That is indeed the question of the moment. My HB & I have just come back from four days at my big sister’s place at Amberly Beach. There are only about 80 houses
there and a wonderful wild and stony beach that stretches all the way back to Christchurch on one end and the outlying peninsula on the other.
Each morning I went down to the beach for a walk along the stony beach, then over the road to walk back through the marshland walkway and pine forest. Each day, I was the only person on the beach. For that time it was my beach, alone.
It was magnificent. Such solitude speaks to my soul and my heart. Nature seeps into places that I avoid, most of the time - the deep pockets of grief and anger that bubble away all of the time, like a dormant volcano. I find I can’t hide, when confronted by nature on the scale of such a wild and deserted beach. It becomes a journey of it’s own. At first I peek into the abyss, then find I am able to take a step forward, to feel the roughness of the stones, the cold wet of the sea. My emotions and thoughts walk step in step with this process of nature and take me to a place of insight and strength. A clarity of thought which again gives me back my voice, well at least my ability to write. My written words are my power. I have returned energized and focused on my writing.
Day one at home: a morning walk in Auckland, sucking in the carbon dioxide emissions from passing cars, and walking up a hill so that I can get at least some sense of expansion. A glimpse of the city-scape. I can see the sky tower, (who can’t!), the monument on one tree hill and a bit of the sea. It is not the same but I focus on being appreciative of what it has to offer, of my place, our haven home, in this landscape.
A trip to the movies, still maintaining the sense of calm and focus, until some idiot (and I am being kind here!) screams into the back of our car while we are stopped at a red light. He works for an insurance company ha ha!!
Two days on: My darling little car, which I love, may cost more to repair than it is worth. I am still waiting on the final verdict from the assessor. I will be devastated if it is not salvageable, after all how much can it cost to fix a caved in boot and two sets of lights sticking out like floppy dog ears? I will have to wait and see.
I had to venture into the city, Auckland city itself this afternoon. Back into the hustle and bustle, of the full of traffic with fuckwits and idiots everywhere. I worked even harder to maintain my sense of calmness in the face of all of this and while driving the complete pile of shit POS, that is the courtesy car from the panel beaters. It was so courteous that it allowed me to put air in the tyres, which were nearly all flat, brush the cobweb off the side mirror and clean the windscreen. It has a red light, he said, that will come on, on the dash. I am not to worry about it, just ignore it. I didn’t tell him I was Ms ultra calm at the moment, so that’s what I will do – ignore it. He did tell me if anything happened to it while I had it, this pile of shit, that there was $750 excess!! Now that is funny. If I was a pessimist and not so calm, I would not even take it out of driveway. Then again I don’t wish to push my luck, maybe I will wait for the call from the assessor before I venture out in the POS again.
At the end of this second day home, the recluse debate is still just that. We could, my HB and I, run away to the Beach, even to that particular Beach. We could live quite comfortably in a small batch/crib and manage our income to suit this change. There would be some costs greater than here, like heating in the middle of winter. They even had snow at the beach last year. But it would be running away and I think a temporary reprieve. I think instead, I/we will continue to at least dip our toes into the big city life. It is after all where my darling FBS, SBS & his SH dwell. It is where we have a tight and loving group of amazing friends, our second whanau. There are many things yet to evolve in the lives of my loved ones and I like being in the same city at least. That’s how it is at present.
Three days on: Good news, my car is fixable!! Yay!
I am venturing out to the plant shop shortly and will come back and spend some time in the spring sun which is shining brightly today. There are also two pairs of Tuis who sing their beautiful solitary, three note call to each other. It is magnificent and it is all in my own back yard. Yay again!
Second piece of good news: My gardening efforts were rewarded by the finding of a special ring I lost three weeks ago, gardening!! It was my last task for the day transplanting a lavender shrub, as I struggled to get its unwieldy shape into the container, I looked down and there it was. The ring, restored now to its rightful finger. Yay again.!!
