VIOLENCE - IN THE STREETS, PUBS AND CLUBS

COUNT 3

HIS HONOUR JUDGE WASSALL
TRURO CROWN COURT

Now for a report about a man at the very top of his profession, who carried out an appalling, deliberate and wilful attack whilst under the influence of drink. A leading heart disease expert, Professor James Scott, 57, of Chalfont St Peter, Bucks, and from Imperial College, London, highly qualified, committed this disgraceful offence of GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm) in a clear, public display, whilst acting in complete disregard for the all-important Hippocratic Oath, which all members of the medical profession have to
swear to and then uphold its provisions  You may well be of the opinion, when you’ve heard all of the facts, that in Professor Scott’s case, he in fact must have sworn a Hypocritic Oath instead. This man is in charge of a £25million research budget and has won every honour in his chosen profession, short of the Nobel Prize. He is one of only two medical researchers elected as Fellows of the Royal Society and is a world-acknowledged expert in cardiovascular research. He is the clinical professor of the National Heart and Lung Institute and Director of
Imperial College’s Genetics and Genomics Research Institute. So much for his medical qualifications and attributes, which must now have been seriously blighted by his behaviour on this occasion.

Just after Christmas 2003, Scott had gone with his fiancée to the Isles of Scilly intending to marry her on 30th December. However, the day before
the planned wedding, he got drunk at the New Inn on Tresco, Isles of Scilly and slapped his fiancée, mother-of-three Vivienne Dignum, 55, and tried to throw a glass of wine over her. Hotel staff moved them to different rooms to defuse the situation but Scott carried on causing trouble. Hotel duty manager Mr Robin Lawson was attacked by Scott as he raised his arm to try to prevent Scott getting to his fiancée’s room. Prosecution counsel Mr Ron Ede told Truro Crown Court that Hotel manager Mr Lawson heard two loud cracks, followed by a third, as Scott twisted his arm in apparent retaliation for frustrating his attempts to reach his fiancee’s room. In fact the arm was found to be broken in three places through excessive rotation by Scott. Mr Lawson was immediately consumed by pain from the injured right arm, which he realised was useless and hanging down. The proposed wedding was then cancelled and Scott was arrested and flown to the mainland for questioning, but the couple have since made up and were due to marry within weeks. Scott admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was put on probation for three years under a community rehabilitation order

He was ordered to pay £180 costs and attend courses to tackle his alcohol problem,
and anger management. No order of compensation was made to the victim, after the
judge was told that a civil action is pending and Scott has already offered an interim
payment of £5,000. The judge said he would have gone to jail if the injury was intentional. He told Scott: “I have to sentence you on the basis that this was reckless and not intentional and I have to consider your record of achievement which goes beyond the exceptional. The only greater recognition of your work would be a Nobel Prize.”

Certain questions need answering, you might well agree:

1) Is this a clear-cut-case of one law for the rich and another for the poor?

2) Is this judge clearly guilty of failing to protect the public, in this case,
victim Mr Lawson?

3) Will Professor Scott be punished by the General Medical Council?

4) Will he be internally disciplined by his employers, Imperial College,
London?

5) With his vast medical qualifications and experience, Professor Scott
of all people, must have known at the very start, that if you deliberately
‘corkscrew’ someone’s arm in an unprovoked assault, to a rotation
factor of three, not only will you most certainly break the arm, but you
run the serious risk of also shattering or cutting the brachial artery,
leading to severe, life-threatening trauma.

6) How on earth can a so-called learned Crown Court Judge state
publicly in open court that Professor Scott’s fuelled-by-drink-andtemper
action in respect of the victim’s arm, was NOT INTENTIONAL?
(The arm could only have been left attached by tendons, muscles and
sinews!)

7) Why was not Scott charged with ‘causing grievous bodily harm with
intent’ (to cause GBH), which is one-step higher than (simple) GBH
and, like Attempted Murder, carries life imprisonment? (Nobody could
ever convince me that Scott in his temper, corkscrewing that poor
man’s arm, had no intention of causing grievous bodily harm). What
are your considered views?

