Retired from law, the voluntary sector and now the NHS; getting re-tyred for what comes next. Books, cricket, beaches all likely to feature.
Ryhall, England
Joined June 2011
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Simon Chapman retweeted
Police policy literally tells cops to chase people more like Johnny English than James Bond.
Rowan Atkinson's rooftop chase is a spoof of Casino Royale, which spent six weeks rehearsing its parkour scene. The bad guy flies over fences and across rooftops, and Johnny just opens the gate, walks through the door and takes the elevator. He's in his 50s, wearing a full suit, and he never loses the guy.
The joke lands because that's how getaways on foot really work.
Someone running from you picks the hardest path on purpose. He goes over fences, across roofs and off ledges, and every one of those slows him down too. It only helps him if you're willing to follow him over every single one.
Bond is willing. The Casino Royale stunt team spent a couple of months planning that chase, with guys jumping between cranes 200 feet in the air. Bond climbs the same crane, and when the bomb-maker dives through a little opening in a wall, Bond runs straight through the wall.
Johnny English doesn't bother with any of it, so every obstacle the runner picked ends up slowing down only the runner while Johnny basically strolls along behind him.
Parkour is a getaway plan that only works if the other guy agrees to do parkour too.
Real departments have put this in writing. San Francisco adopted a foot chase policy in 2024 with two modes, one for catching someone and one for boxing them in. If an officer loses sight of the guy, they're supposed to stop trying to match him, radio out which way he went and set up a perimeter.
Part of the reason is that foot chases get people hurt. Researchers went through 267 of them by the LA County Sheriff's Department, and the person running away got hurt in 60% of them.
Of all the spies in the movies, the guy who plays Mr. Bean is the one who'd pass the police academy.
Simon Chapman retweeted
"the defendant's story that they were acting out of ‘mercy’ is often unquestioningly accepted by the criminal justice system, even though there are often of signs this is not so"
New, from academics Jonathan Herring and @Hannah_Bows blasts the idea of the "mercy" killing
📢 Exeter College Fellow Professor Jonathan Herring has co-authored a new study examining domestic ‘mercy’ killings in England and Wales, published in 2026.
🔗 Read more: ow.ly/ishF5101ZLO
#ExeterCollegeOxford
ALT Middle-aged man with gray hair wearing a blue sweater and collared shirt, smiling outdoors with greenery in the background.
Simon Chapman retweeted
Devastating from @timowenkc
& @KenMacdonaldKC on the draft Conversion Practices Bill:
“If I read the Theft Act, I have a pretty good idea of whether I’ll be committing theft or not. If I read this Act, I have no idea whether I’ll be committing an offence….”
He is a former DPP
Simon Chapman retweeted
I wrote about my love for the film Master and Commander, in honour of Trafalgar Day this week spectator.com/article/in-pra…
Simon Chapman retweeted
If Salman Rushdie’s fatwa happened today, how many of these signatories would sign a letter supporting him? Most would be too afraid, many would think he deserved it. I doubt Rooney herself would support him.
The comparison is fatuous and disgraceful.
If you ever sought out the novels of Sally Rooney in bookshops – when that was still possible – you’d know they sit in the fiction stacks adjacent to the novels of another SR whose books have been withdrawn in dastardly political circumstances. Until last week, “Rooney” and “Rushdie” had little in common beyond being shelfmates; now they have more than just a physical proximity.
@tanjil_rashid_: This is censorship by other means newstatesman.com/comment/202…
Simon Chapman retweeted
Back in January @journo_kituno reported the then timetable for DHSC-NHSE merger
- New operating model end of May
- 45-day staff consultation on changes in Oct
- Consultation on post-filling and redundancies January 27
It's now almost November and none of that has happened...
Simon Chapman retweeted
Incredible story. I need to see this in a cinema now!
May 5, 1945. Hitler has been dead for five days. The war in Europe is almost over.
In a castle in the Austrian Alps, American soldiers, German soldiers, and a group of elderly French prisoners grab rifles and get ready to fight the SS.
Together.
The castle was called Schloss Itter. The Nazis had turned it into a prison for very important people. Not ordinary prisoners. Trophies.
Inside were two former prime ministers of France, Paul Reynaud and Édouard Daladier. Two of France's top generals, Maxime Weygand and Maurice Gamelin. A famous tennis champion, Jean Borotra. And the older sister of Charles de Gaulle.
As the Reich collapsed in early May, the SS guards panicked and ran. The prisoners suddenly found themselves in charge of a castle, with weapons left behind, and a serious problem.
Waffen-SS units were still roaming the area. Fanatics who would gladly kill them all.
They needed help. Fast.
One of the castle's prisoners, a Yugoslav handyman, slipped out on a bicycle to find the Americans. Separately, a German army officer named Major Josef Gangl also went looking for them.
Gangl was a Wehrmacht officer who had turned against the Nazis and was secretly working with the Austrian resistance. He wanted to protect the prisoners too.
He found an American tank commander named Captain Jack Lee.
Lee was 27, tough, cigar chewing, and willing to do something insane. With a single Sherman tank and a handful of American soldiers, he drove up into the mountains alongside Gangl and a few of his German troops.
They reached the castle on May 4.
The French prisoners were not exactly thrilled to see a tiny rescue force. They had expected an army. Instead they got a few Americans, a few Germans, and one tank.
The next morning, the SS attacked.
Somewhere between 100 and 150 Waffen-SS troops hit the castle with machine guns, mortars, and anti-tank weapons. The defenders fought back from the walls and windows. Americans and Germans side by side.
