It is understood he was arrested on Friday evening and returned to a south London prison after being seen in Southwark, south London, and associating with gang members.Who’s shocked? Not me.
Richard Taylor, Damilola's father, was said to be "deeply upset and disturbed" by the news that Preddie has been returned to jail.It doesn’t say that he’s shocked either…
Gary Trowsdale, managing director of the Damilola Taylor Trust, the charity set up by the schoolboy's family, accused the probation service of being "arrogant and self-serving" in its handling of Preddie's release.Another thing I’m finding it hard to be shocked by…
Speaking on behalf of the Trust, he said: "The system that was responsible for bringing Ricky Preddie back into society has clearly failed him, the Taylor family and the public at large.Sadly, Richard Taylor is finding out the hard way that, despite all the fine words and parading with him in the media that the administration apparatchiks and politicians might have done, when it comes right down to brass tacks, the justice system takes very, very little notice of the relatives of victims of crime.
"Richard Taylor had always asked that the boy should not be released unless he had reformed and shown remorse. This was clearly not the case. "
Why, I wonder, did Richard Taylor think things would be different for him?
"Given how high profile the case was though in the best interests of the public and all those involved in the ongoing battle against youth crime, we offered to work with the probation system to make sure the boy received the best mentoring available.I doubt it. You and your charity served your purpose. You provided marketing and media opportunities, that’s all.
"Camila Batmanghelidjh of Kids Company had agreed to help with his mentoring and we approached the probation service via our Borough Commander. They never responded to us.
"We hope now they will learn a lesson from this and maybe not be so arrogant and self-serving in the future."
And ticks in the ‘community relations’ box. Of course.
And when that was achieved, they went right back to ignoring you and your concerns...
Camila Batmanghelidjh?
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that's pronounced Batman Jelly.
Awesome.
Rest of the story is entirely unsurprising however, as you rightly say.
"Why, I wonder, did Richard Taylor think things would be different for him" ?
ReplyDeletePerhaps he was hoping for the kind of Media "Stardom" accorded to the Lawrence family ?
"The system that was responsible for bringing Ricky Preddie back into society....."
ReplyDeleteBringing back? This assumes Preddie was ever`there`,as part of society, in the first place - which he wasn't, so surely there is no `bringing back`?
'Perhaps he was hoping for the kind of Media "Stardom" accorded to the Lawrence family ?'
ReplyDeleteThat could never be because his son was murdered by another black and that doesn't count.
If the killer had been a white man Mr Taylor would be a superstar by now.
@ Greencoat ..
ReplyDeleteMy point precisely old horse ..
Someone needs to take Mr Taylor aside & quietly explain the facts into his shell-like ..
Yup, Greencoat nails it.
ReplyDeleteOnly WoB crimes register in the national psyche these fine days.
BoB and Bow - forget it.
Today the Krays would struggle to make four column inches on page five of my local rag, nevermind the national news.
"Now, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that's pronounced Batman Jelly. "
ReplyDelete:D
"Perhaps he was hoping for the kind of Media "Stardom" accorded to the Lawrence family ?"
As Greencoat points out, that's unlikely to happen.
"Bringing back? This assumes Preddie was ever`there`,as part of society, in the first place..."
Good point!
"Today the Krays would struggle to make four column inches on page five of my local rag, nevermind the national news."
Today, the Krays would be overwhelmed by bigger, more ruthless gangs before they could become established...