Pointless If They Can’t Be Traced By Registration Plates

New UK cycling laws being introduced this month introduce further penalties – but downgrade two existing offences. Ten offences to tackle antisocial cycling have been proposed – including offences relating to cycling behaviour in London's Royal Parks.

Only works if they get stopped at the time. If - as usual - they pedal off in the distance, what are you supposed to tell the police to enable them to be traced? 

'It was a fat arrogant man in lycra, officer!' 'OK, madam, and do you know how many of those there are in London?'  

What are the offences that are now deemed 'not as serious'?

However, these laws raise “serious concerns”, as two new offences are, in effect, being ‘downgraded’ – dangerous cycling and failing to stop at a school crossing patrol – which can now be dealt with by taking a 30-minute e-learning course through the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS) for a fee of £100, instead of cyclists’ receiving points on their driving record or a fine.

Well, that's doing a lot for safety... 

I Don’t Have Any Thinking To Do, Gaby…

Mainly because, under other circumstances, the police would undoubtedly be hunting him for the murder of another identikit black kiddy-thug. Except they struck first.

Kelyan was a caring boy, according to his mother, and his teachers called him “funny, kind and ambitious”. But he was not an angel. An aspiring drill rapper, he had been expelled from school, spent time in care, and lately got into trouble with the law. He was on the way to meet his social worker when he died and, according to the BBC, was due in court shortly himself on charges of carrying a machete.

QED. 

His mother used a word we have heard a lot over the past few days to describe what had gone wrong for him. He had, she said, been groomed. That adult criminal gangs are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to recruit schoolchildren should not be news to anyone.

They aren't forcing them to make TikTok drill rap videos as well, are they Gaby?  

Boys such as this, Longfield has argued, aren’t freely choosing a life of crime any more than 13-year-olds in Rochdale were choosing (as some police officers wrongly concluded two decades ago) to become sex workers, and in both cases what they need is swift protection from predatory adults.

The children of Rotherham and Oldham didn't get that, yet they killed nobody, they haven't recorded rap songs about killing their tormentors, have they? So I'll pass on any further taxpayer-funded efforts to stop these street rats from killing each other.  

Now the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, is leading a cross-government “young futures” unit designed to bring together the threads of everything that is happening in young people’s lives, from a mental health crisis that may be aggravating offending rates to the loss of specialist youth services. (One recent analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculated that teenagers in neighbourhoods where all the youth clubs in walking distance had closed – as 30% of youth clubs in London did between 2010 and 2019, thanks mostly to budget cuts – were 14% more likely than their peers to have a criminal conviction.)

Ah, the magical qualities of youth clubs. No, don't quibble, just pay up, taxpayer, and England will be a better place again... 

I'm Sure It's Due To An Increase Of Something In The Area...

...I just don't believe the council's claim that it's due to fouling or attacks:

Dog walkers are fuming after finding out a London borough is dreaming up new rules that could stop their pets roaming freely in parks. Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman, who has made headlines in the past for his spats with the Labour party, is overseeing the enforcement of the government's 'Asbos for dogs' policy. Known officially as the Public Spaces Protection Orders, the regulations have already been implemented across the country. However, Tower Hamlets is an oddity by failing to specify which areas dogs are allowed to roam leadless.

Probably none, which would, of course, suit majority population in this little corner of Bangladesh London down to the ground.... 

It is this greyness in the rules which has now left open the possibility that the borough's biggest green spaces, such as Victoria Park, could now become no-go areas for dogs. The council claim that these clampdowns are warranted due to an increase in violent dog attacks in the borough alongside a rise in reported dog fouling.

Well, of course they do..! 

One such livid Tower Hamlets local is Team GB star Scarlett Mew Jensen, who won a bronze medal in diving at last summer's Paris Olympics. The proud owner of black labrador Olive, Jensen has claimed that her energetic canine companion would not be the same dog if mayor Rahman institutes a borough-wide ban on leadless dogs in parks. 'If she's not able to get off the lead, she's not able to be a dog. That adjustment would be really hard', Jensen told the Times. 'She has to run from time to time or she's not herself', the Olympian added.

Perhaps she should move out of the area then. There are far better places to live, after all.  

