http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7082966.ece

Hmm.

He was found not guilty as are many people up and down the country on a daily basis. Your point?

Fair enough. Maybe if more people got a swift belt, they'd think twice before doing something wrong

good,

The point is, that although the whole World saw this thug hit this woman, he's escaped without punishment.

He, and the Judge, is a disgrace.

And don't try sticking up for 'one of your own', you know he's a thug.

Maybe if more people got a swift belt…

…violence would become a commonplace way of solving problems ?

Fair enough. Maybe if more people got a swift belt, they'd think twice before doing something wrong

So, care to explain what she did 'wrong', Peter?

PP, does that include when you eat the cake Mrs PP told you not to?
😉

She got a swift belt from a cop trying to hold a line and feeling somewhat penned in (i guess!), while attempting to push past him after being asked not to. She then goes back for more and gets clobbered on the leg with a stick. Boo hoo. It's not like the cops were out culling protesters for sport is it. And to add to that, I know of a few such protesting types who revelled in the idea that they could cause violence and get the cops into trouble by provoking them into deviating from their training. 6 of 1, half a dozen of the other.

copper dismissed

Also a couple of non-coppers came forward in Smellie's defence IIRC.

And don't try sticking up for 'one of your own', you know he's a thug.

No. I don't at all. And neither do you.

So, care to explain what she did 'wrong', Peter?

I don't have to.

Although police officers with clubs generally make me nervous, and much about the policing of those demonstrations was vicious, repressive and unpleasant I am not at all troubled by this particular officer being acquitted. The woman he thumped refusing to give evidence was not a good sign that everything was entirely straightforward. 😐

Yes I do. He's a thug that hits women with a big stick. Big brave 'man' that he is.

violence would become a commonplace way of solving problems ?

It's worked before, no reason why it wouldn't again. If all the little toe rags that go round terrorising neihbourhoods thought they were going to get a smack round the head off the copper, then another when they got home, they'd soon stop.

But they don't. There's no discipline. So they carry on.

deluded – Member
He was found not guilty as are many people up and down the country on a daily basis. Your point?

If they were not in that uniform the verdict would have been very different.
EDIT: Yes PP state sponsored violence followed by another from your loving parents is almost certainly the solution to all our problems 🙄 as it worked before when was this crime free nirvanic state achieved? Mods and rockers? Teddy Boys? Skinheads etc

Have you actually read the article? From what I can tell it seems like a fair outcome. Of course had she actually been prepared to give evidence herself the outcome might have been different but then again she would have had to explain her behaviour leading up to the incident which other eye witnesses described as erratic and confrontational.

She didn't even show up for the trial. He was let off and rightly so.

Big bloke in front of you in body armour and armed along with a bunch of his mates? Don't give him a load of lip!

in the beeb report this phrase is used…

"Ms Fisher, who did not give evidence at the trial because she feared her lifestyle may be raised by the defence, said she was "disappointed" by the verdict.

She added: "I'm just glad it's all over. It has been a nightmare.

"I stand by what I said." "

What does the bold bit mean???

Hmmm…he's spent 47 yrs going by the name of Delroy Smellie…reckon his parents have a lot to answer for!!! 8)

that although the whole World saw this thug hit this woman

really? all I saw was a small group of coppers surrounded by a load of dickheads screaming an shouting at them, the coppers were pushing them away, the one that got a hit by the batton could quite clearly be seen screaming obscenities at the officer and kept going up to him

clearly being agressive and abusive and not complying with what the copper was telling her to do

She got £26k – sounds like a good deal to me.

The law needs to be tough sometimes – it's an aggressive world out there…

Good, gobby bitch, the fact she went straight to Max Clifford to sell her story says it all about her I think.

He warned her several times, pushed her back, struck her with his hand, and then resorted to using his batton when she still kept coming toward him. Several independant people (called by the prosecution, oddly) stood up for him, and the judge backed him up too. He was in a very difficult position and he made a decision to defend himself.

You just beat me to it mudshark. Can't see why anyones not more bothered by the £26k, you have got to be kidding me. The police can give me a little tap on the leg anytime for that sort of money! Also speaks volumes about her going to max clifford.

