Barmaid's killer dies in hospital
A man who was serving life for the murder of a barmaid from Cheltenham has died after collapsing in prison.
"Paul McMillan, 27, was convicted of stabbing Shirley Cotton-Betteridge more than 40 times at a Bristol pub in 2001.
He punched and kicked her to the ground as she was cashing up, before stabbing her to death in a frenzied attack.
McMillan pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given a life sentence. On Thursday he was found unconscious at Broadmoor and later died in hospital".
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Barmaid's killer dies in hospital
McCanns: Is anyone laughing at their sick joke?
McCanns: Is anyone laughing at their sick joke?
"The parents of Madeleine McCann have backed a scheme to use social networking websites Facebook and Bebo to help trace missing children".
Is this some kind of sick joke? The parents who refuse to take responsibility for the disappearance of their own child supporting a missing children initiative? Isn't this a bit like Dr Harold Shipman supporting care for the elderly?
Prince Andrew and a Kazakh tycoon in £3M dodgy deal
Prince Andrew and a Kazakh tycoon in £3M dodgy deal
There is something fishy about this story, dodgy dealings, between Prince Andrew and a Kazakh tycoon. Prince Andrew has a house for sale valued at £12M, and along comes this chap and instead pays him £15M. What was the other £3M pay off for?
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Hull City promoted to Premier League
Hull cannabis factory raided by police
Hull cannabis factory raided by police
See the Look North video of the story here.
I like the bit about the growers being good neighbours.
May be they just took gardening plants to the extreme when they grow them in every room of the house as well as in the garden!
McCanns "accept" returning to Portugal
McCanns "accept" returning to Portugal
I have difficulty with this story.
Basically, the McCanns are claiming, through their spokesman Clarence Mitchell, that they are willing to personally attend a reconstruction in Portugal, but because their friends are less than keen to assist the reconstruction, therefore the McCanns say the reconstruction is unlikely to occur.
This blaming of their friends appears to me to be a smokescreen. The McCanns appear to be hiding behind them. In my view, this is precisely what the McCanns did on 3 May 2007. They hid behind their friends.
Then we have Clarence Mitchell's pathetic lies. He is claiming that Kate McCann saw the abductor kidnapping Madeleine before her very eyes and the McCann team are worried about Kate McCann's mental state. And yet, the McCanns have always said that they regret not being there the minute Madeleine was taken. And, I think that the PJ are also concerned about the mental state of Kate McCann's mind during 3 May 2007.
Another issue here is the findmadeleinefund.
"Fund Objectives as stated by the Madeline's Fund Board of Directors
1.1 The full objects of the Fund are:
1.1.1 To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal on Thursday 3rd May 2007;
1.1.2 To procure that Madeleine’s abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played or play any part in assisting them, are identified and brought to justice; and
1.1.3 To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleine’s family.
1.2 If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Foundation shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere".
Given that there is no evidence that Madeleine was abducted, it is strange to set up a fund with the purpose of returning a girl who may not have been abducted at all. And this strange reasoning continues with the second purpose of the fund. To investigate what may not have occurred. It would seem to me that only the third purpose makes any sense, it is designed to line the pockets of the McCanns. And, if there is any small change left over, they might give some of it to a worthy cause.
Paedophile gang jailed over abuse
Paedophile gang jailed over abuse
"Members of a paedophile gang have been jailed for a string of child sex offences against British boys in the UK and abroad".
"The Marshalls would persuade the boys' parents they would look after their sons on holidays with Melling at various locations in and out of the UK".
I am amazed that the parents of vulnerable children were so willing to trust their childrens welfare to strangers.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Man jailed for 'coaching abusers'
Man jailed for 'coaching abusers'
"A paedophile who coached other men over the internet on how to abuse children has been jailed indefinitely".
McCanns to be charged
McCanns to be charged
The Portuguese newspaper 24 Hours is reporting that if the McCanns and the rest of the Tapas 9 fail to return to Portugal to take part in a reconstruction of May 3 2007, then the McCanns will be prosecuted for gross neglect for their part in the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.
Story here.
Prison for speeding V-sign biker
Prison for speeding V-sign biker
"A motorcyclist who stuck two fingers up at a speed camera as he raced at up to three times the limit has been jailed".
"The camera caught him speeding 65 times at up to 88mph in a 30mph zone".
The problem with this is that he will serve 12 months out of the 18 months sentence, and given that he has been banned from driving for 12 months this rather defeats the object because he cannot ride his motorbike whilst in custody. The 12 month ban should start from the day of release from prison.
