Many happy returns

Who protects the nazis?

Caught the scum of the Met tweeting this earlier. Note the use of the #freetommyrobinson hashtag. Kind of gives the game away. Unsurprisingly, they've since deleted the tweet. ACAB.

[edit] The offending tweet has now re-appeared in its entirety.

ACAB of the day - Ryan Coleman-Farrow

As a detective constable, working for the specialist police Rape and Serious Sexual Assault Unit (SAPPHIRE) Coleman-Farrow failed to investigate 10 rape cases and 3 sexual assault cases. This included at least one case where witnesses confirmed a rape had taken place.

He also falsified witness statements, didn't bother forwarding evidence for analysis (and falsified false results from forensic tests) and falsely claimed one victim had dropped the charges.

Coleman-Farrow was first investigated when a sex worker complained that he had failed to investigate a stalker that she had reported. She committed suicide a few days later.

He was today sentenced to 16 months, a ridiculously light sentence, given the damage he caused to so many people; but indicative of the state's attitude to both rape and to bent coppers.

If anyone's still wondering why so few rapes get reported, and why the conviction rate for reported rapes is so low,this is a good example of why - the experience of Coleman-Farrow's victims is hardly uncommon. ACAB.

ACAB of the day - Azelle Rodney's murderers, and the state that protects them

The murder was in 2005, but the family's had to wait seven years for the inquiry to take place. And this week we've heard from officer 'E1', who was the head of the armed response team that shot Azelle Rodney 4 times in the head. Officer E1, when questioned at the inquiry, gave the view that the murder was 'a successful operation'.

E1 was also questioned over footage of the incident from a police helicopter which for years police have denied existed and then attempted to prevent being handed over the enquiry. Disgracefully, the inquiry judge has refused to allow this footage to be released to the public, and emptied the public gallery before showing the footage to E1 (this also meant the press were banned from reporting its contents). Given that the police fired 8 shots at their victim, and given the evidence from a paramedic who was at the scene suggests the police planted guns in the vehicle, I reckon you could make a fairly reasonable informed guess as to why the judge was so keen for the footage not to be released.

The United Families and Friends Campaign has its annual march in Central London tomorrow. If for whatever reason you can't make it to Walthamstow, and you can get to Central London, please go and support them.

A new series - ACAB of the day - PC Alex McFarlane

Alex McFarlane, the pig who was recorded in August last year racially abusing a black man in back of a police van last year was today discharged after a second jury failed to reach a verdict on a charge of criminal racist abuse.

The recording includes McFarlane saying to Mauro Demetrio "The problem with you is that you will always be a n***er." It also includes one of his colleagues boasting about strangling Demetrio. Even through Demetrio reported the assault, and marks were left on his neck as evidence of it, no charges were brought. The CPS had tried to bring no charges at all. Indeed, when Demetrio handed his phone in to Forest Gate police station, PC Joe Harrington, another of the pigs who had been present at the assault arrested him on a trumped up accusation of theft from an ATM during the London riots. McFarlane was only charged following the publication of the recording on the internet, where it quickly went viral. You can listen to it here.

In case anyone's wondering how a jury can fail to reach a verdict in a case like this, it's worth bearing in mind that 90% of juries in this country are vetted by Special Branch (as revealed by Newsnight some 20 years ago).

The problem with PC Alex McFarlane is, he'll always be a copper. ACAB.