Undercover police officer unlawfully spied on climate activists, judges rule
July 20, 2011 No Comment
Mark Kennedy acted as agent provocateur, says appeal court judgment quashing Ratcliffe-on-Soar conspiracy convictions Three senior judges have ruled that the undercover police officer Mark Kennedy unlawfully spied on protesters and arguably acted as an “agent provocateur”. In a damning ruling explaining why they quashed the convictions of 20 climate change activists, the court of appeal judges said they shared the “great deal of justifiable public disquiet” about Kennedy’s infiltration. The judges, who included the lord chief justice, said there had been a miscarriage of justice as a result of prosecutors not disclosing to the defendants vital evidence about the undercover officer. The activists discovered their convictions for conspiracy to break into Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station had been quashed on Tuesday. On Wednesday, giving their reasons for overturning the convictions, the judges made stinging criticisms about Kennedy’s undercover operation, which they said was part of long-term police infiltration of extreme leftwing groups. The judges said Kennedy “was involved in activities which went much further than the authorisation he was given, and appeared to show him as an enthusiastic supporter of the proposed occupation of the power station and, arguably, an agent provocateur”. The suggestion that an undercover police officer may have incited criminal actions is likely to be damaging to Sir Hugh Orde, who has been tipped as a replacement for the outgoing Met commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson. Orde runs the Association of Chief Police Officers, which until recently ran the network of undercover officers sent to spy on political groups. The director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, will also be under pressure. His officials are under investigation for failing to disclose evidence about Kennedy’s operation to defence lawyers in the Ratcliffe case. The judgment said: “Something went seriously wrong with the trial. The prosecution’s duties in relation to disclosure were not fulfilled. The result was that the appellants were convicted following a trial in which elementary principles which underpin the fairness of our trial procedures were ignored. “The jury were ignorant of evidence, helpful to the defence, which was in the possession of the prosecution but which was never revealed. As a result justice miscarried.” The inquiry into allegations that the Crown Prosecution Service did not disclose evidence in the case is being led by Sir Christopher Rose, a former appeal court judge. Mark Kennedy Police Protest Crime Court of appeal Rob Evans Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …President Obama’s ” evolving views ” on gay marriage appear to have evolved even further: The president has endorsed a bill to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act , which defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman. The bill, sponsored by Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein, is thought unlikely…
Continue reading …A Muslim immigrant from Bangladesh is fighting to save the life of the man who shot him in the face as revenge for the 9/11 attacks. Mark Stroman, who killed two people in the weeks after the attacks, is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas today for…
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Judges said 12-year-old Rachael Blackman’s common name for the Octospora humosa perfectly captured the appearance of this lurid orange, moss-dwelling fungus • Full list of winners here A 12-year-old girl has beaten more than 5,000 entrants to win a competition to invent the best new moniker for 10 endangered and overlooked species lacking a common name. A lurid orange fungus, previously only known by its rather forgettable scientific nomenclature, Octospora humosa , was named “hotlips” by Rachael Blackman from Swindon, perfectly capturing the appearance of the moss-dwelling member of a group of fungi called discomycetes, or “discos”. “They looked a bit like lips and I thought the name suited it really well because of the bright orange colour,” said Rachael. “It’s exciting to know it will always be called hotlips.” The judges for the competition , which is run by Natural England and the Guardian, said they loved the notion of a “hotlips disco”. “It’s very simple, it’s very apt and it’s the kind of thing that people will remember, which cuts to the heart of the competition,” said Pete Brotherton, head of biodiversity at Natural England and one of a judging panel including Guardian columnist George Monbiot and Liz Holden of the British Mycologists Society. Brotherton said he hoped the popular competition, now in its second year, would draw people into the natural world and get them looking for these unheralded species, which include the largest sea squirt in Britain , a lichen that thinks it is a mushroom and a sea slug that recycles stings . “These are species that now have names. Some of them are declining and