from the Independent:

 

Sharon Shoesmith has been portrayed as one of the villains in the Baby P tragedy. She has resolutely defended the social care team that so badly failed the child and has said no one would be sacked over the council's handling of the case. "If any resignations or sacking were needed there would have been," she said. "I certainly won't be resigning." At a briefing after the verdict on Tuesday, she twice refused to apologise for the council's role in Baby P's death, saying: "This child was killed by members of his own family. The agencies are not responsible." Ms Shoesmith joined Haringey Council in 2001 and became director of children and young people's services in April 2005. Her role in the serious case review has also been questioned. The review is meant to be independent but was ordered by the Haringey Local Safeguarding Children Board, which is chaired by Ms Shoesmith.

 

 

My guess is that the woman will resign....and that she will currently be negotiating generous...for her.....terms with her employers.

[Eagle]

........... and will be appointed to a more senior position in an adjoining Borough.

[Paul Kennedy]

Normally the case Eagle......and on a higher salary.

[Paul Kennedy]

Cartels as you know are illegal, and the following from The Times, is an interesting case the irony will not be lost on you when you read my comment at the end:

 

"Three former oil industry workers who became the first British business executives to be jailed for price-fixing had their sentences reduced today.

 

The three, who were involved in a global scam to fix the prices of specialist hoses used to transport oil, successfully appealed against sentences handed down after pleading guilty in June.

 

Bryan Allison, former managing director of Dunlop Oil and Marine, one of six companies in the so-called marine hoses cartel, had his sentence cut from three to two years at the Court of Appeal this morning.

 

Peter Whittle, an independent consultant who co-ordinated the worldwide cartel, had his sentence reduced from three years to two and a half years. ........."

 

 

Based on the above, will those people who are involved with OPEC, the world's largest cartel....and openly so, be getting life sentences.

[Paul Kennedy]

Here is one to get the blood pressure up, no wonder the UK has become a laughing stock.:

 

"Drug-addicted prisoners have received compensation because their human rights were breached when they were forced to go cold turkey, it was revealed today.

 

Around ?11,400 was paid to three inmates at Winchester Prison in Hampshire after a court ruled that it was a breach of their human rights to deny them drugs such as heroin and substitute substances."

 

Daily Mail

[Paul Kennedy]

The following from the Independent, in these harsh econmic times, obscene or what:

 

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has rejected a ?129m move to Manchester City, according to reports in the Spanish media.

 

Under the deal, Casillas would have received ?12m-a-year to play for Mark Hughes' side, but he immediately dismissed the deal.

 

Football as a business model is the economics of the madhouse.

[Bazj]

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has rejected a ?129m move to Manchester City, according to reports in the Spanish media.

 

Under the deal, Casillas would have received ?12m-a-year to play for Mark Hughes' side, but he immediately dismissed the deal.

 

But Paul it is still Manchester City.

 

As Barack famously said during his campaign.... "you can put lipstick on a pig...... but it is still a pig"!

[asperity]

http://tinyurl.com/7b6qom

 

Even when they know they're wrong officials cannot tell it straight

[asperity]

More Greenie madness

 

Seattle is known as a place where the rain never stops, but lately it's been snowing, and the roads have been icy. On Friday the result, as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported, was a near-disaster:

 

Two Northwestern Trailways buses slid down the snow-covered cobblestones of East Thomas on Capitol Hill and smashed into each other, careening through a guardrail on Melrose Avenue East, 20 to 30 feet above Interstate 5.

 

 

Fortunately, the buses did not fall onto the highway below. They "came to rest with their front ends hanging over I-5."

It turns out there's a reason Seattle's roads are so icy. Today's Seattle Times reports:

 

There's snow and ice left on major arterials by design. "We're trying to create a hard-packed surface," said Alex Wiggins, chief of staff for the Seattle Department of Transportation. "It doesn't look like anything you'd find in Chicago or New York." . . .

