Comments on: Fucking ridiculous

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 04:02:00 +0000

All this sensible talk about not speculating about police action and then 'Sir' Ian Blair goes on QT and starts (seemingly without any more information on the situation than we have) speculating on, basically criticising, the West Midlands force's decision to use a Taser gun.

I do wish he'd stopped insulting the public's intelligence. Everyone is aware that the suspected suicide bomber managed to (at the least) run through a ticket hall, down an escalator (or stairs) and on to a train before his men stopped him, so no-one's impressed.

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 18:56:00 +0000

Stockwell is actually a pretty major station, being as it is the southernmost interlink between the Victoria and Northern Lines. I think it’s one of the busiest outside zone 1.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 17:24:00 +0000

I can’t speak for Stockwell, but there are CCTV cameras at West Worthing, which is essentially a platform in the middle of nowhere.

By: Backword Dave

Backword Dave — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 17:18:00 +0000

OK. I haven’t been on the Tube for years. Are there CCTV cameras in Zone 2 stations like Stockwell? I know they’re in the big ones, but Stockwell is nothing special. I ask partly because images from Kings Cross were available very quickly, but we’ve seen none from this.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 13:11:00 +0000

or maybe it'll just cost squillions of pounds and answer fuck all, just like the Bloody Sunday inquiry...

I'd have thought an inquiry would be pretty straightforward - unlike Bloody Sunday it isn't happening decades after the event, doesn't deal with multiple incidents, and there is (or appears to be) plenty of eyewitness and, crucially, CCTV evidence.

So establishing exactly what happened should be relatively straightforward, once all the hysterical speculation is done away with. Establishing why it happened might take a bit longer, but I wouldn't have thought this was a particularly challenging case in comparison with a great many similar ones.

By: Chris b

Chris b — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 11:23:00 +0000

I still don't see anything incorrect in my comment, yes fine if you want be pedantic I should have said the cousin is saying the chap didn't jump the barrier beacuse they claim that the police said they didn't but I don't have time to write a thesis, sourcing every comment. The statement is still perfectly correct though, they're claiming it and they weren't there...
And as I said in the original comment wait for the inquiry you might actually get a rational view of what happened, or maybe it'll just cost squillions of pounds and answer fuck all, just like the Bloody Sunday inquiry...
<a>Dons asbestos gimp suit

By: Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 11:19:00 +0000

Having a ticket doesn’t mean he used it, if he was running away of course it would have made sense to vault them, but there could be loads of explanations. Often barriers are open, so maybe he just ran through an open one, which could look like vaulting it if you were running away.

By: Backword Dave

Backword Dave — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 11:00:00 +0000

Ah, ok. Oops.

By: john b

john b — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 09:38:00 +0000

Dave – your linked cousin is a different one…

By: Backword Dave

Backword Dave — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 09:32:00 +0000

Looks like I’m in the minority on this. The cousin said Mr Menendes would not have fled police before any details came out. I don’t want to go on what the family say or what the police say. Witnesses will be called in time. I trust London Underground employees can tell the difference between using a travelcard to get through a barrier and hurdling it. The only witness statement I’m aware of did state that Mr Menendes was running away. Unfortunately, the witness also described him as "Asian."