Still on the run

[Lucy Samson]

"A `DANGEROUS` teacher was obsessed with paedophiles who `booby-trapped his home` before abandoning his job and moving to Ireland."

"A hearing was told dad-of-four Brian Docherty claimed his colleagues were in a religious cult during his time at Fraserburgh Academy, Aberdeenshire..."

"Mr Docherty, originally from Glasgow, was not present or represented at a General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) hearing in Edinburgh this week."

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2437354/teacher-fraserburgh-academy-brian-docherty-obsessed-paedophiles-abandoned-job-moved-ireland/

"The `dangerous` teacher Lucy Samson refers to is Brian Docherty, well known to the UK Column team who have reported on his case many times. Recently there have been few reports, at the request of the parents, so it is difficult to know what is happening to the family at the moment or why this article has suddenly appeared out-of-the-blue."  [See UK Column here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJVSV5deQM8]

So fantastical are some of the incidents surrounding the Dochertys that a few people question their mental health in reporting them. The article appears to be attacking the father from that angle too. However, getting bogged down in deciding whether the Dochertys are mentally ill or not is a diversion, useful for the establishment, because none of it begins to explain why the Scottish Police failed to investigate the Dochertys` original allegation.

For example, Scottish Sceptic wonders whether to believe the authorities or the parents, but after analysing the matter comes down on the side of the Dochertys.... "It appears to me there is very strong evidence that there was a conspiracy to use the threat of taking children away to silence the Dochertys and stop them pursuing the allegation."

[i.e. that Alan Low, acquaintance of Viscount Petersham, offered the Dochertys £25,000 for `access` to their autistic son]

http://scottishsceptic.co.uk/2016/10/26/please-watch-this-video-detailing-appalling-high-profile-corruption-in-scotland/

Breaking down society

 

Domestic Violence

"This is a very troubling situation" says David Scott on UK Column News [12 May 2017] "and it`s come from some poorly thought out legislative proposals. The sort of things they`re talking about...here are putting some sort of listening or tracking device in a toy to monitor a child who is away from one parent ... presumably to gain evidence on the other parent`s inappropriate behaviour... "

"They`re also talking about criminalising controlling behaviour and this has no definition. So it falls down to almost any sort of behaviour which could be painted as unwanted by one party. It is to be criminalised and it comes from an extension of domestic violence legislation to cover non-violent conduct. So if ... one partner is dominating another psychologically that is to be handled by domestic violence legislation and the people who ... put this idea forward are now saying well this latest proposal which comes from a fathers` organisation - Families Need Fathers I think it`s called - this is going too far. This is taking the concept of coercive behaviour as domestic violence and applying it where it shouldn`t be.  But of course the difficulty here is there are no definitions for any of these things. It is all extremely subjective and it criminalises normal behaviour and introduces the state - which is failing to prevent fraud, murder, child rape and indeed covering up all of the above - into families so that they can police families as well.

Mike Robinson: "And take more children perhaps?"

"That`s likely to be one of the end points, yes... As the state`s grip on family life gets ever more firm and the parents disappear more into the background then it`s going to be more and more children will be taken by the state ..."

 

Mike. Robinson:  "And smacking`s to become a form of domestic violence? "

"Well according to the Green Party in Scotland it should be. So this is also criminalising normal parenting... and putting the state here crucially between the child and its parent. So you`re a child. You`re told off and you don`t like the way it went down. So you phone the police ... because a child is not going to realise the horrible implications that has for the child itself and for the whole wider family ..."

"So is this because the Named Person scheme has more or less failed. Is it an attempt by the Scottish government to find other ways to sidle their way into family life?"

"I don`t know if this is exactly cause and effect because of the resistance to the Named Person but it`s certainly coming from the same stable of ideas where the family is seen as dangerous and toxic and the state is seen as all good, all knowing and the saviour of the innocent."

The gender unicorn

"OK, then tell us about gender then."

"This is a gender unicorn. I was quite surprised by this. This is coming from a gender fluid, transgender activist group in America who are now operating in the field of educational resources. That is what the `er` in the title stands for and the gender unicorn is a concept - and there is a colouring book - and a lesson being given to schoolchildren and they`re asked to plot their own gender identity in these various ways ... So you can be a certain gender: male, female, other. I`m not quite sure what `other` is ... and then how that expresses itself. The gender expression is largely how you dress - so we`re one step away from the fashion police here - who you`re physically attracted to and who you`re emotionally attracted to ... I think that`s what you used to call friendship ... and what this will of course do is promote confusion..."

"David, is sex assigned at birth?"

"Apparently so. .. It`s not real, right. The fallacy, the nonsense they`re trying to get across is that your gender is a social construct. It`s fluid. It`s whatever you want it to be. There`s no underlying scientific basis to say whether you`re male or female which is of course garbage and this is being taught to our children. It`s worrying. It`s completely nonsensical. It`s going to be exploited for a whole lot of ill I suspect because on one level it`s confusion and on another level it could easily be termed child abuse because what are you doing here? Who`s grooming people? Who`s introducing ideas into children that will blight their lives? There is a requirement for people to be a bit more responsible I would have thought."

Brian Gerrish: "David, I`ll just come in on this one. I`ll just say.... my personal opinion, I`ve pushed most strongly, that these agendas are certainly not nonsense. The agenda is calculated, it`s constructed in order to do a job which is to attack the minds of young children. It`s certainly there to help break down traditional heterosexual families. This is very very sinister applied behavioural psychology in order to destroy. This is not there to help create happy, loving family environments and people who are comfortable with their gender ... This is a calculated political agenda that has been created. The resources have been created through organisations like this particular one and of course if you go into it a little bit further somebody is funding this stuff. So ... yes many of us regard it as nonsense but the reality is this is a calculated political agenda designed to break down society as we know it. It`s very dangerous."

"Would you like to hear ... TSER`s mission?"

