London Riots

On Thursday 8 August 2011 in Tottenham London

Mark Duggan was shot dead by

British police.

On Friday 9 August 2011 Mark Duggan’s family and friends, upset and angry at the behaviour of the police, held a peaceful protest.

Few could have failed to have seen something in the media of the looting, violence and arson which followed in many areas of London; escalating and spreading to other parts of the UK.  Seemingly mindless destruction of local businesses as well as some private and government properties. 

Members of the general public became fearful of entering streets which only hours before had been places of work and recreation.  Nobody seemed exempt, even journalists reporting the events were attacked and equipment smashed or stolen.  Many of us would have watched the heartbreaking image on TV of the injured young person robbed by those whom he believed to be helping him.

Emotions ran high, anger and revenge flooded social websites.  Members of the public and various organisations gave their point of view and ways of reform.  ‘Give the police more powers.’  ‘It’s the parents.’  ‘Must be a reaction to the ‘cuts’.’  ‘They are, the under privileged’ and an expression which could be right out of George Orwell’s 1984, ‘It’s The Underclass’.

Police stated it was ‘copycat’ behaviour and an element of that appears to be proven, judging by the ‘status’ of some of those arrested for looting.  I doubt whether the looters themselves could give a definitive explanation of the motivation for their actions.

Various questions are posed.  How long has this been brewing?  Where was the government?  Current and previous.  How did this gang-culture youth develop?  Who knew about it?  Local councilors, social workers, police officers, teachers, GP’s - parents?

Though we in the UK have never experienced such blatant, collusive, violent behaviour to such a degree on our streets, we have had more than our share of football hooliganism and look at our lager-lout reputation worldwide.  It certainly highlights our audacity in presuming we know what is best for other nations’ problems when we do not resolve our own.

Yes, I think it is a result of all the above and maybe, initially, ‘it is the parents’.  Our family code informs our view of the world until we gain insight.

'Give me the child until he is seven and I’ll give you the man.' St. Francis Xavier

But we can only use the tools we possess.  I feel it unfair and unhelpful simply to make harsh judgments on those who have not been provided with them or even been told where to look.  Many of these young people have not been encouraged to study or plan for future employment, apart from the other culture of truancy inhibiting them from academic achievement.

Punishment alone will not suffice. David Cameron refers to a 'sick society'; I trust he will realise that we are all culpable.  In group dynamics every person present plays a part, even if that is in keeping silent.

'The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing.' Edmund Burke

Love and acceptance is the soil for the development of a stable, confident, human being.  The child who knows it is loved and valued does not question his or her worthiness and abilities.  An emotionally damaged child cannot learn, with the obvious repercussions. 

Poverty of circumstance, yes but poverty of spirit, however we define that, is one of the biggest barriers to self-actualisation and progression; educationally and socially.  We all need to be welcomed into this world, and encouraged to contribute to it.

Statistics show that much of the gang-culture in UK Urban areas ferments mainly in families with absent fathers; this includes those who remain in the family home but are never around to adequately 'father' their children. And of course these men are often products of similar circumstances. Though I would not highlight this as the only reason for social breakdown; fathers are needed.  Their role in family is to provide challenge for their children; to teach about risk-taking and responsibility in a loving environment with clear limitations and consequences.  Many of these families consist of people who have had no paid employment for generations; what example is that?  If any child, male or female, does not receive these tools for life, then how can they foster them in their own children?  If this is the case then it is for our society to ensure our parliamentary system takes on that responsibility where it can. 

There is an encroaching unfair hierarchy in Britain. 


When certain groups of people referred to as ‘the underclass’ take what is not theirs, invade others' property and deprive them of their hard earned cash, we call them Ferrell rats, evil.  We call for their blood. Take their homes! Stop their benefits!  We have to punish them for daring to go where they do not belong.

