What Do We Do With the Raoul Moats of this World?
Some who knew Raoul Moat say he was an odious violent man, but others point to a softer and much more agreeable side to his character. But unfortunately, the bad side of his character won the battle and ultimately caused his destruction.
But how do we prevent people from becoming the next Raoul Moat?
Surely, if we could stop just a couple it would be worthwhile.
Whilst, browsing The Times web site, I found this article from Alice Thomson. I agree with virtually everything she says, but how much of it would ever get implemented?
Very little, I suspect.
The Most Powerful Men and Women in England
C, my late wife was a barrister, who dealt mostly with family matters.
Some of the posts about Pfizer’s legal action, worried about the company acting outside of the law.
One day, C came home and told me about the High Court tipstaffs. I think she had been doing a case in the Principal Registry of the Family Division, which used to be in Somerset House. Surely, there is no better place for a court.
I can’t remember the exact details of the case, as she never told me But I suspect it was to do with a father hiding the children and refusing to tell anybody, where they were, as she had quite a few cases where this happened. In this case, because one of the highest courts in the land had been disobeyed, the case was handed over to the tipstaff. C said that their powers are unprecedented and they only answer to the highest judges, like the Lord Chief Justice. Even Prime Ministers have to obey the tipstaff. Read about them in Wikipedia.
This paragraph details their powers.
The High Court Tipstaff may appoint three assistants and can call on any constable, bailiff or member of the public to assist in carrying out their duties and their jurisdiction extends throughout England & Wales. They are authorised to force entry if necessary and will have a police officer present to prevent breach of the peace. The relevant territorial police force are informed of arrests.
Sometimes a local bailiff or police will detain a person in custody until the Tipstaff arrives to collect him and take him to court or prison. Pentonville Prison (for civil offenders) is obliged to take into custody‚ no matter the situation‚ any people taken there by the Tipstaff.
The article also details how the tipstaff can act in Family cases.
The majority of their work involves taking children into custody (ie a place of safety)‚ including cases of child abduction abroad.
In child abduction cases, there may be a ‘seek and locate’ order backed by a bench warrant ordering any person with knowledge of the child to give that information to the Tipstaff or his deputy or assistants. Related orders may require the alleged abductor to hand his passport and other travel documents to the Tipstaff, and order the Tipstaff to take the child and deliver him/her to a designated place. There may also be a ‘port alert’ executed by the Tipstaff, to help prevent the child being taken abroad.
In the case of children who have been declared a ward of court i.e. cases where the court is acting in loco parentis the Tipstaff has a role in ensuring that those children are delivered to the locations specified by the court.
You would imagine that a tipstaff would be a large, powerfully-built man with either sevice or police training. But the tipstaff that C met was a small, slight, extremely polite and persuasive lady of Asian origin. Remember though that she can order anyone to help her and that she has almost absolute power in the matter she is dealing with. C said that she only has to answer to the highest judges.
An Act of Barbarism
The Times has the headline right in every way, when it reports on Iran’s proposed stoning of a woman for adultery.
What can we do about it? Very little! Except sign the petition.
Digital Radio
I generally listen to the radio through SKY or Freeview, except when I’m in the car. The government wants to switch off the AM and FM signals, but they don’t seem to be getting far according to this BBC report. People just won’t switch.
I tried an add-on digital radio for my 5-year-old Jaguar, but I couldn’t get it to work. As the radio for that car is fully integrated with Bluetooth and my phone, I doubt a proper replacement will be available, especially as the car is being discontinued. An add-on for the Lotus Elan is probably easier, as that car has a replacement modern Sony radio with a USB connection.
So what would owners of cars like my Jaguar do to get radios, if the AM and FM signals were discontinued. Probably moan a lot and not vote for the government next time. You wouldn’t spend several thousand to change your car, just to get the added safety of a radio on the move!
AM and FM may not be as good as digital, but this does seem to be rather a bodged and badly-thought out change.
By the way, when I’m in the near-continent, I get the BBC on AM. Are the BBC doing to abandon, the many people who listen to Radio 4 on LW? It looks like they are!
Peeling Potatoes
Would anybody describe this as a go0d exercise for someone who has had a stroke? But I’m making one of Jamie Olivers’s fish pies and that needs a kilogram of potatoes to be peeled.
I peel potatoes with the potato in my left and the knife in my right, but then I’m right-handed. I also tip the potatoes into a largew bowl of cold water and in fact just retrieving the next potato is quite soothing. But the action of holding the potato and then twisting it so that the next bit of peel is removed, seems to be a good exercise.
It’s also rewarding to yourself, as you see your naked creations gradually filling the saucepan.
I think though that peeling potatoes is one of those mundane jobs, which because a knife is involved, you concentrate about to get done well and then get a large degree of satisfaction, when you complete it.
I found the same satisfaction, when I cleaned my shoes on Saturday. Perhaps stroke recovery is all about getting back to normal and that means doing all those day-to-day tasks.
Tomorrow is Darrell’s Day
The 4th of July means a lot to Americans, but it also means a lot to us here in Suffolk, as on that day in 1667, Nathaniel Darrell and his brave marines at Landguard Fort near Felixstowe, repulsed the last attempted invasion of the United Kingdom.
If he hadn’t been successful, we might all be speaking Dutch!
Justice – Afghan Style
This case asks a lot of questions about Afghanistan. Surely though, there comes a time, when the country should be left to its own devices, Taliban and all. It has lots of mineral resources, so what will happen in the end is its neighbour, China, will make commercial deals to get it out and Karzai and his cronies will run to some tax haven and live in comfort for the rest of their days. We will just suffer more and more crime and corruption due to the increasing amount of drugs flowing our way. Somehow we must find some way of stopping people taking the damn things!
The sad thing about the country is that a friend visited in the 1960s. Then Afghanistan provided masses of fruit like apples for the whole of the region. Since then it has been one sorry tale after another.
Now we just get more and more grief exported from this sorry, perverted and corrupt country. We should get out immediately.
An Old Friend Returns
My Nokia 6310I returned from the menders today, after just forty-eight hours away. All it needed was a change of keypad at a cost of around thirty pounds!
You can’t imagine how it feels to have an old friend back again in good health, even if they are rather battered like me. It links perfectly to my Jaguar X-Type with Bluetooth, the keys are easy to use even for me in my state, text messages are easy to send, it lasts a whole week on one battery charge and it has all the strength of the proverbial brick outhouse.
Who wants any of these modern phones built with all the fragility of porcelain,unwanted complexity, features that no sane person would ever use and battery life of a few nanoseconds?
Especially as I found yesterday that as-new 6310Is are available in Bury St. Edmunds Market for a few pounds from a very competent stall run by a charming and very knowledgeable Sikh gentleman. His stall was outside H Samuel
John Lewis’s Wedding List
A friend’s daughter is getting married on Saturday. The wedding list is on-line at John Lewis. It was so simple to use and saved a lot of hassle for me, as how does a sixty year old widower choose something for a twenty-year-old or so woman and her new husband? I took the easy route and gave gift vouchers.
More People Sign On To The Internet
This report says that in the last year 2,000,000 more people have signed on to the Internet in the UK. A lot of those who’ve signed up are over fifty.
This is a very good thing, asa it makes it possible for the government to deliver more and more services on line to do things more efficiently and at less cost.
As an example I always get my Vehicle Excise Duty on line and it is a system that works well. Similarly, I fill in my Electoral Roll on line. That one is conpletely painless. We certainly need an on line tax and benefits system on-line, that makes sure that people are encouraged to work.
The more people that get on line, the more these systems will be possible.
The Anonymous Widower 