 

The icy streets are the result of Seattle's refusal to use salt, an effective ice-buster used by the state Department of Transportation and cities accustomed to dealing with heavy winter snows. "If we were using salt, you'd see patches of bare road because salt is very effective," Wiggins said. "We decided not to utilize salt because it's not a healthy addition to Puget Sound."

 

 

Puget Sound is a saltwater estuary. That's right--Seattle officials are making their roads more dangerous because they're trying to keep salt out of the ocean.

[Peter T]

Only in the USA or UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Paul Kennedy]

Daily Mail.....who else

 

"A prisoner is claiming compensation for the injuries he suffered while trying to escape from jail.

 

Convicted robber Nathan Brooks, 31, broke bones in both feet when he jumped 30ft from a prison roof.

 

Brooks needed surgical plates inserted into both heels but he has been left with osteoarthritis and cannot walk unaided........

 

He was treated for his injuries in hospital and later freed from Usk after serving his sentence.

But Brooks, of Bracknell, Berkshire, carried out another robbery and was jailed again - this time for four years.

Since being back inside he has been at Bullingdon in Oxfordshire, Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight and Coldingley in Woking.

Brooks' action is costing the taxpayer thousands of pounds in legal costs after hiring a firm of solicitors and a barrister to fight his case.

Conservative MP David Davies today blasted the publicly-funded damages claim.

He said: 'Yet another bunch of lawyers will have made a mint pursuing this spurious claim on behalf of a criminal.

'The fact that such a ludicrous case has come to court just goes to show how little common sense there is in this country when it comes to dealing with justice.

'It's ridiculous that a prisoner trying to escape can make such a claim against the prison authorities.'"

 

Guess it might have been better for society had he have broken his neck in the fall...and not survived, as Mr Brooks is obviously a total waster.....and loser.

[Bazj]

Maybe armed guard towers and a shoot to kill policy for any escapees would be a good idea!

 

Typical Nulabour Britain.... now infested with ambulance chasing lawyers and human rights laws favouring the scum

[Peter T]

And since the beginning of 2002, one computer a day goes missing from Whitehall.

Children are banned from carrying candles in church and the latest from the PC brigade is that every fire-engine must have a woman on it. (presumably whether any want to or not).

Does that mean if no women want to join the Fire Service, that fire engines can't go out?

ALL in the mail.

I wonder if these idiots know what it takes to be a fire fighter?

[Bazj]

I wonder if these idiots know what it takes to be a fire fighter?

 

Got to be able to sleep a lot and wangle out of the last 6 years of your working life on the sick with an imaginary bad back (if it is the one I'm thinking of!!)

[Paul Kennedy]

the latest from the PC brigade is that every fire-engine must have a woman on it. (presumably whether any want to or not).

Does that mean if no women want to join the Fire Service, that fire engines can't go out?

 

The Fire & Rescue Service will be instructed to adopt a policy of "positive" recruitment of women if the "idea" gets taken up. Personally I have no problems with an all woman fire crew if they are up to the job...ditto every other job...provided that they are not there just because they are women.

 

Interestingly there was a programme on last night regarding our troops in Afghanistan, one of whom was a small young woman (19)......who drove a massive armoured transporter...and very impressive she was as well.

[Peter T]

Paul,

I don't have a problem with women doing jobs. (They ran the country very successfully during the war.) I do have a problem with the PC lot who "order" these things, another example being the police who must have a certain %age of Ethnics.

 

What if people don't want to join these things?

They'll be bringing the "press gangs" back next.

[Gary]

Paul,

I don't have a problem with women doing jobs. (They ran the country very successfully during the war.) I do have a problem with the PC lot who "order" these things, another example being the police who must have a certain %age of Ethnics.

 

What if people don't want to join these things?

They'll be bringing the "press gangs" back next.

 

Its a bit like political parties selecting candidates on gender/race rather than the best person for the job

[observer]

So what happened to meritocracy?

[Paul Kennedy]

What if people don't want to join these things?

 

You make a very good point.