7 November - A much better start
When Elwyn Bryant and I reported Bexley council’s obscene blog to the police
on 8th June 2011 it proved very difficult to get them to accept
the report although they acknowledged a crime had been committed. For two hours the
PCSOs allocated to deal with us dithered and popped up and down stairs consulting their
seniors and coming up with reasons why they couldn’t become involved until we eventually
made a breakthrough. A week later the report was acknowledged by a short unsigned letter.
Exactly two months later another letter arrived which warned that such cases “do take a considerable
time” and just two weeks after that on 23rd August 2011 another unsigned letter said it was all
over. “No identifiable audit trail can be identified.” What a difference this time.
The allegation of crime was accepted without complaint and yesterday morning a Detective
Sergeant phoned to ask a few questions and make a few comments. During the afternoon a Detective
Constable left another enquiry on my answering machine. So far so good.
I do not
believe the recent obscene messages traced to an IP address belonging to Parsons
Brinckerhoff are as serious as the obscene blog. The homophobic language is similar
but the message was sent only to me, not posted on the world wide web for all to see.
Neither did it or could it impersonate me. It was nevertheless shocking in the sense I felt pretty
depressed about it until the trace revealed that it came from no ordinary reader.
The
Detective Sergeant said it could prove difficult to trace the messages to a
particular individual; if they find the computer it might not be possible to prove
which set of fingers were on the keyboard at the time. He is absolutely right
and while calling someone rude names is a criminal offence under the catch all
Section 127 I am not myself in favour of it. Several recent prosecutions of
people who Tweeted silly things about airports, footballers, swimmers and
councillors were in my opinion a total over-reaction and
to change my mind because I now find myself on the receiving end would be hypocritical.
The important thing here is the link with councillor Peter
Craske. The Detective Sergeant I spoke to yesterday agreed. “I don’t believe in
coincidence’ he said and he is right not to.
As is usual after speaking to the officers in charge I feel quite optimistic
that they mean business but over time that seems to dissipate.
If the new team could be just a little more communicative than the last one
perhaps the reserve of patience will run out a little more slowly.