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July 18, 2006
You couldn't make it up
I'm sorry, but killing your Zulu cook isn't murder. Justifiable homicide or self defence maybe, or even garbage disposal. Have you tried the Sanitation Department" - Konstabel Els in Tom Sharpe's Riotous Assembly
In Riotous Assembly, Tom Sharpe put the boot in to the South African Police of the Apartheid Era, and in a most accurate manner. One can't help but wonder how he would portray the discussions within the Crown Prosecution Service while they considered what charges to bring for the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.
BBC - Brazil 'surprised' over Menezes
Brazil has expressed its disappointment over the decision not to prosecute any police officer involved in the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.
The Metropolitan Police will be charged under health and safety laws instead.
Sections 3 and 33 of the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974 to be precise. Apparently being shot seven times in the head at point-blank range isn't murder, unlawful killing or manslaughter, but rather a failure to look after de Menezes safety and welfare.
Section 3 requires employers to ensure that non-employees (eg the general public) do not have their health and safety adversely affected by the employer's actions and, where necessary, to give such people information about hazards. Section 33 covers penalties and prosecution provisions associated with breaches of the Act.
So there you have it. Being shot in the head is merely having your health and safety adversely affected by the Metropolitan Police, and the penalty is a fine, paid by the tax payer eventually. And meanwhile the blundering incompentants and twitchy fingered killers get away with murder, literally.
Posted by Clive on July 18, 2006 1:31 PM in the category Terror