may one day in the future be saved because of that name,” added Brotherton. “Something called Nymphon gracile is challenging but if people are told the gangly lancer is on the brink of extinction this could tug the heart strings. These names could potentially make the difference between life and death for these species in the future.” Among nine other winners, who will receive a commemorative certificate from Natural England, were Diane Williamson who came up with Ascot hat, a pink-tinted mushroom that would not look out of place as race-going headgear and was first recorded near Ascot, and user greenmeeny, who suggested the sea squirt should be called Neptune’s heart. The sea squirt, which grows up to 12cm long and is large enough to have small anemones growing inside its leathery, milk-white “tunic”, must be Roman on account of its tunic, explained greenmeeny on the Guardian site . “It resembles a heart in that blood is pumped through it, and must belong to the Roman sea god Neptune because its circulation flows and ebbs back and forth like the tide.” The judges said: “We did wonder if it mattered that the species is a milky white instead of red, but we decided the heart of a sea god might be any colour.” Other species honoured with a common name for the first time included Coryphella browni , a striking sea slug with bright red tentacle-like cerata which was called scarlet lady and Chrysotoxum elegans , a medium-sized hoverfly found in the south-west England and Wales which was given the memorable name zipper-back, inspired by the stripy, zip-like markings across its abdomen. When deciding upon the overall winner, the judges had no idea that hotlips was invented by a 12-year-old. But Brotherton said it was very appropriate that Rachael had won this year’s competition. “They [younger people] look at things with a creativity and wonder that adults have sometimes lost touch with,” he said. “She’s helping to grow the next generation of naturalists and maybe she’ll be one of them.” Despite a passion for the ballet which has seen her name one of her goldfish Darcy, Rachael confirmed she would like to work as a zoologist in the future. • Full list of winners here Wildlife Conservation Biodiversity Marine life Insects Animals Taxonomy Biology Zoology Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Judges said 12-year-old Rachael Blackman’s common name for the Octospora humosa perfectly captured the appearance of this lurid orange, moss-dwelling fungus • Full list of winners here A 12-year-old girl has beaten more than 5,000 entrants to win a competition to invent the best new moniker for 10 endangered and overlooked species lacking a common name. A lurid orange fungus, previously only known by its rather forgettable scientific nomenclature, Octospora humosa , was named “hotlips” by Rachael Blackman from Swindon, perfectly capturing the appearance of the moss-dwelling member of a group of fungi called discomycetes, or “discos”. “They looked a bit like lips and I thought the name suited it really well because of the bright orange colour,” said Rachael. “It’s exciting to know it will always be called hotlips.” The judges for the competition , which is run by Natural England and the Guardian, said they loved the notion of a “hotlips disco”. “It’s very simple, it’s very apt and it’s the kind of thing that people will remember, which cuts to the heart of the competition,” said Pete Brotherton, head of biodiversity at Natural England and one of a judging panel including Guardian columnist George Monbiot and Liz Holden of the British Mycologists Society. Brotherton said he hoped the popular competition, now in its second year, would draw people into the natural world and get them looking for these unheralded species, which include the largest sea squirt in Britain , a lichen that thinks it is a mushroom and a sea slug that recycles stings . “These are species that now have names. Some of them are declining and may one day in the future be saved because of that name,” added Brotherton. “Something called Nymphon gracile is challenging but if people are told the gangly lancer is on the brink of extinction this could tug the heart strings. These names could potentially make the difference between life and death for these species in the future.” Among nine other winners, who will receive a commemorative certificate from Natural England, were Diane Williamson who came up with Ascot hat, a pink-tinted mushroom that would not look out of place as race-going headgear and was first recorded near Ascot, and user greenmeeny, who suggested the sea squirt should be called Neptune’s heart. The sea squirt, which grows up to 12cm long and is large enough to have small anemones growing inside its leathery, milk-white “tunic”, must be Roman on account of its tunic, explained greenmeeny on the Guardian site . “It resembles a heart in that blood is pumped through it, and must belong to the Roman sea god Neptune because its circulation flows and ebbs back and forth like the tide.” The judges said: “We did wonder if it mattered that the species is a milky white instead of red, but