"Trans Student Educational Resources is a youth-led organisation dedicated to transforming the educational environment for trans and gender nonconforming students through advocacy and empowerment. In addition to our focus on creating a more trans-friendly education system, our mission is to educate the public and teach trans activists how to be effective organisers. We believe that justice for trans and gender non-conforming youth is contingent on an intersectional framework of activism. Ending oppression is a long-term process that can only be achieved through collaborative action."

"Is this Soros funded?" asks Brian Gerrish. "I mean that language to me is Open Society. This is change agent material."

"It is, it`s change agent and it`s also saying there is no end . It`s a long term process. So it never ends... There`s never any end to human differences. When there`s differences there`s some form of oppression going on, and we must get in there and we must fight that oppression and break down society until the oppression goes but the oppression never goes. So it`s a never ending attack on society. It`s extremely nihilistic when you get right down to it."

Curriculum for Excellence

 

"The school attainment levels in numeracy and literacy are plummeting and Scotland is plummeting down the educational scale at the international level."

Mike Robinson: "That`s a pretty impressive thing to have happened because of course Scotland and Northern Ireland had traditionally  better education systems than the rest of the UK."

"This was true. It is no longer true. The degree of decline, the steepness of the decline is really quite striking. So you`re not talking about a generational change. You`re not talking about having a completely new group of teachers coming through and being educated in a different way... it`s much more rapid than that. So you`re talking about things which have changed in the organisation of the existing resources. So this is .... Curriculum for Excellence. You can always tell a government programme and what it`s actually going to do by simply reversing the words ... and Girfec, Getting it Right for Every Child. When the Minister responsible, John Swinney, was standing in the Scottish parliament this week trying to explain why the levels of illiteracy in Scotland had doubled he was saying that we are going to remove bureaucracy. This is the bureaucracy the government applied and forced into the school. We`re going to remove it and concentrate on reading, on literacy, on numeracy and on health and wellbeing. So those are the three things. ... Do you notice anything strange about that list?"

"Well literacy and numeracy, we all got when we were at school... Health and wellbeing is up there with the other two in that the number of objectives that schools have to satisfy in health and wellbeing is more ... numerous than the numeracy requirements...  Now health and wellbeing sounds quite benign but it`s not because health and wellbeing is GIRFEC, which is happiness, which is how you think and how you behave. It`s reframing how you act. It`s essentially doing the parents` jobs for them, or seeking to. It`s changing how people think. You then get into sex ed, death ed and all of these things and that reframes how people approach these parts of life. It`s to change society. So the three things we`re trying to do is numeracy, literacy and change society. And because one of those things is actually harmful and taking up a lot of time - even if not harmful - the other two are, not surprisingly, suffering."

Update: Melanie Shaw

Melanie has been transferred to New Hall prison where she is being treated much better than at Foston Hall. She is able to take part in activities and mix with other prisoners. Melanie believes she will be released in July and thanks everyone who has continued to support her.

Brian and Janice Docherty

David Scott informs viewers and listeners that the situation for the Dochertys has improved and they are in contact with support and practical help. Having to go short of food and sleeping rough sometimes  had major health impacts but they are now recovering. "We hope this is the start of the turn around."

 

Mike Robinson. "So last week on Friday you mentioned that you had met Brian and Janice and we knew that they were not missing. But all of a sudden on Wednesday I think it was a whole flurry of articles appeared in the Londonderry Donegal area on various local news websites They all had the same headline. They all had the same text. And it said: Appeal issued over missing couple Brian and Janice Docherty. The PSNI in Derry are appealing for anyone who has seen or knows the whereabouts of Brian and Janice Docherty. They`ve been residing in the city. Brian and Janice Docherty were reported as missing to police last Thursday May 4. A PSNI spokesperson said: Police have received ... information that they may be in the republic of Ireland close to Letterkenny. If you have any information that may help locate Brian and Janice Docherty missing since Thursday 4th May please contact PSNI on 101 or Gardai ... and the number is given. Now this is very interesting for a number of reasons, David. First of all because we knew that they weren`t missing and second of all because every single one of these news outlets had used a copyrighted image which you took of Brian and Janice the first time you met them and this was used without permission."

"And so I approached each of these outlets and asked what they thought they were doing breaking copyright law in this way? And they all came back saying `Oh my goodness. We put this up in good faith. It was sent to us as a press release by Police Service Northern Ireland. And so I have been in contact with Police Service Northern Ireland and I`m waiting for a proper response from them at the moment to explain why they have used an image which they had no right to use in this appeal that they`ve issued. And of course they may just try to justify this by saying well it`s a missing persons issue so we chose an image, the best image we could find, which would help people locate Brian and Janice. But the fact is David that we had announced our knowledge of where they were - at least our knowledge that they were safe and well - five days prior to this press release going out. So to my mind this ... can be nothing other than intent by PSNI to intimidate Brian and Janice, to let them know that PSNI is watching them and I can`t see any other explanation."

David Scott. "There`s no good explanation for it. Let`s remember that Brian and Janice Docherty have broken no law ever. They`re not wanted for anything. ... And yet, and this is not the first time this has happened., they have consistently said they`re under surveillance. Whenever they get to a position where the authorities do not know their whereabouts they`re reported missing. Reported missing by whom I wonder? Not by their friends and relatives. They haven`t been in contact with friends and relatives. So who`s reporting them missing constantly, and why ? What`s the agenda here? Because if you go on holiday to Ireland you wouldn`t expect within five days the Gardai to track you down saying you`ve been reported missing. That wouldn`t be your normal expectation....but that is what happened when they first went to Ireland."

Brian Gerrish: "David I think I can assist a bit here because I`d like to take our audience today back to 1997-98."

He talks about the Bonnie Lewis case (not her real name) which involved Neath Port Talbot social services who falsely reported Bonnie missing in order to snatch her away from the US hospital where she had been successfully diagnosed for her medical condition which up to that point had been mismanaged in the UK.

David Scott. "And mental health services are so often the way these tracks are covered... As people fight what they clearly see as being things which are wrong and fight for truth and fight for justice they find ever more branches of the state reigned against them and they find their situation gets steadily worse rather than the justice they seek provided."

