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Drones over Gatwick


defender
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Apparently Sussex Police are "REALLY SORRY" for the upset they caused the wrongly arrested couple!

 

From the Metro article linked to above

"But it appears the ‘significant line of inquiry’ has not given detectives the fresh lead they were hoping for. Chief constable Giles York confirmed the drones have been ruled out from their inquiries. Mr York told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme police have searched 26 potential launch sites for drones near the airport but do not believe they have found the drone responsible for the disruption. ‘I don’t think we have found the drone responsible for this at this time,’ he said. ‘I think the fact that we have found two drones so far as a result of this does show the extent of the search that has been carried out. I am led to believe that we are able to rules those drones out of this investigation at this time.’ Mr York said he was ‘absolutely certain that there was a drone flying throughout the period that the airport was closed’. A police source said officers trawled through the National Fingerprint Database, which contains information on thousands of criminals, eco-protesters and terrorists. But they reportedly found no match. ‘The fingerprints found on that drone belong to a clean skin – someone unknown to the police,’ the source told MailOnline. Fingerprints from the broken drone (not pictured) ‘didn’t match any known criminals’ (Picture: Rex Features) The source added: ‘It’s a blow because police we were hoping this may give them a new lead in the case.’ Police received 115 reports of sightings in the area, including 92 which have been confirmed as coming from ‘credible people’, Mr York said. He told the BBC: ‘Of course, we will have launched our own Sussex Police drones at the time with a view to investigate, with a view to engage, with a view to survey the area looking for the drone, so there could be some level of confusion there.’ Officers have been criticised over the arrest of a middle-aged couple who were questioned and kept in custody for more than 24 hours, only for them to be released without charge. Paul Gait and wife Elaine Kirk-Gait have since asked for privacy after saying they were ‘deeply distressed’ by their experience. Paul said he felt ‘completely violated’ as he spoke outside his home last week.  ‘Our home has been searched and our privacy and identity completely exposed,’ he said. ‘Our names, photos and other personal information has been broadcast throughout the world. ‘We are deeply distressed as are our family and friends and we are currently receiving medical care.’ Mr York said he was ‘really sorry’ for the couple, but remains ‘convinced’ the grounds for arrest were ‘well founded’. The Chief Constable said: ‘I’m really sorry for what he has experienced and the feeling of violation around it. The couple say they are ‘deeply distressed’ ‘I am really sorry for what he went through, but the reason why we held him was so that we could dispel everything in the first instance. What might have been worse as an experience for him would have been to be released under investigation still. ‘We are able to exhaust all our lines of inquiry on that first instance and, however hard it is, able to release him from police custody saying he is no longer a suspect in this line of inquiry. ‘That’s why we took the time – in order to allow him the best opportunity to put his life back on the rails.’  There have been calls from furious politicians for the Metropolitan Police to take the reins from Sussex Police. John Woodcock MP told the Daily Telegraph: ‘This whole sorry episode shows why we need a nationally agreed and understood robust procedure for dealing with incidents like this. There may be a case for a different police force.’ Lord Harris added: ‘Clearly if you treated it like a terrorist threat, the Metropolitan Police would have been leading the operation.’"

 

 

Edited by TIGHTCHOKE
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On 27/12/2018 at 11:57, panoma1 said:

The police seem to have evolved into a politically led organisation, which values those that fit their diversity (tokenism) agenda, have a degree level education, no common sense but are politically aware over proper thief takers! They only ever seem to catch those who are "grassed up" by others, or those their cameras catch, such as motorists speeding! Or those that are caught red handed!

They are fast losing any credibility with the public.....certainly their treatment of gun owners and gun licensing is seen by most of their "customers" as a disgraceful example of mendacity, deliberate delays and the police making up law to suit themselves, rather than enforcing it!

I see that Cressida "Richard" has today jumped on the political anti Brexit bandwagon by stating that the public will be more at risk from crime if we leave the EU....well I got news for her.....it's her job to keep the public safe, that is what she and her colleagues are paid to do! But because of her and her colleagues overarching politically correct agenda and because of it their lack of ability to properly protect the public, we are already at risk, and if her lot can't protect the people from criminals after Brexit.......the people may well feel compelled to protect themselves!

 

 

 

Well said! 

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8 hours ago, Rewulf said:

That was a good investigation then. A week to dust it for prints then find they didn't know who's prints they were. What did they really expect to find? A name and address label? 

That's if they found anything at all, which I doubt. 

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2 hours ago, walshie said:

That was a good investigation then. A week to dust it for prints then find they didn't know who's prints they were. What did they really expect to find? A name and address label? 

That's if they found anything at all, which I doubt. 

I know what you mean, how long do prints last outdoors anyway ?

How long has the drone been there ?

 

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7 hours ago, Rewulf said:

I know what you mean, how long do prints last outdoors anyway ?

How long has the drone been there ?

 

I suppose it depends on the weather, but was it even a drone? Could have been a dumped washing machine for all we know. Or it could have been completely made up so it looked like the police were doing something instead of sitting there baffled. Like the cyclist (if there was one) most probably changing a puncture, but the eyewitness imagined the 3ft diameter spoked thing to be a drone in all the hysteria. 

7 hours ago, Mighty Ruler said:

On the BBC news earlier they said there was no video of the drones but there’s a BBC YouTube video of it. Is it just generic film of a drone, for those of us who don’t know what a drone looks like because without an explanation it ma as well be called fake.

There were certainly no photos. Not one. Every one on the news was a stock photo which is ludicrous. "The video" didn't convince me one bit it was anything other than a bird, and even if it was a drone there was no timestamp on the video or anything to suggest where it was taken. Now to say there wasn't a video at all makes all concerned look even more stupid. 

Fake news. 

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1 hour ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Oh I quite agree, not helped by the irresponsible press and media reporting.

That would be just the normal bias of making everything worse than it really is, all information has the bias of the sponsor. Mostly here a negative impact.

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20 hours ago, panoma1 said:

News today, they have removed the drone buster tech from Gatwick airport?

 

23 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

That is because they have bought their own system.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46754489

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