Reacting to the pushback over its enforcement of the 'Asbos for dogs' policy, Tower Hamlets council have cited data which suggests there were 108 dog attack penalties issued in the area in 2023-24. Although, objecting locals have pointed out that this data mainly features the notorious XL Bully breed which has been under a nationwide ban since the start of 2024.

It's a red herring. The real reason is obvious.  

Another issue of contention with the proposed dog law changes is Tower Hamlets council's plan to hire an additional 31 enforcement officers across the borough whose roles will include policing any pet owners in breach of the new lead rules. This would increase the number of enforcement officers in the borough by almost double, seeing a total of 64 officers employed at a starting salary of at least £55,698. In stark contrast, a new Met Police hire can expect to earn nearly £20,000 less, with a starting salary of just £38,269. The council has so far failed to explain this disparity in wages.

*shrug* That's what Tower Hamlets voted for, it's a bit late for buyer's remorse now.  

World Class Transport System?

TfL's woes continue:

New trains that were due to be introduced on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from the end of the year have been delayed indefinitely.

Great! Can this wretched company get nothing right?  

Transport for London said that signalling problems that meant the existing fleet of DLR trains had been going “too fast” made it impossible to keep to timetable for the phased introduction of the new fleet of trains, which boast air conditioning and walk-through carriages.

The country that once built railroads in Africa and India can't run one properly in its own capital.... 

No new date has been set for the arrival of the new trains, which Mayor Sadiq Khan saw when he visited the DLR’s Beckton depot in February 2023. The Standard revealed in June that the £880m new fleet of trains, which is being built in Spain, had run over budget by £61m and was facing delays.

'No date',,? Sounds familiar. 

And Why Has It Gone Virtually Unnoticed By The MSM?

As cyber-attacks go, it could have been worse. In Nightsleeper, the new BBC thriller airing just after Transport for London revealed its systems had been breached, passengers are locked aboard as a train seized by hackers hurtles dangerously towards the capital. In real life, the troubles for TfL customers are far less dramatic. The actual physical transport services, the buses, trains and tubes – many of which are effectively remote-controlled – have been unaffected by its cyber-attack. But as TfL continues to tackle what it calls an ongoing incident – despite the recent arrest of a suspected perpetrator – the minor headaches are growing persistent.

I know, I suffer from one of them at the moment - one that's not mentioned here. Luckily, I found a helpful counter staff at my local who helped me top up my Oyster card at the machine on Thursday.

The impact on most consumers in the short term is they have less information; both in being able to check online journey histories or contactless payments, or view some live transport updates, now that TfL has cut feeds.

And it's rendered it impossible to top up your Oyster card online (which goes unmentioned as an issue here). But at least the 'Guardian' is writing about it...  

A spokesperson said there was currently no date set for when this information would be accessible again, “but we can assure customers that once it is available they will be able to see their full journey history and correct any incomplete journeys or maximum fares.”

Because they don't know? Are they admitting that? It's only going to become a bigger and bigger issue the longer it goes on:

A potentially bigger issue is developing for those who now cannot apply for discount Oyster photocards, including children’s Zip cards and the 60+ pass. Although TfL has advised bus drivers to allow children to travel free without current ID, there is no solution for older children travelling alone to swipe in to the tube network for the discounted fares. With a 95p flat tube fare for 10-15-year-olds, travelling at full adult rate could, for a child regularly travelling to school, add up to hundreds of pounds extra by Christmas.

So why isn't this a bigger story? Is it because not enough journalists travel by public transport? 

No one at TfL has yet put a date on the return of all systems.

It's an utter disgrace. 

I Don’t Think Peabody Are To Blame For This…

Bexley residents opposing plans to demolish their homes have been given notice to end their occupation of empty homes in the area in order to object to a scheme to deliver nearly 2,000 new units on the site.Protestors have been occupying homes on the Lesnes Estate in Thamesmead for five months in the hopes of blocking plans for Peabody to build 1,950 new homes.

But I thought everyone was in favour of cramming more and more tiny rabbit hutches onto every singlr square inch of London? Have the press been lying to me again? 

Maria Ivanova, 72, has lived on the Lesnes Estate with her son since purchasing her home there in 2007."At this time, my family from Bulgaria visits me every summer. For the last two years they said this area has never been so dirty. It’s full of waste on the streets. It’s like nobody lives here… This rubbish stays there. There are flies and there is a smell when you pass it.”

And are Peabody doing that, Maria? Or is it someone else? 