Tim Farron and unaccompanied Syrian children

Mike Robinson asks viewers to share his video which can be found on his Facebook page where he talks about Tim Farron who has made bringing unaccompanied Syrian children into the UK an election issue. Yet according to Mike Robinson in over a year he has never answered his questions about how he intends to ensure the safety of the children brought into the UK. It is important to recall that thousands of children living in the UK go missing from the care system every year. This is a matter that all MPs have known about since 2012 and all need to be pressed for answers. What are they going to do to help protect children in the care system?"

 

Dr Saleyha Ahsan, Dundee University

 

"The Dundee years and their lasting impact on a life that took the road less travelled - Dr Saleyha Ahsan."

"Saleyha is a medicine graduate of the University of Dundee, class of 2006. Before her time here, she was the first British Muslim woman to graduate from the royal military academy Sandhurst as an army officer and went on to serve in the royal army medical corps with an operational tour of Bosnia. While studying medicine, after leaving the army she was awarded an award for her care of the elderly attachment and developed her career as a filmmaker."

"As well as her work as an A&E doctor, Saleyha has had an impactful career as a television presenter, journalist, filmmaker, screenplay writer and has made documentaries focusing on the devastating impact on access to healthcare during war and has spent extended periods of time embedded with frontline medics."

For those in the area who are interested, Dr Saleyha Ahsan will be giving a talk on Saturday 13 May 2017 at Dundee University. Please ask her about the part she played in the BBC Panorama documentary `Saving Syria`s Children.`

See Saleyha Ahsan`s contradictory accounts of the alleged chemical incident in Robert Stuart`s blog below:

https://bbcpanoramasavingsyriaschildren.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/dr-saleyha-ahsan-contradictions-in-accounts-of-alleged-incendiary-bomb-attack/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z72jIbvY900&t=505s　

False reports in a post-truth world

On Friday`s UK Column News: "Tusla is a child agency in Ireland," says David Scott. "It looks after child protection; it looks after families and family law... We came across this organisation when we started to look at the Docherty case because the Dochertys had their children seized twice and they`re still in the care of the state of Ireland and both episodes were vile. The second one, there was I think thirteen people, five policemen and eight social workers or something like this, descended upon this family and violently seized their children. The agencies doing this - there were two agencies Garda Síochána and Tusla. So we started to look at the links between these two. We started to look at how they were managed and who`s managing them and lo and behold all those roads led back to Scotland, led back to Aberdeenshire."

"So we highlighted some of these issues. and we started to get other stories that Tusla and Garda Síochána were very profoundly corrupt. Now what`s happened in the last couple of weeks is that this corruption has become obvious to the people of Ireland. In a way... sadly the corruption that surrounds this case is like the Docherty case. It`s not obvious to people in Scotland. In Scotland itself, it`s completely suppressed; there`s no news coming out; there`s no political questions being asked. But in Ireland people are now standing up in ... parliament and asking very serious questions and the case is horrendous."

 

"It concerns a Garda officer called McCabe who eight years ago discovered serious criminal wrongdoing by a colleague within the police force.... and took the appropriate lawful action and brought that to the authority`s attention... and ensured that the criminal activities were stopped and the man saw justice. And as a result Mr McCabe and his family have gone through eight years of hell. Now there was an early accusation made against this man that he`d been involved in some sort of inappropriate contact with a child. Now this accusation came from the daughter of the Garda officer who he brought to justice and it concerns an alleged incident some decades in the past. This woman was in her twenties and was claiming something happened when she was six or seven. It was investigated . The conclusion was there was no evidence not only that the incident occurred but there was considerable doubt that the incident described by the complainant was even a crime. It described this girl being at this officer`s house playing hide and seek and an allegation that there was something a bit off about that. It was extremely minor. The decision was there was nothing to investigate. No prosecution. Case closed."

"But the case was not closed because later it came back and it transpired that very very serious allegations of child rape had been levelled against this officer and were in the Tusla files and were then circulated throughout the Gardai so his colleagues were told about this. He wasn`t told about it; he didn`t know any of this was being discussed. And he found out about it only very recently, years after these rumours had been circulated. And the official explanation as to why he had been accused of being a child rapist in the official files of Tusla was an administrative error. It was an unfortunate cut and paste exercise that went sadly wrong."

"So there you go. Tusla can unfortunately cut and paste allegations of child rape into your files and then start to investigate your entire family because they had files on all of his children and what`s unique about this situation?  Only that he was a Garda whistleblower. It`s a horrendous situation ..."

 

Comparing this situation to the Docherty case, David Scott goes on: "It`s the same sort of approach; it`s the same sort of manipulation of the files but the difference here is it`s coming out into the open. In the case of Scotland... we know that a Police Scotland officer misrepresented himself to the Dochertys and gave the wrong name and we believe his name was in fact Sergeant Gilbert Buchan."

 

 "And we know that a report written on the Dochertys ... highlighted concerns over another Police Scotland officer called Alan Low, was then modified by Gilbert Buchan and sent off to Child Protection Services. When the modified report got there it was no longer alleging concerns about Alan Low the police officer. No, now the area of concern was the Docherty family and how they were raising their children; and were the children safe? They set the Child Protection Services on the Dochertys with a lie. This is exactly what happened to this whistleblower ... Are we saying it was an unfortunate cut and paste exercise ? No, we`re not saying that because in Scotland we don`t get to say any of these things. There`s no investigation; there`s no questions being asked in parliament because we don`t have anyone with the spine to do it."


