“Hmm. A very good question.

The first that springs to my mind is the possibility of a Masonic connection. There are many Free Masons in Bath. There always have been, and they're nearly all male of course, and many of them hold positions of responsibility in institutions, companies, and groups throughout the town. They wield considerable influence over what happens in Bath. But that, of course, is their intention.

Just a thought.”

“Hmmmm Elevation ;) I would say it's because we aren't allowed to comment on trials that are ongoing for legal/ trial prejudicial reasons and this is the law.”

“Too obvious, not true, one comment was to be about the (most) recent ludicrous waste of manpower and resources on raiding a few cannabis plants, when we are short of both to pay for an emergency air ambulance. The second was quite clearly not sub judice as it was news of the rebalancing of the books with the case of the woman who was roughed up by a policeman while in the cells. The formerly punished policeman has been reinstalled, and the formerly freed woman convicted. Funny how the judiciary needed to be reminded to get the right result.”

“I thought you were pertaining to the alleged racism charge, since dropped. As for "balancing the books" with regard to the drunken woman, I happen to know the two people who were in the other car when she drove at them head on and crashed. I'd say she should have been locked up for not only that, but extreme aggression towards her victims and attempting to delay the court case through the use of top knotch lawyers?!”

“Leaving personalities out of it, the courts recent decision is a complete about face. Did they get it utterly so wrong the first time? Putting right a bamboozling by fancy-ass lawyers? Or obtaining a verdict more suitable for covering an abuse of power?”

“No idea, it certainly wasn't pleasant to see but not an overt and intentional act of police brutality by any means (in my opinion). Dragging a reluctant (allegedly drunk and abusive) woman claiming sobriety, to a cell and throwing her in. The real travesty lies in the negligence displayed by not checking to see if she was injured or got up from the floor and it clearly could've had much worse consequences. A suspension/disciplinary perhaps was more apt in that case.

As for the second case, this was brought by A&S not Wiltshire (who are appealing to have their officers sacking maintained). The woman drove in the region of 50 mph at 8pm through Batheaston High st and crashed into an oncoming vehicle. Clearly the worse for wear she attempted to drive away from the scene with a bent axle infront of numerous witnesses. Once again refused a breath test and pleaded not guilty, blaming the other party until a last minute about face. She's lucky she killed no-one and the threatening behaviour displayed towards her victims in the immediate aftermath puts a whole new slant on it all in my humble opinion (I'm not sure if I still need to say "Allegedly") .
So no, in this case I don't believe it's about balancing any books.”

“It's quite simple it is called censorship! We do not have opinions apparently.

Not allowing anyone to comment IS censorship. (note to ed)”

“This is the Bath Chronicle, there's not a real newspaperman on board, in fact I don't think I've ever known one. Too busy all hand in glove with local politicians, business and the police. It wouldn't do to let the animals comment on their owners, might give them ideas.”

“Here's another example. A few weeks ago there was the story of the wiltshire policemen accused of racially abusing a bouncer at the Hall and Woodhouse. Now, during the trial commenting on the trial was quite rightly blocked. After the verdict was announced, we were briefly allowed to comment on the outcome of the trial, but after just two comments this was revoked with both comments deleted. The option to comment on the story was not reinstated.”

“Well, policemen are often Masons. And newspapermen are sometimes Masons. Or sometimes policemen who are not Masons cannot put pressure on newspapermen who are not Masons.

But one thing is certain: the Masonic meeting house in Bath is a very busy place. About a dozen different "lodges" meet there each week. Each "lodge" is a specific and different group of masons, all using the same premises and facilities.

A friend who was once a member of Bath's Planning Department told me that there were often situations when staff who were not Masons could not understand why members of the Planning Committee insisted on voting in a particular way, against all the very clear arguments put forward by staff. In the end they could only put it down to some unseen force at work, and so suspected the power of Bath's considerable number of Masons.

Much of the old city of Bath was designed by John Wood. He was a Mason and Free Masonry was thriving in Bath even back then, in the 1700s. Many Masons are attracted to Bath because they believe John Wood deliberately incorporated Masonic motifs into his designs for the city. The most notable of these is "the key", created at one end by the circle of "The Circus", ending with the block of Queen Square, and linked by Gay Street.”