The homeowner claimed she felt the slow decline of the estate had been done intentionally by Peabody. Pictures seen by the LDRS show multiple cars on the estate with broken windows as well as a variety of fly-tipped household items including mattresses, bathtubs, chests of drawers and armchairs left in both communal areas and gardens of derelict homes.

Flytippers, Maria. The sort of people that make up your neighbourhood, most likely. Not the housing firm.  

TfL Need To Beef Up Their Cyber Security

The news that TfL had suffered a cyber attack barely made headlines. I read it, but didn't think it would affect me, as they said it wasn't going to affect passengers. 

Until, of course, my Oyster card ran low, and I needed to top it up online. And found I couldn't.

Transport chiefs in London are restricting access to a photocard portal for Oyster 60+ and other travel concessions after a cyber attack. The incident, which first became public on Monday evening, has largely not affected people who use the transport system in the capital.

But the transport bosses have now decided to temporarily restrict access to the photocard portal, which allows customers to apply for travel concessions, including the Zip Photocard, 16+ and 18+ Photocard and the 60+ Oyster photocard, as the investigation continues into the cyber targeting.

It also prevents people wanting to top up their balance online from doing so. As I found out. The only way to do it is at a shop. They didn't exactly advertise this, I had to find out from Twitter. 

In an updated statement, Shashi Verma, TfL’s Chief Technology Officer, said: “There remains no impact to our public transport services and no evidence that any customer data has been compromised.

“However, as part of the measures implemented to deal with the ongoing cyber security incident, we have temporarily restricted access to customer journey history for pay as you go contactless customers, as well as limited access to some live travel data via apps, TfL Go and the TfL website, including next train information and the TfL JamCams.

“In addition, we have made the decision to temporarily restrict access to the photocard portal, which allows customers to apply for travel concessions, including the Zip Photocard, 16+ and 18+ Photocard and the 60+ Oyster photocard.

“We apologise for any inconvenience that these temporary changes will cause to some customers and are working to bring these back online as quickly as possible.”

All that money the London Mayor gives TfL and where does it go? Not on cyber security, it seems.  

And on Friday morning  I got an email. Ooh, I thought, they've fixed it! That is, until I opened it:

So much for 'no evidence that any customer data has been compromised' Shashi. Looks like you found some after all. Good job you kept looking, eh?

The Restaurants Are As Much A Danger As The Music Venues And Carnivals...

A man is still fighting for his life after a group of people were stabbed and a gun brandished during a fight in Forest Gate. The condition update comes as the Metropolitan Police has issued an appeal for information about the incident in Romford Road on August 10. Officers were dispatched to the street at 3.40am after receiving reports of a group of men trying to enter a restaurant with a knife.

Pizza? Fish & chip? Chinese? Sushi bar?

According to Newham Council, the restaurant that they attempted to enter was Bronze Royal African Bar.

Ah. 

Police are yet to make any arrests in connection with the fight, in which a firearm was brandished, and the condition of the other three men has not been confirmed. Newham MPS (@MPSNewham) took to X yesterday (August 10) to appeal for information.

The 'victims' not cooperating in naming their attackers again? 

They No Longer Want Your Goodwill, And That’s The Real Danger

A phone is reported stolen in London every six minutes. And last Thursday night, mine became one of them. Seamlessly taken from my pocket on Charing Cross Road without me realising, before it was switched off — and pinged on Find My iPhone a couple of hours later on the A12 in Ilford.

'Welcome to London' indeed! 

My first response was to ask the manager of the pub next to where it happened if anything had been handed in — or if they had CCTV. He simply replied: “Nah mate, happens outside all the time. They take them and run straight to the Tube or jump on a bus. And the police do nothing. It’s gone.”

Surely not? 

He was right. After hearing the experiences of friends and people I’d met through previous reporting on this, getting my phone stolen in London at some point felt like a statistical inevitability.

Within 48 hours of reporting it via 101, the Met closed the case with no investigation or attempt by any officer to contact me. Like many Londoners, my phone is the most expensive thing I own. That it can be taken from me with no attempt to retrieve it at all is deeply troubling.

I'm afraid it's just inevitable, when no-one is holding the police to account for their failures.  