The point is, that although the whole World saw this thug hit this woman, he's escaped without punishment

Watch the film clip and count the times he hit her, then look at the picture of her injuries. Shes got two injuries. which then leads on to several interesting questions IMHO

He warned her off at least 3 times before he clumped her, and to be fair he is perfectly entitled to defend himself, especially in the circumstances as they were, I have to say leaving at the first or second time of asking would have sorted the incident out before it started.

The real issue in all of this is how our civil liberties are being eroded, not so much by the Police, but by anarchists who show up at demonstrations set on violence and mayhem.

As above – she was only interested in what she could get out of it
The copper may well of stepped a bit out of line but unless she's prepared to stand up & tell her side – who cares?

if the main witness for the prosecution fails to give evidence then there is no case really. loads of people, uniformed or not "get off" in these circumstances. there are times that police are, or at least look like thugs. its likely that there are some thugs in other professions too, its a harsh world isn't it.

Lets be honest. If you're going to mess with riot police you're going to get clobbered, be that right or wrong. Personally if anyone with a big stick and body armour told me to go away I'd go away. she didn't she got hit, her fault

Office workers who watched the build up to the moment that Mr Smellie drew his baton said that Ms Fisher had been "moving along the front of the crowd, waving her arms, behaving erratically and seeking confrontation with the defendant".

The judge concluded that Mr Smellie, who had been on duty for 28 hours with just three hours rest during last year's protests, had just seven seconds to decide how to react when Ms Fisher charged at him on his blind side.

She was carrying items in her hands — a carton of orange juice and a camera — which might have been weapons, the judge added, and the officer was entitled to use force to defend himself. The judge said that in the circumstances the force he used was not unreasonable and he was entitled to be acquitted.

Summed up by people who were actually there/heard the whole case. It does sound to me like she was there looking for trouble and provoked it. While there are no doubt police who like to use it as an excuse to act like thugs that just doesn't really seem to be the case here.

Fair enough. Maybe if more people got a swift belt, they'd think twice before doing something wrong

Nooooo! If people stopped doing wrong, prisons would soon be empty & I might be out of a job! Bring on naughtyness I say!

The real issue in all of this is how our civil liberties are being eroded, not so much by the Police, but by anarchists who show up at demonstrations set on violence and mayhem.

Very succinctly put, I wholely agree.

Excellent news. She shouldn't have been aggravating the situation and got a well deserved clout. The fact she didn't turn up in court says it all. Verminous little do gooder. Probably.

As mentioned in the comments on youtube, I wonder what the "anti-captialism" protestor did with £26K? 🙄

The more I watch it, the more I wish he'd given her a proper clubbing. 26k because she's a confrontational scum bag. Beggars belief.

He didn't 'get-off', he was found not guilty – big difference.

She's damn lucky it was the UK. Other places she would have had a proper kicking, dragged off AND been fined for being a pain in the arse.

Here she gets £26k – now that's a disgraceful waste of taxpayers money 👿 I hope he sues her for stress, intimidation, threatening behaviour and takes every penny off her that she 'won'.

I think the entire thing is disgusting. The police act like tossers – they seem to think their role includes suppressing any vaguely political protest.

The other thing that I find distasteful is the reaction of the people standing around. If you go to the museum of communism in Prague, there's a video of a Charta 77 protest, and one of the secret police hits a women. Straight away, about 6 blokes lay into him, despite the fact that they were living under a communist system, where the consequences of doing something like that can be horrendous.

It absolutely amazes me how cowed people have become.

a few more should have been cracked. Work shy wasters 🙂

The real issue in all of this is how our civil liberties are being eroded, not so much by the Police, but by anarchists who show up at demonstrations set on violence and mayhem.

Riiiiiight.

Maybe the people around her were thinking along the lines of:

"What are you playing at love, we've just come here for a peaceful protest? Stop continually winding them up or they'll smack you….."

they seem to think their role includes suppressing any vaguely political protest.

I don't really see that the protest was suppressed. What was suppressed was rent-a-mobs kicking off, and I think that needs doing, by the Police.

That's not to say there aren't some (or maybe even a lot of) nasty thugs in the ranks. It's quite rightly not acceptable to just wave away anything iffy they might do by saying they're just doing their jobs under provocation and stress. But they're not automatically the bad guys in every confrontation either.