Baby swing vid man cut loose

Beaten by the Aussies again.

I had thought the UK had its position at the top of the Oppressive Nanny State league pretty much sewn up.

Then the bloody Australians pull this out of the bag.

They just *hate* to lose at anything, don't they?

Isn't this how it's meant to work, though?

It's not the Police Officers job to decide each case, if an officer believes an offence may have occured then they must simply gather evidence and present it to the prosecution team. At the end of the day - he was investigated and found innocent. Surely we couldn't have a situation where every person found innocent in Court can then go and sue the Police?

Shoot first and ask questions later...

It does seem that this approach is more common these days here, too. When a complaint is made, Plod just march in, make an arrest and only then start to ask questions.

Guilty until proven innocent seems to be their new mantra. Of course, having made an arrest it does mean that they now have an excuse to add you to the DNA Register. Coincidence?

"It's all over for me" ?!

OK, you were the victim of gung-ho cops acting on an insiduous culture of irrational web-based big-brotherism. Terrifying and frustrating stuff, I can only imagine. And I'm glad you're representing rational man in the courtroom.

But this kind of hyperbolic emotional reaction is not helping at all.

For one thing, it becomes incredibly easy to see people on the limits of what the nanny-state deems suspicious as weak-minded emotional idiots all too eager to tap into an amorphous well of delicious victimhood, and consequently people will end up sympathising with those 'just doing their jobs' against unbalanced weirdos who come back with blatant overreactions like 'the state destroyed my life'. People will start hearing of cases of accusations against the nanny state and dismiss the plaintiffs out of hand.

Second, this kind of reaction says you have no real sense of perspective yourself and need constant protection from some form of state apparatus — lawyers to fill the bizarrely acquired whole in your existence with money — and hence we need this kind of ultra-protectionist nanny-state in the first place.

Your business? Your emotional stability?! If you can get a professional witness to testify that your every action is weighed against a massive complex of Kafka-esque self-guilt and government paranoia, fine. If what you're really trying to say is "regardless of what I ethically and legally consider right or wrong, I will never think the same way about uploading amusing videos to the internet", then stop memorising the thesaurus' entry for 'distraught' and get a bloody grip.

</rant>

Regarding the case though, better set a good precedent. The way the cops acted is madness. 11 months? Ridiculous.

Death by Process

Oooh does this mean I can claim compensation for the UK government's Legal Service Commission giving my ex a six figure sum to sue me (unsuccessfully) over custody for more than eight years? It ruined my finances and my career. Oh, yes. I thought not.

Re: Isn't this how it's meant to work, though?

Not quite.

Presently, at least in the UK, even if you have had the prosecution case dropped (or never started in the first place) you are still considered guilty for a variety of purposes. Such a case will remain on your record and you will never be able to work with children or vulnerable adults till the end of your life.

Further to this, due to companies refusing to provide negative interviews potential employers will seek _ANY_ information they can on applicants. So frankly, I would not be surprised if the vetting database (and its AU an NZ analogues) will soon be in active use by a lot of companies which have nothing to do with education.

So overall, in a normal situation where "innocent until proven guilty" is a constitutional principle you would have been right. However as we have revoked it, the unsuccessfully accused now have the right to sue the police. Just one of the consequences of undermining the fundamentals of the legal system. We get whatever Christmas we deserve. C'est la vie.

@Suing? AC

No-one mentioned Americans. Also, I'm not sure a lawsuit for false arrest is really being "lawsuit happy".

Pot. Guilty. Conscience?

Queensland

If you've even beem they've all got Tropo there, so i ain't surprised. Guess one of the prosecutors has been working in and AC office so it does affect him as much as the rozzers.

Collect big time

The only problem is making the wankers actually responsible for this pay...it will only come out of the tax coffers after all.

serves him right

The Internet is already full of crap, maybe next time he'll think twice before clogging it further with video spam. Next target should be all those people who post videos of themselves singing or worse.. gangster walking.. on YouTube.

"Task Force Argos"

Don't get shopped for it - get Argossed!

Queensland?

Isen´t that like the ass end of civil rights anyway? Where the Christian fanatic roams free to do as they please? Where you are guilty till proven innocent? Where babies are eaten every year to celebrate the coming of the rain?

hmmm....

""I've been hurt so much by this... it was not a child abuse upload. I'm glad it's over but I would have like my day in court."

Yes.. so hurt and upset that rather than put it behind you you wanna keep the whole thing alive hoping to make a fast buck...

I had some sympathy with him until that point.

Hang on...

So you're arrested (deprived of your liberty and anything you may have had planned, even a job), questioned (put under pressure and stress to defend yourself), kept in a jail cell (deprived of the comforts a citizen should perhaps have), kept from your loved ones, fed food which you may not like or be able to eat, get your name in the press and associated with child abuse...... AND then you're found innocent.... and you don't think that perhaps the treatment you received was unfair and should offer some form of compensation? At the very least an apology, and a promise not to do it again?!

Sorry, if my time is wasted because of the idiocy of others, they're going to have to pay the price.