we decided the heart of a sea god might be any colour.” Other species honoured with a common name for the first time included Coryphella browni , a striking sea slug with bright red tentacle-like cerata which was called scarlet lady and Chrysotoxum elegans , a medium-sized hoverfly found in the south-west England and Wales which was given the memorable name zipper-back, inspired by the stripy, zip-like markings across its abdomen. When deciding upon the overall winner, the judges had no idea that hotlips was invented by a 12-year-old. But Brotherton said it was very appropriate that Rachael had won this year’s competition. “They [younger people] look at things with a creativity and wonder that adults have sometimes lost touch with,” he said. “She’s helping to grow the next generation of naturalists and maybe she’ll be one of them.” Despite a passion for the ballet which has seen her name one of her goldfish Darcy, Rachael confirmed she would like to work as a zoologist in the future. • Full list of winners here Wildlife Conservation Biodiversity Marine life Insects Animals Taxonomy Biology Zoology Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Judges said 12-year-old Rachael Blackman’s common name for the Octospora humosa perfectly captured the appearance of this lurid orange, moss-dwelling fungus • Full list of winners here A 12-year-old girl has beaten more than 5,000 entrants to win a competition to invent the best new moniker for 10 endangered and overlooked species lacking a common name. A lurid orange fungus, previously only known by its rather forgettable scientific nomenclature, Octospora humosa , was named “hotlips” by Rachael Blackman from Swindon, perfectly capturing the appearance of the moss-dwelling member of a group of fungi called discomycetes, or “discos”. “They looked a bit like lips and I thought the name suited it really well because of the bright orange colour,” said Rachael. “It’s exciting to know it will always be called hotlips.” The judges for the competition , which is run by Natural England and the Guardian, said they loved the notion of a “hotlips disco”. “It’s very simple, it’s very apt and it’s the kind of thing that people will remember, which cuts to the heart of the competition,” said Pete Brotherton, head of biodiversity at Natural England and one of a judging panel including Guardian columnist George Monbiot and Liz Holden of the British Mycologists Society. Brotherton said he hoped the popular competition, now in its second year, would draw people into the natural world and get them looking for these unheralded species, which include the largest sea squirt in Britain , a lichen that thinks it is a mushroom and a sea slug that recycles stings . “These are species that now have names. Some of them are declining and may one day in the future be saved because of that name,” added Brotherton. “Something called Nymphon gracile is challenging but if people are told the gangly lancer is on the brink of extinction this could tug the heart strings. These names could potentially make the difference between life and death for these species in the future.” Among nine other winners, who will receive a commemorative certificate from Natural England, were Diane Williamson who came up with Ascot hat, a pink-tinted mushroom that would not look out of place as race-going headgear and was first recorded near Ascot, and user greenmeeny, who suggested the sea squirt should be called Neptune’s heart. The sea squirt, which grows up to 12cm long and is large enough to have small anemones growing inside its leathery, milk-white “tunic”, must be Roman on account of its tunic, explained greenmeeny on the Guardian site . “It resembles a heart in that blood is pumped through it, and must belong to the Roman sea god Neptune because its circulation flows and ebbs back and forth like the tide.” The judges said: “We did wonder if it mattered that the species is a milky white instead of red, but we decided the heart of a sea god might be any colour.” Other species honoured with a common name for the first time included Coryphella browni , a striking sea slug with bright red tentacle-like cerata which was called scarlet lady and Chrysotoxum elegans , a medium-sized hoverfly found in the south-west England and Wales which was given the memorable name zipper-back, inspired by the stripy, zip-like markings across its abdomen. When deciding upon the overall winner, the judges had no idea that hotlips was invented by a 12-year-old. But Brotherton said it was very appropriate that Rachael had won this year’s competition. “They [younger people] look at things with a creativity and wonder that adults have sometimes lost touch with,” he said. “She’s helping to grow the next generation of naturalists and maybe she’ll be one of them.” Despite a passion for the ballet which has seen her name one of her goldfish Darcy, Rachael confirmed she would like to work as a zoologist in the future. • Full list of winners here Wildlife Conservation Biodiversity Marine life Insects Animals Taxonomy Biology Zoology Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk
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Financial advisers get up-front fee – even where transfers or new pensions are inappropriate – Consumer Focus finds Consumers are being “churned” into different pension products, often with higher charges or risks, to generate commission for their financial advisers, according to Consumer Focus. The consumer champion says much of this churn is not appropriate and could leave consumers worse off in retirement. The report said that in every case where a pension was transferred or a new pension taken out the adviser received an up-front payment. In the cases it looked at where the fees and value of the pension pots were outlined, the average value transferred was £33,400 and the average fee £1,552 – the equivalent of 4.6% of the value of the fund. Consumer Focus is urging the Financial Services Authority and pensions minister Steve Webb to act to improve the personal pensions market and protect consumers from making a costly mistake with their retirement savings. In its report, Consumer Focus also criticised the trend for products to pay ongoing fees, or trail commission, to advisers, even if they had not reviewed a customer’s investments. The report found that pension companies paid between £200m and £800m in commission a year, of which an estimated 25% was trail commission. Deducting this from investments resulted in the saver ending up with a smaller pension pot. The report also found that disclosure of costs and charges was complex and opaque, making it virtually impossible for consumers to shop around or know what represented good value for money. Christine Farnish, chair of Consumer Focus, said the investigation showed “that practice in the individual personal pensions market still leaves much to be desired”. She added: “The complexity of costs and charges, despite years of work by regulators on disclosure, make it all too easy for savings that should be going into a pension pot to be siphoned off in costs and charges. This complexity makes it impossible for consumers to judge price, and shop around for a good deal as they would in other markets.” Farnish called on the FSA to “get a grip on this market” and asked the government to review its policy on transfers into the new National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme. The scheme, which will to be introduced next year and into which workers will be automatically enrolled when they start a new job, will not allow transfers in. However, Consumer Focus said this needed to be rethought. “Allowing basic-rate taxpayers with small pots to transfer into Nest would help around 2 million modest earners to build up bigger retirement savings, and prevent unfairness from developing between new savers and people who bought private pensions before Nest was available,” it said. Ros Altmann, director general of Saga, believes transfers have been blocked as a sop to the private pensions industry: “If Nest is allowed to accept transfers, there will be more of an incentive for private firms to improve the way they behave, but so far the government has bowed to industry pressure and stopped transfers into Nest, for fear that too many private companies will lose this lucrative business.” However Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at advisers Hargreaves Lansdown, has taken issue with some of the group’s recommendations. “Not all the recommendations in this report would improve investors’ chances of achieving a decent pension. Most of the necessary reforms are already in place: they should be allowed to work through the system before any further tinkering is contemplated.” McPhail said that while Consumer Focus was right to say trail commission should not be paid where there was no ongoing service, scrapping it entirely was not the answer. “Trail commission on pension contracts is there for a purpose, it is intended to reward an intermediary for servicing an investor’s retirement saving arrangement,” he said. “Scrapping trail commission altogether is not the answer because consumers still need ongoing support in planning and managing their retirement savings.” Pensions Retirement planning Financial advisers Family finances Retirement age Work & careers Hilary Osborne guardian.co.uk
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Prime minister says never ‘had one inappropriate conversation’ in relation to Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB bid The prime minister has refused to deny that he discussed the BSkyB bid with senior executives at News International since the election. Pressed on the issue following a Commons statement on the phone hacking scandal, David Cameron would only say: “I have never had one inappropriate conversation.” The prime minister added his cabinet secretary had ruled “very clearly” that no ministerial code was broken in relation to the BSkyB merger and meetings with News International executives. “The cabinet secretary has ruled very clearly that the code was not broken – not least because I had asked to be entirely excluded from the decision,” he told MPs. He said he had taken himself