James Ashley was killed in a police raid in the English town of St  Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on 15 January 1998. An inquiry found that using armed officers breached guidelines, the raid team was inadequately trained, and officers in charge misrepresented intelligence to gain raid authorisation. A second inquiry accused chief officers of colluding to obstruct the first inquiry. The officer who shot Ashley was charged with murder but acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. The officers who led the operation, charged with misconduct in public office, were also acquitted. Ashley's family sued the police for negligence and battery; the case was heard by the House of Lords who ruled that the threshold for pleading self-defence in a civil case was higher than in a criminal one and that the litigants should decide which causes of action to pursue. Ashley's death was considered in a report that recommended stronger control of armed operations and equipping officers with non-lethal alternatives.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_James_Ashley

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1937:

Spanish Civil War: Nationalist and Republican forces both withdrew after suffering heavy losses at the Second Battle of the Corunna Road. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_the_Corunna_Road

1947:

The mutilated corpse of the Black Dahlia, a 22-year-old woman whose murder is one of the most famous unsolved crimes in the United States, was found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dahlia

1962:

The Derveni papyrus (fragment pictured), the oldest surviving manuscript in Europe, was discovered in Macedonia in northern Greece. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derveni_papyrus

1975:

Portugal and the nationalist factions UNITA, the MPLA and the FNLA signed the Alvor Agreement, ending the Angolan War of Independence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvor_Agreement

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

siege engine: (weaponry, historical) A large weapon of war used during ancient and medieval times to batter fortifications, settlements, etc.; specifically, a trebuchet or other type of catapult. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/siege_engine

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.   --Martin Luther King, Jr. https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.