This is just one of the reasons why I’ll never live in England again if I can help it.
Remember those student activists in Plymouth I posted about a week or so ago? The teenage graffiti artists arrested under terror legislation ahead of the G20?
Guess what, they’ve been released without charges:
All five were detained for a number of days under the Terrorism Act as police carried out a number of searches. At the time it was suggested those arrested were planning to travel to London to protest along with thousands of others at the G20 summit.
All five have now been released without charges under the Terrorism Act. One of the women must answer police bail pending inquiries regarding a drugs offence. The other woman was also on police bail pending what police have called “other criminal matters.”
The schoolboy was on bail until May “in connection with a separate criminal investigation” while the 19-year-old was released with no further action to be taken against him.
As I said at the time it hardly matters to police that no charges resulted. They’ve got what they wanted – potential dissidents intimidated and plenty of ‘intelligence’ against anyone else who might be so foolish as to protest:
“Computers have also been seized for examination.†say Plymouth police. ).
Yes, multiple computers with multiple users, not to mention multiple mobile phones, in 2 shared student houses. Since when have students been guilty of what their housemates read online or text to their mates?
But how very handy for the police to be able to hoover up who knows how many innocent yet politically inconvenient email or facebook friends or bloggers or LJ readers for Jacqui Smith’s handy little database of dissidents (if her husband hasn’t left the USB stick at Spearmint Rhino already
Late edit Sunday am:
I’ve been a bit absent lately and only just realised I’d put the blockquote in the above para in the wrong place. Changed it. Mind you, it’s not as though anyone noticed .
