Bobby Watch Five

Regular readers will have noticed an absence of blogging activity on my part in recent weeks - the result of copious amounts of marking and a serious backlog of writing.  So what have the boys in blue been up to in my absence?

A spot of burglary according to the Exeter Express & Echo who report the Exeter's Police Officers have been identifying "insecure" residential properties and then entering them, collecting up valuable and placing them in a swag bag together with "crime prevention" literature which they kindly leave in the premises. This entirely illegal activity they claim is innocent and designed purely to scare people into improving their home security. 

As well as obvious objections to the police yet again seeing themselves above the law such behaviour could go horribly wrong if they targeted someone like Tony Martin.

Bobby Watch Four

Michael Mancini was sitting in stationary traffic in Ayr, with the handbrake on, when he used a tissue to clean his nose. A keen eyed crime fighting bobby, PC Stuart Gray spotted this deviant behaviour and promptly issued a fixed penalty notice fining Mr Mancini £60 and 3 points on his licence


He has refused to pay the fine and will fight his case in court


PC Gray came to fame last year when he did an unemployed man for littering after a £10 note fell out of his pocket!


PC Gray (or possibly someone pretending to be him) is on twitter

Bobby Watch Three

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Pensioner arrested and locked in cell for shouting at yobs who threw stones at ducks

Story is from the Daily Mail so a certain cynicism required. but it is indicative of an increasing tendency to arrest first and ask questions later. Could this be, at least in part, relating to the habit of the police and taking DNA samples from everyone arrested and retaining them even after it is established there was no justification for the arrest.



Recently there has been lots of campaigning to allow innocent people to have their DNA records destroyed. The Government has given some ground and is introducing legislation to allow people to apply to court if their local Chief Constable insists on keeping their DNA. The small print however reveals that to do so applicants will need to pay £200. This effectively rules out many poor and working class people from exercising this right. Nice one Comrade Johnson.

For those who, like the police, argue that the massive UK DNA database is crucial for their heroic fight against crime it is slightly embarrassing that actually DNA is responsible for solving less than 1% of UK crime.

How do innocent people get removed from the police DNA database? Mark Thomas explains here

Further Information from GeneWatch UK

Bobby Watch Two

Police use pepper spray on Eastbourne Christmas elf

A Christmas “elf” was grappled to the floor by police using batons and pepper spray after he was caught selling mistletoe without a licence.

Ex-Royal Marine Paul Douglas, 46, rolled on the ground in a tussle with a uniformed officer in front of dozens of horrified shoppers on Christmas Eve last year, a court was told.

He had been selling sprigs of mistletoe and holly dressed in fluffy red trousers and a Christmas pudding hat in Eastbourne.

Council enforcement officer Mark Jobling called 999 after Douglas refused to give his name and address when asked to show his pedlar’s licence.

PC Stephen Kimber, who was on foot patrol, arrived at the scene and asked Douglas for his details.

Eastbourne magistrates was told how Douglas pushed him and a struggle ensued.

PC Kimber used his nightstick and captor spray to bring Douglas under control. The officer was unhurt, but Douglas, of Manor Road, Hampden Park, Eastbourne, claimed he was left covered in bruises.

He was arrested at the scene and spent nine hours in the cells.

He denied obstructing a police officer but was convicted following a one-day trial.

Magistrates fined him £200 and ordered him to pay £100 court costs but Douglas is now appealing against his conviction.

He said: "All I was doing was selling holly for £3.50 and mistletoe for £1.50. It was Christmas Eve, everyone was out doing their last minute shopping and I was having a bit of fun.

“Lots of people were buying from me and I was doing my best to make them feel festive.

“But it was not nice for them to see me being bashed with a police baton and pepper sprayed. What a sight for children on Christmas Eve, Santa’s little helper in a dust up with a police officer.

“I wasn’t a threat, I was just arguing that I wasn’t doing any harm. The police reaction was well over the top.”

At Lewes Crown Court, Judge Richard Hayward adjourned the appeal until February – but branded the case "a waste of money".

Hat Tip The Argus

Bobby Watch One

Over the next week I am going to blog a number of recent police stories. Each on their own may not be worrying but the intention is to show, through a series of stories, how policing is increasingly anti-social.

We start with a Bristol story. Craig and Philip Lewis and their friend Luke Monks found themselves staring in Avon and Somerset Police's 'Caught on camera' posters display in Police Stations and other public buildings in Bristol. Their pictures were captioned 'burglary'. One of their friends spotted them on the posters told them they were wanted for burglary. Worried about the implications they approached the police.

It turned out that the pictures where from the CCTV cameras of GO Outdoors store which they had visited together on the 16th November. They left without buying anything. Early in the morning of the following day the store was burgled. There was nothing to connect the trio to the burglary and it appears they were featured on the wanted posters purely on a speculative basis. Once they came forward they were quickly eliminated. Although it appears the police failed to let them know or indeed to remove the posters.

You can read more about the story on Evening Post site - Bristol security guard angry at wrongful accusation