Do we think that this 'underclass' does not notice when the government allows the prosperous to rip-off their fellow citizens, as in bankers for example?  When the poorest, the so-called 'working classes' are made to pay for the irresponsibility of the elite?  Do we think they did not notice that after the furore of the politician’s expenses scandal, when so many were involved that so few were convicted and most were let off with a slap on the wrist?  Do we think that OUR poor who live in our urban areas with no jobs, no education and no hope of them; did not notice who was involved in, and who got away with what, during the 'phone-hacking' scandal.  A hypocritical Cameron; a man who has no idea of what it means to have to do without, or struggle to make ends meet, who due to money and influence had the best education, and prospects; who instead of being grateful for his privileged position and vow to use his power to help the less privileged, is so eager to point the finger and him in bed with Murdoch and Co.

Corruption is swept under-the-carpet when it suits, usually by men in suits; experts in how to get away with 'blue murder'.  Instead of confronting this criminal behaviour we turn-a-blind-eye, lick our wounds, somehow feeling justified at having been avenged in that two lads go to prison because they texted about a riot which did not happen.

'If we keep doing what we’re doing – we’ll keep getting what we’ve got.' David Thornburg


'Perfect Storm' The England Riots August 2011 Mini Documentary

The most populous urban areas in the UK

Greater London Urban Area

• West Midlands Urban Area

• Greater Manchester Urban Area

• West Yorkshire Urban Area

• Greater Glasgow

• Tyneside

• Liverpool Urban Area

• Nottingham Urban Area

• Sheffield Urban Area

• Bristol Urban Area.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_compendia/fom2005/03_fopm_urbanareas.pdf

Wasim

On the 22 June 2008 a mother makes her usual telephone call to her son.  He is married with a family and his mother is very proud of him, he has achieved both academically and vocationally.  She enjoys their regular chats and catch ups over the phone; so is surprised to find that on telephoning several times on the above date, there is no reply from either her son or his wife.  Without wanting to seem over anxious she contacts other family members and friends just in case he is with them or maybe got held up somewhere or had been unexpectedly delayed at work.

Over the following hours which lengthen into two days she becomes desperate to know if her son is ok – maybe he’s had an accident – in hospital perhaps but surely his wife would have let her know?  With this is mind one of her other sons and a friend travel to her son's home to speak with his wife.  She states that he left the house on 20 June and she has not seen or heard from him since.  They were bewildered that his wife had not told the family or reported her husband missing to the police – never the less they then inform the police and other relevant authorities.

Many people go missing and it is a fact that if an adult disappears the police do not automatically presume foul play is involved; so do not always act immediately.  However after three months have passed and this mother has heard nothing from police in the form of follow-up interviews with neighbours and no search for clues in her son's property – no investigative work at all as far as she could tell and her son’s wife now having left with the children and her husband’s belongings; on 3 September 2008 she decides to investigate herself.

This scenario could be acted out anywhere in the world and the mothers amongst us will know that losing touch with her child at any age stirs feelings of panic and anxiety.  The mother in this case is Egyptian, her name, Shahandeh Abdul Hamid, and her son Wasim Salah Hussein, had moved with his wife Gvadh and family, to Moscow, Russia.

Shahandeh arrives in Moscow and discovers that her son's dead body had been found by the police just three days after he went missing but had been left unidentified and placed in a morgue.  His body had been dismembered and dumped in  boxes and thrown into a river. 

The details are revolting and we can only imagine the impact on Shahandeh and her family as they heard that on 23 June 2008 in the river by the Moscow Kremlin in the Corniche area, two suitcases were found – inside plastic bags were discovered and on opening them human body parts were revealed of a male: these included the head and upper part of the trunk; parts of the upper right buttock, the pelvic area, thighs and left leg.  On 26 June 2008 in the aquatic compartment on the Bank of the Moscow River a piece of the lower end of human right leg was also discovered.  Yes, Wasim, eventually identified through his daughter’s DNA

Shahandeh has been campaigning since that time for a thorough investigation into the murder of her son, Wasim.  It has become her life's work.  She now has the support a group of sympathisers including writers, journalists, artists and politicians as well as members of the People's Assembly.  I also believe that Shahandeh and her supporters have written to President Putin to ask him to enforce a thorough investigation as police authorities have closed the case and refuse to open it, stating that there was no criminal activity involved.  Of course this makes no sense, bodies do not cut themselves up and the fact that Wasim’s wife did not report her husband missing is a little suspicious I would have thought?

