Rochdale Labour Councillor's Son Along With Five Others Released Without Charge.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32367055

Now there's a surprise, at least the children should be taken into care, especially as it seems it is happening once again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11548109/Slough-family-of-six-feared-to-be-travelling-to-Syria.html

Why can't they all be charged with wasting police time?

[jackthehat]

People can only be charged with breaking specific laws. If there are no specific British laws that this group of people have broken, of course, they have to be released without charge.

Taking children into care because you disapprove of the fact that the parents are raising them to be 'good muslims' (a contentious point, I agree) then that is the start of a very slippery slope.

It is people who 'initiate', or at least, frustrate Police investigations who are generally charged with wasting Police time.

[icecreamicecream]

Why the hell are we stopping these people from going to Syria.Surely we will be saving a lot of benefits money?...Uh-uh,i forgot while they are dying for their 72 virgins they will still be getting their dole money from this stupid government.

[douglas9401]

I suppose one reason is that the police are wasting their own time in chasing about after folk deemed to be holidaying suspiciously.

[sandyRoe]

I'm sure they'd have wanted to avoid the police. So in this instance it was the police who were wasting their own time

[anotheoldgit]

/// He said the primary concern was the "safety and welfare" of the children, and efforts were being made to ensure a "full safeguarding strategy" was in place upon their return. ///

/// Gail Hopper, director of children's services at Rochdale Borough Council, said the authority was "aware of the situation" and co-operating with police. ///

These quotes from a report when they went missing, now they are back in the UK, with no charges to face, what about the children, or is all forgiven?

[sandyRoe]

Parents in Rochdale might wonder if the local social services were best placed to offer a full safeguarding strategy.

[icecreamicecream]

Nah,the children will be ok,Sandy.The muslim paedophiles only target non-Islamic kiddies.

[Gromit]

Presumably they have been released because they have not broken any laws.

// Why can't they all be charged with wasting police time? //

I don't suppose they asked to be arrested. I don't suppose they asked for the bad publicity and blackening of their reputations. If the British Police want to waste their own time and resources that isn't the family's fault.

// Now there's a surprise //

Not sure what you are inferring by that. You expected them to be released? Why?

[New Judge]

In my view there is absolutely no way on earth that anybody is going to be convicted of an offence by going to Syria. Just a couple of years ago the government was actually considering sending UK troops to the area to assist the very people who have now turned out to be the "baddies". This was part of our support of the "Arab Spring" and the futile belief that democracy could just be installed in the Middle East like one installs a washine machine.

It demonstrates quite clearly that Western governments should not interfere in matters they know little or nothing about and in which they have no reason to become involved. How anyone can expect to convict somebody for doing something the government itself had considered doing just a short time ago beggars belief.

[Gromit]

// Just a couple of years ago the government was actually considering sending UK troops to the area to assist the very people who have now turned out to be the "baddies". //

Is that a polite way of saying William Hague wanted us to fight side by side withe ISIS?.

// considering //

They were more than 'considering'. The went to Parliament to seek approval for fighting on the side of ISIS. It was only Miliband and the Labour Party who went against a 200 year convention of the opposition supporting the Government on military matters, otherwise we would have removed Assad and ISIS would have won.

[youngmafbog]

Whichever way you want to put it, it is correct though Gromot. Governments, of all persuasions, need to keep their noses out of things they dont understand.

We should be assisting these people into Syria/Islamic State; after they have denounced their British citizenship.

Bringing them back is plain ridiculous, now they are likely to be a threat to this country, with more pent up rage against the West due to being arrested.

[New Judge]

Yes maybe I did not put it strongly enough, Gromit, but the jist of my argument is the same. And as youngmaf points out, none of this had anything to do with the UK, and few people in the UK (including all the diplomats and assorted "experts") had any idea what was really going on, who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. Any reasonably sane person would not have even voiced an opinion let alone sought permission for military intervention. And that just about sums up the quality of our politicians and Whitehall mandarins.

[sp1814]

AOG

1. 'Now there's a surprise'

What? Why?

2. Which children need to be taken into care?

3. What criteria should people be charged with wasting police time? Are you talking about the people who have been arrested and released?

I think that might be a bit of a dangerous position to take. Imagine - you're arrested for burglary and after a short investigation, the police discovere that you are completely innocent, but then then you're arrested for wasting police time.

Is that what you're suggesting, or something else?