The French prisoners refused to hide. Some of them, including Reynaud, picked up weapons and joined in.
The Sherman tank was knocked out. The defenders were running out of ammunition. It looked like the castle would fall.
Then Jean Borotra, the tennis star, volunteered to make a run for it. He jumped the wall, slipped past the SS, and sprinted through the countryside to find American reinforcements.
He found them. And he insisted on coming back with them to finish the fight.
During the battle, Major Gangl saw Paul Reynaud exposed to gunfire and moved to pull him to safety. A sniper shot Gangl dead.
He had survived the whole war as a German soldier, only to die defending French prisoners from the SS in its final days.
That afternoon, the American relief force arrived and broke the attack. The SS were scattered and captured. The prisoners were saved.
Jack Lee received the Distinguished Service Cross. In Austria, Josef Gangl is remembered as a hero, and a street is named after him.
It is believed to be the only battle of the war where American and German soldiers fought together on the same side.
Simon Chapman retweeted
Seriously, this really is one of those "stop what you're doing and read" stories. Incredible reporting on an incredible story. It even has drone footage of the defection. Un-be-freakin-lievable work by @mjluxmoore @justmiel Annie Ng @ebrown725
Gift link: wsj.com/world/russian-defect…
Simon Chapman retweeted
A real map projection called the Spilhaus Projection, designed to show the oceans the way a fish might see them: as one giant, connected body of water, created by oceanographer and geophysicist Athelstan Spilhaus in 1942...
Athelstan Spilhaus, a South African-born American scientist, in 1942. At the time, he was working on the bathythermograph, a device he invented that measured ocean temperatures at different depths from a moving ship. It proved valuable to the US Navy for hunting submarines during World War II.
Most world maps are designed around the land, which splits the oceans into separate pieces. Spilhaus flipped that idea. His map is centered on Antarctica, with the continents pushed out to the edges, so the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Southern Oceans flow together without a break.
It’s a reminder that Earth’s oceans aren’t really separate at all. They’re one continuous body of water covering about 71% of the planet.
Today, scientists use the projection to map ocean features like currents, the seafloor, and the movement of marine life.
Spilhaus also wrote a science comic strip called “Our New Age” that ran in 93 newspapers from 1957 to 1973. President John F. Kennedy reportedly told him, “The only science I ever learned was from your comic strip in the Boston Globe.”
#archaeohistories
Simon Chapman retweeted
🇾🇪 Happy heavenly birthday to Duncan Edwards, born on this day in 1936
Long before anyone spoke of 'football geniuses,' Manchester United had found theirs in Duncan Edwards.
Matt Busby watched the 17-year-old play and knew immediately: "He is the most complete player I've ever seen." In 1952, Busby pulled out all the stops to sign Edwards, who was being pursued by virtually every major club in England. What sealed the deal wasn't just Busby's persuasion, it was United's revolutionary commitment to youth development. Edwards signed on his 16th birthday, October 2nd, 1952.
He made his first-team debut in April 1953, just 16 years and 185 days old, becoming United's youngest ever debutant at the time. Though listed as a left-half, he played with such completeness that he could dominate any position. Whether breaking up attacks with perfectly timed tackles or surging forward with the power of a man twice his size, Edwards redefined what a midfielder could be.
Here are some interesting facts that some fans may not be aware of: Edwards was ambidextrous and could take corner kicks with either foot. He wore a size 11 boot which was enormous for the era, and stood 5'11" but weighed over 13 stone of pure muscle, making him physically imposing in a time when most players were smaller. At just 18, he became England's youngest post-war international in April 1955, earning 18 caps before his 22nd birthday.
By 1957, Busby declared: "In Duncan Edwards, I believe I have the greatest footballer in the world." This wasn't a soundbite. Edwards had just helped United win back to back league titles in 1956 and 1957.
Off the pitch, Edwards remained remarkably grounded. He loved fishing, enjoyed the cinema, and his idea of luxury was a new Ford Zephyr and fish and chips with his mates. Despite knowing his immense value, he never showed arrogance. Bobby Charlton remembered him as "confident but never boastful."
In just five seasons, Edwards made 177 appearances for United, scoring 21 goals, impressive for a midfielder in that era. He also captained England's under-23 side and was widely expected to captain the senior team within years.
The Munich air disaster on February 6th, 1958, changed everything. Edwards fought for 15 days in a German hospital before succumbing to his injuries on February 21st, just 21 years old. His last words, barely conscious, were reportedly asking assistant manager Jimmy Murphy: "What time is the kick-off against Wolves? I mustn't miss that match."
Bobby Charlton later said Edwards was "the only player who made me feel inferior" and claimed he was "worth half a team by himself."
Duncan Edwards’ memory serves as a reminder of a golden era when having him on the pitch made anything seem possible.
Gone but never forgotten 🌹⚪️⚫️
#DuncanEdwards #mufc #manchesterunited
Simon Chapman retweeted
Have to say something about my cricket club, Middlesex. It’s been a terrible few years, three failed promotion attempts. But at Trent Bridge on Sunday we won our first one day cup in 36 years. Brilliant to watch, well done everybody. Onwards and upwards
Simon Chapman retweeted
🏆 WHAT A WIN!
We've bowled Leicestershire out for 200 to win the Metro Bank One Day Cup!
Yes, lads!! 🤩
Simon Chapman retweeted
It would require up to date evidence of his capacity, so the first step would be establishing access for that assessment to be undertaken
Simon Chapman retweeted
Yes. If and only if he now lacks mental capacity to make decisions for himself about contact with others (usually a specific person or people who is/are seeking contact), the Court of Protection will make a best interests decision for him
