A landlady of a Welsh pub gets fined £300 for displaying home-made smoking signs, instead of the official pattern. As we remarked yesterday, this sort of stupidity has been going on a long time – and as with Leighton-Morris, the villain of the story is the idiot magistrate, who did not throw the case out of court.
It is this sort of official stupidity which brings the law into disrepute. It triggers "red mist syndrome", inviting retaliation totally out of proportion to the action. But for the restraint that we learn in order to join what is laughingly called civilised society, one could cheerfully do murder.
Arguably, back in 1940, someone would have stepped in and sorted it out ... or not. Today, there is no chance. What the fools who rule over us do not realise though is that the effect of such incidents is cumulative. And one of these days, we will see "last straw syndrome".
Interestingly, a number of people have suggested to me that, had Breivik lined up and slaughtered a gang of petty officials, he would have been a national hero. Hell, his fame and approval would have been international. The official in Wales who pulled this stunt must have been tired of living.
Funnily enough, the pub is called the "Judge and Jury", in Colwyn Bay. There must be a message there.
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