out of any consideration of the BSkyB bid and, “unlike Labour”, he had set out all his contacts with News International in the interest of transparency. Cameron also expressed regret at hiring Andy Coulson as his director of communications in light of the “furore” that has ensued in the phone hacking scandal. In a statement to update MPs on action taken in light of the slew of allegations that have surfaced in the last week, the prime minister said he would tackle the questions raised about allegations relating to his office. He vowed to “clear up the mess” and urged MPs to avoid “petty political point scoring” and focus on “concerted action” to sort things out. Cameron was under pressure to explain a number of decisions emerging from Downing Street that have surfaced over the last few days. He defended the decision of his chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn, to refuse a police briefing on the investigation as “entirely appropriate”, and insisted he learnt only three days ago that Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of News of the World, had advised Coulson before the general election. In his most contrite comments to date over the controversial decision to take the former editor of the News of the World with him to Downing Street, Cameron told MPs that if it turned out Coulson had lied to him about whether he knew about phone hacking at the now defunct tabloid, he would not hesitate in issuing a “profound apology”. While he believed everyone to be innocent until proven guilty, he added that if Coulson – who quit Downing Street in January – had lied, he would have lied not just to him, but the police, select committees, the press watchdog and the courts, and could expect to face “severe criminal charges”. He added: “On the decision to hire him, I believe I have answered every question about this.It was my decision. I take responsibility. People will, of course, make judgments about it. “Of course I regret [it] and I am extremely sorry about the furore it has caused. “With 20:20 hindsight – and all that has followed – I would not have offered him the job and I expect that he wouldn’t have taken it. “But you don’t make decisions in hindsight; you make them in the present. You live and you learn – and believe you me, I have learnt.” He said the Conservative party chairman had gone through the accounts and confirmed that neither Wallis nor his company had “ever been employed by or contracted by the Conservative party – nor has the Conservative party made payments to either of them”. On claims that Wallis provided Coulson with some informal advice on a voluntary basis before the election, Cameron said: “To the best of my knowledge I didn’t know anything about this until Sunday night.” He later added that he did not know Wallis had been contracted to work for Scotland Yard. The prime minister also rallied to the defence of Llewellyn over claims made yesterday by outgoing senior Scotland Yard officer John Yates that he had turned down an offer to be briefed on the police investigation. He said there would have been “justified outrage” if he had done anything else. “Ed Llewellyn’s reply to the police made clear that it would be not be appropriate to give me or my staff any privileged briefing,” said Cameron. “The reply that he sent was cleared in advance by my permanent secretary, Jeremy Heywood. “If they had done the opposite and asked for, or acquiesced in receiving privileged information – even if there was no intention to use it – there would have been quite justified outrage. To risk any perception that No 10 was seeking to influence a sensitive police investigation in any way would have been completely wrong.” Cameron also named the panel of independent experts who will help Lord Justice Leveson examine media practices in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. They include Shami Chakrabarti, the director of human rights group Liberty; former Daily Telegraph and Press Association journalist George Jones; former political editor for Channel 4 News Elinor Goodman; former chairman of the Financial Times Sir David Bell; Lord David Currie, former chairman of Ofcom; and former chief constable of West Midlands police Sir Paul Scott-Lee. The inquiry will look at the phone hacking scandal specifically but also at broader issues involving politics, the media and the police,and is expected to report within 12 months, said Cameron. “This public inquiry is as robust as possible,” the prime minister said. “It is fully independent.Lord Justice Leveson will be able to summon witnesses under oath.” David Cameron Phone hacking News International Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers BSkyB Television industry Conservatives Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee says recent economic indicators have reduced the likelihood of a rate rise The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee judged that recent economic weakness had reduced the chance that interest rates would need to rise in the near term, minutes to its July meeting showed. Committee members voted 7-2 to keep rates at 