We've Heard It All Before...

A campaigner for children in care has warned that 'lessons must be learned' after 'yet another child was lost to Britain's broken care system'. Chris Wild told MailOnline that the murder of ten-month-old Finley Boden must serve as an urgent wake-up call for ministers to support the 'underfunded' care sector.

Oh, so this child died because there was no money to save him? Really? How did he come to die, then?  

Tragic Finley was murdered by his drug addict parents on Christmas Day in 2020...

Ah. That old old story. 

...just 39 days after being returned to the care of his mother and father Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden.

I fail to see how this is a case of lack of funding, and not simply yet another case where hopeless optimism had resulted in people who shouldn't be trusted with a goldfish given back a child. 

A damning review into the lead-up up to baby's murder said Finley 'should have been one of the most protected children in the local authority area' but found 'significant shortcomings' in plans for him to be reunited with his parents.

And how did lack of funding lead to this? Because this chap is certain that's the source of the problem. 

Responding to the report, Mr Wild, who lost his father at the age of 11 and grew up in the care system, told MailOnline: 'Yet again another child lost to our broken system.

"Lessons must be learned" yet no one seems to be putting these words into action.

'Unfortunately we can point the finger in the Finley Boden case and it points directly to an underfunded sector that fails to prioritise the safety of children even when all the evidence clearly shows this could have been prevented.'

But not by throwing yet more cash at it. By people doing the actual jobs they are paid to do. 

'We need more Social Workers back in our communities and not behind a desk looking at data all day.

'Children are not KPI's. And due to the lack of resources mistakes are made and yet again we have another tragic story when it could have been easily prevented. Children in care are still children.'

How about 'If you're a drug addict, you don't get to raise a child, ever!' as a mission statement?  

It also emerged that Finley was also handed back to his drug addict parents at a 'pivotal' court hearing against the advice of social workers which was held remotely over the telephone because of the Covid pandemic.

So the social worhkers were overruled by yet more of those female justices we were told we needed to 'humanise' the justice system?  Because it turns out that that's exactly who is mainly responsible, and gives the lie to the squawks of 'More funding!' on the part of the social workers' mouthpiece here. 

A report was submitted to the court by Amanda O'Rourke, Finley's guardian from Cafcass, the independent Children and Families Court Advisory Service, which was appointed to represent his best interests. Despite acknowledging his parents drug use and domestic violence, she argued that he should be handed over to them within six to eight weeks because they had 'clearly made and sustained positive changes.' The final decision was made by two magistrates, Kathy Gallimore and Susan Burns, who were assisted by a legal adviser.They also ruled that Marsden and Boden did not pose an 'unmanageable risk' to their son.

Whoops! OK, ladies, everyone has a shocker occasionally, why should it call into question your qualifications for the job, eh? 

The magistrates also did not order any further drug tests of his parents, despite requests from the local authority, and he came into their care on 17 November.

Maybe they should face more than just ridicule and censure by public naming? Maybe they should face dismissal from the bench at the very least? 

So Find Him Guilty In His Absence

A man charged over XL Bully attack failed to turn up to court today - with a warrant issued for his arrest. It followed an attack in Birmingham which left a schoolgirl and two men injured.

That was this case, one of the final straws that broke the camel's back and finally got this breed banned. 

Prosecutor David Devine said a postal requisition was sent to Ajaz, of Bordesley Close, Bordesley Green, on January 23. District judge David Wain granted the prosecution request that a warrant be issued for his arrest. He said he was satisfied Ajaz knew about the hearing. He also said no contact had been made with his solicitor regarding reasons why he may not be able to attend.

He's probably already fled the country. 

Update: Got him. Add on contempt of court to the charges. 

'Lawyers for the three defendants said none were likely to find themselves back before a court.'

Yeah, well, we'll see...

Speaking following the sentencing, DCI Collette O'Keefe from the Warwickshire Police Major Investigation Unit said: 'The level of violence shown by these offenders was truly shocking and Mr Hackett must have been terrified throughout.

'These three young people may not have intended to kill Mr Hackett but that is ultimately what happened, and like Mr Hackett's family, they will live with the consequences of their actions for the rest of their lives.'

Yeah, see that's the problem. They do get to live. And with the most pathetic of sentences. 

The judge sentenced the girl to an 18 month detention and training (D&T) order and gave the boys two year D&T orders. The first half of the sentence will see the youths held in secure accommodation, before they are released under supervision in the community. All three admitted manslaughter at a hearing in January.

This country is broken beyond all repair, isn't it? 

You Know What, I'm No Longer Even Surprised...

An unlicensed driver who mowed down a dog walker, killing her pet, has avoided jail – after a judge heard he suffered his own 'karma' when his skull was later shattered in a hit-and-run.

I wasn't aware we relied on 'karma' as part of our justice system, like some third world country, were you, Reader? 

Kallum Aish was speeding along a country lane when he lost control and ploughed into Patricia Faulkner, catapulting her over a hedge and killing her rescue dog Millie. The 75-year-old grandmother today branded the suspended sentence handed down to Aish as 'disgusting', and said the driver had 'effectively got away' with what he had done to her.

Yes, it would appear so, wouldn't it? As so often happens with vehicular offences.  

Birmingham Crown Court heard his home was also firebombed as a result of community outrage at what he had done, forcing his family to move, while he has also received treatment for cancer.

Do we want to see more people taking the law into their own hands? Because it's what will happen when people lose all faith in the state's ability to prevent crime. 

And this wasn't an aberration, of course. A moment of madness from an otherwise law-abiding citizen. It never is. 

Aish, now aged 20 and of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving without a licence and insurance, criminal damage (killing the dog) as well as possession of cannabis after 25 bags of the class B drug were found in his bedroom upon arrest.