I’m aware it’s difficult to trace a phone once it’s been switched off — but other victims report telling the police exactly where it is on Find My iPhone and they still do nothing. The main use it seems of reporting a phone stolen is to get a crime number which can then be used to make an insurance claim. I didn’t have insurance — but I have now bought it for my replacement phone. But this cycle just encourages phone theft. If victims have insurance, they get a new phone anyway and there’s no pressure for the police to investigate. So thieves know the police simply won’t bother to find them and keep stealing, effectively decriminalising phone theft.

Indeed so!  

As someone who isn’t particularly trusting in the police, their refusal to even attempt to find such an important item hardly fills me with goodwill. Like assurances that police will attend every burglary, making victims of crime at least feel listened to feels like an easy win in rebuilding that trust.

Your mistake is assuming that that's important to them, You should join Twitter and see what they say about that, anonymously.  

' Officers have trawled CCTV footage, made house-to-house enquiries and conducted forensic investigations...'

Gosh! Must be a big crime! Assault? Burglary? Shoplifting?

4,185 comments so far and what do you think the ratio of 'FFS! Get a grip!' to 'Yes, this is a good use of police resources' is, Reader? 

H/T: Peter Wells via email

”Shock, shock horror, horror, shock, shock horror”

Police were called to Seven Sisters underground station at 8.48am today to reports of a 'serious assault'. Upon arriving at the scene, officers found a man had been stabbed. He was taken to hospital with 'life-threatening injuries'.

Ho hum. Just another day in glorious multicultural London, I guess...

Many locals passing the police cars and tape expressed their shock at the incident. One woman said: 'It's unbelievable that things like this happen in broad daylight - when people are on their commute.'

Others admitted they were less surprised by what happened, with one man, who lives 'a couple streets away', stating: 'I feel like these things happen nearly everyday now.

'You start to get used to it.'

See what I mean?

Two women have been arrested on suspicion of GBH with intent. One has also been arrested on suspicion of common assault.

Oh!

Got To Keep The Money Flooding In....

The London Climate Resilience Review (LCRR) has urged Keir Starmer's new Labour UK government to consider introducing 'stormwater charges' for people who have no natural run-offs in their gardens such as grass. It was ordered by Sadiq Khan following what his office branded 'increasing severity and frequency of climate impacts' in the capital, including flash floods in 2021 and the 2022 heatwave - and warns of a 'lethal risk' to Londoners posed by floods.

That 'lethal risk' has accounted for how many deaths in London? Would you believe, zero?  

In 2008 the government changed the laws on resurfacing gardens - meaning anything larger than five square metres was only permitted when the surface was rendered permeable. But the Greater London Authority says these rules are poorly enforced because of a lack of defined standards on the absorbency of the materials to be used.

Another piece of utterly useless legislation then?  

And the reasons people are thought to be paving over their gardens so they can park their cars off the street are twofold: to avoid parking permit charges from their local council, and to be able to charge the rising number of electric cars on the roads.

Ha ha ha ha! Can't anyone see beyond getting legislation passed and not accounting for people's responses to it?  

Maybe The ASA Would Like To Get Involved?

I mean, surely calling it a 'secure hospital' breaks some rule? 

A vicious sex offender was let out of a secure hospital and went on a horrific four-day rampage of sexual violence against eight women, eventually raping a jogger at knifepoint. Louis Collins, 29, subjected his final victim to an hour-long ordeal after dragging her away from her running route just days after he walked out of Lambeth Hospital unescorted.

After all, we already know the medical profession won't allow the culprits to face any consequences:

Collins left Lambeth Hospital in south London on August 18 after doctors agreed he could have an unescorted leave of absence, Patricia May, prosecuting, told his sentencing hearing.

Who gave them the authority to allow that absence?  

Siobhan Molloy, defending, said Collins, who is originally from Croydon in south London, claimed that voices in his head had compelled him to carry out the attacks but a doctor had found he did not have a psychotic illness.

Although what faith can we put in any doctor's opinion on anything? 

At This Point, I'm Starting To Wonder Whose Side They Are On...

...because this sounds less like the usual lackadaisical incompetence and more like protection for the criminal underworld:

A man whose luxury watch was stolen from his wrist while he ate at a central London restaurant says he wants to "leave the country" after an "appalling failure" by the Metropolitan Police to convict those responsible. Luca, who works in the finance industry and did not want to give his full name, said his Rolex watch was stolen off his wrist by three men while he was having dinner at a Chelsea restaurant in September last year.