0.5%, as they did in June. Chief economist Spencer Dale and external member Martin Weale voted again to raise rates, while at the other end of the spectrum, Adam Posen repeated his call for more quantitative easing (QE). The MPC said indicators had pointed towards continued modest underlying GDP growth in the second quarter, but some softening in the outlook for the third quarter. It said the risks posed by an escalation of the eurozone debt crisis remained substantial and funding costs faced by major UK banks remained elevated as a result. “Recent developments had reduced the likelihood that a tightening in policy would be warranted in the near term,” it noted. Inflation eased to 4.2% in June but remains more than double the Bank’s target. The MPC said recent increases in food and utility prices meant it was likely that inflation would peak higher and sooner than previously thought, but the majority remained confident that it would fall back to target in the medium term. The Bank said the balance of risks to medium-term inflation has altered little over the month and risks remained substantial in both directions. “If it were to become clear that one of those risks had crystallised – and the medium-term outlook for inflation had deviated materially from the target in either one direction or the other – the committee would respond by changing the stance of monetary policy.” Unlike last month, the minutes made no explicit mention that any member other than Adam Posen had mulled the need for further asset purchases. The Bank bought £200bn of financial assets – mostly British government bonds – with newly created money between March 2009 and February 2010 in an attempt to steer the economy out of recession. In recent months, several policymakers have flagged the possibility that more QE may be needed if the recovery derails. Britain’s economy slammed into reverse at the end of last year and weak economic data have raised fears that GDP may have contracted again in the second quarter. Investors have pushed back bets on the timing of an interest rate rise until the second half of next year, and some analysts believe rates could stay at their record low for a good deal longer. Interest rates Bank of England Economics guardian.co.uk
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Greater Manchester police say 26-year-old woman, believed to a nurse, is in custody on suspicion of murder A 26-year-old woman, reported to be a nurse, has been arrested on suspicion of murder by police investigating three deaths at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport . Sources at Greater Manchester police confirmed on Wednesday that the person in custody was a member of staff at the hospital and said inquiries were continuing into the alleged addition of insulin to saline solution. Tracey Arden, 44, George Keep, 84, and Arnold Lancaster, 71, have all died. A fourth patient in his 40s remains critically ill. A woman who became seriously ill and had a seizure is recovering. They are among a total of 14 patients on two acute medical wards – A1 and A3 – whose treatment since 7 July is being examined by police. Thrity-six ampoules of saline in a storeroom are said to have been tampered with. On Tuesday police said they could not rule out the possibility that the person responsible was still at the hospital. A police statement said: “This morning a 26-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murder. She remains in police custody for questioning. Inquiries are continuing.” A team of 60 detectives is investigating events at the hospital. Police were called in a week ago after an experienced nurse realised a large number of patients had had a sudden unexpected drop in blood sugar levels. Security was stepped up and staff told to work in pairs when checking and administering drugs. A single keyholder had to be asked for access to locked drugs cabinets. Names and the times that individual drugs were given to patients were also being recorded. Police said on Wednesday that a product containing saline solution found damaged in the maternity ward at Stepping Hill was not contaminated. Preliminary tests confirmed no trace of any substance. Officers were seeking to establish whether the damage was accidental or deliberate. Assistant chief constable Ian Hopkins, who is leading the inquiry, said: “It is important to stress that this product has not been contaminated and, in fact, the damage could very well be accidental, as can happen quite easily in a busy hospital environment. “Extra security measures are in place across the hospital and staff continue to be vigilant, which of course is to be expected. Due to heightened awareness, staff are alerting police to anything they feel might be suspicious or relevant to the investigation and to date there has been no further contamination of any product since the control measures were introduced.” Inquests into the deaths of the three patients were opened and adjourned by south Manchester coroner John Pollard on Wednesday. Crime NHS Health James Meikle guardian.co.uk
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