I’ve been following the trial of the six suspected 21 July bombers. I must say, I am impressed by the amount and quality of CCTV evidence available. So much of the evidence is being backed up by CCTV footage. They even have CCTV footage from within the affected carriages. That must have been very helpful to the police.
A pity then, that there appeared to be no such CCTV footage for the carriage in which Jean Charles de Menezes was shot, not even the platform. Bad luck, perhaps?
January 25th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Yes, a real pity. Lucky for the police, though.
January 25th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I don’t think these bombers were the brightest bombers in history.
As for the absence of CCTV footage, Janice says it all. No shock there.
So, Bel. What’s your slant here? Vigilance against terror, or apprehension for our civil liberties and the expansion of the surveillance state? Or is Senor de Menezes and the lack of justice shown to his family the issue that interests you?
We might well agree on this one, you know…
January 25th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Never put down to conspiracy what is generally down to incompetence…
January 25th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Ian, well said.
But incompetence on the part of whom, I wonder.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Funny it didn’t happen the other way round, though…
I’ll keep my cynicism to myself.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
There are cctv camera’s at stockwell. I have seen them when I have been there in the past.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Yes, but ‘luckily’ for the police, they were ‘not working’ and didn’t show the Menezes shooting.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Ah, I come back from the pub and find Bel is thinking what I’m thinking.
Surely not?
Did someone put someting in my pint?
January 25th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Yes, Joe. Stranger things have happened, I think.
Still, it may not last.
Wait until the next big political story arrives. We shall resume our rightful places on opposite sides of the room.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Even stranger than the fact that one can read the Telegraph daily and only discover tonight who Kate Middleton was…
I agree though, I every faith that the future heralds a return to normalcy.
January 26th, 2007 at 1:03 am
I can see the value of CCTV in this case, but how does this balance up against all the spying that is done using these devices in the UK, spy capital of the world. Don’t people feel violated by all that watching?
January 26th, 2007 at 1:26 am
A good point, Colin.
One may be tempted to say, at least in the case of the current trial, that all that excessive spying is at least paying off somewhere.
CCTV is good when it actually does what it was purportedly set up for. I am not sure how often this happens.
January 27th, 2007 at 12:40 am
Your original post is far more succinct and to the point, it would be of much interest if the original tapes turned up in a few years time to be analysed by an “expert”.
January 27th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Yes, Curly, I am with you. I would also like to see that happen.
January 27th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Anyone remember the Widgery report?
Wait another thirty years…
February 3rd, 2007 at 9:55 am
There is a new documentary about video surveillance (CCTV) in Britain coming out, and this time, the topic seems to be covered in a more critical way. There’s a trailer online:
http://www.EveryStepYouTake.org