Exploitation of human rights laws by criminals and activist lawyers has gone on for too long
Law is flawed
THE exploitation of human rights laws by criminals and their activist lawyers has gone on for too long.
Too often, soft judges have interpreted Article 8 of the European Convention — the right to a family life — to mean that criminals could not be deported if they had a child by a partner in the UK.
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It has resulted in a string of ludicrous cases. One foreign criminal avoided removal, even though their spouse was dead, while another stayed because his son hated foreign chicken nuggets.
Labour says it will introduce legislation to force judges to ignore claims when the law has been 'weaponised'. But the existing laws are a mess of the party's own making — adopted under Tony Blair's flagship Human Rights Act.
Strangely, the PM wants to take on left-wing lawyers when he's one himself, while his attorney general Lord Hermer insists on sticking to every European Court of Human Rights ruling.
Have these two got the will to free Britain from the grip of Strasbourg?
We're not holding our breath.
Cop vet failure
IT is not too much to ask that those tasked with upholding the law don't fall foul of it themselves.
New figures reveal that 56 officers in our police forces managed to cling on to their jobs last year after being found guilty of gross misconduct.
The public's confidence in the police has been badly dented over the past few years by blunders which allow bent coppers to slip through the net.
Met armed officer Wayne Couzens had been linked to six incidents of indecent exposure before he kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard, 33.
Astonishingly, ministers have only now brought forward new legislation to make serious offences, such as rape and GBH, count as gross misconduct.
Police forces must impose a more rigorous vetting procedure to ensure officers with criminal records are not pounding the beat.
It's time to turn Line of Duty task force from TV fiction into a reality.
Jabbering Joe
SLEEPY Joe Biden has kept his head down since leaving the White House.
But he piped up yesterday to urge the world to wake up to the threat posed by Vladimir Putin — and accused President Trump of 'modern-day appeasement'.
It is clear that the Russian warmonger has no intention of giving up any territory claimed during his illegal invasion.
Trump's smearing of the Ukraine regime to force through an unjust 'peace' deal is a rant beneath the dignity of his office. Some may find it galling to be lectured by Biden, whose spineless administration refused to give Ukraine the power it needed to win the war.
But as the old proverb says, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
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Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Father of kickboxer, 15, breaks down in tears at inquest as he reveals how 'beautiful son' suddenly collapsed moments after unsanctioned fight and died three days later
A tearful father told an inquest how his 15-year-old 'beautiful son' suddenly collapsed after an unsanctioned kickboxing match. Stephen Eastwood, 40, from Liverpool, said he stayed with his son Alex Eastwood at his hospital bedside until he passed away three days after the fatal bout. He told Bolton Coroner's Court: 'I would just like people to remember him as a wonderful, beautiful son. He was just a lovely, lovely boy. He was a beautiful soul.' Alex collapsed after the third and final round of a 'light contact' kickboxing bout in a ring at a gym in Platt Bridge, Wigan on June 29, 2024. He was rushed to hospital but had suffered a serious head injury. Unusually, Michael Pemberton, assistant coroner for Manchester (West), ahead of Alex's inquest, which started on Monday, has already raised concerns with the government in March this year about the safety of children in combat sports. Alex took up kickboxing aged nine, trained five times a week at Hurricane Combat and Fitness club in Fazakerley, Liverpool and had a 'meteoric' rise in the sport, having competed at high levels. He had grown to 6ft 7ins, weighed 80kg and had just finished his GCSEs the week before the fight was arranged with another opponent at the gym in Wigan. A tearful father told an inquest how his 15-year-old 'beautiful son' suddenly collapsed after an unsanctioned kickboxing match. Stephen Eastwood, 40, from Liverpool, said he stayed with his son Alex Eastwood (pictured) at his hospital bedside until he passed away three days after the fatal bout The bout was to be the 'main event' but was an unofficial or unsanctioned event as it was a charity fundraiser, not a bout to win a title under the main governing body for the sport in the UK, Kickboxing GB. Alex, who was wearing a headguard, suddenly became unwell after the end of the third and final, two-minute round. Father-of-three Mr Eastwood said he noticed his son, 'not looking right' as he held on to the ropes to make his way back to his corner. He added: 'I have run, dived into the ring under the ropes landed on my back. I have grabbed hold of my son, holding on to him, laid him on the ring. 'At that point, it just turned into a chaotic scene. You had two first aiders in the ring, I was pacing around using profanities and swearing. 'My son's breathing was like a big bulldog on a sunny day, struggling. He did have what seemed like a seizure. It felt like a lifetime, sir.' Paramedics arrived and took the teenager first to hospital in Wigan and then on to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, where surgeons were waiting to operate. But it was discovered he had suffered catastrophic brain damage and bleeding. Mr Eastwood said he, Alex's step-mother Nikita, his two siblings and other family spent time with him at the hospital. His father stayed with him at his bedside until he died on July 2, last year. His organs were donated. Daniel Wigelsworth, one of Alex's coaches at Hurricane Combat and Fitness in Liverpool, said he was party to arrangements for the bout Alex took part in, along with Dale Bannister, owner of the TKMA gym in Wigan, which was setting up a charity event. They arranged the fight with Alex's opponent, who has not been named, as a 'good match up' in terms of weight, age and skill. The inquest also heard there did not appear to be any definitive rules on the length of rounds and Mr Wigelsworth said the rules are 'unclear' with different interpretations of 'light contact' rules during bouts, it being left to coaches and referees. Mr Wigelsworth said he believed Alex's opponent was a year older than him, but in fact was two years his senior. The inquest heard competitions, exhibition events and 'fight nights' can be put on by individual clubs and independent promoters, and the governing body does not sanction fundraising events. Gordon Mitchell, director at Kickboxing GB, said the sport has a number of governing bodies that sanction fights but Kickboxing GB is the only one in the UK recognised by Sport England, the body supporting grassroots sport, and the World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (WAKO) which is itself recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Mr Mitchell said Kickboxing GB would never sanction 'light contact' bouts in a boxing ring due to safety reasons and these only take place outside a ring on mats. He said this is because it is easier to stop a fight on mats, by stepping off the mat, for example, if there is a mismatch. But he said in a bout in a ring, 'you are stuck between the ropes' and reliant on the referee to step in to stop a fight. 'There's more rules about stopping the fight early, on mats,' Mr Mitchell said. Adam Korn, a solicitor representing the Eastwood family, said despite these rules, unsanctioned, exhibition or 'fight night' bouts are frequently held up and down the country. Mr Korn said: 'Is that a concern to you?' 'Yes,' Mr Mitchell said. Mr Mitchell said he was aware of one other combat-related child death in the UK. Earlier this year the coroner wrote a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the government about the lack of regulation of contact sports for children, with no minimum standards or risk management. The inquest continues on Tuesday morning.