Referring to the Dochertys: "They`ve managed to get somewhere where they`re safe and they`re warm and they are in contact with us. We hope to get a lot more information. I think they`ve been through a fairly rough few months. ... There seems to be pretty blatant attempts by Garda Síochána to arrest Brian Docherty and have him sectioned. The only problem is there`s nothing wrong with his mental health. Unless he volunteers to be sectioned there`s actually nothing they can do. He`s also law abiding so arresting him is a bit problematic as well. But the harassment and police involvement seems to be going on. So we have Garda Síochána; we have Tusla; we have all of the same engaged in the McCabe scandal and other assaults on other whistleblowers... These very corrupt organisations are now facing the Dochertys. Now at the moment no-one in the mainstream is reporting the Docherty case. There are no questions being asked in the Irish parliament about the Docherty case. But times they are a-changing. So we`ll see what the next few weeks bring."

 

"We`ll end on this one," says Mike Robinson. "Because the government and Amber Rudd in particular has announced a £40 million package of government measures to protect children and young people from sexual abuse. This has got to be good news, doesn`t it? The home secretary yesterday announced that package. Well where`s it going to go? Well it`s going to create a new centre of expertise on child sexual abuse apparently."

Brian Gerrish adds: "It sounds like the Kingfisher set up in Oxford where they used the police station that had been involved as failing the young girls coming forward to report abuse. That`s where they set up the new headquarters to spearhead leadership in child abuse."

"Well what fascinates me Brian is the centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, it`s not the centre of expertise on child sexual abuse prevention and so what exactly is it going to be? Is it going to be a school for paedophiles? It`s unclear at this point. An extra £20 million for the National Crime Agency ... to tackle online child sexual abuse; £2.2 million for organisations to protect children at risk of trafficking - even though they can`t track down children missing from care in this country - and the launch of... independent child trafficking advocates. What is that going to be?"

"Well that`s to undermine the McKenzie Friends," says Gerrish ... "That will be the government to train the people to work with the desperate parents."

"OK, well here`s what Amber Rudd had to say:"

"`Children should be able to grow up free from the horrors of sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking ... This government has done more than any other to tackle these horrific offences`. And she said it with a straight face. ... Now they have in parallel released this: Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation; progress report. And I just want to highlight the things that they`re crowing about here, and David I`ll ask you for comment on this in a second."

 

"`We have tackled the culture of denial in professions about the scale and nature of this crime`. Well that`s what they claim.  But they certainly haven`t tackled the culture of denial within the government itself, within parliament as to the complicity of parliament and the activity of this parliament in this area`. "

"`We have increased accountability`, they say, `by strengthening statutory guidance to reduce the risks of children falling through the gaps between services`. What that means is they have created a much stronger culture of cover-up because with people working in multiagency groups now they get to know each other; there is no independence; there`s no separation of powers. This is a fundamental constitutional issue. And so what they`ve done by strengthening statutory guidance to reduce the risk of children falling through the gaps means bigger cover-up."

"They say, `we`ve increased the support to victims and survivors of sexual abuse by providing local commissioners with the funding they need to support the particular needs of survivors in their area as well as holding a central fund so that organisations working nationally for survivors are supported`. Except when they`re not supported. Except when they`re put in prison instead because what they`re whistleblowing about is involving parliamentarians and others. So that culture of denial that they say they`ve dealt with feeds into certain people ending up in prison. And of course I`m speaking about Melanie Shaw there."

"And finally they say they`ve sharpened law enforcement response and brought more offenders to justice including offenders who`ve been exploiting new methods and technologies to abuse children. `In the year to December 2015  - 5,789 offenders were convicted of child sexual abuse offences. This was over 1,000 more offenders convicted in 2014;  51% of those convicted in 2015 were sentenced to immediate custody`.  None of those people were called Janner. None of those people were called Brittan and none of them were involved in parliament in any way, shape or form; and ... despite the credible evidence from whistleblowers. So this is a pretty staggering thing."

"David, £40 million, you must be impressed."

"Well I was impressed with that analysis. That`s extremely good. We see this in Scotland because we`re a testing ground ... the named person. What does it mean? It means that when the parent tries to go and confront some sort of wrongdoing,  neglect or other failings of the state they`re now facing an even larger, better organised and more tightly coordinated group of state officials who are all opposing the parent, all are opposing the family ... and getting the truth heard is ever harder. "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7TNV4p7Fuw

Brief update on the Docherty family

[Towards the end of the programme]

"This has been an extremely difficult case, because not only has it been so significant and so harrowing but because we found it remarkably difficult to stay in contact with Brian and Janice themselves. and we`ve had a lot of people pushing for an update."

"So David, can you give us - with an eye on the clock - can you give us a little bit of an update about where you think we are."

"Well Brian and Janice are still in Ireland and we`ve only heard from them once this month, just after the New Year. We sent them some funds across that had been donated by UK Column listeners and viewers and we got an acknowledgement and thank you for that on the 5th of January and we`ve not heard from them since."

"So they`re still in Ireland and still it would seem very much alone and the situation with the children is there has been a care order we understand, granted by the High Court in Dublin, and the children are now formally in the care of the Irish state."

"Now in terms of the investigation it has been very difficult because of the lack of communication. We have made several areas of progress notwithstanding that. Firstly, the key person in this - or early part of the story - was a Mr Alan Low who was a neighbour of the Dochertys and we very early found out there was an Alan Low who was a police officer, DC Alan Low, in that vicinity, in fact, in various police stations where the Dochertys had been interviewed and where the Viscount had been interviewed. These are the police stations in which Alan Low served. So we thought this was extremely suspicious..."

"We then got a visual identification from the Dochertys that it was the same man but we also got a complete and categorical denial of this from Police Scotland. They said that the man who had been reported was not the police officer. He had never been a police officer and was most certainly not Alan Low. So that caused us some concern whether we had the right man. But there was a key identifying feature that the Dochertys had stated, and that was the Alan Low who was their neighbour was missing several fingers from his one hand and very obvious and unique deformities."

"So we set out trying to find out whether DC Alan Low did indeed have fingers missing from one hand, and a few weeks before Christmas, we found out from two sources that this was in fact the case. So there was no doubt at all that the Alan Low who was their neighbour and who approached them and offered them £20,000, saying `I want access to your boy`, was in fact a serving police officer, DC Alan Low. And what he was doing, we don`t know; why he was living as a builder or a gardener or something and not revealing his true identity, we don`t know. We can`t even find out if it was some sort of police operation or undercover operation because Police Scotland are not talking to us and indeed are denying that it is the same man. But it seems clearly it was. So that`s one area of significant progress."

