Was born in 1981 and died in 2011 that is certain, what is not so certain is anything that happened in the years between beginning and end.
It seems he was from a notorious family, never had a legitimate (tax paying) job but did have enough childhood problems to be sent to live with his aunt when he was twelve, presumably his mother and father felt they couldn't cope with his behaviour. Or there might be another reason perhaps he preferred Manchester. What is certain is that his aunt had no problem with him he lived with her for years before returning to London when he was seventeen. Its too late now to know for sure about his past because what is for sure is that no one can be trusted to tell the truth. Not now, not from the day he died.
His criminal record does not suggest a hardened criminal. It suggests very strongly a young man doing what many young men do today and that is smoking a bit of weed and buying or selling something without bothering to check if a receipt existed before buying or selling. The police call this handling stolen goods but to be certain it was nothing more than a minor infringement you would need to know how many stolen goods and for how long.
Can I just say that when I buy something either from a shop, market stall or friend I've never yet asked the seller for proof of ownership I suspect not many of us do. I'm assuming that in order to be arrested and charged Mark Duggan had handled more than one stolen item but again to be sure you would need to know for sure how many items and for how long.
At a glance it seems odd, weird even that the police would be following someone like Mark Duggan hardly any previous, and as far as I know no record of violence so why were they following him? The police say he was a hardened criminal and a member of a notorious gang or since more than one name has been used for the gang perhaps there was more than one gang although from what I've read of gang rules and hierarchy membership of more than one would not be a good idea.
The hardened criminal explanation/excuse is hard to believe with no evidence to back it up. It is said that he once attended hospital for treatment to a gunshot wound to his foot hardly Kray stuff is it? In any event in a very different but far more damaging way the police may well be said to have shot themselves in the foot over the whole Mark Duggan pursuit and death.
I don't want to go into reminiscences I always do that! But I do want to say that from the 1970s on society decided that if you were black you were a victim. It makes no difference if one parent is white you are still allowed to consider yourself black and are therefore a victim.
Seriously, I think allowing anyone to wallow in the claim of victim hood merely because of the colour of their skin or the ill treatment of their great grandparents is the biggest mistake society has made in centuries. It gives people an excuse for every failing and makes the work of the police much harder and we do need the police, not as cowed yes men too weak to move against anyone of colour or minority but as upholders of the law whoever breaks it.
The riots that followed the death have nothing to do with Mark Duggan, they were the result of poor policing before, during and after the shooting. It was a golden opportunity for youth to express itself in protest, violence and most important to society: theft.
A life is lost I don't think we will ever know if it was thrown away or stolen but what we do know is that the crime figures issued by the Metropolitan police are being looked at very closely and so far they are being found wanting. This is not connected to Mark Duggan except it is its about dishonesty at the highest level and what we may be discovering, again, is that the Met is no stranger to duplicity.
Its said that its easier to get a gun in London than it is to get a licence for a gun that means that Joe Blogs can have a quiet word with John Smith and walk out of the meeting armed to the teeth, which funnily enough I notice some people appear to have less of than me! And cause havoc on the streets and all for no more than a nod and wink in a pub or car park or anywhere unobtrusive and a couple of hundred quid.
We do need the police but they're worse than useless if they don't do their jobs properly or at all.
It seems he was from a notorious family, never had a legitimate (tax paying) job but did have enough childhood problems to be sent to live with his aunt when he was twelve, presumably his mother and father felt they couldn't cope with his behaviour. Or there might be another reason perhaps he preferred Manchester. What is certain is that his aunt had no problem with him he lived with her for years before returning to London when he was seventeen. Its too late now to know for sure about his past because what is for sure is that no one can be trusted to tell the truth. Not now, not from the day he died.
His criminal record does not suggest a hardened criminal. It suggests very strongly a young man doing what many young men do today and that is smoking a bit of weed and buying or selling something without bothering to check if a receipt existed before buying or selling. The police call this handling stolen goods but to be certain it was nothing more than a minor infringement you would need to know how many stolen goods and for how long.
Can I just say that when I buy something either from a shop, market stall or friend I've never yet asked the seller for proof of ownership I suspect not many of us do. I'm assuming that in order to be arrested and charged Mark Duggan had handled more than one stolen item but again to be sure you would need to know for sure how many items and for how long.
At a glance it seems odd, weird even that the police would be following someone like Mark Duggan hardly any previous, and as far as I know no record of violence so why were they following him? The police say he was a hardened criminal and a member of a notorious gang or since more than one name has been used for the gang perhaps there was more than one gang although from what I've read of gang rules and hierarchy membership of more than one would not be a good idea.
The hardened criminal explanation/excuse is hard to believe with no evidence to back it up. It is said that he once attended hospital for treatment to a gunshot wound to his foot hardly Kray stuff is it? In any event in a very different but far more damaging way the police may well be said to have shot themselves in the foot over the whole Mark Duggan pursuit and death.
I don't want to go into reminiscences I always do that! But I do want to say that from the 1970s on society decided that if you were black you were a victim. It makes no difference if one parent is white you are still allowed to consider yourself black and are therefore a victim.
Seriously, I think allowing anyone to wallow in the claim of victim hood merely because of the colour of their skin or the ill treatment of their great grandparents is the biggest mistake society has made in centuries. It gives people an excuse for every failing and makes the work of the police much harder and we do need the police, not as cowed yes men too weak to move against anyone of colour or minority but as upholders of the law whoever breaks it.
The riots that followed the death have nothing to do with Mark Duggan, they were the result of poor policing before, during and after the shooting. It was a golden opportunity for youth to express itself in protest, violence and most important to society: theft.
A life is lost I don't think we will ever know if it was thrown away or stolen but what we do know is that the crime figures issued by the Metropolitan police are being looked at very closely and so far they are being found wanting. This is not connected to Mark Duggan except it is its about dishonesty at the highest level and what we may be discovering, again, is that the Met is no stranger to duplicity.
Its said that its easier to get a gun in London than it is to get a licence for a gun that means that Joe Blogs can have a quiet word with John Smith and walk out of the meeting armed to the teeth, which funnily enough I notice some people appear to have less of than me! And cause havoc on the streets and all for no more than a nod and wink in a pub or car park or anywhere unobtrusive and a couple of hundred quid.
We do need the police but they're worse than useless if they don't do their jobs properly or at all.
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