Gang in the UK treated migrant workers like slaves

A gang in the UK recruited migrant workers and then treated them as slaves, forcing them to live in dirty, terrifying conditions as they picked leeks that would finally be sold to Tesco and Waitrose. Gurdip Somal 52, was the boss, while his wife Manjinder 46, was the legitimate face of the gang.

Prosecutor Jonathan said that the case against the gang was in fact that they cruelly mistreated and criminally exploited these migrant workers.

The migrant workers came here because they thought they would have good wages, conditions and accommodation.
When they arrived it wasn’t like the gang promised, they were put to work in the leek fields, where many were intimidated, threatened and beaten.
Often the workers were knocked to the ground if they could not keep up the machine to collect the leeks.
Above all they were not given protective equipment so when the machine hit them, they were cut to the bone by the knives they used to trim the leeks, and suffered skin infections from acid in the leeks.

They went to the fields with overcrowded and dangerous minibuses and they had to work 12- or 13-hour a day without breaks. The gang also cheated them by paying them less than promised and deducting money from their wages.

After working 12/13-hour a day the workers went to their homes and there they were crammed with more than 20 workers into a three-bedroom terraced house with a single toilet that did not work.

Police and other authorities arrested the defendants in November 2008 as part of Operation Ruby, the biggest operation of its kind with purpose to chase the exploitation of migrant workers.

To my mind the workers were being treated as animals and below the standard. We all now that farming labour is not easy work, it is often very though. So I think the workers have to be treated in a human way. I don’t suggest that migrant workers should have been given easy jobs or put up in luxury accommodation. They just have to have a basic minimum, especially in the UK.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/gang-treated-migrant-workers-like-slaves-2153614.html

Kim De Gelder hands in complaints

Everybody knows Kim De Gelder (22), the young men who murdered some babies in the daycare ‘Meetjesland’ and also Elza Van Raemdonck in 2009. The public prosecutor’s office wants to start the lawsuit against Kim de Gelder as soon as possible but there are some problems.

There is a complaint about alteration of a document and a complaint because some secret information about De Gelder got spread. The court says that the complaint about alteration doesn’t make sense because it was just a type mistake. The arrest of Kim De Gelder is prolonged.

The lawyer of De Gelder says that he wants to know the truth. He said that he has the right to use all means of defense in the importance of his client. The lawyer Haentjens, thinks that Kim De Gelder is mentally ill and that a assizes trial isn’t a good idea.

Before this complaints, there was a possibility that Kim de Gelder’s file would have been send to the council chamber, the first way to the assizes trial. Because of the complaints this process has been postponed.

I think Kim De Gelder is really a frightening man. He has to get a punishment as soon as possible. Because of his complaints, he postponed his trial and also the judgment. I think that’s why he handed in complaints. Perpetrators have to many rights, they deserve to get a very hard punishment right away, especially for acts like De Gelder did.

http://www.vandaag.be/binnenland/53682_kim-de-gelder-dient-zelf-klacht-in.html

Camille Vandewalle

3RP2

Man murdered baby boy

Darren Newton murdered his girlfriend’s 15-month old son (Charlie) after months of filming himself abusing the little boy. He has been jailed for life.

Newton denied that he killed the baby but he admitted the cruel abuse. He filmed the abuse on his phone for his own pleasure. He is sentenced to jail for a minimum of 24 years before he can apply for parole. In the clips you can see how Newton slapped Charlie on his head. The boy screamed and cried.
Every normal person who will watch this video clips will struggle to understand why Newton could do this. He enjoyed replaying the clips to himself. There was no motive for the cruel behavior.

In November 2009 he finished his shift at his work and went to look after the boy. Three hours later the baby died after a final assault. This attack was not captured on film, but doctor’s noticed bruises on his head. The slap’s to Charlie’s head caused a bleeding and swelling to his brain. The mother of Charlie thought that Newton was a quiet, caring and loving man.

The court judged that Newton is clearly a violent person. He did horrible things and didn’t show any regret for his actions. Now he gets the punishment he deserves.

