Oz and the Orchestra
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UK police officer convicted of belonging to neo-Nazi terrorist group
LONDON (Reuters) -A British police officer has been found guilty of membership of a banned neo-Nazi group and owning extremist material including the manifesto of Norwegian mass killer, becoming Britain's first serving policeman to be convicted of a terrorism offence. Benjamin Hannam, 22, a...
uk.news.yahoo.com
Benjamin Hannahan 22 lied on his application form and faces further fraud charges as £60,000 was spent on his training. He was found to be in possession of terrorist material. He also pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of a child. He joined Londons Met Police in 2018.
The austerity policies of the Conservative Gov from 2010 led to police numbers falling to an unacceptable level and a recruitment drive was started in 2016. However, it is now beginning to look like in their rush to recruit, background checks have not been as rigorous as is necessary after a spate of serious crimes have been committed by police officers in the last few months.
On the evening of 3 March 2021, 33-year-old marketing executive Sarah Everard disappeared in South London. Living at the time in London's Brixton Hill area, she went missing after leaving a friend's house near Clapham Common to walk home.
On 9 March, Wayne Couzens, a Metropolitan Police officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit, was arrested in Deal, Kent, firstly on suspicion of Everard's kidnapping and later on suspicion of her murder. On 10 March, her remains were discovered in woodland near Ashford, Kent. Couzens was charged with kidnapping and murder two days later, following identification of the remains as those of Everard. Wikipedia.
Another 2 serving police officers have been convicted of rape and sexual assault and a third is facing similar charges, all unconnected. Another drunken policeman was convicted of assaulting a woman in the street a few yards from her home.
All this has caused an undermining of confidence in the Police, particularly by women, and has resulted in a spate of protests and vigils for Sarah Everard, one of which in Clapham led to four arrests for a breach of lockdown rules.