Florida mother jailed for caging son
Florida mother jailed for caging son
"A Florida mother has been jailed for 20 years for keeping her teenage adopted son in a cage.
The 17-year-old weighed 22kg (3st 7lb) when child welfare workers found him in 2005".
I think this is called making the sentence fit the crime. Imprisonment for the mother who imprisoned her son. I just wonder whether 20 years in jail is too excessive?
Judge keeps his job after inquiry into love triangle
Judge keeps his job after inquiry into love triangle
"An immigration judge who had an affair with his illegally employed "chilli hot stuff" cleaner will keep his £110,000-a-year job".
What another waste of money!
Police spend £40m on 'spin doctors'
Police spend £40m on 'spin doctors'
"Police forces are spending £40 million a year on press officers, it emerged yesterday, which could pay for 1,400 extra constables on the beat".
And what is the message that is worth £40M? This, the country: "not only is safer, but feels safer, too".
The problem with that is it would not only feel safer but be safer if there was 1,400 more bobbies on the beat.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Jailhouselawyer's Blog
Jailhouselawyer's Blog
Decided to change the name of the blog. I'm better known by this username.
Dear My Telegraph blog...
Dear My Telegraph blog...
I think I have found the missing link. You cannot censor this, it's already out there in cyberspace, on t'internet.
This is G o o g l e's cache of http://my.telegraph.co.uk/jailhouselawyer/may_2008/mccanns_lose_public_vote_of_no_confidence.htm as retrieved on 19 May 2008 20:06:14 GMT.
G o o g l e's cache is the snapshot that we took of the page as we crawled the web.
The page may have changed since that time. Click here for the current page without highlighting.
This cached page may reference images which are no longer available. Click here for the cached text only.
To link to or bookmark this page, use the following url: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:GeQGjEasdvcJ:my.telegraph.co.uk/jailhouselawyer/may_2008/mccanns_lose_public_vote_of_no_confidence.htm+mccanns+social+services&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=65&gl=uk&client=firefox-a
Google is neither affiliated with the authors of this page nor responsible for its content.
These search terms have been highlighted: mccanns social services
Where am I?
* telegraph.co.uk
* My Telegraph
* jailhouselawyer
Log in
Telegraph Logo Winner, Best Consumer Online Publisher, AOP Awards
* Home
* Posts
* Comments
* People
* Tags
* Announcements
* Help
jailhouselawyer's avatar
jailhouselawyer
Hull, England
Insideout
jailhouselawyer writes about:
* 999 caller being sued
* Absolute right not to be tortured
* Afghanistan
* ambulance worker's own negligence led to blaming octogenarian for his own mishap
* Armed forces
* army
* BAE Systems
* BBC
* BBC 1 Look North
* BBC fails to provide balance
* Bush and Blair secret Iraq memo
* CIA
* civvie street
* Clarence Mitchell
* comedy of terrors
* Compensation
* Compensation culture gone mad
* Current affairs
* Learco Chindamo
* Prince Harry
* View all
jailhouselawyer's blog posts
Comments that jailhouselawyer has left on other readers' blogs
Blog posts that jailhouselawyer has saved, shown in date order
< Back to all blog posts
McCanns lose public vote of no confidence
Posted by jailhouselawyer at 20:18 on 19 May 2008
The McCannsfiles website is reporting that the McCanns are suing the former director and a journalist of the extinct weekly Portuguese newspaper "Tal&Qual" (T&Q) for defamation. "Kate and Gerry McCann believe that the publication of the headline "PJ believes that the parents killed Maddie" put public opinion, world-wide, against them".
However, the Tal&Qual article appeared on 24 August 2007 and 15 days later the PJ made both the McCanns suspects in the disappearance of Madeleine. The report in T&Q was in quotes and referred to what the PJ believed as opposed to what the journalist and director believed. In my view, providing that the story is reliably sourced, then there is no defamation of the McCanns character.
Furthermore, Associated Press reported this story on 18 May 2007 and at the same time this poll was conducted under the heading related content. As you can see from the result below, 3 months before the T&Q story was published, public opinion worldwide was already against the McCanns. Therefore, the T&Q story cannot be responsible for turning public opinion against the McCanns.
Live Vote
Is it acceptable that Madeleine McCann and her siblings were left alone? * 7437 responses
No, no matter how safe her parents assumed the community to be, three children that young should not be left unattended.