Arohanui
KG
XX
27/11/2009
28/09/2009
7/7 Conspiracy Theorists
Here it is September already. The year has flown by at a great rate. Winter is on the turn and hints of spring flash out from the blossom trees in the street, the roses starting to bud and best of all, our avocado tree is flowering!!
The tree was a present from SBS & his SH, the first Christmas we spent in this, our new home. He said it took at least 7 years to bear fruit and that meant we had to stay here, for at least that long. It is a slow process, tree growing. He need have no fear that we would move; this home is it for us. There will not be another move.
FBS, SBS & his SH and her dog, have moved in together into a lovely old villa in Central Auckland. It is a great home for them, plenty of room and good grounds for the dog to run around. It is also within walking distance to all their places of work. I can now pop in and see all of them at once, and it makes catching up that much easier. We all work shift work and it is a matter of some planning for us all to be in the same place at the same time, but it sure is worth it.
I have been thinking, as I frequently do, of the process of grief. I watched the 9/11 programme that held the voice messages of loved ones to their families. These were grueling to listen too as most of them knew they would not make it. The protocols of the dying and of those left behind, means that there is no preferable way to come to the end of a loving relationship. Many of those who spoke, took comfort from hearing the voice of their loved one. For me, it was the panic of unanswered messages to her cell phone, of hearing her voice on the recorded message, saying, to leave a message and she would get back to me. She never did of course, and that was the point that it really sank in, that I might never hear from her again.
I kept ringing her cell phone, even after we had returned to Auckland, just to hear her voice. I am not sure where her phone was, maybe in amongst the thousand of items collected by the police investigators; I don’t know. I just know that I rang it and she spoke. I knew it would end sometime, but it was horrific when I rang it maybe some 6 months after the event, and got the standard message that this number is either out of range or no longer available.
Update 28/09: Last night on the “Sunday” programme they ran a story about the 7/7 Conspiracy theorists. These are people who firmly believe that the 7/7 bombings were undertaking by the British Government. The story they ran was from a British documentary, which we knew had screened prior to7/7 this year. It was not available over here at the time and it was sheer chance that we happened to catch it on TV last night, one of the benefits of channel surfing I guess.
I have to say my blood was boiling through most of the programme. It wasn’t until the final segment, when they exposed the stupidity of the conspiraloons that I managed to calm down. These people are complete nutters with an agenda of proving themselves right. They don’t have all the information and are not directly involved in the situation. They are driven by some kind of desire to show that governments lie and deceive all the time and their own egomaniacal personalities.
Personally I find their actions despicable. They don’t care about the dead and injured from such events. They don’t care about logic or facts. They embarked on an active hate and threat campaign against Rachel North, one of the most amazing young women I have met in my life. She was also on the programme and as usual, spoke with a voice of reason.
Perhaps the most worrying effect of these fuckwits, is that the Muslim community in London, or should I say some of the Muslim community, believe everything they say. This may of course have to do with such crap putting them in the role of victim as opposed to aggressors. It was horrifying to hear a Muslim leader at the Birmingham Mosque say the things that he did say.
From the minute Shelley’s Dad and I set foot in London on 9/9/2005, we were briefed by the head of the security services. We had frequent meetings with them over this time. These men were devastated by this act of terror and there is no way they would have been able to be as they were, if they had been party to this act of terror.
On my return to London on the first anniversary, my HB & I meet with the same officials at Scotland Yard. They showed us information that is not generally available to the wider public, and were also still restrained by what they could reveal to us, due to the upcoming trials relating to 7/7.
One of the stories the conspiraloons keep saying is that the bombs were underneath the trains and the 4 Muslim men were patsies, set up by the secret service. Don’t ask me how.