I can’t understand why you can torture an innocent baby. It is one of the most cruel things a person can do. I hope that Newton stays in jail for the rest of his life because he isn’t worth to have a good life. I also think it’s strange that his girlfriend never asked questions about the bruises of the baby. Normally if Newton slapped the baby several times, he must have had many bruises. If you care about your child you will protect him against any danger. But anyway I don’t blame the women for what happened because I think if you love someone you would never expect he would harm your child.

Tine Depotter

source: http://factstoknow.co.uk/?p=13844

Continental 'responsible' for Concorde crash in 2000

This week, I will talk about the court decision in France about Continental Airline. The 25^th of July 2000, Air France was flying ‘the Concorde’. Few minutes after the ascent of the plane, the plane took fire and it had to make a forced landing, but it failed. ‘The Concorde’ crashed and 113 people were killed.

The crash was caused because a piece of metal left on the runway after falling from a Continental Airline plane.  The piece of metal should have caused a tire-burst in the Concorde and so a fuel tank got ruptured.

The Court in Paris has decided that Continental Airlines was responsible for this crash and they have to pay 1 million Euros.

John Taylor, a mechanic from Continental, received a 15-month conditional prison sentence because he shouldn’t have used the titanium parts to make repairs on the Concorde. The metal was known to be dangerous for airplane-tires.

Continental will appeal because they think that the verdict is absurd and completely based on French interests.

I think that Continental Airlines cannot avoid their responsibilities. They have to reimburse all the damage, for all the parties that have suffered. But maybe  1 million Euros is too much, because in the past, Continental Airlines already paid a fine amounting 200.000 Euros. On the other hand, you can see it as a way to avoid that there will be similar cases in the future. The mechanic received a conditional punishment, so in the future he will also be more careful.

Kimberley Prinsier
3RP2
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11923556

Competition law: inaction is no longer an option

The Office of Fair Trading has made a new statement concerning competition law. This statement says that directors who should have been aware of their company’s breach of competition law now face the same disqualification risk as directors who have actively participated in the breach. The statement is not new but the Office of Fair Trading will now make active use of it as part of its enforcement armoury.

It applies to any breach of competition law, unlike the second sanction: the cartel offence can entail up to five years’ imprisonment and unlimited fines for any employee. Both sanctions can be applied at the same time.
They make use of that because imposing financial and other penalties on companies are not enough deterred.

The Office of Fair Trading must follow a certain procedure to disqualify a director. They must apply to the High Court for an order, on the basis that the individual is incapable to be a director. The order may disqualify the director from directorship of any company for up to 15 years.

The Office of Fair Trading will also consider mitigating circumstances, such as quick remedial action and if they know whether the activity constituted a breach or not.
All company directors are expected to appreciate the importance of competition law compliance and to know that price-fixing, market sharing and bid rigging are likely to breach competition law.

It seems to me that the Office of Fair Trading is very hard on the directors who didn’t participate in the breach of competition law. I think that it goes to far when the directors who didn’t do anything are punished in the same way as the directors who participated in the breach. They have to give them a lower fine so that they take more responsibility.

http://www.hvnplus.co.uk/intelligence/regulation/competition-law-inaction-is-no-longer-an-option/8605694.article

Laborer bullied and humiliated in Belgian factory

A laborer from Mactac has been humiliated for 9 years by his colleagues. The humiliations and teasing were incredible. He was bound on a wooden platform while a colleague smashed his genitalia against his face. Another day he was locked up in a cage, he was overwhelmed by kilos of talcum powder. After this the colleagues cleaned his body with a high pressure cleaner.

In 2002 he told the direction about the bullying. He got a few images from the security camera and gave them to the direction. The offenders are clearly recognizable.

The tribunal from Bergen says that the facts are statute barred because the victim made a complaint in 2008, that’s five years after the last bullying.
The company had offered psychological help and a transfer to the victim. Twenty five employees are suspicious. In January it will be clear whether the suspects will have to appear in court or not. They risk an imprisonment of 5 years. The lawyer also wants to pursue the suspects for torturing because the facts were very cruel. The victim can also start a lawsuit to obtain damages from the suspects.

