Monday, February 26, 2007

A desperate Greater Manchester Police

This smacks of desperation on the part of Greater Manchester Police.

"District Judge Wendy Lloyd told the youngster she had been "concerned" that he had been kept in custody for possession of such a small quantity of cannabis."

All because a young person was a bit cheeky and made a gesture behind a politician's back, unable to resist the temptation of being on TV or in the papers.

A search warrant and a weekend in custody courtesy of Greater Manchester Police. I am sure the young man concerned is no angel, but I am concerned that he has been treated differently to others found with very small quantities of cannabis for personal use.

Update 2 April 2007

An anonymous commentator provides a very important update about Ryan Florence, the teenager in question. Very clearly possession of cannabis was just the tip of the iceberg, and doubtless those residents of Wythenshawe who are law-abiding will be relieved to know that Florence is off the streets for a while, although doubtful that his ways will be changed much by a prison system concentrating on containment rather than rehabilitation at the moment. If I knew how to do that very clever thing where you cross out what you have written and replace it with something else, I would do. I would replace "no angel" with "criminal"; and "bit cheeky" with "arrogant".