Real Age Concern…

Modern Britain isn’t a place to be old, and to expect that age to be respected anymore. There are some rules for the over-sixties that might help.

In particular, never ask a young man to move his feet:

A pensioner was battered to death in broad daylight after he asked a man sitting at a bus stop to move, a court heard today.

Peter Seaman, 66, was walking his dog when he came across 20-year-old Alec Pearn sitting with his feet stretched into the pavement.

The pair had an argument which led to Pearn's bag being thrown over a hedge.

And that was something a 20 year old couldn’t tolerate from some old geezer:

A jury heard how the furious 20-year-old labourer then picked up a fallen tree branch and beat Mr Seaman to death.

And there’s an even more shocking twist to this tale of unthinking brutality:

Pearn had been waiting for his father, Andrew, to arrive when the confrontation took place.

In a grim coincidence, Mr Pearn - an off-duty paramedic - was the first to arrive on the scene and treated the man his son is accused of murdering.

You wonder what kind of family this is...

There are no details (yet) as the trial is still ongoing. But it will be interesting to see what other convictions this man has.

The defence is doing their best to throw enough chaff at the jury that they may decide the correct response to having your bag thrown over a hedge by a man 46 years older than you is to beat him to death with a lump of wood in ‘self defence’ but the prosecution has a rather easy job here:

'All the witnesses and medical evidence lead to a picture of a young man who had completely lost his temper and intended to cause really serious harm.

'He crossed the road to pick up a weapon and walked back with it. In no sense could it be described as reasonable or proportionate. You can be sure this was not self defence.'

As if it needed to be said…

And never, ever help someone else within earshot of the young:

A man has admitted killing a "selfless" grandfather who was helping a homeless woman.

Sean Lucas, 24, of Burnside Avenue, Chingford, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 64-year-old Clifford Champion at the Old Bailey on Monday.

Before the attack, Mr Champion had visited a service station in Chingford Mount Road in February this year to buy cigarettes and started talking to a woman who was begging.

He was trying to help the woman when he was approached by Lucas, who became aggressive and followed Mr Champion to Westward Road.

He then punched Mr Champion to the ground with a single blow and ran off.

Only a 40 year age difference here, and a single punch (plus a guilty plea), so I suspect he’ll be getting off quite lightly.

Are ‘reports’ needed before sentencing? You bet:

Lucas had previously entered a plea of not-guilty to murder and today the prosecution accepted a plea of guilty to manslaughter.

He will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on September 14 after a pre-sentencing report has been prepared.

What could a report possibly tell you about this waste of oxygen that would have any factor on his sentencing?

But more to the point, when did we become a society where young men believed that punching elderly men to the ground for a slight or for nothing at all was the done thing?

IanB over at 'Counting Cats' has a good post up on the topic of 'the untermenschen' and the many solutions proposed to them over the years.

I don't know the answer myself, but I don't think we can long maintain the veneer of civilisation unless an answer is found. And found quickly...