"That of course is really significant," says Brian Gerrish. "And I know that there`s more work that`s actually been done around the case but we can`t move forward on that without some input by Brian and Janice themselves... At the moment we`re holding money that`s been donated. As David said ... they`ve already had some. But the key issue is that we have to be certain that money that`s moved to them actually reaches them on the ground. So it`s been quite a complicated situation. But we`re going to hold those donations. Once we`re back in good communication with Brian and Janice, we`ll be able to move those funds on and also give you a further update. But what we deduce from what has happened is that the fear factor has been very very powerful. The state has gone flat out to terrify this couple after taking their children and of course we know from other families that when children are taken it`s so easy for social services or the police or the state to be saying: `If you don`t keep quiet you will never see those children again`. So if you can imagine the sheer psychological pressure that these two have been under. In saying we have found it difficult to be in communication, it is in no way a criticism. This is part of the harsh reality of these sorts of cases."

"So the undertone is of course that... Police Scotland, far from doing their job with Brian and Janice Docherty, it`s been Police Scotland themselves that have been part of the close down of the case and the harassment and the brutalisation of these two."

=============================

Background to Docherty case:
http://www.ukcolumn.org/the-docherty-files

An update about the Glasgow meeting

When David Scott is asked on Friday`s UK Column how the Glasgow meeting had gone, he tells the audience that there was a packed hall again: "About 70 - 75 people were there, standing room only..." There were three speakers, one of whom was Robert Green who came up from Warrington... "He rather wowed the audience I would have to say and they were all delighted to see him looking so well and speaking so ... bravely. It was a good night."

"There was quite a lot of discussion in the chat box yesterday about Robert`s impending visit from the bailiffs," says Mike Robinson.  "Can you give us an update on that?"

"Well they haven`t been yet. There`s a lot of strange unknown elements to this, one of the oddest is: who`s actually pursuing him? When the bailiffs are asked - they`re receiving instructions from the Scottish government. Now remember this is a private civil case; but the bailiffs have been instructed directly by the Scottish government. So this is a political prosecution. This is using the civil law to hound political opponents."

"When... the Scottish government legal directorate [was asked] who they were being instructed by, they said the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. An organisation which has no part in civil legal proceedings are apparently instructing the civil legal proceedings. And then when ... the Crown Office [was asked the same question] the lawyer for the Scottish government got extremely nervous and refused to answer the question.  So we don`t really know who`s doing it... We don`t really know what will be done or when it will be done. So much of it is in secret. They went to the High Court and got an order against Robert -  Robert never knew anything about it - he had no opportunity to defend his position..."

Brian Gerrish joins the conversation: "David correct me if I`ve got this wrong but I understood from Robert yesterday that he had challenged the bailiff company on what was actually going on and they had said to him well actually this action is coming from Elish Angiolini but it`s being fronted by the Crown Office of Scotland... If true, this is a very interesting situation because, of course, Robert has the letter from the Crown Office where they say they have no power to act or intervene in civil cases. So if you put these little pieces of jigsaw together it would appear that Elish Angiolini is able to use - what - friends that she`s still got within the Crown Office?"

David Scott then explains that Robert Green had defended himself successfully against previous attempts by Elish Angiolini using two different sets of lawyers.

Begins about.11.40 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEHNL0urk-E

There was no mention of the Docherty family. I hope that means that the authorities, who must be aware that many eyes are watching them, are allowing the parents to have contact with the children but have instructed them to keep a low profile, or else.

That is not an ideal situation but what parents would not capitulate and stop fighting in these circumstances?

Otherwise I dread to think that mental health services have got involved. That was always the threat.

The Glasgow meeting

Great concern has been expressed about the Docherty family and there has been a wonderful response in terms of contributions made to their cause.

 

Regardless, as UK Column and David Scott explain communication with the family is spasmodic and uncertain.

 

Meanwhile the announcement was made of the Scottish Meeting in Glasgow on 30 November 2016.

 

 

 

 

Despite everything going on in his life, including family problems, it was pronounced that Robert Green, who has done some sterling work on behalf of the Dochertys, will be appearing at the WEST in Glasgow. [He may have to leave early at that meeting.]

David Scott said that they did hope to have the Dochertys at this meeting but due to a breakdown in communication that may not be possible.

Update on the Docherty appeal

From Brian Gerrish (UK Column 14 November 2016))

"Just a brief update on the Dochertys. I`m going to say thank you very much for your support. We`ve still got donations for Brian and Janice coming in."

"We`ve had a number of events happening over the weekend that have been quite difficult to handle. I`ll just say to people please remember that at the moment Brian and Janice are effectively isolated in what is a very hostile environment in Ireland and we have to go at the speed we can with the communications that we have and sometimes those communications can be very intermittent. So we`re waiting for an update ourselves at the moment.

As soon as we get that update we will of course pass it on to all of you who have been clearly very concerned about what is happening to this couple.

But what I will say as a final comment is that the sheer viciousness... turned against them from both the Scottish state and also in Ireland is clearly another indicator that whatever they touched upon in Scotland.... literally turned into a nightmare. So we`ve got to say, based on this, let alone all the other evidence, the respective states in London, Scotland and Ireland are terrified of this couple and the fact that they`ve dared to speak out.

http://www.ukcolumn.org/

Appeal for Docherty family

Brian Gerrish,  UK Column:

"I have to say that we are delighted to be back in contact with Brian and Janice Docherty. They have been through an absolutely horrific time in Ireland. This is the family who`ve had four children taken away from them. Why? Because they simply reported the approach of a paedophile when they were living on an estate in Scotland and as a result of that action alone they have now been hounded by social services, the police, local authorities, the establishment in Scotland, in Ireland, and of course with the total support and collaboration of the British state."

