It is common knowledge that the balance of power at the lower end of the employment market has shifted firmly in favour of employers. The minimum wage has become the usual wage in a wide range of occupations. I fear that for some employers this situation has bred arrogance in their management.
An incident recently happened at the close of business in a local pub operated by a large and profitable chain. Attempts were made to steal from the business. The deputy manager on duty rightly called the police, who were pleased to find that there was CCTV available. The manager helped the police to investigate the crime and stood by as the recordings were viewed and SOCOs took lifts of fingerprints. She finally left to go home at around 5 am. Unbelievably, she was not paid for the more-or-less five hours that she spent protecting her employer's interests, while the multi-millionaire owner of the business was no doubt safely tucked up in his mansion, or on his boat.
He should be ashamed of himself and of his company.
By the way, the CCTV was lost somewhere between the police and the CPS, but the lady concerned gave clear evidence of what it had shown.
The CPS should also be ashamed of itself for a pathetic failure to put together a proper case. But then they don't do shame any more than the smug millionaire who owns the pub.
And the courts "do shame" when they get things wrong without anyone's help?
ReplyDeleteThe police and the CPS are the only parts of the entire system that ever have the decency to admit to failing. No one can pretend that the rest is perfect.
Please at least try to appear to be fair: it makes for far better reading and this blog has generally been worth reading.
And did the bench in open court commend the manager for the unpaid work done? Time was the press might have been there and taken the inference, if it had.
ReplyDeleteEven when there IS CCTV it is often in a form that is unplayable. We had this the other day in court. The disc supplied would not play either on court equipment or ordinary DVD players. The CPS asked the police on the morning to provide a compatible laptop. They refused saying it's not their job. 3 hours of faffing later and the case goes out for lack of court time.
ReplyDeleteHave heard CPS use "lack of resources"!! as an excuse before!! What price Justice?
ReplyDeleteMy police colleagues and I regularly get asked by the CPS to bring a laptop to court so that they can play the CCTV that we have provided in a format that should be viewable on the court equipment. Problem is, we don't have any laptops...
ReplyDeleteDosen't anyone stop to think about asking the court beforehand which formats they use? With so many video converters available, it would be an easy task to make a video compatible with the court's system.
ReplyDeleteOne suspects the lady who stayed unpaid to give evidence did so out of fear for her own job if she didn't.
ReplyDeletePlenty of people out there waiting to take your job if you don't go "the extra mile" - welcome to modern Britain.
It's not surprising really, when you consider the previous head of the CPS the F£%^I*&%Y piece of stinking !$$"R^^&^& (self-censored), who claimed certain cases were 'not in the public interest' the steaming pile of S$%(*. Oh, and how could anyone of merit be satisfied with the CPS's 'success' rate!??? A bl00dy bunch of retarded failures.
ReplyDelete