 Who’s Who 2005 entry of Professor James Scott

SCOTT, James, MSc, FRS. FBCP; British physician: b. 13 Sept. 1946, Ashby-de-la-Zouch; s. of Robert B, Scott and Iris. O. Scott (nee Hill J; m Diane M. Lows 1976; two s. one d; ed Univ. of London, London Hosp. Medical Coll.; house surgeon London Hosp. 1971-72; House Physician Hereford Co. Hosp. July-Dec. 1972; Sr House Officer Queen Elizabeth Hosp., Midland Centre for neurosurgery and Neurology, Birmingham Jan.-Dec. 1973; Registrar Gon. Hoea,, Birmingham Jan.-Dec. 1874, Royal Free Hosp., Academic Dept of Medicine 1975-76; Hon. Sr Registrar, MRC Research Fellow Hammersmith Hosp., Dept of Medicine 1976-80; Postdoctoral Fellow Univ. of Calif.. Dept of Biochemistry and Biophysics 1980-83; Clinical Scientist, Head Div of Molecular Medicine, MRC Research Centre 1983-91; Hon. Consultant Physician Northwick Park Hosp., Harrow 1903-91, Hammersmith Hosp. 1992-97; Prof., Chair, of Medicine Royal Postgraduate Medical School 1992-97; Hon. Dir MRC Molecular Medicine Group 1992-; Dir of Medicine Hammersmith Hosp. NHS Trust, Dir Div. of Medical Cardiology 1994--97; Prof, of Medicine, Imperial Coll. School of Medicine 1997-, Deputy Vice-Prin. for Research 1997-, Dir Imperial Coll. Genetics and Genomics Research Inst. 2000--; European Ed. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (Journal of American Heart Asscn; several prizes and awards include Graham Bull Prize (Royal Coll. of Physicians) 1989, Squibb Bristol Myers Award for Cardiovascular Research 1993, etc. Publications: numerous articles on molecular medicine, molecular genetics, atherosclerosis, RNA modification, RNA editing and gene expression. Leisure interests, family and friends, the twentieth-century novel, British impresssionist and modern painting, long distance running, swimming. Address: Genetics and Genomics Research The Flowers Building, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ. England (Office). Telephone: (20) 7594-3614 (Office), Fax. (20) 7594-3653 (Office). E-mail: j.scott@imperial.ac,uk (Office).

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JUDGE JAMIE TABOR

GLOUCESTER CROWN COURT

A furious chef went on a Basil Fawlty-style rampage, smashing up a restaurant and threatening staff with a knife, after he was asked to cook more food. Hotel workers and customers were terrified when overworked Peter Grice went berserk with waiters who refused to stop taking orders. The 23-year-old caused £20,000 worth of damage after he threw a fire extinguisher through a glass door, wrecked the kitchen, threatened staff
with a knife, smashed chairs and pictures and chucked a printer out of an office window. His manager was so scared he barricaded himself in the hotel’s bar. After his rampage, he calmly rode off on his bicycle. Grice, of Wellington Street, Gloucester, was jailed for six months on 1st March 2005 after pleading guilty to affray and criminal damage at the city’s Crown Court. Judge Jamie Tabor said: “I am picturing myself enjoying a meal at
the pub and then out comes a kitchen manager going berserk, and it must have been terrifying.”

Grice went on his rampage at Twigworth Lodge Hotel, Twigworth, on January 14th in scenes reminiscent of John Cleese’s madcap hotel manager in sitcom Fawlty Towers. He had asked waiters to stop taking orders because the kitchen, which he had managed overworked. The manager refused to let them, saying many of the 200 customers were still waiting for food. He then tried to suspend Grice, setting off the tirade. The manager fled when Grice threw a chair. The chef then returned to the kitchen and hurled a fire extinguisher through a glass door.

The manager barricaded himself in the bar while Grice continued smashing things in the kitchen as staff tried to hold him. Mary Harley, prosecuting, said they let him go when Grice picked up a knife and threatened them and the manager with it. “Staff and customers were petrified,” she said. “He then rode off on his bike.” Giles Nelson,
defending, said Grice only became violent in the high-pressure environment of the service industry, adding: “He realises his behaviour was disgraceful.” He added that Grice, who is now working night shifts at Tesco, would miss the birth of his child in May if he went to jail. But Judge Tabor told Grice the public would expect nothing other than jail. He added: “I think your sentence should be short so you have the opportunity to see a doctor about the extraordinary loss of temper you suffer from.”

JUDGE JAMIE TABOR - Gloucester Crown Court