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Blogging from the Highlands of Scotland and anticipating my return to the Murcia region of Spain in August 2008 for about a month
'From fanaticism to barbarism is only one step' - Diderot
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Police State Britain - 'stun gun' use described as 'wicked' by a judge in court
The use of a device of a similar kind to that used by the police has been described as wicked by a High Court judge in Edinburgh. Habitual criminal Steven Burns was told by Lord Clarke that he had committed:
"... a wicked, unprovoked and vicious attack on an innocent member of the public.
"The fact you initiated this attack by the use of a stun gun made it all the more sinister. It was also cowardly.
"Your criminal record is appalling and conveys to my eyes a man who has absolutely no respect for the law and simply refuses to learn his lawless conduct must stop."
I suppose context is everything, but the fact that Burns's victim, Craig Samuel, has been severely injured and permanently disfigured whilst using a device 'of a much lower strength than used by law enforcement authorities' will have little effect on plans to deploy these vicious devices amongst those, in theory, employed to protect the public (and not simply used by the State as a means of controlling and coercing citizens to its will, as seems increasingly to be the case).
