'Trainspotter' faces terrorism charges

Probably just an enthusiast, although not a smart one to be doing that kind of stuff in Ireland, which unless it is a double bluff, would tend to indicate that he is a bit thick rather than malicious.

We all know that since you could mix up a passable version of napalm with nothing more sophisticated than soap flakes and petrol, anyone who buys soap from a petrol station shop whilst filling up their car, could be accused of gathering materials suitable for a terrorist action. Practically every house in the land has what could be called 'bomb making equipment' if one chooses to see it that way, which was in fact always a favourite accusation to level at terrorists in the 70s in the UK if they had so much as a saucepan in the cupboard in which you could mix stuff up. The authorities really need to prove evil intent with that guy and not just cite the action of gathering the stuff as a reason to go all LA Law on the feller, and unless the guy happens to be on Facebook all the time with a host of Sinn Féin or Red Brigade buddies clicking 'like' every time he writes something and has a few pounds of Semtex-H stored under his floorboards, then unlike with napalm bombs, the authorities might have a hard time getting their charges to stick.

What he did wasn't exactly the act of a rocket scientist, but it doesn't make him The Jackal, and really, as we've seen in America with how much the Homeland Security acts have restricted freedoms, when you start going for people in that way because of paranoia and fear, then you are letting the terrorists win. We should remember that this is in fact why people who really do that stuff are called 'terrorists'.

Al
 
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Not sure the Red Brigade or Sinn Féin would point to anyone being involved in terrorism these days, one being Italian and the other a political party.

Think this is the original story from earlier this year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-16760464

As you can see, the authorities don't have a problem making things stick, the defendant having been in custody since January. I would imagine if he is a genuine trainspotter, there will be numerous train drivers, guards and station staff who will be familiar with him as the railway network here is very small, as is the trainspotting community. I would hope that someone in those groups would be able to corroborate the defence claim.

I've seen numerous threads here about railfanners (I think that's the US term) being arrested or harassed for being on or around railways. It doesn't say much for the security at the army base if the guy in question has amassed a large amount of vehicle data though!
 
Worth noting that being remanded in custody is not the same as making a charge stick, they have done so with that guy as a precautionary measure to prevent him continuing his actions on the basis that if it is malicious, they would want to curtail it, but that doesn't mean the charge has stuck, there is a big difference between that kind of custody and a custodial sentence following prosecution. Also note that he is apparently not a trainspotter in the literal sense, trainspotter on this occasion is being used as an adjective for 'nerdy' activity, so it isn't very likely that the railway enthusiast community will be able to be of any assistance in proving his innocence, which is why his defence should concentrate on forcing the prosecution to prove he had malicious intent, rather than him having to prove his innocence.

The trouble with living in a relatively free democracy, is that the very thing that makes it what it is, also makes it easy for people to breach security and transgress both laws and, as is probably the case here, common sense too. So you can't really blame the base security for not spotting it for a while, as it is difficult to detect someone in a window with a telephoto lens unless you are actively looking for that. Stay far enough back from the window itself, and you are basically using the same technique which snipers utilise to avoid being pinpointed, where they shoot through a window from well within the room, or even so far back from the window that they are shooting through an internal doorway from an adjacent room. Unlike with snipers, with no muzzle flash or smoke or dust kick-up (which good snipers prevent by wetting the floor in front of their muzzle - handy to know if you ever decide to flip out and become a clocktower sniper one day LOL), a camera shot with fast ISO setting and no flash is unlikely to reveal your position.

Anyway, whatever happens, it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Al
 
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I noticed this case in a newspaper. The odd thing is why he should be as alleged taking pictures at an army base entrance and licence numbers. Neither are anything to do with trainspotting and gives them a dodgy name (!). Maybe he has problems but surely a rather silly thing to do if you are normal?

