Hamad’s Barney Boys, Timoney and Yates, AKA, Dibble and Pillock, warm up cracking heads in Bahrain

Kettling would work well in Bahrain, says former Met police chief
The Guardian – 12 February, 2012 – Ben Quinn

John Yates, hired to reform Bahrain force, says police are ready to deal with the anniversary of the uprising in the Gulf kingdom

Kettling would work well in Bahrain, says former Met police chief
John Yates resigned from his post at Scotland Yard last year in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA

A former Metropolitan police assistant commissioner who has been hired to oversee the reform of Bahrain’s police force has spoken of introducing the British crowd-control tactic of “kettling” to the Gulf island kingdom, where he said police had faced “extraordinary provocation” during last year’s turmoil.

John Yates, who resigned last year from his post at Scotland Yard in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, was asked to overhaul Bahrain’s police service to ensure it meets international human rights standards after a report found evidence that excessive force and torture were used during the 2011 Pearl revolution.

Ahead of the first anniversary tomorrow of the uprising by Bahrainis eager to bring home the Arab spring, Yates told the Daily Telegraph that the police had a well-rehearsed plan to deal with what he described as “a huge date”, adding: “The concept of reasonable reaction to provocation has been reinforced.

“Unless they face extraordinary provocation like last year, it will be about allowing people to gather and containment,” he said.

“It’s about learning techniques from other places like kettling – that would work really well around here.”

The allegation that led to Yates quitting Scotland Yard over the phone-hacking scandal was, in November, ruled to be baseless. The Independent Police Complaints Commission had been called in by his employer, the Metropolitan Police Authority, to investigate claims he helped the daughter of a former top News of the World executive get a job with the Met. His resignation came one day after Sir Paul Stephenson resigned as Met commissioner. Yates, who was then the UK’s top counter-terrorism officer, would have been a serious contender to have been deputy commissioner of the Met had he stayed. …more