Three Cheers For Greg Smith!

I don't normally have occasion to praise council staff, but good on him for not mincing his words, or uttering the usual bland, inoffensive platitudes, and calling a spade a spade:

Greg Smith, deputy leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, said: “Everyone at the council is deeply saddened by the tragic news that Piotr, who was one of the borough’s dedicated street cleaners, has died after being stabbed by some scum of the earth who obviously has no regard for human life.

“He was a hard-working man, who was a friendly face to all who knew him on his regular beat.

“Piotr was a family man who courageously tried to intervene when he spotted a crime in progress and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this extremely difficult time.

“Although this is an isolated incident, it is deeply shocking that Piotr’s genuine act of bravery should end in such brutal violence and we trust that the perpetrators of this evil will be brought to justice swiftly.”

In complete contrast to the non-committal, more-in-sadness-than-in-anger response of the lawyer whose property he died trying to save:

Mr Cassell, a specialist in international tax who has worked in Washington DC and London, said: “We weren’t here at the time. We were both in our respective offices when one of our neighbours called to tell us what had happened. Obviously we’re both utterly devastated.

“I didn’t really know Piotr because he usually comes round when we’re at work, but many of our neighbours knew him and talked to him. He was a regular and a part of the neighbourhood.

“We would like to try and get in touch with his next of kin to express our gratitude.

“The most tragic and ridiculous thing is that all they took was one laptop. It’s not valuable at all, it’s an old Dell of mine. They also tried to take my wife’s Mac but dropped it and it smashed. To kill a man for something like that is so sad.. so pathetic.”

Is that the best you can do? Sounds like we need fewer Mr Cassells and far, far more Mr Mickiewiczs...