Police and prosecutors were strongly criticised for pursuing the case against two teenagers who were cleared of plotting a Columbine-style massacre at their own school. A jury took just 45 minutes to clear Matthew Swift, 18, and Ross McKnight, 16, of planning to murder teachers and pupils at Audenshaw High School in Greater Manchester. Following the verdicts, the barrister who defended one of the youngsters said it was an "unnecessary, heavy-handed prosecution" and an expensive waste of public money. McKnight's father Ray, a serving police officer, said both his son and Swift had gone through "purgatory" and "absolute agony" after spending six months remanded in custody. The full story can be read on the website of the Manchester Evening News
I followed this case closely and it was obvious to me from the outset that these boys had no case to answer. It appears to have been just a huge waste of public money in pursuing this nonsensical case. When I was a kid we used to play cowboys & Indians. If the PC zealots in charge these days found kids playing such a game they could well be accused of planning a racial war of annihilation.
Your honour, the accused; Michael, Johnny and Jamie are charged with planning and training for a conflict based entirely on the issue of race, they were observed handling guns and shouting “get the Indians - they are hiding behind the large oak tree at the bottom of the garden” the judge says ‘but the guns were plastic toys and the eldest of the accused is only seven years of age’ PC zealot prosecutor; ………..damn - thwarted again! Tameside Citizen
9 comments:
totally bizzare. How does a situation develop where 12 people can only take 45 minutes to come to a not guilty decision yet the cps are prepared to spend hundreds of thousand on the case.
The whole thing is very odd, the prosecution, their interest in Hitler and right wing groups, their fantasy. bizzare from start to end
The CPS are totally politicised and any non-Muslim 'terrorists' are desperately being sought by the authorities to deflect attention from the truth about the multi-faceted Islamic threat to Bitain. This consists of actual, and demographic terrorism. Go to the maternity ward of The Royal Oldham Hospital if you really want to know what's happening.
What are we constantly told........? "If you are innocent you have nothing to fear"
The next time you are told thst, remember this case!
A crazy and unjust prosecution, will the two lads who are the victims of this malicious prosecution get compensation for the hellish time they spent in Strangeways prison?
Take note these two young lads pleaded NOT GUILTY,and defended the allegations maybe its was because that's just what they were, NOT GUILTY.
Why do some people plead guilty then spend the next few years tellng us all they were innocent.
Taylor, learn to spell. You're giving yourself away.
How can we trust the competance of a police force which cannot tell the difference between two kids fantasising and real terrorists?
At least these two didn't get shot by mistake so we can be thankful for small mercies!
Though far be it from me to point a finger of scorn at the GMP.....in poor light it might be mistaken for a pistol!!!
Tony, It is not the job of the Police to judge between fantasy or plot. Whilst I agree both GMP and CPS are politicised, the Police have a duty to discover the facts not interpret them. If this was a frivolous prosecution the CPS are to blame.
I doubt in this case the Police had any choice. Remember Hungerford? A fantasist, who was no danger to anybody until---
I think any allusion to terrorism is misplaced as there was no ulterior motive or benefit to be gained
UKIP, Michael Ryan had an arsenal including; semi-automatic shotgun; hi-power Browning 9mm automatic pistol and a Kalashnikov AK47 assault rifle, one of the most effective killing weapons in the world which fires a steel-cased 7.62mm round at 2400 feet per second, with which he did most of the damage. These boys had childish fantasies.
If the Cambridgeshire Police circa 1987 had got wind of what he was planning and the guns at his disposal he would have been arrested, his arsenal uncovered and after conviction an extremely heavy sentence would have followed. In other words that would have been a justified and proper use of judicial power.
It may have been political or it may have been rank bad judgement from a Police force, floundering in a morass of political correctness, that has thrown its core values in the bin and replaced them with directionless vacuity dressed up as equally meaningless, sociology student-type law enforcement. The Police DID interpret the law in this case and the tone of their report must have influenced the CPS's utterly ludicrous decision to prosecute.
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