Jacqui Smith's kebab

The press are full of Jacqui Smith's revelation that "Asked whether she would feel safe walking the streets of Hackney, one of the most deprived parts of London, she replied: "Well, no, but I don't think I'd have ever have done." Asked why she would not feel safe on Hackney's streets at night, the Home Secretary replied: "Well, I just don't think that's a thing that people do, is it, really?" She was also questioned about how she would feel if she was walking through the affluent area of Kensington and Chelsea after dark. Miss Smith responded: "Well, I wouldn't walk around at midnight and I'm fortunate that I don't have to do that.""

In an attempt to undo some of the damage, her aides apparently claimed she had recently popped out in the evening to "buy a kebab in Peckham". It transpires that "the owner of the kebab shop in question told the Daily Mail yesterday that Miss Smith had been accompanied by a burly minder when she dropped in for a £3.90 doner last Wednesday - at teatime not late at night."


I am a relatively streetwise Mr NotaSheep, but I try not to walk alone or with Mrs NotaSheep at night on London's streets. To be honest a lot of London's streets are probably unsafe in broad daylight. The gangs of feral youths that "own" the streets now know that the chances of a policeman catching them in the act of mugging a passerby are almost zero, the chances of any CCTV actually working or producing a decent image or not being used to take photos of cars parked six inches onto a yellow line or one minute into a proscribed period are also nil and even if caught the chances of being charged let alone convicted are somewhat slim and as for having to go to prison for more than six months, the odds are infinitesimal.

Here is just one example of the way even convicted "yobs" are sentenced:

1. From today's Sun
Nicholas Hague (22) "kicked to the ground and repeatedly stamped on" Susan Collins (60) after being freed early from jail for manslaughter - he had helped kick a man to death in the street. So how much time in jail did he get for the earlier manslaughter, that's helping kick someone to death? The answer 18 months, you will not be surprised to hear that although "Hague had received an 18 month jail term in 2005 after admitting helping another man kick Gary Kneen, 31, to death in Warrington in 2004...he was freed shortly afterwards due to time spent on remand."

Now he gets released early from prison after serving time for manslaughter and kicks and stamps on a 60 year old lady. "Sentencing him at Warrington Crown Court yesterday, Judge Nicholas Woodward branded him a “dangerous young man”." So what sort of sentence does he get? 20 years? No... OK, 10 years? No, "Hague was yesterday jailed indefinitely for GBH". Indefinitely, finally a judge takes the matter seriously. Oops sorry, "the judge recommended he serve at least 3½ years". That's 3½ years, do he'll probably serve less than 18 months, less any time he's spent on remand. I am sorry to show you this, but here is a picture of his victim Susan Collins ...

What do you think, was that an adequate sentence for Nicholas Hague?


This Labour government tell us the country is safer than 10 years ago and Ken Livingstone tells us that crime is down in London. The trouble is, we know the truth and the truth is that the streets are more dangerous than 10 years ago and law-abiding people feel unsafe to walk 400 yards across the West End on a Saturday night after a meal out or a visit to the theatre, let alone pop out to buy a kebab in Peckham.

This Labour government have all but destroyed that which holds the fabric of society together and as the economy collapses this year the results on the street will not be pretty.