In preparation for Remembrance Day, if anyone has a relative that lost their lives in active service and they would like to pay their respects, specifically to them, there are two sites that may be of interest to you. Commonwealth War Graves Commission: https://www.cwgc.org/ - Search for your family member and open their page. You can down load a Certificate of Remembrance, find details of their resting place and which memorials they are remembered on. Everyone Remembered - Royal British Legion - https://www.everyoneremembered.org/about/ You can remember your family member by leaving messages, stories and uploading photos.
The ancient comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, dubbed the "comet of the century", only returns to the inner solar system once every 80,000 years.
Ditto the one at Fatfield Cenotaph. The one thing that boils my piss though is the number of people who turn up with dogs, they just bark and growl at each other all the way through and it's obviously more noticeable during the 2 minutes silence.
Finished doing my Mercedes AMG tonight. Well pleased with how this one came out, another great kit from Tamiya. Couple of pics, and one with a can of Guinness for scale. (now drinking the Guinness).
Multitasking maybe ? Doubling up with Sunday morning walk . Doesn’t excuse unnecessary disturbance though
It’s the one day of the year for 2 minutes that the nation pays its respects with silence. Why take a chance that your dog could disrupt it. Mind I’ve also witnessed people standing talking throughout it so nothing surprises me anymore. Some people are just plain ignorant
Even if you aren't a fan of classical music these young musicians are insanely talented in the final of Young Musician of the year
Just been looking at the news article for the met police fire arms officer found not guilty of murder today. Wtf is the world coming to when that is referred to the cps and then gets as far as a jury needing to reach a verdict ffs. Basically family cries foul and racism so its easier to put the bloke through hell so they can say they didn't protect h and they let the courts sort it! ****ing disgusting and I'm not surprised officers turned in their fire arms. Why the **** would you want to do that job when families cam pretend their relative was an angel snatched away too soon and you are taken to court for murder. All because you had a split second to judge whether other officers lives were in danger! https://news.sky.com/story/met-police-officer-who-shot-chris-kaba-cleared-of-murder-13234639
There needs to be accountability so if the CPS think charges are appropriate then it should go to trial and everyone then abides by the jury's decision. Problem in this case seems to be why the CPS thought it should go to trial in the first place.
I agree 100% there needs to be accountability but neither the police investigation or the cps should have thought this needed to go any further than them. Police shouldn't have sent to cps and cps shouldn't have taken it to trial. It looks like no one had the balls to stand up and call this what it was. A bloke who had a history of violence, including fire arms and knives, had the police attempt to stop him. He refused to stop and was trying to smash his way out in a car. So a fire arms officer shot him before any of them were killed. I haven't looked back at what his family have said, but I bet he was a nice lad, who was always there for his mam with a smile and he once made her a cup of tea 10 years ago before he started being a criminal, so he is not bad really and the police killed him cause of racism. Two other officers said that they were about to shoot him! If it was America they still would have, all the officers would have unloaded on him and he would have been shot about 50 times! It's cowardice imo that saw this go so far!
Massive danger for UK averted today. I reckon if that cop was found guilty we'd have virtually no firearms officers in 6 months time. What happens then? Can't understand why this was brought to court. What is the history of the individual, which they knew, what were the actions? Are they like you and me, did they act like you and me would? What would we do in that scenario? Is it a bit stressfull needing snap decisions? I don't know why anyone bothers to be firearms to be honest. If we didn't have them we would be in trouble. The whole thing smacks of virtue signalling to me but I'd like to see protesters tell me who is going to do the polices job if they aren't to be trusted. They aren't perfect, none of us are but I appreciate the risk they take for not amazing money. Just my wee rant!
It's a sad state of affairs when it appears at each stage the decision makers were too scared of the backlash to make the right call! The vehicle was being stopped because it was suspected to be involved in a shooting the day before, the driver was known to police for fire arms and knives. It appears that because he didn't have a gun pointed at the officers and was instead driving a car towards them no one dared say they made he made the correct decision that their lives were at risk! It's pissed me off reading this today. The jury had to make the decision because at least then no one can say the police or cps is corrupt. It's a cop out and it's pathetic. That man's life has been on hold for 2 years. Imagine what he has gone through! I'm glad the jury made the right decision but they shouldn't have had to by what's been reported.
Totally mate, backlash fearing is probably right. Jury took 3 hours, process took 2 years. Was the lad malicious and criminal in shooting him or was it fair enough in a difficult and exceptionally stressful situation in which life was honestly feared for? Feels like a cowardly approach and I hope that there are gross misconduct charges against those responsible for delegating their jobs to the public because they weren't brave enough to make the right decision. It truly is appalling in my opinion.
Police officers have a hard enough job without being charged for doing their job. The way that I see this is that the CPS overstepped the mark here by charging Blake in the first place, though I can understand why they may have been forced to do so, unfortunately.
