Thursday, 14 May 2009

Gypsies smash up helicopter. Or maybe not.

Gypsies smash £5million police helicopter with axes in revenge for 'spy' flights, says the Mail. Gipsy axemen chop up cops' £5million chopper, reveals The Sun. Gypsies trash £5million police helicopter, adds the Telegraph.

Compare those headlines with those from the BBC (Vandals attack police helicopter) and the Get Surrey site Surrey Police helicopter grounded by vandals.

Notice the difference - and the interest from the right-wing papers in using race to identify the perpetrators?

The Mail claims the vandals caused 'tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage' although the BBC report - written two hours - later says: 'A force spokesman said...it was not yet known how much the damage would cost to repair.'

But there is something else that the Mail, Sun and Telegraph claim to know but which appears to be in some doubt. Three lines from the end of the story, the Mail writes: 'A Surrey Police spokesman said the identity of the mob members was 'unknown''.

'Unknown'? So how can the papers claim with such certainty in their headlines that those involved were Gypsies?

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