I was shocked when I saw the pictures and the images on the internet. This is really over the top, I didn’t know this could happen in Belgium. I keep on asking why nobody helped this man or why he didn’t told the direction earlier about the bullying. I hope that other employees who are handled in the same way have the strength to talk about it with the direction or someone they trust.
Now jurists doubt if the perpetrators will be punished, but I hope they will.

Tine Depotter


Source: http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20101118_062

Five years imprisonment demanded against child care who tortured a baby

In ‘Leuven’ the public prosecutor demanded 5 years imprisonment for the nursery that tortured a baby so long that he is disabled for the rest of his life.

The case against the nursery E.A. (24) started with a lot of interest. The woman is committed to trial for the molestation of Emmanuel Tuts and Lila S. (both 18 months old) in her childcare in Kessel-Lo in 2009.

The judge wanted to know why the defendant didn’t anything when she noticed that Emmanuel Tuts got convulsions, probably because she tortured him. She answered that she didn’t do anything because the parents of Emmanuel called her.

The psychiatric investigations showed that the young lady wasn’t able to have a childcare. She also said that in her education she never handled baby’s who cried a lot. She didn’t know how to comfort the baby.

The 4 months old baby showed after the molestation indications of the ‘babyshakensyndrome’ and the nursery did her confessions.

The now one and a half year boy is blind. He will probably never walk and he is fed with a drip. The child is disabled for 80%. It is already the fourth nursery that is summoned because of molestation of a child.

I think this case is really scandalous. Many people bring their children to a child care and they trust the nursery that she take care for the kids. The mother of Emmanuel didn’t get pregnant easily, suddenly she was pregnant of a healthy baby and then this happens… I think that is really the worst nightmare you could go through. The kid needs a lot of help for the rest of his life. I think that I would never accept that this could happen.

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20101123_089&word=rechtbank

Chipmakers fined by EU for price-fixing

This article is about nine chip makers who have been fined by the European Union regulators for illegally fixing prices. The involved companies are Samsung, Hynix, Infineon, NEC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Elpida and Nanya. There was also another company involved, namely Micron. That company has alerted the competition authorities and doesn’t have to pay a fine.

Between 1998 and 2002, the ten companies were operating with a network of contacts to share secret information with each other. They were setting prices for DRAM chips. These chips were sold to major PC makers and server manufacturers.

Samsung has to pay 146 million euros, that’s the biggest fine. The second biggest fine was for Infineon, who has to pay 57 million euros.

All the companies received a 10 % reduction because they admitted that they were involved in the cartel.

Only Infineon is situated in the EU, but the EU’s anti-trust regulator said that all the companies were penalized because they sell their products in the European Economic Area and therefore they were a subject to EU law, which bans practices that restrict competition.

I think that it’s good that all the companies have been fined, although they aren’t situated in the EU. They were operating in the European Economic Area, so they need to follow the European Law. Price-fixing isn’t fair towards the other competitors. In this case, a lot of big companies were forming a cartel, so the little companies who were also producing DRAM chips were very disadvantaged.

Kimberley Prinsier
3RP2

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10126755

Judge questions father's kidnap charge

In July Kevin Moore a 44-year-old man from Saltburn, Cleveland took a teenager to apologize to a group of children, including his two sons, for acting in a violate and aggressive way.

He followed the 13-year-old boy and put him in his car before driving him for a short distance to a church hall where the younger children were attending a dance class.
Both groups of children apologized after the row, which had started because of an incident about name-calling and throwing berries in the church. The teenager, who had not hit anyone, returned to his friends.
An adult called the police because he had seen Kevin Moore with the 13-year-old boy and he suspected the child was being abducted. The boy, who seemed upset when being forced to get into the car, was not related to the defendant. The police arrested Kevin Moore and he was charged with kidnapping as there was evidence that he took a 13-year-old boy into his car against the will of the boy. Kidnap carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

A judge questioned why a father who grabbed an abusive teenager and made him apologize to younger children because of a conflict was charged with kidnapping the youth.
Judge Bowers didn’t believe it because this was not what anyone would really call a kidnapping and she asked the CPS to review the case. Two hearings later, Moore's plea to the less serious charge was esteemed acceptable.