92%
Yes, her parents say they checked in on the kids every half hour. Critics may be coming from a different cultural perspective on child rearing.
8%
I would say that it was the McCanns own conduct of child neglect which turned public opinion worldwide against them. Perhaps, it is time that the McCanns had a reality check? Freedom of speech is too strong to disappear just like Madeleine. We will not be silenced just because we do not agree with the version of events as described by the McCanns. The available evidence does not support the McCanns, and neither does the majority of public opinion.
Clarence Mitchell is paid to sell the McCanns story. We choose not to buy it.
UPDATE: It may well be that T&Q is not the real target. It could be a McCann tactic to discover who in the PJ leaked the information to T&Q.
http://prisonersvoice.blogspot.com/2008/05/mccanns-lose-public-vote-of-no.html
* Post to:
* del.icio.us
* Digg
* Newsvine
* NowPublic
* Reddit
Current affairs, McCanns, public opinion, Clarence Mitchell, defamation of character, TalandQual
* Comments [4]
* Back to top
* Report this post
4 comments
Show most recent: First Last
Dogblog's avatar
Jailhouse Lawyer..........
Dogblog 19 May 2008 20:29
Hello again, we have not exchanged comments for some time now.
I have posted before on here that the biggest mistake the McCanns made(in my opinion) was to give the disappearance of their daughter such a high profile.
The publicity meant that everyone would know what Maddie looked like, almost as though she was a child of their own.
This would have made it impossible for the abductor to let her be seen in public,and would have made it even more possible that she had become such a liabilty that the abductor would have to dispose of her.
They became her worst enemies,although motivated with the best intentions.
They are parents of above average intelligence and yet the couldn't work out that simple fact for themselves.
Report this comment
Mad Mac's avatar
Two mistakes
Mad Mac 19 May 2008 20:37
The first was leaving a child of such tender years unattended in a strange room with no responsible person in charge.
The second was the publicity given to the unusual mark on Madeline's eye. This should have been kept from the press and the public but circulated, confidentially, to all hospital's and schools in Europe, asking them to keep this secret but to notify the Police should a child with this mark come to their attention.
Report this comment
irish_eyes77's avatar
I can't help but feel
irish_eyes77 19 May 2008 20:53
the McCann's have been painted as victims by the press (in the UK) because they're middle class with good careers. If (God forbid) they came from a council estate they wouldn't have been looked upon so favourably. I imagine the headlines would read "council estate parents lose child" - causing huge outrage; and a full enquiry from social services would ensue.
I digress, a child should NEVER be left unattended, no matter who the parent; as the McCann's discovered, much to the chagrin.
As above, I agree that she's too well known by the public now, from photos and constant media attention; making her a liablity for any abductor.
I feel sorry for their loss; but equally furious at their sheer negligence.
Report this comment
patrickM's avatar
I
patrickM 19 May 2008 21:02
still think the world is being hypocritical when they criticize these parents for doing anything they can to find their child. I would turn the world upside down
Report this comment
Comment on this post
You must be logged on to leave a comment.
Join my.telegraph.co.uk
Join the debate with the Telegraph's reader community:
* Read blogs from other Telegraph readers
* Write your own blog
* Share your opinions with the rest of the community
* Save all your comments in one place
Joining is free and only takes a few moments
Sign up now | Log in
Blog Archive
* May 2008
* March 2008
* February 2008
* October 2007
* August 2007
* May 2007
ABOUT ME
Let's just say that I am the type of person who gets peeved when I am asked to describe myself and then I am told that my description contains inappropriate words!
What is my.Telegraph.co.uk?
Read, write and share your opinions with other Telegraph readers. Click here to find out more.
Search My Telegraph
Page tools
* Email this page
* Print this page
Blog options
* Subscribe
You are here:
Where am I?
* telegraph.co.uk
* My Telegraph
* jailhouselawyer
* About us
* Contact us
* Forgotten your password?
* Advertising
* Press office
* Terms and Conditions
* Privacy and cookie policy
* Credits
Powered by irPublish™ v5.2.5035.1112 and irBlog™ v1.5.2302.0.
Sign of the times?
Sign of the times?
Gay bar row over 'straight' sign
A complaint has been made to police over a banner declaring a former gay bar in Sunderland city centre has now gone "straight".
