Authorities have been criticised for pursuing a case against two teenagers who were cleared of planning a bombing at their school in Greater Manchester.
A jury took 45 minutes to acquit Ross McKnight, 16, and Matthew Swift, 18, of planning to murder teachers and pupils at Audenshaw High School.
…
Asst Ch Con Terry Sweeney, of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said senior officers and the CPS felt it was in the public interest to take the case to court.
"In this case the jury took the decision not to convict and we respect their decision," she said.
The head teacher of Audenshaw school, Stephen Turner, said he could not speculate on the decision taken by the CPS.
"Clearly the police investigated thoroughly and presented information to the CPS and that decision was taken by them and we respect that decision," said Mr Turner.
"Our experience of both of them was that they were perfectly normal, ordinary boys, clearly both of them achieved well at their exams."
Right, we’re all familiar with this story having heard a great deal about it over the past week or so. I want to focus on a small part of the above report:
… senior officers and the CPS felt it was in the public interest to take the case to court.
In what way was it in the public interest to lock these two boys up for the last six months – one in youth custody, the other in Strangeways prison? To spend all that money prosecuting? Only for the jury to acquit in 45 minutes (The equivalent of a jury saying “stop wasting our time on nonsense”)
So they had held conversations on the internet and let their imaginations run away with them? Good lordy lordy, by that standard my brother and I must be lined up for execution a la Menendez if anyone’s been monitoring our internet conversations …
“In the public interest” is an interesting phrase. You are not the public referred to, and neither am I. It’s some amorphous thing that represents no more than their own wishes when they can’t think of a decent excuse for those wishes. Why are we importing millions of foreigners? Because it’s “in the public interest”. Why aren’t you prosecuting that man who took a hammer to Tony Ward’s head? Because it’s “in the public interest”. Why did you put these two over-imaginative boys through that ordeal? Because it’s “in the public interest”. Why aren’t you thoroughly investigating the lead-up to the
Iraq war? Because that
wouldn’t be “in the public interest”.
What they mean when they use that phrase is their own interests. So what is “the public interest” in prosecuting these two boys?
Well, we know that not all Muslims are terrorists but, certainly in this country, all terrorists are Muslims. Be nice for officialdom if it could turn around and say “ … but look at those two teenagers – that was terrorism. So you see, there’s nothing particularly risky about letting Muslims in because white British people are doing it too”.
And that’s why those two boys spent six months under lock and key, and were then put on trial on charges that would have ruined their entire lives if found guilty. Who cares – they’re only white trash anyway, not like our good decent PEACEFUL Labour-voting Muslim incomers.
Morg
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