General Things That Annoy You thread - part 2

cafcnick1992

They broke the back of a police officer with a sledgehammer? Why are we celebrating this?

Stig

Whatever the right's or wrongs of that particular case, or any others for that matter, please remember that the purpose of this thread is for a bit of light-hearted grumbling rather than serious issues of our time. 

With that in mind, why do all the wire and USB leads on my desk look like a set of overlong Christmas lights after a year in the loft and a week in a cement mixer? 

Rizzo

cafcnick1992 said:

They broke the back of a police officer with a sledgehammer? Why are we celebrating this?

One of them was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent for that. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on this charge and the accused remains in custody awaiting a potential retrial. 

The issue here is that certain judges (most notably Christopher Hehir) in cases over the last few years, have ruled that defendants cannot bring up any evidence (or in some cases, even mention) their reasons for carrying out the actions of which they are accused. There is a defence in law of “lawful excuse”. If a jury believes that criminal damage caused by the defendants was designed to prevent the commission of a far graver crime – in this case genocide - they are entitled to deliver a verdict of not guilty. By ruling that, for unspecified reasons, this defence was not available for these charges, the judge has effectively directed the jury to convict, which he is expressly forbidden to do. Bushel's case established the right of a jury to deliver a not guilty verdict according to their convictions and conscience and the jury was reminded of that outside the court, despite the best efforts of the authorities to remove such reminders. 

This case has elements of violence attached but there are many other cases, think Just Stop Oil, that are entirely peaceful and non-violent that have been subject to similar judicial action. 

Regardless of your belief in the rights and wrongs of a case, the fact that judges are unilaterally deciding whether or not you can rely on a lawful excuse defence should be extremely concerning, especially given the current efforts to limit trial by jury. The jury is the last line of defence in such cases. 

letthegoodtimesroll

Rizzo said:

Karim_myBagheri said:

guinnessaddick said:

Karim_myBagheri said:

Stig said:

Karim_myBagheri said:

My neighbours have replaced the fence that got blown over a few weeks back. Glad they did it its just annoying that the people they hired to do the job just chucked a bunch of the old fence into my garden and left it there for me, I guess, to deal with.
so now i got a load of it to dispose of and I know full well my council wont accept it so it means getting a friend to come over and helping to get rid of it. I could burn it but its wet and my garden is quite small and i've never had a bonfire in it before. Like i said it's just annoying. 

Can't you just ask your neighbours to take their fence away?

i barely know them tbh and i would find it all a bit awkward. i can deal with people up to a point but they are very formal and i find it hard to talk to them. They have done the fence and it seems a bit much for me to start going on about them picking up a bunch of trellises/fenceing and ivy that was plonked on to my garden/hedge, the contractors did take most of it away but they did leave a fair bit. I need to get rid of it as i cant have a pile of it in my garden but with no transport that's hard to do. 

Whose fence is it? As they replaced it, it would suggest it’s theirs and therefore it’s for them to deal with.

it's theirs. I'm so useless at this kind of thing. I'm a kinda person who just wants to be left alone. Still, step up and all that... going over there later to ask is there any chance they could get hold of the contractor to finish their job and get rid of the pile of trellis and ivy they have left which i now have piled up in the garden. 

Hopefully it goes alright and thanks for those who have advised on here. 

Just go out one night and chuck the whole lot over the fence. Their problem, not yours!

The fence and ivy is their property, not yours. 

letthegoodtimesroll