Saturday, July 27, 2013



"British" gang warfare


Some of the gang members concerned

Greek police investigating the fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old British tourist on Crete have charged a man with the killing, as they claimed the death was the result of 'gang warfare'.

Myles Litchmore-Dunbar has been charged with the murder of Tyrell Matthews-Burton, from Leyton, East London, as well as possession of a weapon.

The London-based 19-year-old is a male model and is studying towards an Economics degree at Northampton University, according to a profile on a modelling website.

Police attributed the murder to gang violence between rival groups from Britain.

'They had scores to settle long before they arrived here,' said a police officer, Yannis Phillipakis, in Heraklion, the island's capital. 'Unofficially, what we are hearing is that they brought their gang warfare to Crete.'

Another Briton also allegedly confessed on Wednesday to participating in the killing, reports The Guardian.

More than a dozen British tourists have also appeared in court on the Greek holiday island after a mass brawl in which Matthews-Burton was pinned down and stabbed to death 'execution-style'.

The youths were taken to stand before the prosecutor on Crete today following the death of 19-year-old Tyrell Matthews-Burton, who was stabbed through the heart.

Today relatives of those arrested said Greek police had simply rounded up everyone who had visited the club that night, irrespective of whether they had been involved or even there at the time of the brawl.

The mother of one of the Britons arrested told MailOnline: 'In those clubs you need ID to get in, so the police simply went around all the hotels arresting everyone who had been there that night, including my son.

'My son didn't know the man who died, and wasn't there when it happened - he had left earlier with some girls.  But they arrested him and put him in handcuffs to take him to court.'

Several of the young men arrested rang their families to tell them they were asked to appear before the court one by one so that a lawyer could decide if they were to be charged or not.

One mother said: 'My son was privately-educated and he is a stockbroker. He had nothing do with it but has been arrested anyway.  The police just rounded everyone up.'

A friend of one of the young men who had blood on his shirt said he was a friend of Mr Matthews-Burton, who had tried to help the teenager after he was fatally injured.

He said: 'He and Tyrell were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It was nothing to do with gangs - they had just gone on holiday with a group of five friends and it was just bad luck.'

An ambulance was called to the brawl outside the closed bar in the popular town of Malia, which is known for its wild nightlife, but the young man is believed to have died on his way to hospital.

Today Greek coroner Manolis Michalodimitrakis said: 'There were two stab wounds, to the back and to the chest.  'He was clearly pinned down and killed execution style - there were no defence wounds.  'The knife punctured his lung and heart. He lost almost half of his blood.'

Harry Nye, 18, from Kent, said he witnessed the fight, which is understood to have taken place outside the Safari Club in the resort.

He told the Daily Mirror: 'We saw one guy having his head stamped on and this other lad just fell straight. I've never seen that much blood.'

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: 'We can confirm the death of a British national in Malia, Greece on 23 July.  He added: 'We are aware of the arrests of a number of British nationals in Malia, Crete, on July 23.  'We are in touch with the local authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance.'

Authorities on the island which is popular with young British tourists on a budget said a post-mortem would be conducted on Crete before the body was repatriated.

SOURCE






Abercrombie & Fitch face legal action in France for only employing 'good looking' staff at flagship Paris store

I don't think this will get far in Paris

American fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch is under investigation for only employing good looking sales staff at its flagship store in Paris.

Some of the best looking sales assistants in the French capital end up on staff at the shop, which is on the Champs Elysee. Many are so stunning that they often parade topless, inside the store or on the pavement outside.

But now the ‘Defender of Rights’ – an independent watchdog which aims to protect ordinary people from discrimination – says that ugly, fat people should be allowed a job too.

Spokesman Dominique Baudis said that solely employing handsome people not only discriminates against the aesthetically-challenged, but sent out the wrong message to those buying Abercrombie & Fitch’s products.

‘While essential and decisive professional requirements can justify taking physical appearance into account when recruiting models, it is different for sales positions,’ said Mr Baudis.

Mr Baudis highlighted comments made by Mike Jeffries, the Abercrombie & Fitch CEO, in which he said he wanted to recruit ‘good-looking people’ because they attracted ‘other good-looking people’.

Mr Baudis was at the centre of another stir earlier this year when Robin Lewis, author of ‘The New Rules of Retail’, said Jeffries ‘doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store’.

The enquiry into Abercrombie & Fitch has already raised eyebrows in Paris, where everything from shops to restaurants are known for an obsession with style and beauty.

‘Paris didn’t get to become the most beautiful city in the world by employing uglies and fatties,’ said one fashion retailer, who asked not to be named.

SOURCE





British bureaucracy at its best

Boy, 10, sent home from hospital with two legs in plaster but is refused a wheelchair because he 'doesn't live close enough'



A hospital sent a young boy home with both legs in plaster, but refused to give him a wheelchair.

Maddison Warwick, 10, had an operation after being diagnosed with Perthes’ disease - a condition which causes the top of the thigh bone to soften and break down.

