To think the police should’ve acted to stop this?

[OhhhPeee]

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/police-hundreds-gather-manchester-funeral-18150043.amp

To sum up the article, a large group of mourners gathered for the funeral of a well-known local man in Manchester. Police did not stop them, despite them breaking the rules of lockdown, because “emotions were high.” Surely that’s the case at any funeral?

Amongst the mourners, an incident occurred where shots were fired and the shooter was subsequently stabbed in the face, perhaps suggesting that these particular mourners were a volatile bunch. AIBU to think that the police were simply too scared to stop these people? And that the message is that they are above the law?

It is particularly upsetting as so many law-abiding people are being forced to miss funerals at the moment.

Police can manage large scale protests usually/kettle climate protesters etc wtf they can't police this sort of thing complete'cop out' I'd be ashamed to be in charge of that police force.... and terrified of living in that area ... surely non criminals live there ... why should they have to put up with such poor protection..

Looking at the state of the ‘mourners’ in photos online, I highly doubt they are obeying the lockdown rules in any event. Underclass is an understatement.

The sickening thing is if any of them did/do contract coronavirus at the funeral, they'll also get priority and preferential treatment due to being 'tough' and intimidating.

Who was this person who even in death can control police activity?

If police come to a decision that they are not going to do anything about an event, which seems to have caused outrage in the local area and even now on MN where people are from a great number of places, police will later have to cope with a change in public views towards them. That will make policing all the more difficult.

avery Have you missed that this was a funeral?

I'm shocked that people actually think a large number of police, turning up in riot gear and a violent battle AT A FUNERAL would be preferable than letting these people just get on with it.

@TheBouquets

You know what it reminds me of? School, where the teacher turns a blind eye to the persistent trouble makers but berates a star pupil for the smallest misdemeanor. I was a timid, contentious, goodie-goodie type at school, and remember a few times various teachers tore me apart in front of the class for daring to (shock-horror!) whisper to the person sitting next to me, get to class 5 minutes late with a valid excuse, or (I'm bound to burn in hell for this one!) forget my PE kit. The kids that threw chairs/bunked off/got pissed at breaktime though? Their behaviour was brushed firmly under the carpet.

*conscientious, not contentious!!

No I hadn't missed it was a funeral but there are thousands of people that aren't going to funerals of people they are close to because of the pandemic... why should it be different for them... that is the point...that's why it's a poor decision...

@Brabarella are you on the "Massive" per chance ?

If it’s travellers the police won’t do anything because they’re so scared of them due to a small minority thinking they’re above the law and and can do what they like, and it seems a lot of the time they’re right

I agree op. Makes me furious when those with power go after easy targets because the real bad guys are too hard.

Like my old geography teacher who ignored the constant disruption and swearing from the bad lads at the back but when we conscientious girls put our chairs up too early once we got both barrels 🙄🙄

Or when Dh and I took a wrong turn when driving a hire car in Camden near where we used to live and the police pulled us over and shouted at us much to the amusement of all the drug dealers at the bus stops. We had repeatedly reported the blatant drug dealing and violence we had to put up with every day but police wouldn’t do anything but when we temporarily drifted into an empty bus lane in error - both barrels!

*There were guns and knives anyway. If police had attempted to shut it down it couldve escalated in to something much worse.

Police were correct in what they did*

Sorry, but are you suggesting that the police knew that people present had guns and knives and turned a blind eye?

Makes me really bloody glad I don't live in a city. Some of my friends have guns, but that's because they go game shooting!

Haha yes!

That was meant to be to Andromeida59

So by that logic, the police should only break up social gatherings as long as no one has a knife or a gun. If someone does have a knife or a gun, the police shouldn’t intervene and let them get on with it. I just find it astonishing that so many people think it’s too much hassle for the POLICE to stop people with knives and guns doing what ever they want. Isn’t the whole point of the police to stop people from doing whatever they want and make sure everyone follows the same rules?

Absolutely.

If people are carrying guns and knives it's even more crucial that the police get involved.

It sounds like Manchester police have given up trying to deal with gun & knife crime to me.

are you suggesting that the police knew that people present had guns and knives

They would have known there was a strong likelihood and risk assessed accordingly. Many of the individuals would have been very well known to the Police.

I think you’ve misinterpreted “emotions we’re running high” It’s a euphemism for “things would get fucking violent and there’d be a riot”.

The police assessed the risk and decided they should not intervene (as they’d need a riot squad if they did). The gun man was arrested.

Google the man who died and find out a bit about his family if you want to know why the police left them to it. They are notorious

They did protect the public, by choosing the lesser of two evils

I suppose taking the pragmatic line was probably the better course of action under the circumstances, but wtf does this say about the ability of the police to deal with serious crime in our cities.

They are woefully under-resourced, and need to be adequately funded so that they can deal properly with low-lifes and gangsters.

Otherwise the lunatics will have truly taken over the asylum.

Footnote: I'm mystified as to how someone like this got parole at what must have surely been his first chance, too.

Reading the article sounds like the funeral was managed as best it could be , being pissed offis wasting your energy just be glad you are not a part of the mr ibiza circle.

Do you think the police should have airdropped knock out gas on to them

If only there was such a thing! Imagine the arrests they'd have been able to make and the number of weapons they'd have got off the streets?

The mourners were going to go regardless of permission if he was a "well known figure" then people would have needed to be seen mourning him, it really isn't our world is it ?

People aren't "above the law", but the Police will choose when to intervene...
Can you imagine the amount of information gained through body language and just observing the behaviour at a gathering of well known law breakers?
Can you imagine the intelligence gained from who shot/stabbed whom?
When you have large crowds of know criminals, it's better to watch it play out.
if they all want to risk getting C-19, let them!! It's hardly going to be a lose to society, is it???

The further link states he was jailed in 2015 for 11 years. Why was he out

I presume he was able to convince the parole board that he wasn't a risk to society.

I think the first parole hearing can happen after 1/3 of the full sentence has been served, and if he'd spent time in custody before his trial, that would count as time served.

I'm intrigued as to whether there are any suspicious circumstances surrounding the motorbike accident that killed him. I see that the driver of the car was drunk, but ...