This is a queer one. It is ok to advertise a bar as gay, but it is not ok to advertise a former gay bar as straight? I thought the opposite of gay is straight? If advertising as gay is not offensive, I fail to see how advertising as straight is offensive. People who would normally not visit the bar because it is gay surely need to notice that its new owners were seeking a different clientele?
Police camera action
Couple charged with neglect after girl aged seven dies in hospital
Couple charged with neglect after girl aged seven dies in hospital
I just find it incredible in this day and age that a 7 year old child can be starved to death over a period of 3 months, and yet nobody in the local community or at school noticed anything wrong. The fact that the neighbours used to regularly see the children and then not see them for 3 months should have alerted them to something being wrong.
In the 1950 and 1960s I doubt this could have happened because neighbours would have visited the house to ask what was wrong.
Were the mother and stepfather spending all the food budget on class A drugs?
Mother fined £300 for putting bins out early
Mother fined £300 for putting bins out early
"A woman has been fined nearly £300 for leaving her bins out a day before they were due to be collected.
Zoe Watmough, 22, left the bins, a grey one and a green one for recycling, outside her home on a Wednesday ready for collection the next day.
Council officers issued her with a £75 fine claiming that the bins had been put out 24 hours before they were due to be emptied".
Haven't councils enough to be getting on with without spying on people putting their bins out 24 hours early?
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
What’s a spar of soap Sir Alan? You’re fired
What’s a spar of soap Sir Alan? You’re fired.
Right person went.
An empty box.
Get the tissues out…
McCanns and another case
McCanns and another case
This case. Is not a million miles from Monster Mansion in Rothley.
Think.
Wakefield Prison was nicknamed Monster Mansion for good reason, at least 80% of the inmates were in for sex offences. Some had killed children.
I am not saying the McCanns are monsters. They started the name calling against the fictitious abductor. All I am doing is throwing their own name calling back in their lying faces. They are human beings. But so was Madeleine. She trusted them. They let her down. They failed to protect her. They abused her trust.
Hat-Tip to the 3As forum for the link.
McCanns: Let Madeleine Speak Out
McCanns: Let Madeleine Speak Out
Justice for Madeleine is not the same as protecting the McCanns from justice.
Whatever happened to Madeleine the McCanns have sought to cover up from day one. Employing one smokescreen or another camouflage in an attempt to deceive the authorities, media and the public; and even their own family and friends and supporters. They should be struck off the medical register for such conduct. And, brought to account in a people's court. A trial by media is not a fair trial if they control the media. The British mainstream media should be ashamed at being more interested in sales than printing truth about this case. The British government should be ashamed about supporting the McCanns flight from justice.
I am sure if Madeleine was asked, she would say be "tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime". Why is the government being soft on mummy and daddy?
My message for the McCanns? See you in court.
_________________
What child abduction? What break-in?
Why don't you tell us what really happened on 3rd May 2007?
Opening up a McCann of worms
Gay-rights group protests long prison term in spitting incident
Gay-rights group protests long prison term in spitting incident
Public health officials say the risk of contracting HIV from saliva is extremely low
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, May 18, 2008
DALLAS — A gay-rights group is protesting a 35-year prison sentence given to an HIV-positive man who was convicted of spitting on a police officer.
Prosecutors persuaded a jury this week that the man's spit constituted a deadly weapon.
Willie Campbell spit into the eye and mouth of a Dallas police officer while he was being arrested on a charge of public intoxication in 2006, the officer testified.
Campbell, 42, had been in prison twice before, making him a habitual offender subject to a sentence of at least 25 years.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says no one has ever contracted the AIDS virus from spit.
Bebe Anderson, the HIV projects director at Lambda Legal, a gay-rights group, said the verdict could create wrong impressions about how HIV is transmitted.
Dallas County prosecutor Jenni Morse said any risk is sufficient to find spit could be considered a deadly weapon.
Hat-Tip Ball & Chain
Man jailed for internet grooming
Man jailed for internet grooming
"A security guard exposed as a paedophile in stings by a television documentary crew and police has been jailed by Bristol Crown Court".
And yet, kill a 3 year old child whilst on holiday in Portugal and get off scott free!
One legged old boot leaves CPS without a leg to stand on
One legged old boot leaves CPS without a leg to stand on
"A photographer who was found guilty of assaulting Heather Mills in Brighton has had his conviction quashed because she was too stressed to attend court".
God! She's an ugly old cow. Too stressed out? Pull the udder one!