But when he was sent home from Royal Bolton Hospital, Greater Manchester, he was told he could not have a wheelchair because he lives in the wrong area.

Maddison lives just five miles from the hospital, but his home is in Radcliffe, Bury, and therefore outside the Bolton boundaries.

He had an operation at Royal Bolton Hospital on July 9 and was sent home two days later.

Both of his legs are covered in plaster and there is a bar between them, meaning the Radcliffe Primary School pupil cannot walk.

But his mother, Jill Warwick, said she was told Maddison could not have a wheelchair because he did not live in Bolton.

Miss Warwick, aged 31, of Ainsworth Road, said: “I asked if I lived in the Bolton borough, would I get a wheelchair, and they said yes. That’s the only reason that they wouldn’t give me a wheelchair.  'We are being discriminated against because we don’t live in Bolton.  'I feel really upset and let down. The hospital knew he would be having the operation there and a care plan should have been put in place.

'I had no choice but to go to Bolton, because there is no children’s unit at Fairfield.'

Maddison will have to spend six weeks in the double-leg cast and Miss Warwick says it is very difficult to take him out of the house.  Miss Warwick, who has two other children, said: 'I have to lift him to move him and he’s sleeping on the sofa. It’s a real struggle.

'Maddison is getting a little bit fed up because he can’t get out. He’s frustrated and upset.'

Sue Ainsworth, the hospital’s professional lead for children’s services, said: 'It is standard practice that we are only able to provide wheelchairs to patients who are Bolton residents.

'As Maddison lives outside the Bolton area, arrangements have been made for a wheelchair to be provided through the paediatric community nursing team in Bury.'

However, Miss Warwick said the nursing team has not given her a wheelchair and she has resorted to paying more than £100 to hire one.

SOURCE






Woman, 21, accuses barber shop of sexism after staff refused to cut her hair because she wasn't a man

Nuisance woman -- to be avoided

A woman has accused a barber shop of sexism after they refused to cut her hair - because she wasn’t a man.

Alice O’Toole wanted to get her 5in-long blonde hair shaved off and patterns shaved into her hair but was left angry and confused' when staff at a barbers told her: 'We don’t do girls'.

Miss O’Toole said she felt 'humiliated' after asking for a Grade 2 or 3 cut with hair stenciling at Razor’s Edge barbers in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

The 21-year-old teaching assistant said: 'I do a lot of exercise and got a bit fed up with getting hot all the time.  'So I decided to get my head shaved and possibly get some hair art, with tribal patterns cut into it.

'I’d heard Razor’s Edge had a very good reputation so decided it would be the perfect place to nip into, but when I went in they refused to serve me.

'They refused in front of a shop full of people, which was very embarrassing - on the grounds that I’m a woman.  'I already had very short hair, so it wasn’t a particularly big job I was asking them to do.

'I thought nothing of going to a barber’s, essentially I wanted a haircut that is typically given to men so surely the best place to go was a barber’s.  'But apparently not. I was told they would not give me essentially a male haircut as I am a woman.

'The receptionist looked very embarrassed as I asked for an explanation and all she could offer is "We don’t do girls", whatever the cut.

'When I asked wasn’t this a bit sexist even she admitted it was. It’s not like I asked for a perm or a girl’s haircut.

'My immediate reaction was: ‘Are you joking?’. It was so humiliating to be told that in front of a shop of 15 people, plus staff, all looking at me.

'I walked out and went to the nearest hairdressers and they gave me a Grade 2, but couldn’t offer the hair art so I didn’t get what I wanted.  'The staff there were disgusted at the way I’d been treated.'

Under the Equality Act 2010, businesses must now justify giving a single-sex service.  This means, for example, a barber shop might say they could not give a woman a perm because it was a style they would not normally do.

Razor's Edge Portsmouth has apologised and the manager said the barber's does not operate a no-women policy or sexist agenda

In a statement, manager Lloyd Hughes said: 'We had a no women policy introduced 20 years ago after being threatened with legal action after trimming a girl’s fringe.

'If we have inadvertently broken the law we will endeavour to put this right immediately.  'The member of staff who served Alice has unfortunately shown ignorance of this change of law in 2010, which we support.  'We do not operate a no-women policy or sexist agenda.

'Cutting women’s and men’s hair does require very different skills and knowledge and hairdressers across the world are trained up specifically as a male or female cutter.  'However we should have provided that service because Alice asked for a men’s cut.  'I am deeply embarrassed and have apologised personally to her.  'She was let down by ignorance of the law and poor customer service.'

Miss O’Toole, from Gosport, Hampshire, later got a tribal freehand pattern at another barber shop, which she is happy with.

She added: 'I was angry and confused as to why I was refused service just because I am a woman.

'I was willing to pay good money for my haircut and give someone the opportunity to get creative with some stencilling in my hair.

'I’ve got no problem with going into a salon and seeing a man getting his haircut there, so why can’t I have the same treatment?

'Lots of women have said to me they have had a similar experience, but if a man can get the same cut there’s no way a business can justify turning a woman away.'

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICSDISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here

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