"A gun and a knife were later found in the car." Convenient that.

I'm sorry, but murder is murder is murder - and that's murder. Once you let something like this slide, what next, shooting teenage joyriders? Drunks causing public nuisance? People without lights on their bikes? Yeah, they're all annoying and dangerous - but punishable by death? This isn't 2000AD, and I don't recall Judge Dredd becoming the standard model for law enforcement.

But if they're happy to shoot at 'dangerous drivers', how come nobody shot at a car barreling through a closed off town centre, through a large crowd, killing six bystanders, on a collision course with the royal family on Queen's Day?

This was trigger-happy cops causing havoc - lock them up. Being a police officer does not place one above the law - if anything they should be held to a higher standard, since they're apparently making sure the rest of us behave. So much for public service.

By Stephen | May 4, 2009 4:18 PM

I agree, this is murder, the Dutch are acting like the Germans did 60 years ago, I hope those sick policemen can sleep at night for killing a human being in cold blood. And they escape without punishment, no surprise in this day and age when people are treated like cattle by the established order.

By Truth | May 4, 2009 6:14 PM

Finally, we see some police officers being able to do what they should be able to do which is enforce the law and the criminals better beware! It's about time with all of the armed home invasions, punks beating up elderly...

By bet | May 4, 2009 7:59 PM

I wonder if the first two comments by Stephen and Truth is based on actually knowing any facts and details about the case? Have they read the reports, listened to witnesses so that Stephen can doubt that the weapons were not in the car but planted (as spouted by Stephen).

I certainly would have much more faith and trust in the trained law and legal professionals than glib comments from posters on these very serious issues.

By Solkhar | May 5, 2009 12:45 AM

Cheers Solkhar, you're right, I am paranoid - and probably glib, too - and that's not necessarily a good thing, although I like to think of it as hyperbole (a literary device used for emphasis). And don't forget, I'm not making public policy and don't have access to firearms - nor would I wish to have. If ever there was a place for such comments it's here.

The gun was found 'later' - not necessarily planted (except perhaps in my conspiracy dreams) but not the reason the police opened fire - so why the firepower? Instant justice might be appealing to some, but I believe there's a thing called due process which exists even in this post-9/11 world which is there to protect us all. And don't forget, miscarriages of justice occur even when full jury proceedings, etc, have been followed - people get things wrong all the time. Even professionals, believe it or not. I don't think you should be putting that much faith in fallible human beings reacting to events in the heat of the moment. Being from Belfast, in my distant past, I am very skeptical of the efficacy of a police force with guns, as it is never just criminals with weapons who stand to suffer - in fact, they're usually OK because they had guns - but society as a whole. Tooled up crooks are a tiny minority of transgressors, but their numbers increase in direct relation to the number of armed police - talk about a vicious circle. That's not to say armed response is never applicable, of course. There will always be violent nuts out there who need dealt with, but it should never become policy to add the police to their ranks.

Your comment, along with bet's, gives me the heebie-jeebies, but does help explain why these same trusted law enforcement professionals are able to stop and search random individuals on the street without anyone batting an eyelid. (This happened recently to my partner on Damrak, along with many others simply trying to get from A to B - she hardly fits the profile for violent criminal, although that doesn't seem to be what they were after, since they were stopping anyone and everyone.) What should we expect if dissent is dismissed as being 'spouted' and 'glib'?

My point is that if we let things like this slide where will it stop? How long before there's a Dutch Jean Charles de Menezes? Or internment? This is about bigger issues than a dead car thief.

By Stephen | May 5, 2009 5:44 PM