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It's a tale of two Britains.
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It → see → Britains
On the one hand, two law-abiding, hard-working, much-loved and selfless members of their community, of the kind that make up the backbone of our society.
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that → abide → society
On the other, a bunch of feral, arrogant, reckless thugs, a menace to themselves and others who spread terror and chaos and destroy everything in their path.
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who → spread → path
The death of two serving police officers, PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matt Blades, 37, after their patrol car collided with a stolen VW Passat driving the wrong way on the A66 places these two very different worlds into stark contrast.
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car → serve → contrast
Despite their tender ages, the five occupants of the stolen car – 17-year-old Cole Worthy, Theo Rae, also 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Jakub Matusiak, 23, and Michael Cahill, 23 – who also died in the crash, had a string of previous convictions between them.
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who → steal → them
They ranged from driving without a licence or insurance and driving while using a mobile phone to shoplifting, assaulting a police officer, possession of cannabis, possession of a knife in a public place and vehicle theft.
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They → range → place
By contrast, their victims had led exemplary lives.
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victims → lead → lives
PC Clough, described by his friends and family as a 'superhero' with a cheeky wit, spent his entire adult life in public service, starting with a stint in the Army, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, before joining the police and excelling in a variety of specialist roles.
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Clough → describe → roles
PC Blades was a much-loved English teacher in Darlington before joining the police, where he was part of Cleveland Police's elite armed response unit.
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he → love → unit
He also volunteered as a football coach at the club where his two young sons played.
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sons → volunteer → club
Flares were set off at a 'vigil' for the five youths, where they roared around on motorbikes and quad bikes in a field in Middlesbrough, close to the scene of the crash
PC
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they → set → crash
Tom Clough, 38, died after his patrol car collided with a stolen VW Passat driving the wrong way on the A66
PC
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car → die → A66
Matt Blades, 37, was also killed.
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Blades → kill → ?
He was part of Cleveland Police's elite armed response unit and also volunteered as a football coach at the club where his two young sons played
Seventeen people have so far been arrested in connection with the fatal crash, including a 16-year-old boy, a 55-year-old on suspicion of assisting an offender and a 23-year-old accused of making threats to kill.
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people → volunteer → threats
There are now also suspicions that the whole thing was gang-related, with the stolen car chasing a rival gang as part of a violent feud between criminal networks in Teesside.
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car → be → Teesside
I'll probably get into trouble for saying this, but I don't care, I'm going to say it anyway.
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I → get → it
When I read the horrific details of this story, I have to admit the shocking thought that crossed my mind: I'm not sad those thugs are dead.
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thugs → read → mind
I only wish that in destroying their own lives they hadn't also destroyed those of two officers: two kind, brave men whose names scarcely deserve to be spoken in the same sentence.
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names → wish → sentence
As to the obnoxious throngs of balaclava-clad youths, many too cowardly to show their faces, who set off flares and fireworks at a 'vigil' (it was more like a riot) for the five on Monday, roaring around on motorbikes and quad bikes in a field in Middlesbrough close to the scene of the crash, they're just as bad.
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they → clothe → crash
But the very fact that these people feel they can so brazenly idolise known criminals and potential gang members goes to the heart of the problem.
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they → feel → problem
You would have thought they would want to keep their heads down, what with a police investigation in full swing.
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they → think → swing
They know they have nothing really to fear from the police or, for that matter, any other authority.
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they → know → matter
They know that their actions won't have any real consequences.
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actions → know → consequences
Because they don't.
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they → do → ?
A police force hamstrung by decades of incompetence and political correctness, in which a few exemplary individuals such as PCs Clough and Blades strive to do their jobs under huge pressure and against the odds.
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individuals → hamstring → odds
A political class more worried about diversity than law and order, and far too willing to dance to the tune of the liberal intelligentsia, who have no concept of what front-line policing actually entails.
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policing → dance → what
A justice system that has no real teeth when it comes to dealing with systemic criminality of this kind – and nowhere to put the knuckleheads anyway, if they do by some miracle manage to secure a conviction.
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they → have → conviction
And a culture – fuelled by social media and embedded generation after generation via TV, film and popular music – that encourages, rewards and lionises moral degradation and casual violence.
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that → fuel → degradation
Is it any wonder these kids think they are above the law?
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they → think → law
The killing of 28-year-old PC Andrew Harper, the newlywed young officer who responded to a report of a burglary involving a stolen quad bike one fatal night in August 2019, is a case in point.
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who → respond → point
As he tried to apprehend the suspects – Henry Long, Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole – his foot became entangled in their getaway vehicle's tow-rope.
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foot → try → rope
He died from catastrophic injuries after they dragged him down a country road.
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they → die → road
PC Andrew Harper was days away from heading off on honeymoon with his wife Lissie when he died from catastrophic injuries after a getaway vehicle dragged him down a country road
PC
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vehicle → head → road
Harper was just days away from heading off on honeymoon with his wife Lissie.
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Harper → head → wife
Characteristically, he had just come off duty when the 999 call came through and stayed behind to help.
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call → come → duty
It cost him his life, and his widow their future together.
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It → cost → future
At their trial, Bowers and Cole were pictured smirking for the cameras, clearly unrepentant.
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Bowers → picture → cameras
Convicted of manslaughter (not murder, as many felt was warranted) in 2020, the pair are now slated for early release in January of next year, meaning that they will have served six and a half years.
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they → convict → years
That's less than the maximum sentence for shoplifting (seven years, since you ask).
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you → ask → shoplifting
Despite a petition demanding they remain in jail for their full terms having over one million signatories, there is no clear indication from the Government of any concrete plans to stop them.
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they → demand → them
…and 9 more, not listed.
