Michael O’Toole

Updating my pinned tweet for contacts as @signalapp now has the facility of getting in touch via username, no number needed. My @signalapp username is: Mickthehack.1970 - I do find Signal is the most secure means, but there are others: -Threema, which is anonymous. My ID: XSTX4UW6 - Snapchat (messages disappear): mickthehack - Confidentiality of DMs here is sacrosanct - Email: mickthehack@protonmail.com Let it out.

Scoliosis death blamed on Children’s Health Ireland failure thetimes.com/article/897b93…

#BREAKING About 30 people wounded in the Iranian missile attack on Arad in southern Israel

A significant and welcome apology shared today by Dr. Krieg following settlement of my defamation action against him.

RIP 🇮🇪

Secret Service agents responding to the Augusta National Golf Course incident where an armed man took hostages and demanded to speak to President Reagan, Oct. 23, 1983.

A police officer has described being punched, kicked and having her ankle broken during her first three years in the job, as figures show more than 100 officers a day are assaulted in England and Wales. PC Lauren Butcher, who needed weeks of specialist rehabilitation and counselling after one injury, says she welcomes plans to roll out a new type of Taser stun gun for protection. The Home Office state more than 40,000 assaults of police officers are assaulted each year. The government says any assault on an emergency worker is completely unacceptable. Butcher says her colleagues have experienced everything from verbal abuse, including homophobic and sexist comments, to broken bones and stabbings. "I've been sworn at, punched, kicked. These assaults seem to be increasing in their frequency." She told BBC South East she suffered a broken ankle and ligament damage following one assault, which needed treatment at Flint House Police Rehabilitation in Oxfordshire, a charity which supports injured officers. "It's difficult to this day to go out and do this job, because it's always lingering with you, the physical pain and mental memory that someone really hurt me." New Tasers: The Kent officer, who now carries a Taser as part of her kit, says she backs plans to introduce the new Taser 10 which can fire at greater distances. "Given that extra distance, that extra space, it gives you that extra time to make sure that your actions are as safe as possible," Butcher says. "I've only been a Taser officer for a number of months but it does give you that extra layer of protection.” "At the end of the day my words are my greatest tool that I can use in this job." In the year ending March 2025, there had been 47,522 assaults recorded against police officers. Of those, about a quarter resulted in the officer being injured. The Home Office had previously said this data was "likely to be an underestimate of the total number of assaults against constables in some forces, as many officers view assaults as part of the job and do not raise a crime record". A spokesperson said some offences may have occurred while an officer was off duty, and improvements in recording practices and more victims reporting crime may have contributed to a rise in the number of recorded offences. Darren Pemble, chair of the Surrey Police Federation, says he is "staggered" by how many officers are being assaulted. "Some officers have been spat at, attacked with knives and even driven at," he said He described how he "feared for his life" while attending a domestic incident where a drunk, aggressive man threatened him in a flat, in front of a balcony with a 50ft (15m) drop. "I had my CS (spray) and with a bit of luck I managed to detain him," he said. In another case he said he was chasing burglars who punched him in the head several times, before they were arrested. "I deal with our colleagues on the frontline who do sustain some serious injuries," he said. Pemble, who backs greater Taser use, said he felt there were enough safeguards in place. "It's a really good deterrent. It will make officers safer and the public safer when officers are dealing with violent individuals," he said. Longer, faster firing: West Midlands became one of the first forces to start rolling out the new Axon Taser 10 (T10) which can fire up to 10 single-shot cartridges without reloading and operates at a range of up to 45ft (13.7m). It was introduced after receiving approval from the home secretary last October. Amnesty International UK has warned the new device, with longer, faster firing probes, isn't the solution in all violent situations. Oliver Feeley-Sprague, a policing expert from the organisation, said: "Taser is a very specialist weapon that was introduced to control potentially very violent people at a safer distance." Continued…

As someone who has often criticised @MichealMartinTD, I have no hesitation in saying that An Taoiseach did very well today. He was firm, clear but also diplomatic. Other EU head of govt could use this as a masterclass in @potus whispering

Well done @MichealMartinTD - speaking up for European allies. Speaking up for @Keir_Starmer Speaking up for Ukraine. And doing it in a way that kept the Orange Man Boy for several minutes. Happy St Patrick’s Day

Happy St Patrick's Day ☘️💚

A team of @metpoliceuk officers who displayed outstanding courage when faced with a violent suspect who brutally attacked two of them have won London Police Bravery Awards. Congratulations PC Adrienne Parmente, PC Benjamin Gregory & PC Jake Lodge facebook.com/MetFederation/…

#OnThisDay 1980 The Army Ranger Wing was officially established. The ARW are Ireland's special forces with the primary role of counter-terrorism & special operations. Cmdt Richard Heaslip was the first Commanding Officer. #Ireland #History @jamieheaslip

First day done as Jonathan Liew’s non-football writing agent. Think it went well

Anger grows as Garda bosses reject wage increase request for elite specialist unit officers irishmirror.ie/news/irish-new…

Just published a major story on Mounir Lazzez, the MMA fighter who's a close friend of Daniel Kinahan, the drug trafficker. He's no ordinary MMA fighter, he also listed as the director of two companies that own two oil tankers sanctioned by the US for shipping Iranian crude oil. thetimes.com/business/energ…

'The person who emailed me a one word insult ghosted me - Paul, if you're reading this, get in touch' - Irish Mirror irishmirror.ie/news/news-opin…

@gardainfo's DOCB, Dublin Dublin Response Team and local units seize 75kgs of suspected cocaine near Carrickmacross in Co Monaghan. It's worth €5.25 million. Two people arrested. By the looks of things it had come in from Belgium as Irish Customs and the Belgian Federal Maritime Police also got the nod in the release.

@DillonOMalley4 @Mupper41 This.

@Mupper41 Watch it only be for the AW149M.

Looks. Like we're getting Type 31s boys... 😋

Reuters says Dutch news agency ANP reports an explosion ‌damaged a Jewish ​school in Amsterdam this morning – ​in what the city's mayor ​describes ⁠as ⁠a deliberate attack ‌against the Jewish community For more on this and other news visit trib.al/Rx0iR33