I saw photographic evidence of the impact of the bombs. The belief that the explosion was underneath the carriage is based on the fact the floor of the carriage appeared to have exploded upwards and inwards. The facts are, the bombs were exploded on the trains, by these young men. Due to the location of the Kings Cross train, at the time, the bomb exploded internally then due to the confined space, a secondary blast occurred as the fallout had no where else to go. For these fuckwits to keep opening their mouths with such drivel is not only extremely disrespectful but also shows them to be more idiotic than we already know them to be.
The survivors and the forensic investigations have pieced together the real story of the 7/7 bombings. Those who need to know, know the facts. Nothing anyone else can say will change these truths. It would be great if these idiots just shut the fuck up and let those involved try to keep on building their lives, as best they can.
Kia kaha,
KGX
The tree was a present from SBS & his SH, the first Christmas we spent in this, our new home. He said it took at least 7 years to bear fruit and that meant we had to stay here, for at least that long. It is a slow process, tree growing. He need have no fear that we would move; this home is it for us. There will not be another move.
FBS, SBS & his SH and her dog, have moved in together into a lovely old villa in Central Auckland. It is a great home for them, plenty of room and good grounds for the dog to run around. It is also within walking distance to all their places of work. I can now pop in and see all of them at once, and it makes catching up that much easier. We all work shift work and it is a matter of some planning for us all to be in the same place at the same time, but it sure is worth it.
I have been thinking, as I frequently do, of the process of grief. I watched the 9/11 programme that held the voice messages of loved ones to their families. These were grueling to listen too as most of them knew they would not make it. The protocols of the dying and of those left behind, means that there is no preferable way to come to the end of a loving relationship. Many of those who spoke, took comfort from hearing the voice of their loved one. For me, it was the panic of unanswered messages to her cell phone, of hearing her voice on the recorded message, saying, to leave a message and she would get back to me. She never did of course, and that was the point that it really sank in, that I might never hear from her again.
I kept ringing her cell phone, even after we had returned to Auckland, just to hear her voice. I am not sure where her phone was, maybe in amongst the thousand of items collected by the police investigators; I don’t know. I just know that I rang it and she spoke. I knew it would end sometime, but it was horrific when I rang it maybe some 6 months after the event, and got the standard message that this number is either out of range or no longer available.
Update 28/09: Last night on the “Sunday” programme they ran a story about the 7/7 Conspiracy theorists. These are people who firmly believe that the 7/7 bombings were undertaking by the British Government. The story they ran was from a British documentary, which we knew had screened prior to7/7 this year. It was not available over here at the time and it was sheer chance that we happened to catch it on TV last night, one of the benefits of channel surfing I guess.
I have to say my blood was boiling through most of the programme. It wasn’t until the final segment, when they exposed the stupidity of the conspiraloons that I managed to calm down. These people are complete nutters with an agenda of proving themselves right. They don’t have all the information and are not directly involved in the situation. They are driven by some kind of desire to show that governments lie and deceive all the time and their own egomaniacal personalities.
Personally I find their actions despicable. They don’t care about the dead and injured from such events. They don’t care about logic or facts. They embarked on an active hate and threat campaign against Rachel North, one of the most amazing young women I have met in my life. She was also on the programme and as usual, spoke with a voice of reason.
Perhaps the most worrying effect of these fuckwits, is that the Muslim community in London, or should I say some of the Muslim community, believe everything they say. This may of course have to do with such crap putting them in the role of victim as opposed to aggressors. It was horrifying to hear a Muslim leader at the Birmingham Mosque say the things that he did say.
From the minute Shelley’s Dad and I set foot in London on 9/9/2005, we were briefed by the head of the security services. We had frequent meetings with them over this time. These men were devastated by this act of terror and there is no way they would have been able to be as they were, if they had been party to this act of terror.
On my return to London on the first anniversary, my HB & I meet with the same officials at Scotland Yard. They showed us information that is not generally available to the wider public, and were also still restrained by what they could reveal to us, due to the upcoming trials relating to 7/7.
One of the stories the conspiraloons keep saying is that the bombs were underneath the trains and the 4 Muslim men were patsies, set up by the secret service. Don’t ask me how.
