As I was reading this story my jaw just dropped, bouncing off the keyboard it was.
THREE men were cleared at the Old Bailey yesterday of plotting to
supply a rare radioactive material to terrorists for the manufacture of
a dirty bomb to spread radioactive material.
Well, OK, men given fair trial, cleared, that’s great.
Roque Fernandes, 44, and Abdurahman Kanyare, 53, both of Edgware,
northwest London, and Dominic Martins, 45, of Stanmore, northwest
London, were in jail on remand for almost two years.
Ouch, really, ouch. Two years in pokey for being innocent. Worse:
Mr Mahmood told the court that he had been approached with information
about the plot to acquire red mercury by an informant known only as Mr
B.
Sorry? Red mercury? But, but, don’t we all know that there is no such thing?
The very existence of the chemical, which is thought to have been
developed by the Soviet Union, was called into question during the
trial.
Called into question? It doesn’t exist! The whole thing, the charges, are complete nonsense!
Mr Kanyare, an international dealer, said he thought that he was buying
a chemical for use in cleaning bank notes. Mr Martins, a City banker,
said that he had no knowledge of a terror plot and thought he could
make enough money to clear his debts. Mr Fernandes, a security guard,
claimed that he planned to “tip off” a police contact about the deal.
These guys were being spoofed!
Sue Hemming, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s counter-terrorism unit, said that it was right to bring the new case.
Ms. Hemming, hang your head in shame! You have just stolen two years each from the lives of three men on the basis of your own idiocy! Is there such an offense as fraudulent prosecution?
It added: “The News of the World involvement in this
investigation and subsequent trial was conducted under the direction of
senior anti-terrorist police officers. We are entirely satisfied that
the methods used in the investigation were not only wholly proper, but
were both authorised and, from an early stage, continued in close
liaison with the police.”
Are the police thick as well?
Look, let’s talk about red mercury. There is red mercuric oxide, there’s a number of mercury compounds that are red but none of them have anything to do with nuclear power, nuclear bombs, or, even, radioactivity. There are various theories, that it was invented by the Soviets in order to catch those looking for nuclear materials and so on . My own (from experience I might add) take is that it is actually an invention of the Russian Mafiya, out to gull the gullible. And yes, my partner in my Russian metals business is in fact a Russian nuclear engineer. Patents to his name and all.
From wikipedia:
Following the arrest of several men in the UK in September 2004, on suspicion that they were trying to buy a kilo of red mercury for £300,000, the International Atomic Energy Agency
made a statement dismissing claims that the substance is real. "Red
mercury doesn’t exist," said the spokesman. "The whole thing is a bunch
of malarkey."
How in hell was anyone prosecuted for attempting to provide a rare radioactive material when said rare radioactive material does not exist? Who authorised this prosecution?
BTW, no, you don’t get compensation for being held on remand for two years.
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