He chased the suspects down the King's Road and caught one of the men...

Hurrah!  

....but says the Met Police was unable to gather CCTV footage of the crime and suggested that he drop the case over potential threats to his safety.

Oh.  

A Met Police spokesperson said the force was "sorry" to hear the victim felt let down and remained "regretful that we were not able to achieve justice in this case".

How could he possibly feel anything other than 'let down'?  

Luca said that in June an officer suggested he should drop the case because, if it went to court, the suspect would learn his identity and could therefore endanger his life due to "potential retaliation". He says he was also told that if he pursued the case, the suspect would likely receive only "a few hours of community service" as a court sentence.

Firstly, what's this 'drop the case' stuff? This isn't America, victims of crime don't 'press charges' over here, that's the Crown Prosecution's job. Looks like they aren't doing their's either... 

So all this talk of him 'pursuing the case' sounds like an attempt to make him withdraw support for the prosecution. Why? It can't just be because they are lazy, incompetent bastards who want a quiet shift. Can it?

The finance professional added the Met Police failed to secure CCTV footage from the restaurant and other public areas from the night of the theft, and told him this was due to "capacity and understaffing constraints".

Bollocks! It doesn't take that much work. Someone should look into what's really going on here... 

H/T: Ian J via email

Another DEI 'Success' Crashes In Flames...

Lambeth council’s chief executive has quit after being charged with drug and drink driving offences.

Quite a few of them, at that... 

Bayo Dosunmu is accused of fleeing the scene of a car crash in Westminster at the end of June. The 46-year-old, from Hammersmith, was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop, being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, possession of class A drugs and driving without insurance.

Following the arrest, Lambeth council said Mr Dosunmu would be taking some time “away from work”.

Heh! 

On Wednesday a town hall spokesman confirmed he will officially leave the £185,000-a-year post from next week.

He's been a long time recipent of diversity hire policies... 

He was appointed Lambeth’s chief executive in 2022 having previously acted as the borough’s deputy chief and strategic director for resident services.

Before that, he was an executive director at Homes England and assistant chief executive at the Homes and Communities Agency.

He also served at a senior level in a range of civil service roles including for the Welsh Government and the Olympic Delivery Authority.

And now the gravy train has pulled into the sidings.  

Well Done....Now Let's See What The Other Part Of The Justice System Does!

Police want to return stolen mobile phones to their owners after recovering 24 that they believe were snatched in the City or West End on March 26.The appeal follows an arrest outside the Bank of England that day when City Police said they found the devices.

He presumably didn't have them on him at the time or he might have done down a bit harder, with a bit of luck.  

Sonny Stringer, a 28-year-old from Islington, has been charged with nine thefts, one robbery, dangerous driving and having no motor insurance. He has been remanded in custody to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on April 22.Two suspects were seen on camera riding electric motorcycles who police say were identified as phone snatchers. CCTV operators kept them on camera and alerted officers. One arrest was made.

If he won't name his fellow thief, he should be sentenced to double time. If, knowing our justice system, he sees any jail time at all,  

Quick Work, For Once!

Detectives have arrested a man at Heathrow on suspicion of murder, hours after a man was hit by a car and killed in east London. The Metropolitan police launched an investigation after being called at 5.11am to reports of a collision involving a car and pedestrian in East Ham. A 35-year-old man was found injured at the scene on Barking Road, near to the junction with Arragon Road. Officers responded and provided first aid, but despite the efforts of the emergency services, the man died a short time later.

Good work, but...murder?  

Urgent inquiries led to the arrest of a 33-year-old man at Heathrow at about 3.30pm on Sunday. He has been detained on suspicion of murder, and a 30-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. Both remain in custody.

Sounds like they had little difficulty identifying the suspect, but also sounds like a simple hit & run. Strange we aren't told where he was heading... 

DCI Joanna Yorke, leading the investigation, said: “I am aware that a large number of people had been at an event in Barking Road overnight and many would have witnessed the incident. I am appealing for those people to come forward immediately. Your information could be vital to the investigation.”

Ah. now it's all clear. Another of those benefits of diversity, obviously. 

Awww, Diddums!