I saw photographic evidence of the impact of the bombs. The belief that the explosion was underneath the carriage is based on the fact the floor of the carriage appeared to have exploded upwards and inwards. The facts are, the bombs were exploded on the trains, by these young men. Due to the location of the Kings Cross train, at the time, the bomb exploded internally then due to the confined space, a secondary blast occurred as the fallout had no where else to go. For these fuckwits to keep opening their mouths with such drivel is not only extremely disrespectful but also shows them to be more idiotic than we already know them to be.
The survivors and the forensic investigations have pieced together the real story of the 7/7 bombings. Those who need to know, know the facts. Nothing anyone else can say will change these truths. It would be great if these idiots just shut the fuck up and let those involved try to keep on building their lives, as best they can.
Kia kaha,
KGX
12/07/2009
London Bombings Inquiry
There is progress ahead in the push for an inquiry into 7/7. Rachel North has a detailed update on her blogsite http://www.rachelnorthlondon.blogspot.com/ entry Wednesday July 08, 2009.
I have supported this move, not because it will change anything for me, or my family, but because there are questions to be asked and answered, if we hope to successfully avoid further incidents, such as 7/7.
The series of investigations so far, come to the conclusion, that given the way the Intelligence Services work, given the funding and staffing resources they have, other than hindsight, there was little else they could do to counter the plans of the four successful suicide bombers.
This may or may not be the case, and hindsight, as we all know plays little part in analyzing such brutal events. Yes, maybe they could have put the pieces together better, maybe they should have been aware of the intensity and purpose of these four suspects and their alleged, though proven not guilty conspirators (Operation Theseus Trial).
Changes have been made, both to way the Security and Intelligence services work together and the way the Emergency Response services work together. This is all good and hopefully, will lead to a more co-ordinated, speedier response to multiple scene events and overwhelming numbers of those requiring assistance. I hope so.
This does not devalue the point of a full Ministerial Inquiry. There are such matters as the delineation of policed areas and the lack of the sharing of information. This is horrific to me and completely nonsensical. Why do the powers that be not view the whole country as one and set up data bases that make readily accessible all the tit bits of information about various individuals? Is it a matter of guarding your own power base? I am certainly left wondering how logic does not win this argument.
I would like to see a fair and just system that does not take away the rights of the individual but also does not squander information and render useless, the purpose of the Security and Intelligence services.
The use of torture abhors me, and I have already made comment about George W Bush, having the audacity to claim the support of families of the 7/7 dead and injured, to prop up disgusting practice.
17/02/2008 Pukekochic
As for Bush – I can’t believe he has used the 7/7 London bombings to prop up his support and justification for the torture process of “waterboarding”. How dare he use any of my family to prop up his argument. I do not condone torture nor do I appreciate his stating that he is sure families of the 7/7 victims would endorse or support this practice. He hasn’t even called me to ask me!! That’s is partly what I mean about media, making hay out of every possible scenario without any thought to the sensibilities of those he is invoking. Absolute rubbish and a disgrace. I was going to email him but thought the SIS may descend on my paradise and throw me into a bath of water!! Coward I know but I really prefer showers. Maybe he will read this and send me an apology. Ha ha.
If we are calling this, the war on terror, then surely the tennents of the Geneva Convention and justice should prevail. Persons should be detained in humane settings, faced with evidence and the right to defend themselves judicially speaking, and deal with the consequences. The processes should be transparent, not clandestine nor should they add to, man’s inhumanity to man.
Rendition should not be enacted in anyone’s name.
Enough said for now.
Arohanui
KG
XX
I have supported this move, not because it will change anything for me, or my family, but because there are questions to be asked and answered, if we hope to successfully avoid further incidents, such as 7/7.
The series of investigations so far, come to the conclusion, that given the way the Intelligence Services work, given the funding and staffing resources they have, other than hindsight, there was little else they could do to counter the plans of the four successful suicide bombers.
