I've been following the trial of these young murderers for a while. It's a sadly all too believeable story of two young people being brutally attacked for no apparent reason.
The judges closing words on the original trial moved me greatly, so harsh were they. I have to admit they were more reserved than I would have been. I do not believe in the death penalty but in this case I really do think life should mean life. No one who could possibly do that sort of thing, even though they are so young, should ever been allowed into the public sphere again.
I can at least get a narrative understanding of "planned" or "opportunist" murders. There's a sick and twisted reason behind those. But random, I mean truly random, attacks such as this baffle me. Were these boys really so filled with hatred of "others" that they were willing to go that extra leap from abuse to murder? Or were they just so mentally warped that there was no reason at all? I just can not begin to comprehend their actions.
And now there is this murder in a supermarket. So someone abuses you in a car park. Do you:
1) Call the police as you felt it was so terrible that it warranted further action
2) Walk away, it wasn't so bad as to need the police and you'll survive.
3) Get your husband to go up to this man in a supermarket and "pay him back"?
Personally I'd always do number 2, unless the situation was very severe. But the lady involved stupidly did 3. And her husband got the wrong man. Just went up to a stranger, didn't even question the man as to why he abused his wife (or obviously confirm with his wife that he'd got the right bloke) and punched him so hard in the face that he died.
I hope they go down for a long, long time. Stupid x 2 plus violence = deserve a nice long spell at Her Majesty's pleasure.
Honestly if Jim was abused, I'd be angry, but if Jim wanted retribution I'd be smart enough to counsel that he contact the police immediately. Hot headed violence leads no where but jail.
OMG you mind reader. I was going to ask a similar question on my blog today but since I've just done a big meme I didn't want to flood my friends list so I left it for today.
ReplyDeleteTake a look tomorrow for my fuller answer, but in a nutshell - I find it hard to leave things alone like that because I feel that we are doing the human condition a vile disservice by walking away. In the longer term only bullies and cheats will prosper unless we start to tackle them now. If we allow them to get away with even small things like pushing in queues - eventually only the strongest will survive.
I agree with you. If someone does do something that is socially unacceptable, even if not exactly illegal, then it is reasonable for someone to deliver to them a sensible, forceful rebuke. I have confronted queue jumpers in the past (I remember asking an old lady whether her mother had ever taught her any manners whatsoever, which had her leave the queue quite promptly) and when once some guys referred to "queers" on the train a quick loud noise from my direction silenced them.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am very much against is hot headed, angry reactions i.e. specifically violence. That is a step too far... and in this case a step in the wrong direction too. Silly people.