DAN MCDOUGALL
Sat 29 Jan 2005
SPECIALLY selected police officers from all eight Scottish constabularies have been trained to use controversial plastic-bullet guns in order to cope with possible crowd violence during the G8 summit at Gleneagles in July.
The Scotsman has learned that officers will be sanctioned to use the weapons, which have been widely criticised by human rights groups.
It is understood that officers armed with the baton-round guns will be on standby around the site of the summit itself and in all major population centres, particularly Edinburgh, where the authorities are expecting large-scale protests that could involve tens of thousands of demonstrators.
Last night Brian Powrie, chief superintendent of Tayside Police, who is in charge of the G8 planning operation, said: "The use of baton rounds by police officers is one of a range of less lethal options currently available, in certain circumstances, as a proportionate and necessary response throughout the UK."
Frances Curran, the West of Scotland Scottish Socialist MSP, yesterday lodged a motion calling for clarification over the use of rubber bullets and baton rounds by Scottish police forces, claiming people could come under siege in their own country as a result of the weapons.
Last September all Scottish police forces brought in baton guns to be used by specialist firearms officers, although a single round has yet to be fired. The ammunition, known as baton rounds, uses a plastic compound which is shaped into a blunt projectile. The baton rounds can still cause fatal wounds if they strike a person’s head or chest area.
Comments
Hide the following 9 comments
Good! Best news I have heard all day
31.01.2005 10:48
Labour party member
rubber bullets KILL
31.01.2005 16:44
Rubber bullets in N.Ireland
Rubber bullet victims of rubber bullets in N. Ireland
NB most of them are kids
took em 25 years but now rubber bullets come to the mailland
welcome to the real world Scotland England and Wales
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Labour Party member or fash kettle cord lover?
31.01.2005 20:38
Dan
Rhetoric
31.01.2005 23:39
So just to backtrack on the mantra of the war loving, tony blair kissing, environment destroying labour party member - 'the g8 is good for africa'? Well the G8 has been around since the mid 1970s, and since then Africa has seen its proportion of the worlds wealth diminish rapidly. If the G8 really cared about Africa then it wouldn't be in the state it is in today. It also wouldn't turn a blind eye to African dictatorships that happen to be friendly to the UK administration; or lend money for arms to impoverished countries.
Oh, and caring about Africa means caring about equality too in one way or another: and I think we all know that Blair's government has done nothing to address inequalities at home either - seeing as they have increased over his period in government. Oh and caring about Africa and equality also means caring about the environment, but here we have a government that blindly walks the plank towards ecological catastrophe, with the mere muttering of concern and talk of 'carbon trading' which does nothing to tackle the root causes of ecological catastrophe - capitalisms constant need to secure ever more more of the earths resources for the profit of the few.
The sooner Blair and his war criminal friends are out the better. Putting a sock into the mouths of idiotic supporters is perhaps one of the most enjoyable reasons for doing it. See you at Gleneagles!
Krop
Relatives for justice? Be honest you are republican propagandists!
01.02.2005 00:04
Paul
sticks and stones
01.02.2005 07:33
fucks sake, have we forgotten that its our duty to protest whilst the elite im their tax havens, perpetually pillage and exploit the world over. until the g8 nations acccept responsibility for the ills facing society created by this capitalistic bulshit there will be hundreds of thousands on the streets. they cant shoot all of us. fear is their game. love is ours. oppression is their byword, freedom is in our hearts. Transformation is inevitable, our passion for freedom is stronger than any prison. Land thieves will be dealt with by Gaia
nature hates a vacuum.
You can stop the party, but you cant stop the future.
A quarian
its an Aquarian ting
rockhard
I said petrol bombs and acid not stones
01.02.2005 10:09
Paul
Paul the bigot
01.02.2005 18:52
nb the first bomb to go off in N. Ireland was detonated by loyalists in 1968 fact
how do u explain that ?
i wont defend the ira but yr fucking murderous british army have killed more innocents along with the prodestant paramilitarys
so fuck you views what you doing here anyway fuck off
bigot
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it's so bigoted to point out there's 2 sides to every story isn't it!
01.02.2005 22:06
Paul