This may or may not be the case, and hindsight, as we all know plays little part in analyzing such brutal events. Yes, maybe they could have put the pieces together better, maybe they should have been aware of the intensity and purpose of these four suspects and their alleged, though proven not guilty conspirators (Operation Theseus Trial).
Changes have been made, both to way the Security and Intelligence services work together and the way the Emergency Response services work together. This is all good and hopefully, will lead to a more co-ordinated, speedier response to multiple scene events and overwhelming numbers of those requiring assistance. I hope so.
This does not devalue the point of a full Ministerial Inquiry. There are such matters as the delineation of policed areas and the lack of the sharing of information. This is horrific to me and completely nonsensical. Why do the powers that be not view the whole country as one and set up data bases that make readily accessible all the tit bits of information about various individuals? Is it a matter of guarding your own power base? I am certainly left wondering how logic does not win this argument.
I would like to see a fair and just system that does not take away the rights of the individual but also does not squander information and render useless, the purpose of the Security and Intelligence services.
The use of torture abhors me, and I have already made comment about George W Bush, having the audacity to claim the support of families of the 7/7 dead and injured, to prop up disgusting practice.
17/02/2008 Pukekochic
As for Bush – I can’t believe he has used the 7/7 London bombings to prop up his support and justification for the torture process of “waterboarding”. How dare he use any of my family to prop up his argument. I do not condone torture nor do I appreciate his stating that he is sure families of the 7/7 victims would endorse or support this practice. He hasn’t even called me to ask me!! That’s is partly what I mean about media, making hay out of every possible scenario without any thought to the sensibilities of those he is invoking. Absolute rubbish and a disgrace. I was going to email him but thought the SIS may descend on my paradise and throw me into a bath of water!! Coward I know but I really prefer showers. Maybe he will read this and send me an apology. Ha ha.
If we are calling this, the war on terror, then surely the tennents of the Geneva Convention and justice should prevail. Persons should be detained in humane settings, faced with evidence and the right to defend themselves judicially speaking, and deal with the consequences. The processes should be transparent, not clandestine nor should they add to, man’s inhumanity to man.
Rendition should not be enacted in anyone’s name.
Enough said for now.
Arohanui
KG
XX
7/07/2009
Shelley 7/7 2009
Shelley,
I look in the mirror
and see a person
that may be me
she
looks like me
somewhat older
working on being thinner
an ex drinker
(ah but still a smoker
well I am not a saint!)
I do not understand
who I am anymore
part of my soul
has been ripped out
by your murder
I think
maybe
you have
a piece of my soul
with your soul
maybe
it is something you
can wrap around yourself
and know
you are loved
it is a comfort
I will think of it like that
I can live with that
in my half shadow world
with a piece missing
XX always
I look in the mirror
and see a person
that may be me
she
looks like me
somewhat older
working on being thinner
an ex drinker
(ah but still a smoker
well I am not a saint!)
I do not understand
who I am anymore
part of my soul
has been ripped out
by your murder
I think
maybe
you have
a piece of my soul
with your soul
maybe
it is something you
can wrap around yourself
and know
you are loved
it is a comfort
I will think of it like that
I can live with that
in my half shadow world
with a piece missing
XX always
7/7 Fourth Anniversary
The 7th July dawns in NZ, one day ahead of London.
Today, we will huddle, as Shelley’s small family, linked by the love and friendships
Shelley created on her life’s journey.
Tomorrow in London, at the Hyde Park unveiling, an amazing group of people will stand, in Shelley’s name, to honour Shelley and all those murdered on 7/7.
I could not be more proud or humbled by the love shared and displayed.
My thoughts and love are will all those present, and of course, with all the families of the 51 murdered and the hundreds of survivors and injured.
The special friends we have made, will know who they are, and are in our hearts today as always.
