We are repeatedly told that we have a two-tier justice system in the UK. Frankly, that is a myth; we have a ‘no justice system’ in the UK. If justice, applied fairly after judgement, means that people get what they deserve in terms of punishment according to the law – no more and no less – then our UK justice system is truly broken.
Mind you, with the police reluctant to visit – even if you claim there is a burglar in the house with you still inside, and with significant areas of the UK, half it is claimed, where not a single burglary was solved in three years, what can we expect? People need to be caught, charged, plead and then go to trial if they plead not guilty. That is not happening. Between 2015 and 2023, the overall number of crimes leading to charges declined from a pathetic 15% to a paltry 5%. That figure is currently rising, only slightly and very slowly.
And, mind you again, if the police managed to get a genuine criminal to court they would be way down the priority list, as we have not yet done with those accused of ‘Covid crimes’ such as breaking lockdown rules, not wearing a mask, protesting or writing articles that contradicted the Covid narrative. Even though is common knowledge that all the Covid measures: lockdowns, social distancing, face masks and vaccines were entirely useless, and that Covid was not the existential threat it was promised to be.
In any case, the police are far too busy concerning themselves with thought crimes, silent prayers, non-crimes and crimes that should be non-crimes, to bother with real crime. Break into a house, shoplift, grab a mobile phone, climb on a national monument (if you are pro-Palestinian) or terrorise local populations with your e-scooter, and it’s a free pass. Say the wrong thing on social media and you’re collared good and proper.
The tragic case of Lucy Connolly is a prime example. Recently bereaved of a child, with a very sick husband, in response to the riots that followed the Southport murders she posted on X calling for mass deportations and arson attacks on the hotels where they are housed to rid our country of the illegal immigrants she wrongly thought were responsible for killing the girls. She realised the error of her ways and deleted the post, but not before it had been seen and reported.
Misguidedly entering a plea of guilty both to shorten her time on remand and in the hope of leniency, she is now behind bars, denied the right to see her family and sentenced to 31 months. That was on top of being detained in remand with no opportunity for bail. The judge recommended she serve the whole sentence.
Commentators, even sympathetic ones, have been quick to point to the ‘distasteful’ nature of her posting, almost seeing the situation from the perspective of those who have put her behind bars. I may be in a minority, but I don’t see her remarks as being remotely distasteful; all I see is an outpouring of anger from a very angry woman, a throwaway comment meant to show just how angry she was.
She did not specify a hotel, issue instructions on how to burn one down, supply any petrol or matches and did not lead the charge to the nearest luxury spa full of asylum seekers. She just went for a walk, reflected and decided – probably correctly – that she ought to delete the message.
Nobody but an idiot could think for a minute that she meant anyone any harm. But a series of idiots clearly did: the police officers who arrested her, the lawyer who advised her, and the judge who sentenced her. Surely, this should have been a case warranting only a quick call from the local police to say that her post had been reported, maybe better to delete it (“oh you have already; well, that’s OK then, forget it”) and no more.
Yet, the insanity exemplified by our complete lack of justice seemingly never ends. According to the Free Speech Union an average of 33 people a day are arrested – arrested, not cautioned or, as should happen, ignored – ‘for messages that cause “annoyance”, “inconvenience” or “anxiety” to others via the internet, telephone or mail’.
And, surely a contender for police comedy clip of the year, the arrest of a couple for an adverse comment on a WhatsApp group about their daughter’s school is one of the most blatant examples of police overkill. Three police cars and six officers were considered necessary to undertake the arrest. The couple were subsequently held for eleven hours.
The local police commissioner admits that this should not have become a police matter and a review is being carried out. As usual, the police will undoubtedly exonerate themselves and we may never know who authorised the arrest in the first place, who thought that such a show of force was required and what the actual fuck was going through the minds of any one of those six officers. Did none of them see both how ridiculous they looked and how ridiculous the situation was. It might also be interesting to know precisely what other genuine crimes were being committed while plod and the gang were otherwise occupied.
À propos nothing, former Labour MP Mike Amesbury – at the time a sitting MP – was given only 10 weeks behind bars for explaining his party’s manifesto to a constituent while punching him repeatedly on the ground. There was dubiety about neither guilt nor the sheer violence involved. His pathetically inadequate sentence was then suspended, as the judge did not consider it necessary that he be behind bars. Think about Lucy Connolly and weep.
Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.
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It might help if any example of clearly (according to ‘normal’ people, not ‘our betters’) ludicrous or unjust actions by the Police or Judiciary automatically led to the dismissal of the local Chief Constable, Police Commissioner and the Judge. No need for Inquiries, lessons learned or hefty fines (that ultimately we all pay). A fish rots from the head – therefore cut it off.
And now we are to have imposed on us [elected?] mayors running giant councils to replace the existing ones. More party politicisation, if the farce of police commissioners in 2012 is anything to go by: then mostly only certain generic candidates backed by large parties and their large funds were elected, rather than those with highly relevant experience but no funders.