And those wheels grind ever slower and slower... 

In a hearing which had been long delayed due to Aish's health issues, he was sentenced today to 22 months,suspended for 18 months.

Aish avoided immediate imprisonment mainly due to his age at the time, the fact he had pleaded guilty and his various health issues.

All of which are consequences of his own behaviour and should count for absolutely nothing. 

He was also banned from driving for three years.

It should have been life. He should never again be licensed by the state to get behind the wheel of a vehicle.   

Speaking Of 'A Pattern Of Behaviour That Cannot Go On', Rishi...

...let's not just concentrate on the mutts' behaviour. Or that of their owners. Let's look at the behaviour of those paid to protect.

The owner of two XL Bullys that mauled a 52-year-old father to death had been spoken to on several occasions over his out-of-control dogs, according to the police. Father-of-two Ian Price, from Stonnall, Staffordshire, was killed by the two dogs which jumped out of a neighbour's window yards from a primary school on Thursday afternoon. He reportedly died defending his elderly mother from the animals.

While Staffordshire Police is currently questioning a 30-year-old man from South Staffordshire, they said they are 'aware' of previous police interactions with the owner of the killer dogs ...

What did they do? Less than nothing. 

Just like they did for the 15-20 minutes it took for terrified neighbours to try to fight off the beasts with whatever they had to hand. Though they did send armed cops to parade uselessly up and down the cordon they erected after it was all over...

Pointless security theatre...

The police said the Professional Standards Department found that 'the material does not meet the threshold for a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct'.

Of course not. Perish the thought! It's only a pattern we see in these attacks again and again and again. They hardly ever come truly out of the blue.  

Matt, 43, who declined to be fully identified, told MailOnline yesterday: 'This was an accident waiting to happen but it could have been avoided.

'The dogs should never have been allowed to run free to roam the streets and terrorise the neighbourhood.

'The same dogs attacked a middle-aged woman out walking her little dog six weeks to eight or so ago. They should have been taken away from the owner or put down.

'They are killer dogs, ferocious, with huge powerful jaws, and it is such a shame and makes me so angry that it takes someone to be mauled and pass away for action to be taken.'

It's taken more than just 'someone'. It's taken quite a few - 17 in the last two years. And already the usual suspects are climbing aboard the 'don't take our lovely doggie-woggies' bandwagon.  

But if Rishi wants to bring someone to heel, maybe he should be looking at the police a little more closely.

The Justice System: Letting Victims Down Every Day

Mr Hewett and his cousin had had 'the terrible misfortune' to come across the defendants that night by the shops, Judge Michael Kay QC stated.

The boys had been drinking and smoking cannabis and following the exchange of words, wrongly perceived that they had been shown 'disrespect by the older men', which led to the attack.

The court heard that there was a 'significant degree of planning or premeditation' before the attack and that the stabbing was 'repeated and ferocious'. Judge Kay told Pollock that the attack on Mr Hewett was a 'brutal and savage attack' and concluded that he had 'inflicted a wound with an intention to kill.'

'The only view I have of you is that you are an extremely dangerous young man,' Judge Kay added.

If only there had been some warning of the danger he po...

Oh. 

The court heard that Pollock had a previous 'serious' conviction when he was aged 14, involving a similar crime. His previous conviction of wounding with intent of causing GBH involved a stabbing from behind.

He received a four-year detention sentence and was released a year prior to the murder offence. He remained on license at the time of the murder in February 2021.

What a pity the morons who freed this walking disaster waiting to happen aren't liable to share a place in the dock with him... 

There's Absolutely Nothing 'Unbelievable' About This...

A baby girl suffered catastrophic brain damage after a hospital allowed a midwife who had been 'banned for incompetence' to help deliver her. 

Unbelievably, Sophie Addo, the midwife responsible for the birth, should not even have been present, having been 'excluded from working in all areas of the hospital' just days earlier after failing a retraining course on how to properly understand heart rate monitor readings.

...as a glance at the image of the midwife in question will tell you. 

And lest anyone think that the midwives are the only source of gross incompetence at Newham Hospital:

The midwife...said last night she had not been informed about the ban at the time. Remarkably, staff at the hospital's birth unit were not told either.

Still clapping for these clowns, are we?

What Does The West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit Do...?

Does it bust country lines drug dealing rings? Does it foil armed blaggings?

No. It...well...err....

"If you see any of these on their computer, or have a child you think is hacking, let us know so we can give advice and engage them into positive diversions," intones the offending poster, forwarded to us by a reader and which we reproduce below in all its glory.

Observant readers will have spotted the National Crime Agency logo alongside that of the WMROCU. Strangely enough, the NCA was not at all impressed to have been linked with this obvious bollocks.

Whoops! Some less-than-IT-savvy cop is in for an interview without coffee, I suspect...

Let's hope West Midlands Police learns something useful from this cockup.

Now, there's the triumph of hope over experience!

The NHS, In All Its Glory....

Kyra Warrell faces a lifetime of disability if £58,000 cannot be raised to pay for specialist treatment abroad in February.

The six-year-old was born with a rare condition which means her left leg is deformed and will not grow properly.

She has to wear a bulky and heavy prosthetic to help her walk which gives her a lot of pain.

How sad. But why does she have to go abroad?

Surgery that would lengthen the leg is available but only at a specialist clinic in Israel.

Note: not Palestine, or Saudi Arabia. Israel. The little Middle Eastern country that could.

And what of the amazing, wonderful NHS that the progressives think is so wonderful?

Doctors in the UK have so far offered only to amputate Kyra’s lower leg so she can wear a prosthetic limb more easily.

Yet they don't tell fat benefit sponges with mental health conditions or self-inflicted injuries to go abroad, do they?