Much love
Kia kaha
KG
XX
20/06/2009
Interlude
I bet you didn’t even know we had left the country! Well we are back now, my HB & I. We had 10 days in Oz, and no, we aren’t oinking or sniffling with the swine flu. We just made it out of there before their somewhat lax procedures got a wake up call and they realized that, yes, there is a problem.
We were in Brisbane about the time the debacle over the cruise ship passengers took place. Thankfully they were sent out to quarantine off shore til we departed the country.
It was a time for family catch up in both Perth & Brisbane and suffice to say it was fantastic with plenty of stories to be told. We went for my best friend’s son’s wedding. Well second wedding ceremony to be exact. The first one was up in Karijini, which is in the middle of nowhere but spectacular. The second celebration was for the slightly less adventurous family members, and was held at a surf club in Perth. It was wonderful to be able to share in this celebration. In Brisbane we had a family reunion, with my two sisters and partners. One lives in Brisbane and the other one who had come from Christchurch for the weekend. We also caught up with Shelley’s dear friend J in Brisbane, and that is, as always, very special.
Before we left NZ there was much to organize for the 7/7 Fourth Anniversary this year when an amazing steel structure will be unveiled in Hyde Park. There are 52 columns representing all those murdered on that day. There will be a plaque with names on, in a garden by the sculpture. It is designed so that you can walk around, between the towers. I think it will give an incredible sense of the individual and collective number of loved ones lost. We will get to stand there but not this year.
Through no actions on mine, and again through the amazing network of friends Shelley made, I deputized our wonderful LM and he undertook to be our man in London. He has since got a list of names of about a dozen friends who will be standing in that place on the 7th July. The govt department organizing the event has been incredibly helpful and so real in their communications with myself, and now our Man in London. If there is a sensitive and caring way to do these things, they sure have got that sussed.
There are not sufficient words to express how incredible and true this amazing group is. They were there for us from the morning of the 7th, when they knew Shelley had not got to work. They drove all over London, to all the hospitals looking for her, giving her photo to policemen on the street. They were by our sides from the minute her dad and I got to London on the 9th and have stood with us ever since.
Many of them will reunite on the 7th along with two of our Auckland friends who happen to be in London, and who were there for the 1st Anniversay and our two amazing Police Liaison Officers, who we now count as friends.
On the home front, the winter has set in. We have had 2degrees at night and thick white frosts in the morning. My two hibiscus plants look like cooked spinach and I am hoping they will revive in the spring.
We were in Brisbane about the time the debacle over the cruise ship passengers took place. Thankfully they were sent out to quarantine off shore til we departed the country.
It was a time for family catch up in both Perth & Brisbane and suffice to say it was fantastic with plenty of stories to be told. We went for my best friend’s son’s wedding. Well second wedding ceremony to be exact. The first one was up in Karijini, which is in the middle of nowhere but spectacular. The second celebration was for the slightly less adventurous family members, and was held at a surf club in Perth. It was wonderful to be able to share in this celebration. In Brisbane we had a family reunion, with my two sisters and partners. One lives in Brisbane and the other one who had come from Christchurch for the weekend. We also caught up with Shelley’s dear friend J in Brisbane, and that is, as always, very special.
Before we left NZ there was much to organize for the 7/7 Fourth Anniversary this year when an amazing steel structure will be unveiled in Hyde Park. There are 52 columns representing all those murdered on that day. There will be a plaque with names on, in a garden by the sculpture. It is designed so that you can walk around, between the towers. I think it will give an incredible sense of the individual and collective number of loved ones lost. We will get to stand there but not this year.
Through no actions on mine, and again through the amazing network of friends Shelley made, I deputized our wonderful LM and he undertook to be our man in London. He has since got a list of names of about a dozen friends who will be standing in that place on the 7th July. The govt department organizing the event has been incredibly helpful and so real in their communications with myself, and now our Man in London. If there is a sensitive and caring way to do these things, they sure have got that sussed.
