Arrested for "conspiring to....."

So i've read stories day in day out about this that and the other, who're taken to court for conspiring to do xy and z.

here's a case from todays news

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8233964.stm

i'm not sure if it's just us, although probably not, and probably directly as a result of 9/11. but how fucked up is that!

so much for freedom of speach, when you can get arrested for talking about something controversial. if i want to talk about blowing up my old school "indoor pool" (a tent over the old pool i kid you not, against all students and parents wishes) then i will damned well talk about blowing up the school pool.

in the same way, while these kids are a little weird, how the hell are they in court for discussing something. if the police catch wind of it as they did, then they moniter the kids, not put them in the dock.

imagine being arrested for simply talking about making acid and such like has been done on the forums etc. (cannabis does fund terrorism after all, so you never know :O)

so what are your takes on this? do you think it's a steaming pile of poooooooooooooooo, or are you happy to get "serious" with plotters soas to avoid a tragedy?

Yeah I don't think they should have been arrested then and there. But I think that it would be plenty to wire the shit out of their homes and keep a 24 hour survailence on them until they started to collect the things to follow though with it, then nail them to the wall.

But to do it before anything was close to a crime is wrong.

It's good to see you back in the mix and posting again hanimmal.

While there certainly are felonies like conspiracy to commit murder and the like, I think they should have monitored them and let them buy guns or make explosives to a point that the evidence was inarguable. The problem with waiting is that they could possibly kill an innocent or themselves while preparing for the actual attack. Then the police would be condemned for not acting with the knowledge they had. It's a fine line for these guys.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8234670.stm

and another. sigh. i apreciate that it's a fine line, politically and budgetary etc, but bah!

what does conspiring actually refere to? just general knowledge of a criminal plan? that's mad. surely if you "tweeted" as you do, 15 minutes before a robbery, saying what and where it was all going down etc, did your stuff, got outta there, surely everyone logged as reading that tweet and not calling the police (cou/ntry dependant ) would be considered as "conspiring"

yer I just heard this on the news! inspired by the us high school murders, mental.

It's good to see you back in the mix and posting again hanimmal.

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Thanks man, I have been posting on the main forum, but I just don't have much to offer!

the 9/11 attacks happened in the US, and this story is from England.

How are the two possibly related?

Conspiring to commit a crime is a crime in itself. It's not a new development, not by a longshot.

Seriously, were the police supposed to wait until they actually blew up a school to arrest them?

Ever heard of a prostitution sting? Do you think they let the johns have sex with the undercover cop before they arrest them?

but they at least wait until money changes hands before they arrest prosti's.

I think this is too fine a line. It would depend on the evidence they have for me. It doesn't really have too much specific in it to make a good judgment for me, it would be better to nab them when they were buying the stuff.

In the USA, conspiracy is the easiest to prove and is used as a last ditch effort to convict someone.
What ever the original charge is, they also always toss in conspiracy. If they can't prove you did anything, and there is no evidence you were going to do anything...all they need to do is convince the jury you were thinking about it with another person.

E.g. two people talk about robbing a bank. All talk mind you, but if someone gets wind of it BEFORE ANYTHING IS DONE TO SHOW THE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO FOLLOW THROUGH, and can convince a jury they were making plans to do something...That is conspiracy to do what ever.

It's a bottom feeding prosecutors charge that has the least amount of proof needed to show.

If a group of kids talk about shooting out all the windows at school with a sling shot, and someone has a sling shot, they are screwed for conspiracy even if they never took any actions to do what they were planning.

Its a catch 22. Do something before they act, and it is said it was all just talk. Don't do something and they do it, you being asked why no one took action.

doobnVA said:

the 9/11 attacks happened in the US, and this story is from England.

How are the two possibly related?

Conspiring to commit a crime is a crime in itself. It's not a new development, not by a longshot.

Seriously, were the police supposed to wait until they actually blew up a school to arrest them?

Ever heard of a prostitution sting? Do you think they let the johns have sex with the undercover cop before they arrest them?

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in that case i don't know quite how long i should be locked up for.......

i understand your point, it's just very very uncoooooolll!!!!!

and with regards to 9/11, you think that just affected you? tony blair was bush's little bitch, our security went awol. and after the tubes, arrrrrrrrr. a friedn of mine came down from just outside london, through padington, with a shuttle in a shuttle branded bag, he was searched 3 times in paddington alone..

tip top toker said:

in that case i don't know quite how long i should be locked up for.......

i understand your point, it's just very very uncoooooolll!!!!!

and with regards to 9/11, you think that just affected you? tony blair was bush's little bitch, our security went awol. and after the tubes, arrrrrrrrr. a friedn of mine came down from just outside london, through padington, with a shuttle in a shuttle branded bag, he was searched 3 times in paddington alone..

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OH, sorry, I forgot about Tony Blair. I must have repressed that painful memory.

Wasn't it England though where those subway (?) bombers and bus bombers blew the crap out of the underground and city buses?

Just sayin.