"So this is the reality of Britain in 2016 that if you report paedophile activity that is too close to the political elite your children are taken away from you, your home burgled, broken into, smashed apart, animals, pets killed, dogs clearly tortured with cattle prods and we learnt over the weekend that the thirteen year old daughter of Brian and Janice was actually tasered when the armed garda took the children away from their parents."

"Now at the moment Brian and Janice are in desperate need of financial support. Money that was provided through the UK Column some months ago has reached them and has made a difference but there is an urgent need for some significant money to help this couple and we`re starting that plea today."

"If you can help in any way with a donation, however small, it is very necessary. We have some events around Brian and Janice which will [be]come clear in the coming weeks but at the moment we can`t talk about that. We have to say that this immensely brave couple can only survive at the moment with help from the public and friends and family. So if you can donate, please consider making a donation through the UK Column and make sure all donations are clearly labelled for the Docherty family. "

"Four children taken away, mum and dad completely without blame. They haven`t done anything. They`ve not harmed the children. They haven`t neglected the children. They have simply reported their suspicions about a very large, it would appear, paedophile ring operating in the north of Scotland with connections through to the establishment ... levels of British politics. This is outrageous."

"Please help if you can."

http://www.ukcolumn.org/

Powerful open letter to the Lord Chancellor

 

"During the intervening weeks no relief has been provided to the UK subjects mentioned in the letter who are suffering in real time from unlawful persecution by agencies of the State: specifically Carol Woods, Melanie Shaw and Brian, Janice Docherty [and children]. I cannot believe that there is no way to hold rogue elements in police, social services and judiciary to account, and to provide these people with a safe place to live, and legal aid, while they await the opportunity to present their cases to a jury of their peers, as is their right under the Common Law. And yet, none of those named has had benefit of due process, in accordance with our Constitution."

"However, I would emphasise once more that since Janice and Brian Docherty have never been accused of any crime, and are held to be excellent parents by the guardian ad litem appointed by an Irish court, they have no case to answer. Why then, in the interests of justice, has no attempt been made by British diplomatic staff in the Republic of Ireland to reunite this entirely innocent family and return them to their home country ? Although they were living in Scotland at the time when the unlawful attacks on them and their children began, they remain citizens of the UK, and, as such, deserve protection, and the justice which the Scottish authorities continue to withhold. If this unhappy family were being mistreated by some South American republic, or arrested for drug trafficking in south-east Asia, I have no doubt that the diplomatic service would have wasted no time in doing everything they could to secure their safe return. Why such reluctance in the Docherty`s case ?"

"The present situation of Melanie Shaw is particularly distressing. This is a woman who has been left vulnerable by crimes committed against her throughout her childhood and adolescence by public institutions. She has now been held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day for months on end."

"I quote the words of UN Special Rapporteur, Juan Méndez, with regard to the solitary confinement of prisoners:"

"Segregation, isolation, separation, cellular lockdown - whatever the name, solitary confinement should be banned by States as a punishment or extortion technique ... solitary confinement is a harsh measure which is contrary to rehabilitation, the aim of the penitentiary system."

"This being so, one can only conclude that the aim of the authorities in segregating Melanie from human contact has nothing to do with rehabilitation, and everything to do with contriving her mental breakdown, with a view to making her unable to testify to crimes against children which she witnessed at Beechwood children`s home. Or perhaps it is hoped to induce a suicide, or a condition which would make an apparent `suicide` sufficiently believable to pass muster, at least for those who are uninformed."

"Mr Méndez continues:"

"Indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement in excess of 15 days should also be subject to an absolute prohibition - Considering the severe mental pain or suffering solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pre-trial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period."

"Melanie has not been in solitary confinement for a mere 15 days. She has been in solitary confinement for much of the close-on six months which she has now spent behind bars. Nor does she know whether she is still on remand, or has been tried and condemned in camera and in absentia for an offence which has not been publicly specified, and for an indefinite period. Since her evidence regarding the crimes committed at Beechwood involves a prominent political figure, she may justifiably be considered to be a political prisoner."

"Once again , I do not believe that a country under the rule of law would tolerate imprisonment under such conditions, the more so when no trial by jury in open court, with the defendant decently funded and allowed to choose her own representation, has ever taken place. Nor do I believe that there is no means of putting things back immediately onto a lawful footing, should the Government so choose. But of course, where there is no will, there is no way."

etc.
=================

The lack of response from the Lord Chancellor speaks volumes.

http://www.ukcolumn.org/ukcolumn-news/uk-column-news-constitutional-crisis-both-sides-atlantic-4th-november-2016 　

The Highland Investigation and Children`s Services

I`m placing this slide from the UK Column News [21 October 2016] out of context just in case people do not want to read any further:

There will be a meeting of the Highland Investigation at the Royal Highland Hotel, Station Square, Academy Street, Inverness on Wednesday 24 October 2016 at 7pm.  Anybody who is interested in helping the investigation or who wants to find out more is welcome. David Scott will be attending.

"Right," Mike Robinson begins: "To lead into David`s stuff mainly we`re just going to highlight this little article from Demos here:
Commissioning in Children`s Services - What Works? So Demos the think tank, what are they saying? They`re saying:"

"Despite significant policy attention and political action, looked after children and children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) remain some of the most vulnerable children in the country with their later life outcomes - social, educational and health related - remaining stubbornly poor. It is no coincidence that in Ofsted`s inspections of local authority children`s services departments from November 2015 to March 2016, three-quarters were given one of the two bottom ratings: `requires improvement` or `inadequate`. These failings have profound impacts on the lives of children and young people."

"Two sets of pressures are putting children`s services departments under considerable strain. First, demand for children`s social care is rising. Between 2008 and 2015, local authorities saw a 22 per cent rise in referrals and a 16 per cent increase in the number of children in care. - That statistic alone is spectacular Brian. - It is not only the volume of demand but the kind of demand that is exerting pressure: the needs of looked after children are becoming more complex, and the introduction of Education, Health and Care plans (EHCPs), although a positive move forward, require local authorities to think more creatively about how they will meet the needs of children with SEND."

