Sickening!

This article appeared today on several news sites. It involved a 14 year old girl and months of sustained antisocial behaviour culminating in actual assault against a frail 83 year old widow. Where has society gone wrong? Is it the schools? The parents? Why would anybody think an elderly person was 'fair game' to be on the receiving end of such behaviour?
The outcome?
A 2 year antisocial behaviour order.
It beggars belief.
I wonder if that seems a fair outcome to a fearful elderly lady who had trouble getting to sleep at night because of the campaign of terror she was subjected to?

I do not believe in custodial sentencing for children, but I think it is about time stock was taken, surely, there is some social education we could be undertaking to teach the young about acceptable behaviour in a way that gets the message across - Instead of locking stable doors after the horse has bolted.

Knife Crime

Bebo have a great page to warn younger people about the dangers of carrying knives here It is called Stop Knife Crime.
I call it to attention after the latest in a line of senseless killings of young people this year. To be honest, I have moments where I wonder why I do what I do - always made worse when I read the papers and see another life wasted, but then, it means I am not desensitised to violence, I suppose that counts for something in this day and age.
At an event recently we watched a Youtube happy slapping video, it was horrifying - I felt physically sick, it took me back to being bullied as a child and I identified with everything the victim must have been feeling. I wish sites like Youtube would take more responsibility and remove videos that glorify violence.

Protection of witnesses halts murder trials

Due to the quashing of a double conviction last week because of the anonymity afforded to one of the prosecution witnesses, we could see hundreds of appeals for the overturning of sentences where evidence is given by those too frightened to face the defendant in a court of law.
The victims code of practice here set out the rights of victims and witnesses and the measures which can / should be taken to protect them.
Hopefully this will not lead to a downturn of people willing to give evidence, but that seems like wishful thinking really! There have been a spate of reports about witness intimidation in recent months, and how many would be comfortable putting themselves or their property at risk to be a good citizen.
There must be kudos given to the hundreds of people in the UK that take a stand against crime and antisocial behaviour, putting themselves at risk of reprisal because they are saddened by the deterioration of their communities and wish to make a real difference. These are the (mostly) unsung hero's who work tirelessly in the background involving themselves in community groups, charities & neighbourhood watch groups. There should be more networking established between these individuals / groups because when people stand together their voices are heard more than a lone voice whispering in the wind. If any readers are interested in sharing views there is a link here

Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime

Antisocial Behaviour affects most of us, it can have a serious effect on the lives and well being of people. The respect people used to have for each other and the community spirit that once existed seems to have lessened over the years.
Louise Casey has just finished the report commissioned by the Government entitled "ENGAGING COMMUNITIES IN FIGHTING CRIME" I was involved along with thousands of others in giving input to this report, and the resulting paper is very well balanced, as it seems to reflect the views of the public at the events I attended. It clearly shows the public are worried and disconcerted about ASB and crime, they are fearful - and the majority would like to see the criminal justice system overhauled to make sentencing more severe and to give more rights to victims and less to offenders. A copy of the full report can be found here in pdf format.