There are not sufficient words to express how incredible and true this amazing group is. They were there for us from the morning of the 7th, when they knew Shelley had not got to work. They drove all over London, to all the hospitals looking for her, giving her photo to policemen on the street. They were by our sides from the minute her dad and I got to London on the 9th and have stood with us ever since.
Many of them will reunite on the 7th along with two of our Auckland friends who happen to be in London, and who were there for the 1st Anniversay and our two amazing Police Liaison Officers, who we now count as friends.
On the home front, the winter has set in. We have had 2degrees at night and thick white frosts in the morning. My two hibiscus plants look like cooked spinach and I am hoping they will revive in the spring.
SBS & his SH and their dog are staying with us for a while. They came to house sit and then get sorted to find a new flat closer to their work places. It is lovely having a full house. It is hilarious trying to keep up with the comings and goings as all for of us, (excluding the dog!) work shift work. It is the funniest household; there is usually someone sleeping, someone cooking and someone heading off to work. We have totally confused any prospective burglars, which can’t be bad.
FBS is also wanting to move out of his work/home so he will become part of the new set up once they find a house that they all three, plus the dog, like. FBS will keep working at the same place, but the time for living and working there has now past. It will be great for them to be all together.
Today is the first of my four days off and I am feeling energetic and looking forward to getting some things done around the house and to do some more writing.
There is a lot going on in my head, believe it or not!! I hope to be able to sift through the murk and get some focus for my writing.
Keep well, keep strong,
Arohanui
KG
XX
3/05/2009
Terrorist Trial London Bombings
There is a second trial happening in London, for three men Waheed Ali, 25, Sadeer Saleem, 28, and Mohammed Shakil, 32, all of Beeston, Leeds. The first trial ended with a hung jury. These three men are charged with “consipiracy to cause an explosion.” The jury had been told that Ali, Saleem, and Shakil, visited a series of locations on December 16 and 17, 2004, which bore a "striking similarity" to where the bombs were detonated on July 7 the following year.
Suicide bombers Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shezhad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay detonated rucksack devices packed with explosives on three tube trains and a bus killing 52 people (including my daughter, Shelley), and injuring up to a thousand more.
The trial heard that the three defendants travelled from Leeds to London with Hussain, who later detonated his bomb on the No 30 bus in Tavistock Square claiming 13 lives.
There they also met Jermaine Lindsay, who killed 26 people on a Piccadilly Line underground train, and the group stayed overnight in a hostel. The prosecution alleged that the trip was "an essential preparatory step in the plan to bring death and destruction to the heart of the UK".
The jury in the second trial, retired to consider the information on April 18th. We are all waiting with baited breath, for their decision.
It is an agonising process for those bereaved families, and those who survived the bombings. A “hung jury”, is perhaps the worst outcome possible. If these men, were involved in any way, then they should be held accountable. If they are not, that should be the end of it.
The impact of the trial is manyfold, in that the inquests into the deaths cannot proceed until the trial is completed, which includes the jury being able to make a decision.
It also puts on hold, calls for an inquiry in the 7/7 bombings and the actions or inactions of the Security Services. The reason for this is that some information is said to be sub judice.
There has been a tremendous amount of work undertaken by members of the 7/7 Inquiry Group made up of survivors and families of the bereaved.
I do not know if these men are guilty or not. I do know that there are some serious flaws in the actions/inactions of those groups charged with monitoring the potential threat to Londoners.
It is well documented that the 7/7 bombers where not in fact “clean skins” as first claimed by the powers that be. In fact there was video survelliance of them long before 7/7. Taped conversations and observations which, you would think, should have raised a few alarm bells.
The drive and determination to get some answers, is from a place of ensuring that no such errors, if that is what they are, occur again. That the separate groups monitoring persons perceived to be threats, communicate with each other; that pre-emptive actions be taken.
That no other persons have to go through what the bereaved families and survivors have gone through – especially if it could have been prevented.
