Thursday, 15 October 2009

Favoured Victims...

The random beating to death of Ian Baynham in Trafalgar Square by strangers, two of them women, is truly sickening. Even more sickening is the prospect of the sentence they'll get when caught

However, because he was gay, the police and politicians are in PR-overdrive:
Yesterday Detective Chief Inspector Alexis Boon, of the Metropolitan Police, said: 'This was a vicious homophobic attack on two men who had done nothing more than come into central London to enjoy a night out and were verbally abused and assaulted within minutes of getting off the bus.'

Councillor Daniel Astaire, from Westminster City Council, said he was 'extremely concerned' by the attack.

'While such incidents are extremely rare in Westminster, we do not tolerate any violence or homophobia of any kind,' he added.
Now, the fact that he was gay may have drawn their attention. And it may not...

For as the police are forced to admit:
Police are hunting two teenage girls seen in the area at the time and a black male who was sitting with them.

They believe that the three, all aged between 16 and 20, had been verbally abusing other members of the public earlier in the evening.
Other gay couples? Or just other people?

It shouldn't matter why he was targetted for a beating.

He wasn't 'gay'. He was a human being. There should be no need for extra outrage.
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9 comments:

  1. Trident15 October 2009 at 09:15

    I'm straight, but if I get beaten up in late night Leith, i'd really rather they didn't mention that. Beating up a homosexual is obviously a worse crime because... Shit I can't think of one reason.

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  2. Von Spreuth.15 October 2009 at 09:26

    polaris said...
    if I get beaten up in late night Leith,

    What do you mean "IF"??? :-)

    As to the attack here. It will be interesting to see if the SENTENCE reflects the facts that it was a queer bashing event, and not just the politicians using it as a reason to have a "two minute rage".

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  3. Anonymous15 October 2009 at 09:27

    "'While such incidents are extremely rare in Westminster, we do not tolerate any violence or homophobia of any kind,' he added."

    So murder is fine by this council scum, but "homophobia" isn't?

    Are council cancers part of the protected minority?

    Brian, follower of Deornoth

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  4. Letters From A Tory15 October 2009 at 09:30

    There's always room for extra outrage, Julia!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mark15 October 2009 at 13:09

    I noticed this story on the BBC News website yesterday. It included a still from CCTV footage circling the grainy faces of 2 blonde teenage girls. The story however referred to '3 attackers' but gave no further details about the 3rd attacker.

    How strange !

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  6. Anonymous15 October 2009 at 14:42

    My thoughts exactly on reading the story yesterday. The two DNA wasters would have punched and kicked anyone who DARED stand up to them. The fact that the deceased was gay simply gave them ammunition, the same as if he was black, disabled, old or had a stutter. You'd think such behaviour is rare given the nonsense printed yesterday - this is quiite normal behaviour for millions on sink estates and neighbourhoods across the UK. This is why all criminal behaviour should be dealt with without recourse to differences and '-isms' that have had special legislation created. I thought that was why representations of justice show her to be blindfolded - all being equal under the law!

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  7. JuliaM16 October 2009 at 05:29

    "Beating up a homosexual is obviously a worse crime because... Shit I can't think of one reason."

    Me neither.

    "It will be interesting to see if the SENTENCE reflects the facts that it was a queer bashing event..."

    If he's charged under hate crime legislation, it almost certainly will.

    "So murder is fine by this council scum, but "homophobia" isn't?"

    Murder of your average person on the street is just unfortunate - murder of an identity group is horrific. Nice message to send, isn't it?

    "The story however referred to '3 attackers' but gave no further details about the 3rd attacker."

    Odd, that. Particularly when it was first described as a 'dark-skinned individual' before being changed in later reports to 'a black man'.

    "The two DNA wasters would have punched and kicked anyone who DARED stand up to them. The fact that the deceased was gay simply gave them ammunition, the same as if he was black, disabled, old or had a stutter."

    Indeed. If they were really intent on bagging a certain type of victim, wouldn't they have stationed themselves near, say, a gay nightclub, rather than a main thoroughfare?

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  8. Mark16 October 2009 at 14:00

    Cllr Astaire (desperately searching for a silver lining) said that 'such incidents are extremely rare in Westminster'.
    However from several reports I've read this fatal gay bashing episode is very similar to one from a few years ago on the South Bank. The murderers on that occasion were of a comparable diverse mix to those suspected of the Trafalgar Square attack.

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  9. JuliaM17 October 2009 at 07:05

    "Cllr Astaire (desperately searching for a silver lining) said that 'such incidents are extremely rare in Westminster'.
    However from several reports I've read this fatal gay bashing episode is very similar to one from a few years ago on the South Bank."

    I think I recall that one. It started on a footbridge over the Thames, didn't it?

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