Not seen a thread on this, and I'm not sure what there is to say about it, but every time I see a story on it, it makes me feel sick.
In short, disabled man who can't work spends his days tending his garden. Local yobs vandalise it. He takes photos of them vandalising his hanging baskets in order to show to police. Someone sees him and reports him for taking pictures of kids. Word goes around, and by the time the police come to pick him up for an interview, a jeering mob has gathered, shouting "Paedo! Paedo!" as he's taken away.
The police quickly find that he's done nothing wrong and let him go. A couple of days after he gets home, two men beat him unconscious, drag him into the street, douse him in white spirit, and burn him alive.
Whose fault is this? Obviously the two men in question need to be given some time to think about what they've done, but what about those who spread the rumours in the first place? What about the papers that have demonized paedophiles in the public mind? Should the police have some responsibility in that they should have foreseen the danger in the first place?
I never did find out whether the thing about the paediatrician having to move house was true, but it's clear that this is to some extent a product of media treatment of paedophiles, pandering to a hysteria of their own making.
The other thing is that I'm off on a short holiday to Bristol tomorrow, and now I'm slightly put off.
In short, disabled man who can't work spends his days tending his garden. Local yobs vandalise it. He takes photos of them vandalising his hanging baskets in order to show to police. Someone sees him and reports him for taking pictures of kids. Word goes around, and by the time the police come to pick him up for an interview, a jeering mob has gathered, shouting "Paedo! Paedo!" as he's taken away.
The police quickly find that he's done nothing wrong and let him go. A couple of days after he gets home, two men beat him unconscious, drag him into the street, douse him in white spirit, and burn him alive.
Whose fault is this? Obviously the two men in question need to be given some time to think about what they've done, but what about those who spread the rumours in the first place? What about the papers that have demonized paedophiles in the public mind? Should the police have some responsibility in that they should have foreseen the danger in the first place?
I never did find out whether the thing about the paediatrician having to move house was true, but it's clear that this is to some extent a product of media treatment of paedophiles, pandering to a hysteria of their own making.
The other thing is that I'm off on a short holiday to Bristol tomorrow, and now I'm slightly put off.
via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=267738&goto=newpost
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