I’m not being funny but… we as a nation have accomplished some incredible things through protest. Whether we’re talking about the suffragettes or the gay liberation movement or our stand against fascism, it’s embedded in us to take a stand for what we feel is morally right and we continue to do so regardless of how difficult the Government has been recently trying to make it.

I haven't noticed that they have been having much luck with that, since every Saturday we've had morons like you out in numbers in London, demanding the Israelis stop the war your terrorist friends started...

In recent years, we’ve seen trans+ and UK black pride demonstrations have an impact in protecting our community from people in power attempting to discreetly strip us of our rights.

Those 'rights' that, when challenged, you are unable to describe? 

While there’s been a spike in antisemitic attacks because of the conflict, there’s also been a spike in anti-Muslim hate and so this was a good reminder that standing for peace is something that should never be compromised. Have we learned nothing from our elders?

You certainly don't appear to.... 

...the police resources allocated to protests are unbelievable.I understand the need for those resources — protests need to remain safe spaces for everyone, but when are we going to actually start prioritising dealing with real crime?

The utter arrogance of this pathetic beta male, moaning about the resource loss for the police as if it were unconnected with he own actions and those of his fellow travellers.  

What really gets to me though is how little impact these protests are having. We have a government that doesn’t give a toss about its constituents’ issues.

Welcome to the club. I'm sick and tired of these 'conservatives' who seem in thrall to lunacies like Net Zero & encouraging the entire Third World to rock up on small boats to live a life of unparalled luxury at the taxpayer's expense. 

I’m never one for violence but, f*** me, France seems to be getting something right. We don’t hear about it so much over here but the way they take to the streets gets their government to listen.

So, you are one for violence then? Since that's how they do it.

Anything For An Easy Life, Eh, Met Police?

Good of you to prove Rishi Sunak right on something, though, I suppose. Poor guy's having a shocker of a 2024 so far.

Police said he was arrested for assault before being de-arrested after officers reviewed footage. Demonstrators carrying Palestine flags charged towards Mr Ghorbani and attacked him before police stepped in to arrest the counter-protester. Mr Ghorbani was then hauled away from the scene as pro-Palestinian marchers continued to hurl abuse at him, shouting 'shame on you'.

If police see someone being attacked by a mob, they have to arrest the victim before viewing video that proves he's not? Can't they just go by the evidence of their own eyes? Do they all need to visit that well known high street branch of opticians?

Five further arrests were made at the march, including a man accused of carrying a shield and wearing a helmet, a woman said to be holding an an offensive placard, two men alleged to be chanting offensive slogans and one man for assault.

And the police are backpeddaling faster than a unicyclist who has found himself heading for the Grand Canyon! 

'The arrest was not made in relation to the placard.'

No arrests were made in relation to placards. Not even the clearly illegal ones waved by the protestors. And if the arrest wasn't in relation to the placard, why did you lie to the arresstee about the reason?

The Met's PR division (currently having even more of a shocker than Sunak) were quick to get out a statement that was as full of holes as a Swiss cheese and which was promptly ratioed to oblivion on Twitter:

 

'Mr Ghorbani said that he would make a complaint after today's incident and that he was not given back his sign.

'I told the police they attacked me and I want to complain and they say go to police station near your home.'

He said that the UK is in 'serious danger' if police are allowed to support Hamas sympathisers against law-abiding protesters such as him.

You're not wrong. Of course, the police strongly refute such charges on social media: 

They weren't the only ones beclowning themself yesterday, of course:

Welsh singer Charlotte Church joined the rally through the capital weeks after sparkling a backlash by attending a concert in aid of Gaza and singing a lyric that critics claimed could be construed as anti-Semitic. Ms Church told the crowd that the Government labelling the protests as threatening is 'total propaganda'.

Voice of an angel, mind of Jeremy Corbyn... 

"... I thought it might be just a normal altercation - it is east London."

It is understood some involved in the attack were in school uniform - with the teacher reportedly just two weeks into his new job.

Gulzarin Iqbal, a physician associate at the nearby Lord Lister Health Centre, said there was 'a lot of blood' when he went to the aid of the stricken man who had been stabbed with a 'long knife' outside the east London school.

Sadly, Gulzarin, these days, an adult getting stabbed in the back by schoolchildren is 'a normal altercation' for east London.

He described the victim as an 'African male, in his 40s, of average build.'

What was all that guff about how schoolchildren need role model teachers who look like them in the classroom?