23 replies to this topic

[jnelsoninjax]

As any Londoner knows parking in the capital can be a tricky business even at the best of times.

So no doubt there will be a collective wave of sympathy for tourist Nima Hosseini Razi who is today counting the cost of being illegally parked on the city’s streets.

The business student discovered that you do not just run the danger of a fine if you leave your car in the wrong spot - after anti-terrorist officers blew up his Ford Mondeo.

His misfortune began yesterday morning while on a 24 hour jaunt around London when the vehicle began to have problems as he was driving around Parliament Square.

But his bad luck continued as the car broke down in Storey’s Gate, just yards from the House of Commons and Westminster Abbey.

He called for a repairman and wrote a polite note explaining: “Dear Sir or Madam, this car is broken. I am just waiting for the AA to arrive. Please do not fine! Thank you, yours sincerely.”

He then wandered off to do a spot of sightseeing - paying a visit to Buckingham Palace, a 15 minute walk away.

But in a valuable lesson to tourists heading to this summer’s Olympics he learned the hard way that alas when it comes to security no one is taking any chances.

When the abandoned vehicle was discovered, officers decided it was a potential risk and evacuated the area so they could carry out a controlled explosion.

When Mr Razi, who is studying for a MBA at the University of Wales, returned he found officers picking their way through the remains of his mangled car.

And of course with utter predictability a traffic warden arrived on the scene and issued him a ticket, before his car was towed away.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We can confirm there was a suspect vehicle at Stories Gate at 10.20am on Wednesday and a controlled explosion took place and the incident was subsequently deemed as non-suspicious.”
Source

[Dot Matrix]

I guess that's better than this:

[Farstrider]

What the hell?? They blow people's cars up in London? Then, to boot, he gets a parking citation!! Good grief! I now can say, "only in Britain"!?

[bodmas]

he is lucky as at least he knows what happened to his car. but in my case in India, New Delhi staill I am wondering what happened to my car. 3 years passed and no trace.

[SongHyeonDeok]

The police really are terrible and clueless...

[+articuno1au]

I hope he sues.

They blew up his car

[+Majesticmerc]

While I agree that the police definitely overeacted, this...

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wrote a polite note explaining: “Dear Sir or Madam, this car is broken. I am just waiting for the AA to arrive. Please do not fine! Thank you, yours sincerely.”

He then wandered off to do a spot of sightseeing - paying a visit to Buckingham Palace, a 15 minute walk away.

... when your car is outside the houses of parliament, on the year we host the olympics, was the dumbest possible thing to do.

[excalpius]

Majesticmerc, on 15 June 2012 - 12:42, said:

While I agree that the police definitely overeacted, this...

... when your car is outside the houses of parliament, on the year we host the olympics, was the dumbest possible thing to do.

He didn't park it there. It died there.

And since when do we all justify the ridiculous paranoia of anyone, let alone professionals in law enforcement who have been trained to know better?

I thought the Brits weren't paranoid, overreacting cowards about the infinitesimal chances of terrorism like, um, we Americans are?

[+nowimnothing]

It died there, sure... but he LEFT it there. If he had stayed with the vehicle, there would have been no issue. Common sense would have dictated that he do so.

[M_Lyons10]

Farstrider, on 15 June 2012 - 12:18, said:

What the hell?? They blow people's cars up in London? Then, to boot, he gets a parking citation!! Good grief! I now can say, "only in Britain"!?

Agreed. This is bizarre. Don't they usually investigate and find something before they do something like this? What if there'd been a ton of explosives in this car (As they apparently assumed)? Blowing it up surely wouldn't have made that situation better... Seems like an asinine way of handling the situation to me for sure.

[SongHyeonDeok]

nowimnothing, on 15 June 2012 - 12:55, said:

It died there, sure... but he LEFT it there. If he had stayed with the vehicle, there would have been no issue. Common sense would have dictated that he do so.

He put a note in the window, maybe the Police could've checked CCTV to corroborate the story?

Common sense also dictates you don't blow cars up without any viable evidence.

The police.

[+Majesticmerc]

excalpius, on 15 June 2012 - 12:49, said:

He didn't park it there. It died there.

And since when do we all justify the ridiculous paranoia of anyone, let alone professionals in law enforcement who have been trained to know better?

I thought the Brits weren't paranoid, overreacting cowards about the infinitesimal chances of terrorism like, um, we Americans are?

I didn't say he parked it. But you can't just leave a car outside our houses of parliament and expect people not to be suspicious. If it had been a car bomb, and the police hadn't done anything, there'd have been mayhem.

Like I said, the police overreacted. They should have spent more time investigating the car, rather than just blowing it up, and issuing a ticket was pretty dumb too. But at the end of the day, this whole thing could have been avoided if he'd not been stupid enough to wander off and do tourist stuff while he leaves his car suspiciously unattended outside a highly valuable terrorist target.

[~Johnny]

M_Lyons10, on 15 June 2012 - 12:56, said:

Agreed. This is bizarre. Don't they usually investigate and find something before they do something like this? What if there'd been a ton of explosives in this car (As they apparently assumed)? Blowing it up surely wouldn't have made that situation better... Seems like an asinine way of handling the situation to me for sure.

Typically it's preferred to do a controlled explosion than investigate a car that may be rigged to blow up upon any form of inspection - i.e, pulling door handles, extra pressure on the wheels, etc. At least with a controlled explosion they can clear the area first just in case, rather than have a few people up close investigating and then get themselves blown up.

With the Royal Celebrations and the upcoming Olympics, and that fact that London and the UK have been targets for terrorism in recent years, everything is very up tight with security right now. Heck, you're talking about security forces who want to place missiles on council flats

Quote

He put a note in the window, maybe the Police could've checked CCTV to corroborate the story?

Common sense also dictates you don't blow cars up without any viable evidence.

To be fair, if they did watch the CCTV, all they would have seen is a foreigner stop their car outside of the Houses of Parliament, get out, look around a bit, write a note and wander off. Which doesn't help much.

[Charisma]

Oh, that makes sense. They're afraid of a car bomb exploding in it, so they... blow it up. O_o

[SiCKX]

excalpius, on 15 June 2012 - 12:49, said:

I thought the Brits weren't paranoid, overreacting cowards about the infinitesimal chances of terrorism like, um, we Americans are?

You need to stay in London a few months. There's more people that look like possible terrorists than in the US.