Just when is something going to be done....

[BolshieBastard]

... about ***** like these?

Oh they never meant to kill anyone their defence lawyers will claim (if it gets to court that is).

Yet another innocent is murdered because a few tulip houses want a bit of fun. Hang the bastards.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8338280.stm

A man was beaten to death by a gang after he confronted a thief who stole his girlfriend's Halloween hat.

Ben Gardner, 30, suffered fatal head injuries after he was punched and kicked to the ground in Sutton, south London, in the early hours of Sunday.

He had been on a Halloween night out with his girlfriend, who was wearing a black fancy dress witch's hat, when a man stole it and spat in it.

Five men and two women are being questioned by police over the attack.

An eighth man who was arrested has been released with no further action.

'Unprovoked attack'

Mr Gardner, a bank worker in Sutton, died in hospital on Sunday evening following the attack in Throwley Way.

His girlfriend was also punched during the attack and suffered minor injuries, police said.

Det Insp Bob Campany said: "Although it was 3.30am there were a lot of people in the area at the time of the incident as the local clubs were closing.

"We would like any information from witnesses who may have been on Throwley Way at the time.

"This appears to be a violent unprovoked attack on an innocent man who was out enjoying Halloween night with his girlfriend."

[Zippy]

The law is working as it should - you can't do anything about it until a crime is committed.
What alternative is there?

[Gonzo]

The law is working as it should - you can't do anything about it until a crime is committed.
What alternative is there?

But I would have thought that part of the purpose of the law and order system would be to provide a deterrent to stop bad things happening in the first place.

Maybe it does? Maybe this sort of thing would happen every day if it wasn't for the existing law and order system. The perception that we often get is that the existing law and order system is not enough of a deterrent but we don't really know that.

I don't know for sure but I am prepared to bet money that people were making the same complaints 200 years ago even though people were still being hung for stealing in those days.

[Zippy]

I think it does provide something of a deterrent Gonzo. If you kill someone you get locked up for a long time, and it won't be pleasant.
I'm not sure the death penalty was a deterrent - one of the many reasons I don't agree with it. There have always been (and always will be) people who don't feel the rules of civilisation apply to them.
Sad, sorry barstewards.

[Gonzo]

I think it does provide something of a deterrent Gonzo. If you kill someone you get locked up for a long time, and it won't be pleasant.
I'm not sure the death penalty was a deterrent - one of the many reasons I don't agree with it. There have always been (and always will be) people who don't feel the rules of civilisation apply to them.
Sad, sorry barstewards.

I think the OP is suggesting that there isn't enough of a deterrent.

Perhaps if we could all carry guns like in the USA then that would solve the problem because random street-murders don't happen over there do they?

[Zippy]

Yay! An AK-47 each would solve the problem no? No?

[Tarquin Farquhar]

You are falling victim to the fallacy that a broken society can be fixed with more laws. It can't: you need to fix society, and that can not be done with a stroke of the pen (especially if you believe that there is no such thing as society).

As John Ruskin said in the 19th century, if you fix the schools then you won't need to fix the prisons.

[EternalOptimist]

You are falling victim to the fallacy that a broken society can be fixed with more laws. It can't: you need to fix society, and that can not be done with a stroke of the pen (especially if you believe that there is no such thing as society).

As John Ruskin said in the 19th century, if you fix the schools then you won't need to fix the prisons.

Even if we fix the schools, that still leaves a backlog of feral anti-social yobs that need to be taken care of. Hanging may not be a deterrant but it sure stops them beating or killing any other poor sod

[DimPrawn]

They just need a hug.

[Tarquin Farquhar]

Even if we fix the schools, that still leaves a backlog of feral anti-social yobs that need to be taken care of. Hanging may not be a deterrant but it sure stops them beating or killing any other poor sod

I didn't mean literally just the schools but our society in general needs fixed. It took a long time to get this way, it won't be quick to fix, but if you just try to fix the broken individuals by jailing them, you will never be free of the problem because you are creating more of them as fast as you jail them.