It seems to me that the judge handled in a correct way because I also find it a bit over the top that they called it kidnapping. I think that the man had good intentions en he just wanted to teach the children something about apologizing to each other.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/judge-questions-fathers-kidnap-charge-2124384.html

Attacker forced victims to have sex and gets an imprisonment of 6 year

The Court of Appeal in Ghent sentenced a 49-years old man to 6 years imprisonment for cruel sexual offences and a robbery with violence.

In November 2009, two boys were threatened by a 25-year old man and his 49-years old friend. The facts took place in the ‘Citadelpark’ in Ghent. The youngest man had a knife and required the money and the mobile phones of the victims. Then he forced the boys to have oral sex with them. The victims also had to have sex with each other while the attackers were looking at them. At last the two victims of 19 years old had to go to a cash point where the perpetrators plundered their accounts.

The 25-years old man got an imprisonment of 8 years in the first instance, but he didn’t give notice of appeal. The other offender asked a reduced sentence but he didn’t get it. The Court confirmed the 6 years imprisonment and give him a detention during Her Majesty's plea of ten years .

I really think that is a frightening case. Maybe you think that it can’t happen with you but that isn’t true. The ‘citadelpark’ isn’t far away and I heard already some things that happened there but I didn’t believe everything. With this case I realize how dangerous the ‘Citadelpark’ is at night. I would never walk in it alone or with some friends when it is dark. It must be traumatic for the victims to go that true. The perpetrators must be punished with a very severe sentence. I hope that it doesn’t happen in the future anymore.

Camille Vandewalle

3RP2

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/957/Belgie/article/detail/1180856/2010/11/09/Overvaller-dwong-slachtoffers-tot-seks-en-krijgt-6-jaar-cel.dhtml

Man in disguise boards international flight

On October 29, a young Asian man succeeded to get on a plane from Honkong to Vancouver, but he didn’t check in with his own identity. He was disguised as an old, Caucasian male, he probably used the boarding pass from another passenger.

On the plane, the man who was sitting next to the Asian, noticed that the ‘older man’ had very young hands, so he thought it was suspicious. During the flight, the Asian man went to the washroom and he came back without his disguise. At that point, the security service of Canada Airlines got the information that there was a swindler on board.

After the landing of the plain in Canada, the Border Services Officers, escorted the man of the plain. The man proceeded to make a claim for refugee protection.

The security services of Canada Airlines are now investigating this strange case. It is certain that there has been going something very wrong during the passport control.

To my opinion, it is alarming that it is possible to get on a plane disguised in another person. Fortunately, nothing bad happened during this flight but it could have been a terrorist who tried to blow up the plane. I think it is strange that this could happen because I think that a plane is the most secured way to travel.  

Kimberley Prinsier
3RP2

Source:

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/04/canada.disguised.passenger/index.html?hpt=C1

Scottish teachers face “emotional damage” from online abuse

The Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) is a teaching union. They receive around 60 complaints a year from teachers who are suffering some form of online bullying or abuse of students. It happens a lot that teachers are victims of such abuse.

The Union wants the social networking sites to be responsible for the content of the site. Insulting messages in online spaces can cause a lot of emotional damage. The site holders are now liable for this kind of messages. The EIS promised to support teachers who want to pursue a complaint under the new legislation.

The site holders argue that the big volume of content of the site makes it impossible to check all the published items. They have clear terms of use and the users can inform the site holders when there is a potential problematic comment, so they can remove those items.

