Above, Joanna Farrell, Chief Constable of Police Scotland.
My friend Doctor Richard North has today relieved me of a burden: To write an in-depth and detailed blog-post on the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021!
This because my friend has done the task for me (https://www.turbulenttimes.co.uk/news/front-page/politics-the-distraction-continues/)!
I will however add a few comments of my own to this brouhaha:
My friend is of the opinion that Joanne Rowling, CH, OBE, FRSL known by her pen name J. K. Rowling – aka Mrs Neil Murray – is unlikely to face prosecution and far less conviction (upon her return to Scotland of course).
Personally for J.K. Rowling I hope so, for if she were convicted and the conviction to be upheld on appeal the lady would lose the honours that have heretofore been heaped upon her. The “CH” stands for Companion of Honour and ranks equal with a knighthood. I am sure that the lady has factored this into her consideration.
The lady can clearly afford the best legal advice and I am sure her lawyers will have cautioned her thus: litigation is never a foregone conclusion.
As my friend points out in his blog-post and as I have in a previous blog-post on this subject (https://british-gazette.com/the-process-is-the-punishment/), the process IS THE punishment!
Because the point of this legislation is to cause intentional harassment, alarm or distress to opinionated members of the Scottish public prone to voicing opinions and views that come under the category of being “politically incorrect”, by subjecting them to arrest under caution of committing a “hate crime”, questioning them at a police station often for a few hours and then releasing them without charge it is entirely possible that upon her eventual arrival in Scotland the lady will indeed be subjected to this form of harassment.
You see, the lady has put the Unfortunate Joanna Farrell, Chief Constable of Police Scotland in something of a cleft stick! A cleft stick that is entirely NOT of Chief Constable Farrell’s making but that of the even more Unfortunate, The Right Honourable Humza Yousaf, MSP, First Minister of Scotland!
Doubtless Chief Constable Farrell will call to her mind Oliver Hardy’s iconic line (to Stan Laurel) in the 1930 film Another Fine Mess that uttered “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!”
You see, Police Scotland are in an awkward situation for since the whole idea of the legislation is to intentionally harass, alarm and distress “politically incorrect” members of the Scottish Public, they can hardly ignore J.K. Rowling’s online coat trailing! This because they do not intend to ignore such from unknown ordinary members of the public!
Of course, Chief Constable Farrell will be fully aware of the great risks that pursuing this policy of harassment against “politically incorrect” members of the public carries! This because as a long serving and experienced police officer she will only be too well aware of the stress that those members of the public who have had no previous experience of the criminal justice system and the initial process of arrest, transportation to the police station, undergoing the custody suite procedure, taken to a police cell and subsequent interview will experience.
Chief Constable Farrell will be fully aware that for the recidivist criminal offender – to use the words of the sentencing judge in the comedy “Porridge” – will regard arrest, conviction and imprisonment in a casual manner and as an occupational hazard! This is the very opposite of how an ordinary member of the public would react!
Chief Constable Farrell will be fully aware that many of those opinionated individuals expressing “politically incorrect” opinions online will be elderly and retired and will often have health conditions such as high blood pressure.
Chief Constable Farrell will be fully aware that when her officers interview a fit young man who is “known to her officers” and who “knows the ropes” the risk of the young reprobate being seized with a stroke is unlikely. This is NOT the case with 70 somethings with high blood pressure!
This is why Chief Constable Farrell will not be a happy woman! She will know that when a complainant reports a possible breach that is clearly vexatious and trivial; her political masters will expect her officers to pursue such; and in such a hypothetical case where the arrested suspect suffers a stroke and is permanently incapacitated there will not only be the inevitable independent inquiry, there is also the prospect of a case for civil damages against Police Scotland!
Another factor causing Chief Constable Farrell to be an unhappy (and indeed an angry) woman will be that the blame for this mess will be laid at her doorstep and NOT the doorstep of her political master, the Unfortunate Humza Yousaf!
UPDATE: From BBC News (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-68712471): JK Rowling hate law posts not criminal, police say………