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| Child criminals also have rights in a just society Child criminals also have rights in a just society | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| The two brothers convicted in 2010 of “appalling”, “sadistic” attacks on two other boys in Edlington, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, have been granted lifelong anonymity – with judge Sir Geoffrey Vos ruling that neither their original names nor their new identities could be revealed. | The two brothers convicted in 2010 of “appalling”, “sadistic” attacks on two other boys in Edlington, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, have been granted lifelong anonymity – with judge Sir Geoffrey Vos ruling that neither their original names nor their new identities could be revealed. |
| The brothers, 10 and 11 at the time of the 2009 attacks, now in their late teens, and no longer in custody, previously had anonymity until 18, and will join four others granted the lifelong protection of new identities. These are Mary Bell, who killed two young boys when she was 11, Jamie Bulger’s killers, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, and Maxine Carr, who was convicted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice over the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. | The brothers, 10 and 11 at the time of the 2009 attacks, now in their late teens, and no longer in custody, previously had anonymity until 18, and will join four others granted the lifelong protection of new identities. These are Mary Bell, who killed two young boys when she was 11, Jamie Bulger’s killers, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, and Maxine Carr, who was convicted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice over the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. |
| What a gruesome roll call, and doubtless not one to inspire widespread concern for the lifelong wellbeing of the individuals concerned. Some might say, with feeling – returning to the Edlington case – that child perpetrators are given precedence over victims (child victims!), and where’s the justice in that? Where was the humanity for the victims from these individuals now coolly claiming their human rights? Yet isn’t it exactly these kinds of gruelling cases, and the challenging issues they throw up, that remind us all that, while society can’t stop horrific things happening, it can at least remain civilised, and direct the appropriate legal response? And that this in part requires a staunch belief in the potential for rehabilitation of even the most notorious child perpetrators. | What a gruesome roll call, and doubtless not one to inspire widespread concern for the lifelong wellbeing of the individuals concerned. Some might say, with feeling – returning to the Edlington case – that child perpetrators are given precedence over victims (child victims!), and where’s the justice in that? Where was the humanity for the victims from these individuals now coolly claiming their human rights? Yet isn’t it exactly these kinds of gruelling cases, and the challenging issues they throw up, that remind us all that, while society can’t stop horrific things happening, it can at least remain civilised, and direct the appropriate legal response? And that this in part requires a staunch belief in the potential for rehabilitation of even the most notorious child perpetrators. |
| The Edlington case was highly disquieting. The perpetrators (who had, among persistent acts of vandalism and delinquency, previously attacked another child, and tried to push yet another into the path of a car) lured the victims, aged nine and 11, on to wasteground. They then robbed, beat, and tortured them – stamping, choking, burning, striking with heavy objects, stabbing with sticks, pushing cigarettes into the wounds, forcing the victims to eat nettles and strip and sexually abuse each other. As has happened in other cases, the attack was partly filmed, making me wonder whether we’re immersed in an era of selfie-crime, where brutality, even the memory of brutality, is no longer enough – it must be recorded for some squalid form of “bragging rights”. | The Edlington case was highly disquieting. The perpetrators (who had, among persistent acts of vandalism and delinquency, previously attacked another child, and tried to push yet another into the path of a car) lured the victims, aged nine and 11, on to wasteground. They then robbed, beat, and tortured them – stamping, choking, burning, striking with heavy objects, stabbing with sticks, pushing cigarettes into the wounds, forcing the victims to eat nettles and strip and sexually abuse each other. As has happened in other cases, the attack was partly filmed, making me wonder whether we’re immersed in an era of selfie-crime, where brutality, even the memory of brutality, is no longer enough – it must be recorded for some squalid form of “bragging rights”. |
| I don’t relate such details to sensationalise them – it feels essential to record and respect what the victims went through (the older boy nearly died from his injuries). However, it’s also important to keep an eye on other details – such as the family background of the perpetrators, their eventual placement into foster care, and the missed opportunities to help them (Doncaster children’s services were heavily criticised). The brothers came from a sprawling troubled family, with a drug-addicted mother, and a violent, jealous father, who regularly beat her and once “sliced” her face. After this last incident was related in court, the younger brother, otherwise impassive, broke down, sobbing into his cupped hands – surely an indication that this was not a “monster”, this was a child, who’d completely lost his way in the lumps and crevices of his own emotional scar tissue. | I don’t relate such details to sensationalise them – it feels essential to record and respect what the victims went through (the older boy nearly died from his injuries). However, it’s also important to keep an eye on other details – such as the family background of the perpetrators, their eventual placement into foster care, and the missed opportunities to help them (Doncaster children’s services were heavily criticised). The brothers came from a sprawling troubled family, with a drug-addicted mother, and a violent, jealous father, who regularly beat her and once “sliced” her face. After this last incident was related in court, the younger brother, otherwise impassive, broke down, sobbing into his cupped hands – surely an indication that this was not a “monster”, this was a child, who’d completely lost his way in the lumps and crevices of his own emotional scar tissue. |