In my present defatigable and crawling build of the modern day rail scene in Ulster, I have taken notes near rail lines but they were remote and especially on an 18 mile branch which is being kept for the future but unused except for driver training. There was obviously no-one about in a rural and espeically tree area and even trying to get near one closed station was impossible due to bushes, trees, etc!. In more obvious places, I would if at a station speak to someone and explain what I was doing and had an ID with me which as it happened never needed. Each time I received a warm return and often help. Most times I have been using Google and Bing as I live in Glasgow but there have been times when I went over the water for a break and rail recce re my Trainz that I took the odd picture. If there were staff I would make a point of a chat first.

Maybe this man has health problems but whatever it is, not the sensible thing to do when there are still terrorists floating about doing stupid things. If he is not being nefarious I do hope that he will get suitable health and general advice on such matters. At least when I do get back over my health problems are physical rather than grey cells so I start from a reasonable basis.......
 
Well, taking numbers is traditionally what train and plane spotters do, so there is at least a vague connection, and any sort of vague connection is suitable fodder for good old journalese, otherwise known as lazy/crap writing. Personally, where crap journalism is concerned, I'm awaiting the onomastic traumas Daily Mail sports sub editors will experience when a British Tennis hopeful crops up with a name that begins with a Z or a Y or some other unusual consonant, meaning they won't be able to alliterate the name with that little grass hill at Wimbedon that all those sad middle England mums sit on whilst they cheer on the latest sub-par Brit grass court player. I can see the scene in those newsrooms now as they sweat over InDesign with the deadline ticking nearer... 'I've got it, what about Polanski Promontary?'

Of course the difference between photographing choo choo trains and jimbo the jet plane, and scribbling down their numbers in a notebook, as opposed to noting down the numbers and times of vehicles entering a military base, is that most airports have a spectator area, and most railway stations have signs up which actually say that photography is allowed, but recommend that you let the station staff know that you are doing it. And since both aeroplanes and trains run to scheduled times, and there are books about with all those fleets listed, there's really no harm in noting such info, whereas noting the arrival schedules of military vehicles is the kind of thing partisans who are planning a mortar attack tend to do. Thus if you try that at the entrance to Stirling Lines, it should come as no surprise that some squaddy will likely point his L-85 at you and either tell you to 'piss off' if you are lucky, or more likely cock the thing and yell 'get on the ground NOW!'.

If it can be shown in a believable way that the guy really was unaware that such a thing was likely to be the result of what he was doing, then a jury really will believe he is retarded, so his defence pretty much hinges on his brief proving that he is a moron. And let's face it, the average person thinks train spotters are morons, so you can kind of understand the defence lawyer wanting the press to go with that label, and he or she may in fact have encouraged the use of the term with the court reporters in exchange for a press release. And that's another thing lazy journos and subs love - press releases - since all they tend to do is simply paraphrase them a little, and occasionally even type them in verbatim.

Al
 
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pfx said:
I sense a little pent-up anger...
Click to expand...

Nah, it's just that I used to work as a writer for a UK daily paper, and over ten years of doing that is more than enough to become very familiar with the nuances of the printed media and all that goes on, so I know how most journos work. Frankly, the only thing I would unreservedly believe with any degree of certainly that I read in a newspaper, is the date on the front page, and I'd check that twice LOL

Al
 
Working in a legislative assembly with politicians of a near baby-like level of intellect, I can see where your cynicism comes from. I am subjected to institutional mediocrity on a daily basis on many fronts.
 
Well you should try having worked in the media for twenty-plus years and having a dad who was a politician and who was the mayor of my home town if you want to know how bent things can get LOL

Al
 
Working in the education field for 22 years and dealing with head teachers, guidance staff, parents (dear oh dear!) I constantly came across repetitiveness, ignorance, fractious people, confrontations and such. However through it all kept my head and avoided getting too flaked out, angry or irked.

As for politicans, pfx has a point and seems to go with many of them in the job. Of course there will on the law of averages be sensible folk but on the occasional times I have watched these Assemblies, I mentally groan at the often blandness and mentality of it all. If enough feel like a dictatorship I will make myself available as a benign dictator........
 
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