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| Europe |
| Follow-up on Manchester stabbing |
| 2003-01-15 |
| UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has said his government will "redouble" its efforts to tackle terrorism following the death of a police officer in an anti-terrorism raid. He told parliament that the incident was a reminder of the threat posed by international terrorism. Stephen Oake died and three other officers were injured when a suspect detained in an anti-terrorism raid broke free and stabbed them with a kitchen knife. The raid in the northern city of Manchester on Tuesday evening was ordered as part of an investigation into the discovery of the deadly poison ricin in a flat in London last week. [...] Police have launched an internal inquiry into Tuesday's operation. Stephen Oake, killed in the raid, was a father of three. The officers had already been with the men - aged 23, 27 and 29 and of North African origin - for more than an hour, when the attack took place. The suspects had not been handcuffed at any stage. Two of the three men were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000, and a third under post-11 September anti-terrorist legislation. They are all being held in Manchester. No chemical substance had been found in the flat so far, said - but officers were still searching the entire three-storey Victorian block early on Wednesday afternoon. Several emergency services staff had been taken to hospital to be screened for possible ricin contamination, but were later discharged. Three of the other four officers injured, of whom three were stabbed and one suffered a broken ankle, have also been discharged, with one staying in hospital for treatment. |
| Posted by:Anonymous |
| #4 It's a real shame. As far as I know, any arrest like this in the U.S. would have resulted in a body search and handcuffing as the first order of business, followed by securing the critters away from pointy things. Only then would you search the premises, do the Miranda thing and start questioning. Pistols wouldn't have been necessary to stop these mutts -- proper police technique would do it, at least, proper technique as we do it here. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-01-15 22:11:41 |
| #3 The Brits are going to have to get over their smug, anti-"Yankee" objection to guns. Over here, police are ordered to meet force with overwhelming force. Think like this: terrorist life is cheap. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-01-15 13:59:25 |
| #2 The same edition of BBC News World Edition has an analysis article that makes the following interesting points: "It has been said, erroneously, that it was a tip-off from the French which led to the Wood Green arrests. [note: he 'Wood Green arrests' are the original ricin bust.]" "In fact, intelligence had come in from a number of foreign agencies including some in North Africa." "And information culled, controversially, from some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, has also been fed back to M15 to help pinpoint suspects in Britain." |
| Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2003-01-15 11:23:32 |
| #1 Very sad, really, and another unfortunate wake-up call to the british public opinion. Last year, one of our anti-terrorism judge pointed that the officials across the channel were in denial about islamic threats, not unlike France's before the 1994-95 hijacking-bombings spree. The last few weeks must have changed their mind. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-01-15 10:59:48 |