[Update] Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar is freed pending appeal
 

A police officer who failed to arrest a convicted thief because she ‘could not be bothered’ was yesterday jailed for a year.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...t-burglar.html

http://news.sky.com/home/article/16056790

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Sounds like she was tired and just wanted to go home when her shift finished.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Sounds like you couldn't be bothered to read the article ...

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

An absolutely outrageous decision. Unless there is far more to this than has been reported, and I don't believe there is, there is no way she should have been convicted let alone jailed for 12 months.

The very first thing you are taught in training, even before the diversity brainwashing, is about discretion. This sounds like a bit of 'old fashioned' policing where instead of going through a long, drawn out paper trail the criminals tools were removed from him and disposed of.

All this has done is ruin one woman's life. Ensure another one is never trusted again and make 8,000 cops in Strathclyde petrified of cutting any corners whatsoever in case they end up inside for far longer than most criminals get.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

I must admit, I'm surprised he jailed her.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Quite. Seeing she's resigned anyway, I do wonder what purpose it serves to lock her up.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Yes l find it a quite staggering decision and you have to wonder where we are going with this type of decision.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

I must have to have come up with my conclusion.

what's yours?

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Agreed. It seems well over the top. If it was such a clear cut case that the person should be arrested, why didn't the other police officer, even if they were junior, not do it?

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

It does sound like a pretty clear cut case of 'going equipped' and if the other one felt strongly enough she should have done it or at least challenged the decision in the car.

At most I would have thought a reprimand was in order, not a criminal charge or prison.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Derek, although you and I are in agreement on a lot of stuff I have to disagree on this one.

"Selby told him: We know you are trying to break in and if we didn't have another call to go to you would be getting the jail."

She had some letters to deliver !!

I agree she doesn't deserve to be imprisoned but she certainly shouldn't be a police officer with priorities like that.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

I would think she would be appealing the sentence..:erm:

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

There are times when the letter of the law is slightly bent to make things work. Sometimes a bit of leeway is given for a variety of reasons. Going equipped is the high end of the scale but I can see reasons why she did what she did.

She stopped any potential break-in and removed the tools he had.

This seems to send out the message that anything less than zero tolerance policing could result in you ending up in pokey which I really don't think the public want.

Of course for any professional standards people looking in I never cut any corners ever. :erm:

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Yes she might have been subject to disciplinary procedures and in turn that might even have lead to dismissal. But a jail sentence, probably much longer than the attempted burglar would ever have got seems very excessive. There has to be something else here that isn't apparent from the media reports.

It's worth noting that although officers might claim to someone "we know you did it" that is often going to be a gambit to see if they can get an offender to open up and admit something. It isn't going to be proof.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

It seems Sheriff Richard Clark isn't quite as harsh with non-cops who come up in front of him.

http://www.westlothiancourier.co.uk/...2405-23503316/

Or for disqualified drivers who crash into Police cars.

http://www.westlothiancourier.co.uk/...2405-23503168/

But hey if a cop does something then lock her up and throw away the key. :mad:

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

The way the criminal system is going it will be the law abiding citizens and police that will end up in jail and the criminals laughing all the way to their next crime or community sentence.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

I blame the tree-hugging hooman rites loving lefty liberals, myself........

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Can you explain it in layman,s terms dear Hugh.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Guardian readers. ;)

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Well l am a Guardian Reader but l certainly am not one of these human rights lefty Liberals though.:)

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

How often do you find yourself strongly disagreeing with their point of view?

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Quite a bit as l have my own independent point of view which is open to persuasion at times.;)

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

"at times"......

Do you mean when entropy reverses or when information comes out of a Spacetime singularity?;)

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Well you certainly got your Einstein cap on today.;)

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

shocking decision by the judge .

There is one issue that everybody seems to have missed though .Why in the name of all that is holy is a beat copper delivering mail ,i am assuming that it was internal mail so couldn't any of the civilian workers have done it or one of the community officers or anybody else ,surely a beat copper is supposed to be patrolling the streets not doing menial tasks more suited to admin staff

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Mine is based on the part of the article that said she was in the middle of a shift and busy with other tasks, rather than the fantasy you concocted in which she was at the end of her shift and tired.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

But you're forgetting the "can't be bothered" bit.

might have been "can't be bothered because I'm on my way to deliver these" or "can't be bothered because it's nearly the end of my shift soon and I can't be bothered to have to do the paperwork because I'm tired and want to go home in just over an hour when my shift finishes"

but yours is good though. even though she wasn't in the middle of a shift too :)

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

No doubt, this'll do wonders for morale in the ranks :rolleyes:

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Sometimes things need to go between offices fairly quickly and out with office hours. Seeing as it can be fairly sensitive documents you can't just pop them in a taxi when you have a couple of pandas out and about. Especially most nights not much happens between 3 and 7.

Yep, everyone is dead happy about it.

From what I've heard under Scots law the burglar / late night joiner COULD NOT have been arrested for Section 58 (Going equipped to steal in lay mans terms) and from experience proving the offence would have been difficult.

I know what he was doing, the jailed cop knows what he was doing and everyone who isn't a complete idiot or a defence lawyer knows he was up to no good but actually proving an offence would be an issue.

Again shocking decisions both in the initial decision to prosecute, finding her guilty and the sentence. At most she should have been dealt with internally for neglect of duty.

Re: Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar
 

Freed pending an appeal against the sentence:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-west-14731451

Re: [Update] Policewoman Jailed For Not Arresting Burglar is freed pending appeal
 

Sentence reduced to 240 hours community service and three years probation:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...-west-15671673