"Of course, part of the problem there is that demand particularly for children with special educational needs is being driven by the fact that extra benefits are given and there`s pressure on parents to actually register their children as requiring special educational needs. And second they say local authorities are facing continued and severe cuts to their budgets. And so what do they go on to talk about ? They basically go on to talk about the privatisation of care in children`s services. And this is particularly dangerous of course because once that type of thing ends up in private hands we get even less oversight..."

Brian Gerrish joins in: "Well, of course, at the moment some of the most vulnerable children with multiple special needs are being looked after by private companies [because they] can be earning 230, 40, 50, 60 thousand pounds a year per child. So this is big money business." David Scott is asked what he thinks about that.

"Well all these things - when you`re dealing with a government that has coercive powers of taxation - so they`re taking money essentially at the pointy end of a bayonet and then that`s being distributed, not controlled in any way by the people for their collective benefit, but being siphoned off to well connected private interests. You have really the worst of both worlds. You have all the drive of the private sector but rather than being a drive towards satisfying customers, the customers, in fact, become a commodity and their only drive is to satisfy politicians. [It] is an invitation to corruption on a vast scale."

 

 

"Now let`s start here with the Inverness Courier. Now this is going back a few years, 2011. Janitor charged with showing indecent images to pupils. Now this is an introduction to the Highland Investigation and you had a number of articles here on this particular school. School janitor is placed on sex offenders` register - the fact that children were being shown indecent cartoons and this one from the Highland News saying: Bullied girl (9) tries to strangle herself with ties."

"This is one of the first areas we have been looking at in the Highland Investigation," explains David Scott. "And we`re putting this up here today just as an indication of the sort of information we`re seeing. We`ve got a huge amount of information coming forward and we hope to have more when we meet folk next week ... in Inverness..."

"Now Ardesier is a very interesting case: one small primary school and one example. The janitor, Mr Thomas Brown, he was the janitor at more than one school. He had been showing indecent images to children in Ardesier primary school playground but it was [after] his conduct at another primary school that he was [then] charged and convicted and put on the sex offenders` register. Now the parents at Ardesier found there was no investigation or even acknowledgement publicly for what he was doing in Ardesier primary. The whole thing seemed to be hushed up. So one of the themes we`re seeing at Highland is that problems, embarrassing incidents etc, rather than having the disinfectant of sunlight, are concealed and hushed up and there is no proper investigation."

David Scott says that the reason the Highland Investigation is going back a few years is because it takes in the period 2006 to 2009 which was the time of the trial of the Named Person scheme and the GIRFEC approach. He states: "So what was happening in Highland then is being rolled out across the whole of Scotland now."

"Now the second case you mentioned there which was also at the same primary... the girl there was being very badly bullied."

=============

"But the incident left several pupils at Ardersier Primary School traumatised, according to her mum, and Brooke has now been offered a place eight miles away at Croy Primary. But the family is still angry at education bosses who are now refusing to meet transport costs to her new school. Her mum Pauline MacGregor (36) told the Highland News: `The bullying had gone on for months and nothing was done about it despite us reporting it to the head teacher. We moved to the area in 2007 and Brooke was enrolled at Ardersier Primary. The bullying didn't start until March or April that year. It was incessant. One boy was the ring leader, but she has been targeted by both boys and girls in the class`..."

"The final straw for the family came two days before Brooke's ninth birthday when they say the youngster tried to kill herself in front of her classmates. When single mum Ms MacGregor went to school to collect her daughter, she said Brooke's teacher met her in the playground. `She was very upset. She was in tears when she told me what had happened. She said there had been an incident and explained Brooke had put a tie round her neck and was trying to choke herself.` Other pupils were standing around chanting `Go Brooke, go` and that's what alerted the teachers. `We were told her lips were blue and her teacher got a terrible shock. I just felt sick. You hear about young teenagers being driven to suicide by bullying but Brooke is only nine.`"

"Brooke's grandfather John Masson (63) said his granddaughter had no problems at her previous school before moving to Ardersier for family reasons. `We have letters from her previous head teacher describing her as a bright and happy child. But that changed since she came to Ardersier. She has some friends but now she is afraid to leave the house. We kept her off school for a few days after she tried to choke herself and the school gave her a support worker. But Brooke told us all she was asked was about her home life. She never got asked about the bullying`..."

"Education chiefs claim one of the boys accused of bullying Brooke has been excluded from the school, but Mr Masson insists that boy was not responsible for the bullying... The family have now been told a place has been found for Brooke at Croy Primary but because it is at their request they are responsible financially for her transport arrangements. Ms MacGregor is on benefits and is a carer for her father who has health problems. `We can't afford to get taxis to take her to school,` said Mr Masson. `The authorities seem to forget she is the victim here yet the boy who has caused this nightmare is still in school.` A Highland Council spokesperson said: `We cannot comment on any individual pupil's circumstances`..."

====================
 

David Scott does not actually read out the emboldened section but I think it is highly relevant since the Named Person pilot was on the go at the time. It looks more like the authorities were trying to find something `on` the family rather than dealing with the bullying.

Brian Gerrish is asked by David Scott if he would be interested to hear what Her Majesty`s Inspector of Schools had to say about the school just a few months after that incident.

"Well, of course, I would be extremely interested. I may suspect I know what`s coming."

"Well here we go: Now bear in mind the scene that`s just been painted there. This is what HMIE after a thorough examination of the school said: `Children behave well in and around the school. Most are confident the school will deal effectively with any incidents of bullying. Children feel safe and valued in school and know what to do if they have any concerns. Staff have a very positive relationship with children. They`re committed to the wellbeing and support of all children and have appropriate awareness of child protection issues`. So that gives you an idea about how much you can rely upon the government, upon the state, regulating itself. This is of course garbage."

Brian Gerrish agrees: "It`s a pattern we see across the country, wherever you go. If you try to expose there`s a failing within a public body, all that happens is there`s a closing of ranks and they defend themselves."

