Friday 7 November 2008

The Wrong Kind Of Victim

Some justice in sight at last for the family of Kevin Tripp:
A man has admitted killing an innocent bystander after a queue-jumping row in a supermarket.

Tony Virasami, 38, killed 57-year-old engineer Kevin Tripp with a single blow in a case of mistaken identity.
Although it’s for the lesser offence, of course:
Virasami admitted manslaughter at the Old Bailey after the prosecution agreed to drop a charge of murder.

The family of the victim, who leaves behind a five-year-old daughter, left the court in distress after the decision.
And the judge is getting his leniency speech down pat in readiness:
Judge David Paget QC said: "Whatever may be said about how it happened, in the end it was one blow and not with a weapon.

"This was a tragic incident. It was clearly a tragic mistake that Mr Tripp was fatally injured.'"
Perhaps Judge Paget might be less inclined to be lenient if Mr Tripp had been the victim of a ‘hate crime’?

Or perhaps my fears will be unfounded, and he will regard the death of an innocent man at the hands of a violent thug in an unprovoked attack as just as much ‘an awful waste of life for absolutely nothing’…

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's a terrible crime. I wonder what other, more pejorative point you are making though. Are you homophobe ?

Anonymous said...

You mean, do I have an irrational fear of homosexuals?

No, just spiders...

Anonymous said...

Jeez, perhaps the point she is making is that the judge (and the justice system) sees attacks on 'oppressed groups' as more important than attacks on other people?

Hmm, could be. Take the gay rage filter off your Elton John sunglasses and take another look.