BBC News
24 minutes ago
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David Berman: Woman charged with murdering man, 84, at home
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The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
Furious neighbour who took fence row to court sees plan BACKFIRE as she is forced to rip up patio instead
A FUMING neighbour who took a fence row to court has seen her plan backfire. Helen Faber has now been ordered to rip out her patio and central heating after losing a bitter four-year boundary dispute. 4 4 4 The accountant originally sued the couple next door in 2021 and claimed she couldn't carry a picnic tray to her garden due to their fence. Her and partner Dominic Miles, who live in a £375,000 home in Wardington, Oxfordshire, argued their neighbours Richard and Katherine Reid, "narrowed" a path leading to part of their back garden by 40cm. They said the fence was a "nuisance" and moaned any reduction of their 4ft wide path made life harder. The path belongs to them, but both sets of neighbours have a right of way over it. Helen and Dominic claimed they couldn't carry a "large picnic tray laden with food and spilling the drinks" to their patio. In November 2021 the neighbour row reached boiling point when Dominic became "very aggressive" towards Katherine, a court heard. Helen took the issue to Oxford County Court where she told Judge Melissa Clarke the fence made a "substantial interference". But, the judge did not accept there was any nuisance caused - and instead ruled their patio actually trespassed on the Reid's property. Helen and Dominic were also ordered to tear up their central heating system to strip away an oil pipe. Judge Clarke said: "An oil line running from an oil tank in the Pear Tree Cottage second garden is on, over and under parts of the right of way. "The claimants now accept that the right of way is owned by Forge Cottage. "The installation by the claimants of an oil line over the right of way is a trespass on the land of Forge Cottage and the defendants are entitled to an injunction requiring the claimants to remove it." She added how the pipeline is "susceptible to damage" and if there were to be any oil leaks, they would contaminate the Reids' land. The furious couple then took their case to London's High Court - where they argued they couldn't be left without heating and hot water. And, the determined couple also begged for the fence to be removed once again. Stephen Taylor, representing the pair, told the court: "The judge was wrong because it cannot be said to be unreasonable for the claimants to insist on being able to use the disputed way when carrying a 1m wide chattel, for example a picnic tray with full glasses thereon. "The pre-existing fence respected the 4ft width of the disputed way. "The 2021 fence had reduced the disputed way to 2ft 3in at its narrowest point (and) rendered it difficult to traverse, particularly when transporting logs, garden waste and wheelie bins." "A 4ft way can be conveniently used, for example to carry a large box along the way or a large picnic tray laden with food and drinks. If the box or tray is 3ft 11in wide it can just get through without spilling the drinks." However, once again they were dismissed and Mr Justice Richard Smith rejected their appeal. Anya Newman, for the Reid family, argued Judge Clarke was right in her ruling. She said: "The judge concluded that there was no substantial interference with the right of way, which was specified as a right to pass and re-pass on foot because the right of way 'on foot' does not give rise to a right to use bicycles, push-wheeled vehicles, carts or barrows along it. "The oil line was a expert evidence was that the oil line is susceptible to damage and the judge accepted this, ordering the removal of the line. "It cannot be the case that even if previous neighbours acquiesced to the oil line, they now have a right in perpetuity to site an oil line on their neighbours' land. "Due to the decision on the boundary, the patio of the appellants' which they had used to place patio furniture and a gas canister was a trespass. The raised patio ought to be removed by the appellants." Mr Justice Smith, who agreed with the lower judge's decision, added: "The appellants made clear that they were not asserting on this appeal that the right of way could no longer be used. Rather, they said that it could not be used as conveniently as before. "The appellants' point about carrying a metre-wide tray with filled glasses did not advance matters on the appeal. "Even if there had been any evidence before the judge about the reasonable requirement for, and relative convenience of, this mode of use before and after the installation of the new fence, anyone using the right of way for that purpose would always have to exercise great care in navigating an already narrow path with or without the new dogleg at the end." The Top Five Reasons Neighbours Squabble One study by Compare the Market revealed the top reason British neighbour's argue Broken fences - top of the board was broken fences and whose responsibility it was to fix it Parking: one of the leading drivers of neighbour disputes, with 54.1 per cent of people having issues with people parking in front of their house, parking bay or driveway Trees - complaints about a neighbour's tree cracking your garden path was also common with nearly half of participants finding it frustrating Bin wars - outdoor bin etiquette continues to ignite the most furious debates between neighbours Nosy Neighbours - some people have their eyes and ears at the ready to have a peek causing problems for others 4