"There`s more to come on the story of that little girl but we`ll keep that for following weeks; but actually it gets worse, the way the family was treated subsequently by the Highland Council; it gets worse."
 

 

"Well the Scottish National Party seems to be having a problem with what? What are we talking about here? - references to the holocaust?"

"Well possibly the worst judged political stunt in the history of political stunts," David Scott thinks. "And this is the very famous Brain family. You will appreciate that we all know that the Scottish government will not get involved in individual cases, except of course when they do, and they`ve got hugely involved in this case. It`s obviously been in their political interests to do so. The Brain family faced deportation having contravened the requirements of their visa. The Home Office in London it would seem was actually being quite lenient with them and trying to find a compromise but this was seized on by the Scottish National Party, made into a political issue."

"And in came Mr Brain to the Scottish National Party conference. Now bear in mind Nicola Sturgeon doesn`t get involved in individual cases. Here he is on the stage at the Scottish National Party conference and he`s wearing a little badge... memories of the holocaust. It`s yellow and it`s a diamond in this case with the letter `F` on it which he explains stands for foreigner... So it`s not subtle but I`m sure you see what they`re trying to do in terms of painting the British state as evil and themselves as good..."

"Here you have a family actually being fairly well treated over a fairly minor dispute over a visa and that`s the metaphor you go to. It`s crass; it`s embarrassing and it cheapens the political language and it coarsens the political language as well because everyone goes running around calling everyone else a Nazi and all of a sudden you don`t have any sort of exchange of ideas or examination of the facts... Mental activity closes down and it becomes simply a matter of abuse and grandstanding, which this was."

The Docherty family

"Now these points David I think we consider them in relation to the failure of the Scottish state to do anything to protect the Docherty family. As far as I know there`s no communications with the family. Can you give us a sort of update and also say what if anything Nippy Sturgeon has been doing to help the Dochertys."

"She`s done nothing to help the Dochertys. She may have been doing quite a lot to harm the Dochertys; we`re not quite sure because obviously it`s all secret; but certainly nothing to help. Now we haven`t heard from the Dochertys for three weeks. We`re getting very concerned about their safety; whether they are... ok and breathing the free air of Ireland, or not. We don`t know."

"It illustrates ... here you had a family who`ve had their four children violently seized... without any lawful excuse by a foreign state; Nicola Sturgeon does nothing. We have one family who has a minor dispute over a visa application and Nicola Sturgeon puts them on the stage at the party conference. She takes part... She leads a standing ovation as they walk on to the stage... "

"Can you imagine the impact which she could have had in the Docherty case? With that degree of power, with that degree of media attention, with that degree of focus on her; she could have stopped the Docherty case right now. She could have sorted it because if she had brought Brian and Janice Docherty on to the stage in that way, what would have happened? I tell you this, their kids would have been back very quickly... It`s almost certainly the case that the mere threat of doing that would have seen all of the government agencies involved resolve this situation."

"But she will not move; she will not act. She will not act in order to make sure that entities charged with behaving in a lawful manner are doing their job; and that`s the very excuse she`s given for acting in individual cases in the past."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFa-cav8-BM

Northern Exposure and the Highland Council open investigation

On Friday`s UK Column News [30 September 2016] it was reported that Brian Gerrish and Mike Robinson had had an extremely successful meet-up in Dunblane, Scotland, with David Scott from Northern Exposure and many people who had come together to express their concerns about what they saw happening politically both in Scotland and the rest of the UK.  David Scott was thanked for putting the event together and asked what sort of feedback he had received following the meeting.

In answer, Scott said that he thought it was the start of something bigger. They had already planned their next meet-up. " I`d also like to thank everybody who dug deep for the Dochertys. We had a collection that raised nearly £400 on the night and there`s been other monies coming in via the UK Column from the south. So that will be enormously helpful for them. And we`ll get that to them as soon as we can."

"Last week you highlighted the launch of the Highland Investigation because you wanted to investigate Highland Council and how it is treating Highlanders," Mike Robinson prompted Scott. "And you sent this to us this morning which is some of the feedback that you`ve had on that already, and this looks pretty harrowing. "

"It certainly is... " It reads:

"I was a foster carer for the Highland Council Inverness for two years. I witnessed a female social worker sexually abuse a 10 year old boy in the local Liddles` car park who was in my care. When I reported it, it was five years of hell for me as well as the child. I was accused of being a liar and worse by social services."

"Highland Council, SSSC, child protection, and as for the Scottish parliament and Highland police force, it was one big cover-up. Coppers on the shop floor were not happy but the investigation was stopped from very high up with no explanation. I had my name removed from the authorised carers list and blacklisted from being a foster carer as SS Inverness threatened me if I didn`t drop the allegation."

"And their excuse for getting rid of me; they claim I didn`t pass on information and I wasn`t seen as a team player. Highland social services need looking into: why are they protecting staff that have a history of abusing children and why are they being protected by police and Scottish ministers?"

Mike Robinson pointed out that if people freeze the screen at this point in the news, that one of the things they`re going to read is that somebody is saying that they know that the child concerned, who is now an adult, now has issues including self harm.

"So clearly.. .long term damage being done there," says Robinson.

"Absolutely. And another ... thing, the child concerned, whilst a child said: `Don`t report this to the police. If you report this to the police, I`ll be taken away from you. You`ll never see me again and it will be worse for both of us.`  So the child, despite being a child in the system, knew the score. And the score is: don`t complain; don`t look for justice or it will go badly for you."
=============

Northern Exposure are planning their next meet-up on the last Wednesday in October in Inverness. One of the themes they see recurring is that parents feel they are being targets; parents feel they are being viewed as the enemy by Highland Council.

The email address for communicating with the Highland Council investigation was put on the screen.

"Anybody working for Highland Council who wants to pass on information; anybody who has been on the receiving end of Highland Council, that`s the contact email address."

 Email nothern_exposure@hushmail.com ...