Woman inspector 'humiliated' by failing riot test wins up to £30k

Daily Mail: For 30 years it has been used to test the fitness of officers who police riots and other outbreaks of serious public disorder.
The so-called 'shield run' involves officers covering a distance of 500 metres in less than two minutes, 45 seconds while wearing full riot gear and carrying a shield.
But when Inspector Diane Bamber, 51, failed to meet the time limit, she claimed she had been left humiliated.
She brought a sex and age discrimination case against her force, Greater Manchester Police, and now stands to win up to £30,000 after an employment tribunal ruled in her favour.

The landmark case has opened the door for thousands of other women officers to claim payouts and has triggered a review of specialist police training across the country.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. The police have in place, a tried and tested training scheme for vetting officers who are going to be policing some of the most dangerous situations. Along comes a woman with her victimhood poker cards and it all goes out of the window.

This wingeful woman was not 'left humiliated', she failed a tough test that at 51 years of age, is quite understandable. But that test is there for a reason and she has no right to question it just because her feelings have been hurt.

But oh no, she's a woman. We can't discriminate against women, and she's old too. There's age discrimination thrown into the mix.

After this ruling there will be no room for any kind of testing in the police. The minute a woman fails one she can claim humiliation and the test will be scrapped.

We will soon see riots being policed by tiny grannies who have the stamina of, well, tiny grannies. Kettling will finally become a thing of the past because we will be able to walk up to a wall of police officers and push them over. It will be like tipping cows.

Our mainstream police force will soon be largely made up of little females who have passed no training, shouting, "It's not fair", at criminals, and busting everybody for the tiniest perceived offences in a mad bid to prove they are as good as the men

Breaking the law will be easy. If you get spotted by a copper you could just distract her with a copy of Womans Own.

She agreed to run but she did not finish in the allotted time. Her failure meant she could not complete the rest of the training course.
When Insp Bamber applied to retake the shield run, it is alleged that one of her colleagues remarked: 'She's got no f****** chance.'
In fact she did pass at the second attempt several months later – after Greater Manchester Police made it easier by raising the time limit to three minutes.
The tribunal heard that on the second occasion, Insp Bamber gave herself the equivalent of an extra 20 seconds by starting at the front of the group. Previously, she had started at the back but the clock starts when the first person sets off.

She eventually passed the test by cheating, and still she goes on to claim discrimination and a fat payout. Instead of giving this woman money she should be sacked for making a mockery out of the police force.

The muppet at the tribunal who agreed that this woman had a claim should also be binned. Giving away public money for this sort of rubbish should be a crime in itself. And her reasons?

Noting that the officer had 'suffered humiliation at being sent away from the course', Judge Slater added: 'The tribunal concludes that the claimant was put at the disadvantage suffered by women and persons of her age group in that she failed the test and was not able to complete the training.'

WTF does that mean?

The Mail on Sunday understands that the Association of Chief Police Officers is now reviewing the lawfulness of the physical training formats for 13 specialist operational roles, including those for firearms officers, which could discriminate against women and older officers.

Great. Giving guns to old biddies with the Parkinsons. What could possibly go wrong?

As one commenter at the Daily Mail said, "I would like to join the SAS but am too unfit. Can I sue them now?"

Only if you're a woman mate. Only if you're a woman.