No one guilty?

No one (at least no police officer) is, apparently, in any way culpable for the death of Smiley Culture.



In other news, a statement from the Vatican, Papal Catholicism has been reaffirmed.



It appears that what bears do in the woods, the police are allowed to visit upon those in their custody.



Tomorrow's Morning Star says what needs to said;



"London's police have long been free to kill with impunity, from Harry Stanley to Roger Sylvester, Jean Charles de Menezes, Azelle Rodney and Mark Duggan. The Met's version of the events surrounding Smiley Culture's death is so bizarre as to be barely credible. We are asked to believe that he stabbed himself in the chest while making a cup of tea in the midst of a police raid on his home. On top of that we're asked to accept an astonishing situation in which the officers involved can choose not to be interviewed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission as they are not suspects."



(http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/content/view/full/109081?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter)



As a public service trade unionist I have often represented public servants, accused of making a mistake, who have been held to account. Not every case leads to a just outcome, and sometimes there are outrageous witch hunts.



However, the total absence of any accountability of Metropolitan Police officers for questionable deaths in which the police are involved goes beyond fairness to hard pressed public servants. Indeed it undermines public confidence and therefore the whole basis of policing by consent.



UNISON, as the largest trade union, needs to take a stand for justice for working people. Our defence of the interests of civilian police staff cannot silence us in the face of this grotesque injustice.

Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange