Such is the warped view of many who inhabit the world of our free and fearless press, and many of their associates in other media fields, that their first instinct on seeing the news of a terror attack at London Bridge yesterday was to find a judge to blame. And when they then discovered that the attacker had been sentenced by Lord Justice Leveson, this automatically became A Very Bad Thing Indeed.
Allison Pearson - ignorance personified
After all, Lord Leveson had presided over Part 1 of the Leveson Inquiry, which had shown the press in a most unfortunate light - the inevitable result of gathering evidence and asking questions, which that same press believes should be done to everyone else bar itself. Leveson is a press hate figure. It must have been Leveson Wot Done It.
Julia Hartley Dooda - shouting before researching
So it was that any semblance of responsible journalism was thrown out of the window, in favour of whipping up the mob - starting with Tom Savage, from the sewer that is Mail Online. “So the London Bridge terrorist was locked up on an indeterminate sentence for public protection until that was ‘revised’ to a set term by Lord Justice Leveson. Another good day at the office, Brian”. Wrong. But it did the mob whipping up just fine.
Master Cole - should plug brain in. If he has one
The Parole Board was also accused of complicity. So it had to point out that it was not involved in the suspect’s release, which was not good enough for the odious flannelled fool Master Harry Cole, who nudged and winked “Someone must have signed off the terms tho”. The Secret Barrister was left to point out “The Court of Appeal substituted an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection (IPP) with an extended sentence for public protection (EPP) of 16 years plus 5 years. At the time, this would have meant automatic release after 8 years”. Then came another know-all.
TalkRADIO host Julia Hartley Dooda blamed both the Parole Board and Leveson. The Secret Barrister moved to put out another fire. “This is false. See my thread. The Parole Board played no part in this”. So Ms Hartley Dooda engaged why-oh-why autopilot. “How many more of Usman’s eight fellow terrorists have now been released back onto our streets to kill and maim? We have a right to know”. And then came the Main Event.
A smile, a song, and a few acts of blatant defamation: Allison Pearson had arrived. “Forget the usual self-serving platitudes, focus on the abolition in 2012 of Indeterminate Public Protection sentences. Abolished, no doubt, under pressure from the rehabilitation brigade. Public at the mercy of ‘reformed’ jihadists like Khan”. And it soon got worse.
The Tweeter known as South London John quashed that idiocy. “He was sentenced to IPP in February 2012 and the actual IPP sentence was abolished by Coalition government in May 2012 so when his appeal was heard in 2013 the court was following government policy by changing the sentence to a fixed term”. It was not Leveson Wot Done It.
Then it was back to firefighting, as Ms Pearson said something so blatantly actionable she later deleted it. “This is the journalist who incited criminal offences of harassment against Boris Johnson’s neighbours” we were reminded. Meanwhile, Ms Pearson went off the end of the pier in no style at all, in a manner which she may come to regret.
“On the one hand we have the remarkable bravery of ‘ordinary’ members of the public.On the other, we have a criminal justice system - including human rights QCs - who facilitate violent jihadists to get away with murder”. The Secret Barrister reminded her “What we also have are defamation lawyers, who would I’m sure have things to say about accusing a criminal barrister doing their job of ‘facilitating violent jihadists’”. Quite.
Allison Pearson is a Telegraph columnist. Ms Hartley Dooda has been given a platform by a broadcast organisation. Savage has been legitimised by the Rothermere press, as has Master Cole. None of them has sufficient intellectual capacity to realise that their social media output is enabling the same kind of hatred that inspired yesterday’s attacker.
But what they inspire is the white far-right, so that’s all right, then.
Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at
And guess what......Brian Leveson was BORN, RAISED, EDUCATED AND WORKED IN - wait for it - LIVERPOOL.
ReplyDeleteThat fact must have gone off like a hand grenade inside the empty skulls of the Murdoch-Rothermere goons. Especially when he chaired the inquiry into their corruption......
And as ever, the subtext, whether it's "why was X released early?", or "why didn't Y act sooner?", is "why don't we just lynch people?".
ReplyDelete