P.08?

[Jim Keenan]

Most police in the UK are not armed, but when they get hold of a gun (or any weapon) they seem to go berserk. "Armed and dangerous" really does apply.

The worst case I recall was when armed cops were put on the trail of an "IRA bomber" who was reportedly driving a yellow VW with his girl friend. The cops spotted the car and, without warning, opened fire, riddling it with over 40 bullets, and killing both the occupants.

Wrong car. Wrong couple. Just a man and his wife out for the evening. Big press/telly hoorah for a couple of days, then the Home Office told the press to go cover a royal scandal or something and the whole thing was dropped into a black hole.

Same with the guys caught in the Toxteth riots who claimed (and proved) that those nice, polite, unarmed Brit cops had castrated them with machetes. Big press/TV furor for a day or so then the shut up order came down from on high and the lions of the press turned into lap dogs for the establishment, as they always do.

Jim