I’d like to think that as a cop that carries a firearm, albeit not in the UK, I’m fairly well qualified to give an opinion here. I know, as do my colleagues, that it is a huge responsibility that we undertake every day we take that firearm out of the armoury, load the magazines and prepare the weapon to be used. And by that I mean loading a magazine into the firearm and ‘cocking’ it, to use the vernacular, so a round is inserted into the chamber ready to be discharged. None of us want to fire that gun in anger. That is a given, but when we took the oath we knew that was part of the job description and one we were willing to accept. The taking of a human life should always be open to scrutiny and a very heavy one at that. The thing is, to aim the weapon and take the shot and in doing so likely kill someone is a very personal decision to make. I have to be certain that the person I’m shooting at is posing an imminent risk to the lives of others. So my thought process is my thought process. No-one else’s. I have to justify my actions. And I have to do all of that in the space of around two seconds. Things get muddied when all the other witnesses are spoken to and they describe what they saw. Then we have the ‘expert’ witnesses, professional and armchair, who will give their opinion. It’s been my experience that you can always find a witness who will confirm your theory. When there is conflicting information, all of that has to be studied and analysed. It’s then up to the CPS, in England and Wales anyway, to then do the two tests. First it’s the evidentiary test. Is the evidence there? If the answer to the first question is yes they then ask, is it in the public interest to prosecute? If it is, it goes ahead through the courts. Now, it could be pulled at any time if the CPS believes that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. As an aside and especially for the armchair witnesses out there, I’ll just say that there is no such thing as shoot to kill. That’s what Captain Kirk says, but in real life it’s not a thing. We shoot to neutralise the threat. Neither do we shoot to wound or anything else equally as stupid. A round in the leg is capable of killing just as much as a round to the head, and we don’t take head shots either. That’s Dirty Harry and other pretend cops on the training range. It’s always centre of body mass which is essentially the chest/torso area. Anyway, the bottom line is that when there is too much conflicting information it has to go to a court and the court decides. We aren’t immune to it here either. In the last few years there have been two cops charged with murder, one in WA, the other in the NT, and both of them were acquitted of all charges. What cops are more afraid of is the internal investigation that also goes on. We can always justify our actions in that respect out on the streets. What the rank and file don’t like is being investigated by their own, who some believe may have a not so impartial agenda. That is what causes the stress. Anyway, I’ve rambled a bit, but I hope that kind of makes sense to anyone who reads it.
Chris Kaba shot man in nightclub days before his death please log in to view this image Image source,PA Image caption, Chris Kaba was unarmed when he was shot and killed in south London in 2022 22nd October 2024, 11:13 BST Updated 7 minutes ago Chris Kaba, the man shot dead by a police firearms officer in south London, was named as the gunman in a nightclub shooting days before he died, it can now be reported. Mr Kaba was shot in the head during an armed vehicle stop in Streatham on 5th September 2022. It can now be reported that he shot a man in both legs at the Oval Space nightclub in Hackney, east London, on 30th August 2022. He was a rapper who performed under the names Madix or Mad Itch and was part of the 67 gang, a UK drill group and infamous gang. The jury in the murder trial of firearms officer Martyn Blake, 40, was not told about Mr Kaba’s criminal history, details of which were revealed in a pre-trial court hearing held last month. Mr Blake was cleared of murder by a jury at the Old Bailey on Monday, a verdict Mr Kaba’s family said was "painful proof that our lives are not valued by the system". The judge has now lifted reporting restrictions in place during the trial on details about Mr Kaba’s background. please log in to view this image Image source,Getty Images Image caption, Floral tributes were left at Kirkstall Gardens where Chris Kaba was shot by a Met Police Officer Police officers did not know who was driving the Audi on the night Mr Kaba died, but they did know it had been used as a getaway car in another shooting in Brixton, south London, the night before. An automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) marker had been placed on the car, which alerted the police to it. Mr Blake denied intending to kill the 24-year-old - who was not carrying a firearm - and told the trial he believed one of his colleagues could be killed by Mr Kaba’s car as he tried to get away from the police stop. please log in to view this image Media caption, Bodycam video shows moments before Chris Kaba shooting Three other men have already been convicted over their involvement in the Hackney nightclub shooting and are in prison. During their trial, Mr Kaba was named by the judge as the gunman. The judge said Mr Kaba shot the man once in the leg while on the nightclub dance floor, and once outside as the man tried to escape. Mr Kaba died before being charged in connection with the shooting, but was later named on the charge sheet for the trial. In April the three defendants were sentenced to 10 years, nine years, and five years and six months respectively. During the trial of the firearms officer Mr Blake, reporting restrictions also prevented the media from publishing details of Mr Kaba’s other criminal involvement - including previous convictions dating back to his early teen years. Those include convictions for affray. Mr Kaba, a construction worker who was due to become a father, had been followed by police on the day he was shot. After being boxed in by police cars, he drove backwards and forwards trying to ram his way free - Mr Blake said this made him believe one of his colleagues would be killed, and he opened fire to stop the car, the jury heard. Mr Kaba died from a single gunshot wound to the forehead. On Monday, Mr Kaba's family said they were devastated by the verdict, and that the acquittal of Mr Blake "wasn't just a failure for our family, but for all those affected by police violence". About 150 people held a vigil outside the Old Bailey on Monday evening, some holding signs with slogans including "this is not justice" and "police are perpetrators". Sheeda Queen, a cousin of Mr Kaba, and a member of the Justice for Chris campaign group, described "a deep pain of injustice, adding to the unbearable sorrow". Another campaigner, Kayza Rose, said the outcome "reinforces the harsh reality that police can kill without consequence". She added: "No-one can be safe while the police can kill with impunity. "This verdict is not the end. It only strengthens our resolve.”
