Spalpeen

This story on how The Times needlessly “outed” the anonymous blogger NightJack, makes me absolutely mad with rage. Read this excellent Guardian article on why this is a ridiculous ruling, and why The Times is absolutely wrong to be chasing up anonymous bloggers like this.

What takes the cake for me is that the actual article that does the “outing”, features an entirely ridiculous pre-justification for it. I quote the first few paragraphs:

“”If the Police arrive to lock you up, say nothing. You are a decent person and you may think that reasoning with the Police will help. Wrong.” It is not quite the advice you would expect to receive from a serving police officer.

But Detective Constable Richard Horton, of Lancashire Constabulary, gave readers of his NightJack blog the full benefit of the knowledge that he had gained from 17 years in the force as to how to extract oneself from the grasp of the long arm of the law.”

This stuffy, fake outrage is utterly ridiculous. One of the first things a lawyer tells their client after they are arrested is do not tell the Police anything. For the varied and numerous reasons why no individual should ever reveal anything to a Police officer, watch this absolutely excellent video, where you will see both a Law lecturer and a real, live, United States Police Officer tell a crowded room of students why you shouldn’t speak to Police Officers, even if it’s for something as minor as a traffic stop.

This little tidbit of knowledge should be shouted from the rooftops! For NightJack to reveal it is a) justifiable in the sense that anyone in the know already knows it and b), does a civic service to anyone who’s ever been arrested.

Does anyone have an archive of the blog?