Severed head found in Edinburgh
near Bannerman's Bar on Cowgate
A severed head was found at 7:25pm on Saturday 2 Nov 2024 in Edinburgh's Cowgate. Warning: this story contains gruesome images and text so don't read further if that's not your thing. You have been warned.
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@Globaltrekx posted:
Not for the faint hearted.
An Elderly Decapitated man in #Edinburgh High Street after being hit by a bus. Source in the comment section.
The 1st video is of someone picking the head up thinking it's a Halloween prank and then dropping it after realising it's real.
This took place outside Bannerman's Bar in Cowgate, which is under and to the east of South Bridge. In this image from Google maps, I have marked the head's location in red:
BBC report
The BBC are reporting the incident thus (this screenshot taken at 14:20 on 3 Nov):
Social media restraint plea as Edinburgh pedestrian killed by bus
3 November 2024, 10:20 GMT Updated 12 minutes ago
A man has died after being struck by a bus in Edinburgh with police asking the public to stop sharing distressing photos and videos of the incident on social media. The 74-year-old was hit by the single decker in the city's busy Cowgate area on Saturday at about 19:25 . A number of roads were closed and people in pubs were asked to leave the area.
Footage and pictures later circulated on social media suggesting the man had suffered catastrophic injuries.
BBC Scotland News reporter James Delaney, who was near the scene on Saturday night, said an extensive police cordon was quickly set up. He said: "Inside were two forensic tents, probably about 100m apart. The Cowgate is usually jumping on a Saturday night, but the bars and pubs inside the cordon had been closed. We saw about a dozen or so people in white forensic suits, and there were a few guys in suits too who I assume were detectives."
Officers also put up sheets on the South Bridge to screen off the view of the Cowgate below.
Police Scotland said an investigation had begun, and officers were keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at the time who had not yet been contacted. Ch Insp Trisha Clark, the local area commander, added: "We are aware of videos and images circulating on social media which are causing distress to the deceased's family and those viewing them inadvertently. We would ask members of the public not to share them out of respect for his family, and to report them to the relevant social media platform to prevent further circulation. There has been a lot of speculation, and I would like to reassure the local community that this was an isolated incident and there is no risk to the wider public.
The police cordons in the area have now been lifted and a bunch of flowers was placed at the scene on Sunday morning.
Anomalies
The BBC story contains several anomalies.
Why does it not say it was a severed head, but merely refers to "catastrophic injuries"?
There are no scheduled buses that go down Cowgate.
If the man was hit by a bus, how was the head severed? This is an unlikely injury to result from a bus accident.
If the head was severed at the scene why was there not lots of blood?
If it was a bus accident why did the bus not stop and report the accident to the police?
Why did Ch Insp Trisha Clark say "I would like to reassure the local community that this was an isolated incident"? Clearly decapitated heads/bodies are not a usual thing to be found on Edinburgh's streets. Why do people need reassurance?
Speculation
Some people think this doesn't all add up.
For example, @SingleTicket371 posted:
Something they’re lying to us about the severed head on the Edinburgh street 💯🤔🤬
James Goddard posted:
The official narrative on Edinburgh is very suspect to say the least.
Usually getting hit by a vehicle doesn’t result in decapitation!
I’ve seen the other gruesome pic, which I won’t post! I smell bullshit!
No doubt the authorities will come out and put our minds at ease🥴
Jack Hennessey said:
If arteries are severed(in this case the two carotid ones)Litres of blood will be released in seconds
Where is the blood?
Why have police advised people not to ‘speculate’?
Magnus Carter says there's a D notice (official UK censorship notice) on the incident:
A severed head was found in the centre of Edinburgh last night and now there is a D notice on all news agencies? Is this more government interference?
Danny Roscoe asks:
Shall we guess why this has been suppressed?
Conclusion
I don't know what happened, but clearly we'll be hearing more about it.
Because of the caginess of the authorities, and in particular the advice not to speculate, many people would not be the least bit surprised if it turns out to Muslim/jihadi related.
Whether or not that turned out to be the case, the UK authorities have made themselves look dishonest and untrustworthy. This is stupid and pointless, since clearly the truth is going to come out sooner or later.
The better policy would be to be honest and straightforward right from the start. That builds trust. As some point in the future the British government is going to want to tell the truth to the British people and be believed. The more dishonesty, half-truths, lies and prevarication the people have previously had from the authorities, the lower social capital the British society has, and the less likely the state is to be believed.