Yes, You Have Been...

...like so many others who have lost loved ones in similar circumstances. And you won't be the last, either.

Relatives of a ‘respected’ dog walker kicked to death by a paranoid schizophrenic today said they had been ‘let down’ by the authorities who allowed his killer to live in the community.

Hard to disagree, 

Gary Carlisle, 62, was attacked at random by mentally ill stranger Jacob Hill, 32, near his home in Preston, Lancashire, early on March 12 last year. CCTV footage showed Hill behaving erratically before approaching Mr Carlisle with his arms outstretched just after 6am.A ‘plainly frightened’ Mr Carlisle, who was walking his dog, named Molly, backed off and ran away. But he was chased by Hill who jumped on his back and dragged him to the floor, Preston Crown Court heard.

Several shocked commuters witnessed the incident, including a female bus passenger who confronted Hill and shouted: ‘What are you doing? Stop.’ In response, Hill headbutted the woman in the face, before police and paramedics arrived on the scene.

Officers twice discharged a taser to incapacitate Hill, who was arrested shortly afterwards.

I'm tempted to suggest they need ones with more voltage. Or to deal with mental cases far more permanently.

In a victim impact statement, read to the court, Mr Carlisle’s sister, Jackie Watters, said their family had been 'let down' by authorities who allowed Hill to live in the community with 'normal people' like her brother. 

‘He has been snatched away from me,’ she said. ‘It feels so unfair. I can never forget those hours sat in the intensive care unit looking at him, stroking him… a man with a swollen head displaying every line, crease and bruise. 

‘The staff said they were the worst ever injuries seen in the ICU.’

 Yes, you have undoubtedly been let down - by people who will never face any consequences for it.

His daughter, Simone Hartley, added: ‘He (Hill) was known to mental health when he did this. ‘Our lives have been toppled upside down but he is okay and is being treated in hospital. 

‘Things need to be different. I do feel we have been let down. Changes need to be made so it doesn’t happen to someone else.’

But they won't be.