Peter Anderson, 38, tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a train at Leigh train station on May 15, but was stopped by police.
The Crown Prosecution Service then decided to prosecute Anderson, of no fixed abode, for trespass, a charge he admitted at Southend Magistrates’ Court.Hurrah! But the usual suspects weren't happy...
However, concerns have been raised over whether Anderson, who was given a three month conditional discharge for the crime, should have been prosecuted in the first place.Better to ask why he only got a conditional discharge, surely?
His friend Danny Salmon, 31, from Shoebury, said: “This was a cry for help.
“But all that has happened up until now is he has been given drugs by doctors and pulled up in court rather than talked to or sent to something like rehab.
“It seems like a waste of taxpayer money especially as the clear answer is to give him help.”Well, I agree with you on the waste of taxpayer money aspect, but...just how much hand-holding does he expect?
Is there nothing he could perhaps do for himself?
In court, Anderson’s solicitor Ann Blyth-Cook, explained why her client had tried to take his own life.
She said: “My client has fallen on hard times.
“He has been out of work for some time now since losing his driving licence and because he cannot read or write he has struggled to find a new job.
“This incident was a cry for help and he needs support to get back on the mend.”Learning to read and write might be a start...
Before sentencing him, chairman of the bench, Roger Harbidge, said: “I wish I had a box of tricks and could pull something out for you...Me too. A .38 revolver ought to do it.
A cry for help? Inconveniencing passengers because you're an utter failure in life? Selfish bastard.
ReplyDelete@ Julia and Quiet Man
ReplyDeleteShow me a person bereft of pity today and I will show you someone who once cared too much.
Perhaps railway tracks ought to be patrolled by women of a certain age armed with .38 revolvers.....
ReplyDelete@ anonymous.
ReplyDeleteIf he really wanted help there are far better ways to get attention than traumatising train drivers and passengers.
Having worked on the railways and seen some succesful and botched attempts at suicide mostly in the aftermath, I have no sympathy whatsoever fot any who use it as a means to get attention one way or another.
So no, I don't care at all for his actions and never have for that sort of selfishness.
Bunny
ReplyDeleteWhat about the poor train driver who would have killed the bloody idiot? I tend to agree with Mr Hills on that one, perhaps a .445 instead of a .38 though?
They should create suicide station on the Docklands Light Railway - between the last station and the carriage wash in the depot. No driver or passenger trauma as it's an automated line.
ReplyDeleteHow did he pass his driving test if he could not read or write.
ReplyDeleteJohn Gibson
The armed JuliaM Squad has a certain appeal. I fear this would spawn a whole bureaucratic industry of case review though. Armies of lawyers would first conclude 'nothing to see here, move on', followed by long campaigns for another enquiry in which the same lawyers would discover expert evidence suggesting all the accounts given in the first enquiry inaccurate ... I estimate the cost per .38 round in excess of £5 million.
ReplyDeleteIf he sank an ax into the skull of Ambush predator he would get quality care and housing.
ReplyDeleteAnd ambush predator would not be so judgemental
The ride on life's roller coaster ends soon enough, Quiet Man. And the one unassailable right of tormented passengers is to alight before the terminus.
ReplyDeleteHow hard can it be to grasp the fact that the most unfortunate of souls had abandoned your ideas of sensitive conduct before taking their last steps?
Quite easy MTG, off yourself in a manner not in a way that traumatises othets.
ReplyDelete"A cry for help?"
ReplyDeleteAs Buffy the Vampire Slayer put it, 'No, that's when you shout 'Help' in a loud voice'...
"Perhaps railway tracks ought to be patrolled by women of a certain age armed with .38 revolvers....."
Sadly I'm a lousy shot at a moving target. I'd have to pot 'em while they stood and pondetred it...
"They should create suicide station on the Docklands Light Railway - between the last station and the carriage wash in the depot. No driver or passenger trauma as it's an automated line."
:D
"If he sank an ax into the skull of Ambush predator he would get quality care and housing."
Ah, speaking of our old fiend John Hirst, he's been in the news again!