While this murder may have happened thousands of miles away, from many of us, there is something in it that should concern us all.  That is, this seemingly increasing lack of integrity within the very authorities and departments we look to for justice.  It seems to run through every aspect of our society including governments, police authorites as well as the judiciary. 

Was it always like this?  Are we only just waking up?  Well if that is the case let us rub the sleep from our eyes and continue to ensure that those entrusted with seeking out and dealing with injustice are forced to recognise their accountability towards their citizens, wherever in the world they may be.

Wasim and Shahandeh - full story here: http://waseemsalah.8m.net/

Justice for Jeremy

I recently visited my MP, John Whittingdale, to ask for his help in Jeremy Bamber’s Freedom of Information request.  He said he could not help – has no influence and furthermore believed Jeremy Bamber to be guilty; he is also on familiar terms with Jeremy's relatives, David Boutflour and Ann Eaton and has visited White House Farm where Ann Eaton installed her family shortly after Jeremy's imprisonment.
  
I asked John Whittingdale, ‘What would a person do if the very system set up to judge them were corrupt?’  He seemed astounded, said that there is no other way, that he ‘believes in the law’.  I was also astounded, at what I perceived to be his naivety.  The law does not exist in isolation; it is administered by human beings all of whom have their frailties.  Adhering to the principles of law may bring about justice and often does but the law can also mutate into a nightmare of machinations that come into play, totally ignoring common sense, exacerbated by self-interest, and influenced through ‘trial by media.’

The tragic, heinous act of the murders at White House Farm in the early hours of August 7 1985, whetted our collective appetite for justice as well as gratuitous curiosity and released the voyeur in many of us.

When it made sense that only someone of a deranged mind could do such a thing, what was it that made us abandon common sense in favour of a highly unlikely conclusion?  Even if it was an unconscious act, why did Essex Police suddenly collude with the relatives, against Jeremy Bamber?  Why did the general public find it easier to believe that Jeremy Bamber, who had an alibi and has since taken and passed a polygraph (lie) test, was guilty, but that his sister, Sheila Caffell, who was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and who had previously threatened to kill her children, could not have murdered them and her adoptive parents? 

I do not have the answers.  Maybe it is easier to project our anger and repulsion onto a living, young and attractive male, someone maybe of whose status we are envious, than to consider the obscenity of a beautiful young mother killing her own children?  ‘Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.’ Carl Jung

Jeremy Bamber’s defence and campaign teams have been requesting the release of documentation on his case as much of it has unnecessarily and illegally been filed under Public Interest Immunity (PII).  PII is a principle of common law under which English courts can grant an Order allowing one litigant to keep evidence from the sight of other litigants if they consider disclosure to be damaging to public interest.

In Jeremy Bamber’s case the opposite is true, the public need and have a right to know when the truth is being hidden.  It is vital, in a democratic society, that any corruption of public officers be exposed via the appropriate channels and procedures.  This is not happening.

Jeremy always maintained that it was his sister (Sheila Caffell) who shot and murdered her family and that his father, Neville Bamber, had telephoned the police that night and told them that his daughter had gone berserk and got hold of one of his guns.  Jeremy was not believed as these police logs were not forthcoming at his trial but they have now been uncovered.  

 

Jeremy Bamber also phoned the police and told them that his father had called him asking him to go to the house as his sister has gone crazy with the gun.  Both of these police logs and other documents of evidence may be found on Jeremy's website (s) listed below
 

Jeremy and his team have repeatedly requested further documentation now filed under PII as this could obviously reveal significant information in relation to his innocence.  Jeremy has also written to Essex Police requesting documents and they have refused, saying it will cost too much!  He has filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act as well as asking others to write a letter in support (see below).

 

Jeremy Bamber has been imprisoned unjustly for over half his life-time – he has courageously continued to work through his pain and anger and has never had the freedom to grieve his family; yet he remains a genuinely nice person evidenced by all those who know and support him. 

Jeremy's story here: http://www.jeremy-bamber.co.uk/home