Are You Sure About That, Mrs Wright?

Wright's mother added that she wants Potter to be held accountable for 'everything she's taken from us'.

What's the going rate for a worthless wastrel son, with no apparent prospects other than petty gangsterism, who is prepared to resist arrest to avoid answering charges and has a warrant out for his arrest on attempted aggravated robbery charges after allegedly holding a woman at gunpoint for $820 in December 2019?

Wright's bail was originally set at $100,000 with orders that he should not contact the victim or any witnesses, refrain from drugs and alcohol and not have any weapons. A bond bailsman paid $40,000 for his release.

But his bail was revoked in July last year due to his 'failure to not possess a firearm or ammunition' and not keeping in touch with his probation officer, court papers show. At that time a judge issued a warrant for his arrest, that was still outstanding on the day he died.

I can't believe that even in America, it'd be all that much.  

Differences...

Gunned down while resisting arrest? RIOT!

Gunned down while upholding the law? *crickets*

Uncanny, isn't it, how the responses can be predicted..?

"People, don't you understand, the child needs a helping hand, or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day?"

A tale of two deprived young black boys:

Today, David, 25, is a successful, eloquent civil servant. A private secretary in a government department, he holds a law degree and a masters in legal and political theory from University College London.

His friend Stephen Lansana, meanwhile, is serving life for murder at HMP Whitemoor, a Category A prison in Cambridgeshire. He will be in his 50s before he will be even considered for release.

As teenagers, they were no different, except in one very important respect — the opportunities afforded to them.

David, you see, was given a scholarship to Rugby. So, is that the answer?

This week, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced plans for a Violence Reduction Unit. Violent crime, he said, should be treated as a public health problem — a 'disease infecting communities' — requiring action to tackle the root causes.

But what are those 'root causes'? Is it simply lack of money? What does David say he noticed most at Rugby?

"But most poignant to me was the presence of both parents actively taking an interest in the education of their children."

David is still involved with EYLA, mentoring youngsters.

'I'm not sure what the long-term solution is, but what I see in my community is lack of aspiration and a here-and-now mentality.

'Young people tend to make their decisions in view of the short-term, quick gain, easy routes,' he says.

Since we can't retrospectively travel back in time and somehow ensure two parents stay together to raise a child, what can Khan do?

It's way too late to tackle the Loxodonta africana in the room...

Lambs To The Slaughter...

The area he's talking about? Stratford.

Do the people who flock to live in these new builds only ever look at the glossy brochure the estate agent shows them? Do they never look around the area, read the local paper?

All The Old Familiar Vignettes…

The escalating violence:

The teenager has a history of violence including convictions for two attempted robberies at the age of 12*, one when armed with a screwdriver. He had been excluded from school three times including once which a teacher described as “unparalleled violence not seen before.”

The ghetto culture:

The boy claimed he had been given the gun to look after by someone else – whom he refused to name because “I am not a snitch.”

The lenient sentence due to age:

Today Judge Charles Wide QC imposed a nine year sentence and added a five year extension to the period he must serve on licence to protect the public. He told the Old Bailey that the boy posed “a significant risk to members of the public of significant harm.”

More of that wonderful enriching ghetto culture:

He insisted he had never quarrelled with the schoolgirl he called his BM - or baby mother - and had no reason to harm her.

And finally - the names, my god, the names!

In an impact statement read to the court today Shereka’s mother Shyrine Mills …

A very modern crime tale, in all respects. Not quite the sort of thing Agatha Christie might have written about, though, eh?

*At 12, eh? No doubt he’s one of those ‘children’ that the police need to pander to much more:

Negative experiences, such as arrest and stop and search procedures, breeds "frustration and anger", it warned.

As much anger as seeing your daughter on a slab for consorting with the local bad boy..?