I think it is good that the site holders are liable for the insulting messages, because they are are the only people who can remove the messages. If the site holders know that they are liable for abuse or bullying, they will be more careful and they will check what kind of messages appears on their site. The problem is even more problematic. Not only teachters suffer from online abuse, it is a big problem nowadays and it causes a lot of emotional damage. We should think first before posting something on the internet. People who post insulting messages have to be punished.

Tine Depotter
www.journalonline.co.uk/News/1008810.aspx

Judge tells doctors they can enforce treatment on mentally ill woman

A 30-year-old woman didn’t want to have a treatment by the doctors for aplastic anemia. Aplastic anemia is a condition in which her bone marrow doesn’t produce enough blood cells.

The doctors knew that without the emergency treatment she could die, but when medics tried to treat her she became distressed and screamed for about 40 minutes till two nurses hold her down. But why is it that she didn’t want to get treated? The woman dislikes being touched by man and she doesn’t want any physical intervention.

The doctors of the medical team went to court to ask the judge to give permission for the treatment. The Court of Protection gave permission to the doctors to force her to undergo the potentially life-saving treatment, which is administered through a vein in the heart and lasts for five days. They think it is in the patient’s best interests and it would give her the opportunity to live.
Some critics are against the decision of the court but the judge ruled that the patient did not have the capacity to decide whether to undergo the treatment or not.

In my opinion it was a wise decision of the court to give permission to the doctors to force the woman to undergo the treatment. Doctors always decide in the best interests of a patient and they want to save lives. It was good of the doctors to involve the court in this situation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8074306/Judge-tells-doctors-they-can-enforce-treatment-on-mentally-ill-woman.html

Chile miners

About two months ago 33 miners got trapped into a mine. Engineers tried to liberate the 33 miners but that wasn't that easy.

The 9^th October a drill broke through to the cavern holding the miners trapped for 64 days. It created a shaft just wide enough for them to come up 2000 feet in the Phoenix escape capsule. The capsule is created by a team of engineers and is built at a Chilean military shipyward. When there was a first indication that the capsule had reached the miners, joy spread across the South American Nation. Reporters all over the world reported family members who ran downhill from the tents of “Camp hope” carrying Chilean flags. The mine is at Copiapó in the Atacama Desert, about 500 miles north of Santiago and 40 miles east pf the Pacific coast. It could take for months or more to reach the miners. Lucky, it all went very fast and they found a solution to release the miners. Thanks to a 500-pound escape capsule, painted the red, white and blue that are Chile’s national colors every miner could be liberated. It is 24-inches wide and is equipped with oxygen and communication equipment and has wheels installed on the outside. The president of Chile called it a blessing. He said that they did everything that technology permits. The planning had included the possibility that the miners would have to set off a dynamite charge to get the shaft open to them and there remains the possibility that as they exit the shaft could become blocked. The Phoenix story inspired two movies.

I really admire the Chilean people. They always had hope to liberate the miners. They never gave up and every day they tried to find a solution. Thanks to a couple of brilliant engineers they made a capsule. That was a ingenious idea because the capsule brought each miner safe above the ground.

Camille Vandewalle

3RP2

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6978301-chile-miners

Parents oblige children to deal drugs

Friday October 8, several members of the same family were arrested because of house-dealing. The 44 year old mother, the 46 year old father and the 20 year old daughter sold cannabis. They established a business in their house in Dendermonde. Also the minor children between 9 and 15 year old were pushed to sell drugs.

The police discovered the illegal business because there were always a lot of people around the house. After a police raid it turned out that the family sold a minimum of one kilogram marihuana per week for a period of two years now. To adults but also to children.

According to the court it was a real family business, the benefits were used to buy luxury goods. The parents and the adult daughter were arrested, the other children have to appear in Juvenile court.

In my opinion the parents should get a severe punishment. Parents have to be a role model for their children. They should learn them what’s good and what’s wrong. The education is very important to become a good person and to survive in our society. The court has to search other parents for the children while the real parents are locked up in prison. In this way there is a chance that the children will get out of the criminal business, also later when they are grown up.

Tine Depotter

3RP2

source:

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20101008_101