Feature writer. I mostly cover criminal justice, organised crime + public health.
Aug 3 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
The police repeatedly requested my phone passcodes in the interview + kept returning to this topic + pressuring me.
One of them said, "You're under a duty to disclose the passcodes + we're requesting them formally. Your refusal means that you may be committing a RIPA offence."
I was under no duty to hand these passcodes over. They hadn't obtained a RIPA notice.
Furthermore, the police knew that I was a journalist when they applied for their s8 search warrant, but didn't declare it when asked if they knew of any info that undermined their application.
May 4 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
🧵 An innocent 46-year-old woman was knocked unconscious + hospitalised – with serious long-term injuries – by a police officer in Feb. 2024.
Yet the police are refusing to release the officer’s body cam footage or CCTV, only allowing her + a friend to view it at the station.
The woman was on a night out + the police were dealing with a fight, while she was trying to leave a Guernsey club.
Footage shows her speaking to a male officer.
Witnesses say she expressed concern that officers were using batons + being heavy-handed to the public.
Jan 27 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
In England, police can put a marker on a central database to say you're suspected of benefiting from crime with ZERO evidence to support this false claim + the banks will close your accounts, leaving you bank-less.
I've no criminal charges/convictions, but now no banking access.
Just like for an arrest, the threshold for this marker is "reasonable suspicion".
A police officer's "reasonable suspicion" can get you de-banked for life, with no need for a judge, magistrate or independent person to review + approve this. 🤷♀️
Jun 25, 2023 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
🧵Ever wondered how @MetPoliceUK officers feel about Baroness Casey's review into misogyny, racism + homophobia in policing?
Fortunately, many serving cops shared their opinions via the force's intranet.
Here's a thread of their comments.🍎
(1/10)
Cliff's heard it all before + he ain't buying the bullshit.
Like a drug dealer caught shottin' weed, he's feeling victimised by how the Met blames people for their "wrongdoing".
I guess some folk call it a blame culture, but others call it taking responsibility for your actions
Nov 4, 2022 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
There's a series of interlinked Discord groups for Britain's cops. You must show policing ID – such as a warrant card – to gain entry.
These groups are packed full of misogyny, racism + homophobia that – quite frankly – makes the recent WhatsApp revelations look tame.🍎
Over the next week or so, I'm going to share excerpts from these groups, which – collectively – have a membership of many hundreds of police officers. And of course, we can be certain they're emergency services workers as they all foolishly flashed their ID to join the group.🍏
Sep 13, 2022 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
THREAD: The retired railway cop, Norman Brennan, is often inaccurately described on TV as a knife + gun crime “expert", as well as a homocide “specialist” + "former Metropolitan Police officer".
It’s really disappointing, as Brennan is none of these things.
He has almost no operational – or professional research – experience of homocide nor knife + gun crime. And he’s never been a Metropolitan Police officer.
There’s also the inescapable fact that he’s not worked in policing for 13 years.
Jan 23, 2022 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
A mother just told me her son has been on remand – in prison – for almost a year after being supected of couriering an ounce of a class B drug.
The prosecution submitted a truly ludicrous valuation of this substance to the court – and they've provided no evidence to substantiate this price whatsoever, despite repeated requests from the defence.