US 'stuck' with Guantanamo Bay prisoners
US 'stuck' with Guantanamo Bay prisoners
The United States is "stuck" with its Guantanamo Bay prison and cannot decide what to do with inmates who cannot be charged or set loose, the American defence secretary admitted.
Robert Gates told the Senate he believed the prison should be closed, but had not found a way to do it.
"I think the brutally frank answer is we're stuck. And we're stuck in several ways," he told Senator Dianne Feinstein of California.
He said the US was prepared to send 60 or 70 prisoners home but either could not persuade their countries to take them, or could not trust them not to free them.
There are now about 270 detainees at Guantanamo.
They include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed planner of the September 11 attacks, and a number of other "high value" al-Qa'eda operatives awaiting trial under a military tribunals system.
Many inmates who have been there for several years have not been charged and remain in legal limbo.
Isn't it more a case of once the US has kidnapped the inmates from freedom it is they who are stuck with the US?
Michael Parkinson fights for dignity in care homes
Michael Parkinson fights for dignity in care homes
"Elderly people are being treated like inmates in prison by uncaring nurses, Sir Michael Parkinson has claimed, as he promotes a drive to ensure patients live with dignity and respect in hospitals and care homes".
Don't forget the OAPs who are in prisons.
Schoolgirl hit by police car in Newcastle dies
Schoolgirl hit by police car in Newcastle dies
In my view, a single police officer driving whilst looking at a in-car computer screen is as dangerous as anybody else using a mobile phone to text whilst driving.
UPDATE: Speaking of which I have just been out for 5 minutes and was almost knocked down by a driver of a Land Rover who was too busy on his mobile phone to pay attention to me. He was turning right off Beverley Road and going into the car park outside the Dorchester Hotel. It meant he had to go onto Pearson Avenue as the entrance is right on the corner. The driveway also cuts across the pavement I was walking on. I dialled 999 to report the incident, and was asked if he had run into me. I replied that he had not and they lost interest. The point is, had he hit me I doubt if I would have been in any fit state to dial 999! I suppose they are too busy knocking over people themselves to be bothered about any civilian trying to knock down another civilian!
Church of Scientology: Boy faces court for 'cult not religion' placard
Church of Scientology: Boy faces court for 'cult not religion' placard
A teenage boy is facing a possible criminal prosecution for holding a sign describing the Church of Scientology as a "cult", police said on Tuesday.
The boy, who is described only as a minor, was taking part in a demonstration outside the church's central London headquarters on May 10 when City of London Police officers ordered him to remove the placard.
It read: "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult."
I fail to see how the truth can be construed as an offence under the Public Order Act.
"The case was described as "barmy" and an attack on free speech by Shami Chakrabarti, the director of Liberty, the human rights group".
Why is the My Telegraph team lying to me?
Why is the My Telegraph team lying to me?
At 20.18 on 19 May 2008 I published a post entitled McCanns lose public vote of no confidence. There were 4 comments, and I posted a comment myself in response, and then edited the post to add a couple of more lines of text, and then a 6th comment appeared.
This text appeared at the top of my post "You've edited this post and the edit is awaiting moderation so your changes won't be viewable by the community just yet". Beneath this is a link saying "Why is this?". However when I click the link instead of taking me to the page to explain why is this, it merely refreshes the page.
As stated, it indicated 6 comments. However, when I clicked this link I was informed
"Comments
There are no comments for this post so far".
The truth is the edit I submitted is visible. Therefore it is not awaiting moderation at all. There are 6 comments, therefore it is not true that there are no comments.
I phoned the contact number and was informed somebody would phone me back. Nobody did. I sent two emails and neither of them received any response.
I believe I am owed an explanation by the Telegraph.
If the McCanns are a taboo topic then this should be clarified. If it is thought there was something that constituted a libel in either my post or the comments, then the Telegraph should have at least informed me.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Opening up a McCann of worms...
Opening up a McCann of worms...
The McCanns are being marketed. If they were a product being sold in a shop and you bought the product based upon the advertising, you could bring a prosecution under the Trades Description Act for misrepresentation.
Idea: Jailhouselawyer, photoshop RonKnee
Nick Clegg in political identity crisis
Nick Clegg in political identity crisis
Nick Clegg, the leader of the LibDemTory party...
The Daily Liar
The Daily Liar
Man held by police over £5 parking ticket
Why has the Daily Telegraph written this headline? Upon reading the story it is obvious that the man was held for alleged criminal damage!
Note to the editor of the Daily Telegraph. Just give us the news and stick to the facts!