| This isn’t some cack-handed attempt to “humanise” the brothers. They’re already human, and, crucially, remained so, even as children, when they committed their terrible crimes. Which is why this latest award of lifelong anonymity isn’t galling, an act of misplaced compassion squandered on the worthless; rather it’s both a testament to society’s belief in child rehabilitation, and a human victory to be proud of. The system is not infallible. (Venables failed to keep his own original identity secret, and was caught with child images.) However, what’s the alternative? Making grisly circus turns out of disturbed children for the rest of their lives, condemning them to endless disruption, upheaval, and threats at best? If society can’t stop such terrible things happening, a consistent and legal humane response isn’t only crucial, it’s all we’ve got. | This isn’t some cack-handed attempt to “humanise” the brothers. They’re already human, and, crucially, remained so, even as children, when they committed their terrible crimes. Which is why this latest award of lifelong anonymity isn’t galling, an act of misplaced compassion squandered on the worthless; rather it’s both a testament to society’s belief in child rehabilitation, and a human victory to be proud of. The system is not infallible. (Venables failed to keep his own original identity secret, and was caught with child images.) However, what’s the alternative? Making grisly circus turns out of disturbed children for the rest of their lives, condemning them to endless disruption, upheaval, and threats at best? If society can’t stop such terrible things happening, a consistent and legal humane response isn’t only crucial, it’s all we’ve got. |
| Time is on Mick’s side: but then it always is for men | Time is on Mick’s side: but then it always is for men |
| Mick Jagger has had his eighth child – a son, with partner, dancer Melanie Hamrick. Much of the reaction concerns the fact that Jagger is 73years old. Will he do a Kirk Douglas, 100 last week, and be around to see his son grow up? Who knows? He’s fit enough from all the touring, and the wealth can’t hurt. | Mick Jagger has had his eighth child – a son, with partner, dancer Melanie Hamrick. Much of the reaction concerns the fact that Jagger is 73years old. Will he do a Kirk Douglas, 100 last week, and be around to see his son grow up? Who knows? He’s fit enough from all the touring, and the wealth can’t hurt. |
| Good luck to him. However, Jagger couldn’t seriously be held up as an example of older fathers being mocked the same as older mothers. Mainly because with women, it’s not just about being an older mother – for women, there’s barely a birth-giving age that isn’t deemed “wrong” by someone somewhere. | Good luck to him. However, Jagger couldn’t seriously be held up as an example of older fathers being mocked the same as older mothers. Mainly because with women, it’s not just about being an older mother – for women, there’s barely a birth-giving age that isn’t deemed “wrong” by someone somewhere. |
| There’s probably a late-20s/mid-30s “window”, when it’s considered acceptable. But otherwise a woman can find that she and her pregnancy are deemed everything from too young, irresponsible, single, and careerist, on the one hand, to too old, selfish, deluded, dangerous, on the other. | There’s probably a late-20s/mid-30s “window”, when it’s considered acceptable. But otherwise a woman can find that she and her pregnancy are deemed everything from too young, irresponsible, single, and careerist, on the one hand, to too old, selfish, deluded, dangerous, on the other. |
| The timing of a woman’s decision to have a baby can still be deemed a massive socio-political statement, to be questioned and criticised by all-comers. A few weak gags about Jagger taking his frame to the school pick-up don’t really compare. | The timing of a woman’s decision to have a baby can still be deemed a massive socio-political statement, to be questioned and criticised by all-comers. A few weak gags about Jagger taking his frame to the school pick-up don’t really compare. |
| With a hangover like that, I’d fire myself | With a hangover like that, I’d fire myself |
| Commiserations to Trishna Thakrar, who was just fired on The Apprentice. I feel kinship with Thakrar because (spoiler alert) the task was alcohol-related and she ended up with a hangover, which may have contributed to her being fired. | Commiserations to Trishna Thakrar, who was just fired on The Apprentice. I feel kinship with Thakrar because (spoiler alert) the task was alcohol-related and she ended up with a hangover, which may have contributed to her being fired. |
| I realise that the vast majority of readers out there are teetotal paragons of virtue. But, as others could tell you, it’s a special kind of hell to have to work through a filthy hangover. | I realise that the vast majority of readers out there are teetotal paragons of virtue. But, as others could tell you, it’s a special kind of hell to have to work through a filthy hangover. |
| I’ve had to do it feeling as though I’ve spent the previous night being bitten by a giant radioactive spider while being repeatedly dunked headfirst into a vat of whisky. | I’ve had to do it feeling as though I’ve spent the previous night being bitten by a giant radioactive spider while being repeatedly dunked headfirst into a vat of whisky. |
| The times when the symptoms start morphing from nausea, headache and simple everyday misery to a surreal miasma of physical agony and creeping psychological dread, aka The Fear. What did I do? What did I say? Why didn’t my so-called friends just chloroform me? Add work to this already volatile mix, and it enters a whole new dimension of torment. What do these people want? What’s with their bizarre uncool demands to do what you’re paid for? | The times when the symptoms start morphing from nausea, headache and simple everyday misery to a surreal miasma of physical agony and creeping psychological dread, aka The Fear. What did I do? What did I say? Why didn’t my so-called friends just chloroform me? Add work to this already volatile mix, and it enters a whole new dimension of torment. What do these people want? What’s with their bizarre uncool demands to do what you’re paid for? |
| Don’t they realise that you’re at the verge of typing with your nose, sobbing over the keys, as you claw pathetically at the mouse pad? | Don’t they realise that you’re at the verge of typing with your nose, sobbing over the keys, as you claw pathetically at the mouse pad? |
| No, they don’t realise that you’re hungover. (Furtive darting glance). And they mustn’t realise. Oh no – do they realise? And so on. | No, they don’t realise that you’re hungover. (Furtive darting glance). And they mustn’t realise. Oh no – do they realise? And so on. |
| Maybe I have an, ahem, “media perspective”, but who hasn’t soldiered bravely through a hangover at work, silently begging for death? Now that we’re in Christmas party season, spare a thought for all those wretched hungover photocopier-hugging souls. | Maybe I have an, ahem, “media perspective”, but who hasn’t soldiered bravely through a hangover at work, silently begging for death? Now that we’re in Christmas party season, spare a thought for all those wretched hungover photocopier-hugging souls. |
| Trishna did great, considering – in similar circumstances I’d have probably fired myself, just so that I could crawl back to my pit. | Trishna did great, considering – in similar circumstances I’d have probably fired myself, just so that I could crawl back to my pit. |