UPDATE: April 28, 2009: The jury is back and all three were acquited of the main charges “conspiracy to cause an explostion. Two Ali and Shakil, were however, convicted of conspiracty to attend a place used for terrorist training. They were about to board a flight to Pakistan when they were arrested in 2007.
So four years on, two trials later and the result is in. There will be no more trials in relation to the 7/7 bombings.
I am not sure what I think as a result of all this, The police must have been confident to undertake a second trial, at such huge expense in money terms and resources. They may have hoped for a more certain outcome, though it seems lots of the evidence is circumstantial. On reading some of it, as a lay person, there is still sufficient doubt in my mind about the reasons they went to the places they did, the association they had with the bombers, that I am not fully convinced their intentions were innocent. However, that is that.
It is not unreasonable for me to say, that I am at least glad the terrorists who detonated the bombs, killed themselves. That is what they wanted to do so I guess they are satisfied.
I will wait for my thoughts to settle before adding any more.
Arohanui
KG
XX
Suicide bombers Mohammed Siddique Khan, Shezhad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain and Jermaine Lindsay detonated rucksack devices packed with explosives on three tube trains and a bus killing 52 people (including my daughter, Shelley), and injuring up to a thousand more.
The trial heard that the three defendants travelled from Leeds to London with Hussain, who later detonated his bomb on the No 30 bus in Tavistock Square claiming 13 lives.
There they also met Jermaine Lindsay, who killed 26 people on a Piccadilly Line underground train, and the group stayed overnight in a hostel. The prosecution alleged that the trip was "an essential preparatory step in the plan to bring death and destruction to the heart of the UK".
The jury in the second trial, retired to consider the information on April 18th. We are all waiting with baited breath, for their decision.
It is an agonising process for those bereaved families, and those who survived the bombings. A “hung jury”, is perhaps the worst outcome possible. If these men, were involved in any way, then they should be held accountable. If they are not, that should be the end of it.
The impact of the trial is manyfold, in that the inquests into the deaths cannot proceed until the trial is completed, which includes the jury being able to make a decision.
It also puts on hold, calls for an inquiry in the 7/7 bombings and the actions or inactions of the Security Services. The reason for this is that some information is said to be sub judice.
There has been a tremendous amount of work undertaken by members of the 7/7 Inquiry Group made up of survivors and families of the bereaved.
I do not know if these men are guilty or not. I do know that there are some serious flaws in the actions/inactions of those groups charged with monitoring the potential threat to Londoners.
It is well documented that the 7/7 bombers where not in fact “clean skins” as first claimed by the powers that be. In fact there was video survelliance of them long before 7/7. Taped conversations and observations which, you would think, should have raised a few alarm bells.
The drive and determination to get some answers, is from a place of ensuring that no such errors, if that is what they are, occur again. That the separate groups monitoring persons perceived to be threats, communicate with each other; that pre-emptive actions be taken.
That no other persons have to go through what the bereaved families and survivors have gone through – especially if it could have been prevented.
UPDATE: April 28, 2009: The jury is back and all three were acquited of the main charges “conspiracy to cause an explostion. Two Ali and Shakil, were however, convicted of conspiracty to attend a place used for terrorist training. They were about to board a flight to Pakistan when they were arrested in 2007.
So four years on, two trials later and the result is in. There will be no more trials in relation to the 7/7 bombings.
I am not sure what I think as a result of all this, The police must have been confident to undertake a second trial, at such huge expense in money terms and resources. They may have hoped for a more certain outcome, though it seems lots of the evidence is circumstantial. On reading some of it, as a lay person, there is still sufficient doubt in my mind about the reasons they went to the places they did, the association they had with the bombers, that I am not fully convinced their intentions were innocent. However, that is that.
It is not unreasonable for me to say, that I am at least glad the terrorists who detonated the bombs, killed themselves. That is what they wanted to do so I guess they are satisfied.
I will wait for my thoughts to settle before adding any more.
Arohanui
KG
XX
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