Profit & loss

A court hearing adjourned in my absence, asks I justify why I shouldn't pay the defence solicitor’s costs after my postponement request of a hearing. A hearing scheduled for a 10AM start in Manchester city centre on the 23rd of May. Less than twelve hours after the terrorist attack that devastated Manchester on the 22nd of May and within a fifteen-minute walk from the court building. 

My independent consultancy sees me working with child protection conferences, at safeguarding meetings, attending tribunals and in courts - generally its rewarding. I am learning that the industry, like life is made up of;

The Good...

Many organisations are out there, actively collecting charitably and raising funds for the victims of the 22/05 terror attack at the MEN arena last Monday night which claimed multiple lives & saw disruption to transport & travel across the nation as we all became more vigilant. I have seen Bee tattoos, the One Love benefits concert in Manchester has raised thousands and I even read an account of how there is a pledge to providing housing for a homeless man involved in the rescue operations.

The Bad...

There are some out there profiting from the deaths though. I am not talking about ticket touts (I for one am a victim of re-selling sites and sat in seats four times the price with my wife on Friday watching Robbie Williams at the Etihad) and it’s not the first time.

In the hit drama series Billions, Damian Lewis plays ruthless, self-made hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod. Making dis-honourable trades as the twin towers fell around him Axelrod's charitable, humble exterior masks an enormous net worth built on the backs of insider trading, bribery and some might say - profiteering from the death and misery of terrorism.

The ugly...

I am absolutely disgusted that any legal outfit would advise a client to attempt to profit in any way from people’s deaths. I have lost the money from my train ticket, my PAs wages for arranging the paperwork & a day’s work I had to sacrifice to another trainer to cover my other commitments however, I would never seek to ask for compensation in light of the atrocities that led to me not being able to attend on that morning. Had the hearing been in London I would not have expected others to attend. I asked for a postponement at the point where I knew I would not be able to attend in the early hours of the morning.

The advice from all media outlets was that they were deterring people from travelling to the city. Given there was a crime scene with the dead still being identified & wounded being treated, Victoria train station was closed and the Prime Minister still in a COBRA meeting deciding what action to take at the exact time I should have been at the court centre felt I made an educated and informed decision. I wasn’t prepared to travel to a major city that was still reeling from a terrorist attack & to which the only mode of transport available was heading into the immediate vicinity of the very network that was affected would be completely irresponsible and absolutely in light of the government advice “not necessary”. 

I am in keen anticipation as to how Bobby Axlerod will get himself out of the pickle he has got himself in when the next episode airs. In the imitation of art that is my life however, I am wondering if the Judge will see through this very distasteful attempt to profit from terrorism & the blatant disregard for the loss of life that occurred.

About the author: Doug's understanding of the stock exchange goes hand in hand with his belief that Chicago was known for its blustery weather. Generally Doug writes about use of force, health and safety & his experiences in the sector, tune into the next episode of his fight against injustice here on Linkedin, on his You-tube channel or via his regular updates on facebook.