Smoking barrels
Is a gun culture taking root in Britain?
IT WAS the kind of thing you might expect in Dodge City, but not in Slough. On August 3rd, as three defendants stood in the dock of a magistrate court in Slough (a small town just outside London), a gang of gun-toting men swaggered in. They fired into the ceiling, sent officials and lawyers diving for cover, and freed two of the accused. Together, they sped off, reportedly shooting into the air as they went.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Smoking barrels”
From the August 12th 2000 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Are British voters as clueless as Labour’s intelligentsia thinks?
How the idea of false consciousness conquered the governing party
The best British companies to work for to get ahead
A new ranking of firms by pay, promotions and hiring practices
How the best British employers find and promote their staff
No degree? Some employers care much less than others
A Northern Irish experiment in recycling
The tiny island aiming to get to net zero
A sticking-plaster policy for Britain’s strained courts
Magistrates get more power. Will they get punch-drunk on it?