Shannon’s stepfather and child porn!!

What an awful development… Shannon Matthews’ stepdad, Craig Meehan was today charged with 11 counts of possessing indecent images of children.  In total, he’s alleged to have had 140 child porn pictures stored on computers at home.

This comes in addition to Shannon’s mother being charged for child neglect and perverting the course of justice in connection with Shannon’s disappearance last month.  And Meehan’s mother Alice, and her daughters Amanda Hyatt and Caroline Meehan, were also arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

There’s been no suggestion that Shannon was in any of her stepdad’s pictures, nor that Meehan has abused her.  But it’s extremely disturbing that the girl has been living with an alleged pedophile. Add to this the suggestion that her family were all in some way involved in a conspiracy around her kidnap… the possibilities are stomach-churning.

Thank the stars that the police put Shannon into care rather than return her to her parents.

Medicinal marijuana – and why the hell not?!

The Liberal Democrats are predictably liberal in their stance on cannabis.  But I was surprised, and pleased, to discover that even the Conservatives are in favour of legalizing medicinal marijuana – David Cameron has said that he’d be “relaxed” about legalization if there was evidence of cannabis’ clinical efficacy. But the bloody Labour Party won’t go for it.

Not too long ago, things looked more hopeful. Mo Mowlam, the former cabinet minister in Blair’s government who died in 2005, supported the campaign to legalize cannabis for medical use; the Home Office started to investigate whether cannabis was medicinally beneficial, but that hasn’t gone anywhere – and now the government is strictly anti-cannabis, harping on about its “dangers” and pushing for it to be made a Class B drug again. There has been development of a “cannabis-based” pill for sufferers of multiple sclerosis… but the damn thing contains no THC, the Puritan authorities don’t want anyone to get high, and THC is very likely the active ingredient that makes cannabis a beneficial drug.  So the pill doesn’t work.  Idiots.

What really pisses me off is the fact that even the USA, the most anti-drug nation in the world, accepts that marijuana is an effective medicine.  Okay, so the federal government is anti-cannabis still; but a great many states have medicinal marijuana policies. Laws that legalize growing and/or possessing medical marijuana are in place in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon,  Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Twelve states have medical marijuana research laws, and only fifteen states have never had a positive medical marijuana law.

MS and glaucoma sufferers get great relief when they use cannabis.  Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy find that dope eases their otherwise debilitating nausea. AIDS, epilepsy, depression, chronic pain, are all ameliorated to some extent.  So why won’t the UK government legalize medicinal marijuana? Why are patients in Britain forced to live in fear of prison?

SUPPORT THE LEGALIZATION OF MEDICINAL MARIJUANA!! CHECK OUT THE CAMPAIGN TO LEGALIZE CANNABIS ASSOCIATION AND THE  “BUD BUDDIES” MARIJUANA COOPERATIVE FOR THE SICK.

Shannon Kidnap Faked! Mom Arrested!

Well, well!! It seems that Shannon Matthews wasn’t really kidnapped at all… her mother, Karen Matthews, has been arrested – apparently after admitting to police that she knew where her daughter was hidden all along!!

Matthews, aged 32, is charged with child neglect and perverting the course of justice. Serious stuff.

In case you didn’t hear about this case at the time, here’s a recap: Shannon Matthews, aged 9, vanished on 19 February and was found 24 days later after one of the largest missing person hunts ever conducted by West Yorkshire Police. She was found hidden under a bed at the home of a relative, Michael Donovan. (He’s the uncle of Shannon’s stepfather.)

Craig Meehan’s sister, Amanda Hyett (Shannon’s step-aunt), and his mother, Alice Meehan (Shannon’s step-grandmother) have also been arrested in connection with this: Ms Hyett was questioned “on suspicion of assisting an offender”, and Ms Meehan was arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice. Both women were released on police bail.

This complicated case has got me baffled. It looks like Karen Matthews faked her daughter’s kidnap. But if it was a fake, how come Michael Donovan is still facing charges of kidnap and false imprisonment? Surely the police can’t have it both ways?!

As to why this crazy business happened: since Madeleine McCann disappeared in Portugal, her parents have accrued quite a lot of money. Did Karen Matthews think she too could make some cash if her daughter went missing?

I can remember Matthews making appeals on the TV for her daughter’s safe return. And her fellow inmates in prison will also remember it. I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes right now!! Oww!!