Solicitor-General Vera Baird embroiled in row after 'failing to pick up her dog's mess at railway station'At the House of Commons, she is known as ‘the Towering
Inferno’ because of her 6ft height, red hair and fiery character.And
Solicitor-General Vera Baird lived up to the nickname when a woman
complained about her puppy allegedly fouling a railway platform.A
furious row developed which left the other woman close to tears and
prompted a police investigation into the minister’s behaviour.British
Transport Police even seized CCTV footage of the row. Six weeks later,
the investigation has finally been closed and Mrs Baird will not now
face prosecution, but the affair is a big embarrassment for the senior
MP.The drama started when Mrs Baird, 58, was walking her puppy in King’s Cross train station in Central London in October. A mother with her young child confronted the minister after allegedly seeing her fail to pick up the dog’s mess after it fouled the
platform.It is an offence if an owner does not clean up immediately after their dog has fouled land to which the public has access.The fine is usually a £50 fixed penalty notice. According to sources, Mrs Baird took great offence at being challenged by the woman and gave her a ‘complete mouthful’.When a police community support officer turned up to deal with the altercation, a by-now furious Mrs Baird made it clear she felt she was being humiliated and allegedly said
‘don’t you know who I am?’. The minster denied this today. Eventually, the PCSO took Mrs Baird’s details and submitted a report suggesting the minister be investigated for a low level public order offence for causing ‘harassment, alarm or distress’ – which carries a maximum fine of £1,000.The incident was officially logged as a crime.
According to sources, a number of officers thought charges would be brought. But,
after reviewing the evidence, senior transport police officers ruled that the case be dropped.One source claimed they ‘lost their bottle’ because of Mrs Baird’s position.‘Whatever the rights and wrongs of what happened, it was clear the mother and
child were very upset by the altercation,’ said a source.‘By all accounts the mother got a right dressing down.’Mrs Baird is one of Parliament’s most passionate dog lovers. In
October 2004, her dog Zack – then ten years old – won the
annual Westminster Dog of the Year competition. Though almost totally blind, Zack beat 11 rivals.
She is also no stranger to controversy. Three years ago, as a junior
minister, she was forced to withdraw highly critical remarks about a
judge who she thought had given a lenient sentence to a paedophile who
kidnapped and sexually assaulted a three-year-old girl.Following discussions with her boss Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, she said she was wrong to make such comments.Born in Oldham, Mrs Baird went to grammar school, graduated in law at Newcastle Polytechnic and was called to the Bar in 1975.She
was widowed in 1979 and has two step-sons. As a key member of left-wing
barrister Michael Mansfield’s chambers since 1986, Mrs Baird took
part in key civil liberties cases.Widely respected for her fierce intellect, she was elected MP for Redcar in 2001 and quickly rose through Government ranks.In
2007, Gordon Brown appointed her Solicitor General in his new
government. She is deputy to Attorney General Baroness Scotland, who
was recently fined £5,000 for hiring an illegal immigrant as her
housekeeper.A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said:
‘BTP was called to King’s Cross rail station around 5.15pm
on Sunday October 25 after a report of an altercation between two women
near to one of the station’s platforms.‘A passenger complained to another passenger, whose dog had fouled on a platform. This led to an altercation, which BTP subsequently investigated. Following this investigation, a decision was taken not to proceed
further.’Last night Mrs Baird said the mess, caused by a new puppy, was later removed by a station cleaner.She said: ‘My new puppy was unwell and made a mess on the platform at King’s Cross some weeks ago. A member of the public complained to
me and she and I had an argument.‘As it ended, a PCSO arrived and spoke to me. I complained to the BTP about his attitude. ‘I have received an apology from the BTP and as far as I am concerned the matter is closed.’She added: ‘I asked for, and got, help from the station cleaner as it was not possible to pick up the mess.’
seems like one rules for us and a completely different rule for them 
Thu Aug 02, 2018 3:35 pm by Lorz
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