Common sense on appeal

Ursula Nevin took no part in the Manchester riots but was sentenced to five months in prison for handling a pair of shorts looted by her lodger.

The day after the riots Nevin had tried on and decided to keep a pair of shorts her housemate Gemma Corbett, 24, stolen from the Vans store in the Northern Quarter of Manchester.

A week later Nevin, who has two young children was freed on appeal.
Judge Andrew Gilbart QC sitting at Manchester crown court said the sentence had been "wrong in principle" because she had not been at the scene of the disturbances.
The apeal court handed down a revised sentence of  75 hours unpaid work instead.

Richard Vardon, representing Nevin at the appeal hearing, said the doting mother had been put in a terrible position by her housemate – and had been devastated to find herself separated from her children and in jail.
Judge Gilbart said: "Ursula Nevin did not go into Manchester city centre – we regard it as wrong in principle that she was made the subject of a custodial sentence." He told her to leave the court and go and look after her children.

I fully agree that the rioters should be punished but some of the sentences handed out have been ridiculous, smacking of politically motivated vengeance than any justice.

This woman should have been punished but should never have been sent to prison. I am glad that the  Court of Appeals is more level headed than the lower courts. Now to see if the guy who stole a bottle of water is freed from prison...

Oh dear!

No comment!

A true Ambassador for Romford...

Romford may now hold the dubious distinction of being the home to the youngest person to appear in court in connection with the riots.

An eleven year old youth appeared at Highbury Corner Youth Court, where he admitted being part of a gang that attacked the Romford branch of Debenhams on Monday night.

According to the Telegraph the youth apeared in court wearing an Adidas tracksuit. He spoke only  to confirm his name, age and date of birth.

He pleaded guilty to burglary, after stealing a waste bin worth £50 from Debenhams. A charge of violent disorder was dropped.During the brief hearing the court heard the boy has already been given a referral order after being convicted of a separate offence just last week. No details of the conviction were given.

Prosecutor Steven Davis told the court: "This was 10.30pm on Monday evening with a background of serious violence in Romford. "Police saw a group of 20-30 youths who were approaching large stores, breaking windows and looting. They saw Debenhams had had its windows broken and they saw [the boy] approach the window that had been smashed, lean in, take a waste bin and run off with it."

He said when police stopped the boy, he said: "I was just taking it to pass on to somebody else."

Mr Davis said the bin was worth £50. The damage to the windows was £6,000 but it is not alleged the boy broke them.

Defending the 11 year-old, Vicky Thompson said he was given a referral order after being convicted last Wednesday, but it had not even begun yet.

The youth was supported in court by his ten year old girlfriend, their three year old twin sons and his nineteen year old mother....

The best comment on the riots I've heard

This video of a brave Hackney woman seems to have gone viral. As I support her sentiments I will push it out a little further

H/t to Martin in the Margins

Iran condemns British police

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast urged the British government to order the police to stop their violent confrontation with the people, 

Mehmanparast asked the British government to start dialogue with the protesters and to listen to their demands in order to calm the situation down.  He  also asked independent human rights organizations to investigate the killing in order to protect the civil rights and civil liberties.

This looks as if it is from the Onion when in fact it is a Press tv report! Given Iran's sensitive and gentle approach to policing disturbances the protest is of course utterly justified... Ha!


The Iranian Government has a nerve to lecture anyone on policing disturbances . The diplomatic response would be to tell them to rearrange the words "off" and "fuck" into a well known phrase or saying

Rioting in Romford... sort of

Early evening last night I saw a few rumours on Twitter and Facebook that Romford was set for distrubances. I kept an eye on Tweeets about Romford and after a while rumours abounded - Primark was burning, McDonalds and Costa Coffee had been smashed, even Romford station was ablaze!

I love quite close to Romfrod town centre. A quick check outside my back door confirmed that the sky was not glowing orange from anything other than light pollution and there was not much screeching of sirens.

In a moment of impetuousness I loaded my tatty Lowepro camera rucksack with my old Nikon D50 and a couple of lenses and headed towards the centre.

Victoria Road, the main location of fast food joints and Chinese and Indian restaurants was largely deserted, the eateries closer to the centre  being shut. The area outside the station was deserted except for  groups of police officers and a few people exiting a railway station that was clearly not in the slightest bit ablaze.

The South street bars and clubs from the Goose (once the Mawney Arms) to Yates's (formerly office accommodation if I remember rightly) ere all closed but it was clear that neither McDonalds nor the Costa coffee shop were smoking piles.

Moving further on into the pedestrian part of South street it was clear that Primark was  fully intact. However there were a number of youths milling around  further on so I decided to head home. Nothing to photograph.

Mercifully I missed the disturbances. It seems that there were disturbances in the market place:



The shop being atacked was Debenhams

This afternoon Romford was much quieter than one would expect even on a non-market day. By 2.30pm the banks were shut Other shops although the two branches of Greggs were already closed (a casus belli?)

In the daylight some minor damage could be seen: A pane broken at Debenhams

Smeone must have decided they fancied something a bit less chavvy for their girlfriend

 And finally some sort of attack on a chav couturier

Amazingly last night the one place that was open (or at least had the lights on behind the solid doors) was the knocking shop on South street that masquerades as a sauna. Perhaps they were the ones to embody the Blitz spirit!


Ach the chocolate teapots that pretend to be our Prime Minister, Deputy PM, Home Secretary and Mayor of London have cut short their holidays. Far more police will be on the streets tonight. I wonder what will happen across the city tonight.

Evil May Day

Today is the 490^th anniversary of the (appropriately named) xenophobic Evil May Day riot (also Ill May Day) that took place in the City of London in 1517. If nothing else it is yet another reminder of what happens when people listen to demagogues (as if history isn’t full of examples...).

Two weeks before the riot an inflammatory speech was made at St Paul’s Cross (a preaching cross outside the cathedral). The speaker Dr Bell called on all "Englishmen to cherish and defend themselves, and to hurt and grieve aliens for the common weal".

Over the next two weeks there were sporadic attacks on foreigners but things came to a head late on 1 May. Although a 9pm curfew was announced for the night of 30 April/1 May a mob of apprentices (who in those times seemed to form the backbone of any riot!) formed which over the next few hours attacked foreigners, looted their houses and freed prisoners jailed for previous attacks on foreigners

The under-sheriff of London, Thomas More (later canonised of course but never cannonised as he was in the Simpsons!), unsuccessfully tried to disperse the mob. The riot subsided after a few hours. Nobody was killed during the riot but several hundred rioters were arrested of which 13 were tried for treason and executed on 4 May.