4 December 2006

A Sad, Sad State of Affairs

VERY few could failed to have been moved by the harrowing climax to the trial of the two young men accused of the brutal murder of London lawyer Tom ap Rhys Price at the Old Bailey this week (full story here). On Monday his attackers Donnel Carty,19, and Delanio Brown, 18, were both found guilty of his murder and sentenced the following day to a minimum of 21 and 17-years in the slammer respectively. Prior to the sentencing a 'victim impact statement' composed by the deceased's fiancée, Adele Eastman, 32, was read out to the court by Richard Horwell QC; a treatise in which the young lady made painfully clear in heart-rending prose the dreadful impact this bloody and senseless loss has had upon her life. The full text of this statement can be read here. In the course of the recitation the two offenders slouched, rolled their eyes and yawned, with all the retarded, ignorant derision one would expect from such base creatures. Neither made any declaration of remorse for the act.

Aside from the obvious human interest the trial also revealed a rather disconcerting truth regarding the lethal duo which speaks volumes about the pathetic state of crime and punishment on the streets of our metropolises in the twenty-first century. It transpired that Mr Brown had no prior convictions and that Mr Carty had previously received a conditional discharge for assaulting a police officer and a caution for the possession of cannabis; hardly the records of hardcore criminals, one might be forgiven for thinking, yet they belie the shocking criminality that characterised the depraved world which the pair inhabited.
The two were members of the 'KG (Kensal Green) Tribe' which operated in north-west London and specialised in 'steaming' trains on the Underground - that is running through the passenger cars, mugging as many commuters as possible before alighting at the next station. The gang appeared untouchable and, doubtless spurred on by police inaction, went on to rob an astonishing 90 people in this manner during the closing months of 2005. In one of their more brutal attacks, carried out on 23/12/05 some three weeks before the fatal stabbing, the gang went on a two-hour rampage through commuter-laden carriages. Two men who resisted were stabbed in the thigh for their 'disrespect'.
Indeed, the violent propensities of young Mr Carty, also known by his street names of 'Armani' and 'G Rock', were amply demonstrated in a set of obnoxiously belligerent Hip-Hop lyrics - or 'poignant street poetry', as many cretinous Guardianistas seem to regard this sort of thing – recorded on a youth training course (don't ask) a year before the slaying. A portion of the deranged rap went as follows: 'I draw for a shank/You boys will get poked/We do not pet to do murders/Come 'round here, you'll get bored/That don't work out, draw your sword.' (Key: Shank: knife, Poked: stabbed, Pet: fear, Bored: stabbed). There cannot be any doubt that those who attempt to equate coarse and bellicose Hip-Hop lyrics with the measured beauty of wordsmiths like Milton or Keats are at least deluded or, worse, mentally ill, but this is not the place to discuss the baleful influence of this particular tentacle of popular culture in the UK.

Most would agree that it was incredibly charitable of the victim's mother, Estella ap Rhys Price, to say of the killers: 'If they had been educated properly, given the right moral training, they would not have done this. I don't know their circumstances but no doubt there is some reason for what they did. I feel very sorry for them.' Mrs ap Rhys Price's comment about morality (or, rather, lack of it) are perceptive and naturally if we live in a culture that is no longer able to provide its youngsters with sturdy moral instruction then we must expect dreadful consequences.
By way of explanation for the deed, many of the papers also pointed to the fact that the men came from 'dysfunctional families', that 'neither boy had a father figure in his life', or that - and this is my favorite – according to Miss Camila Batmanghelidjh, an expert speaking on the BBC, the two had poor 'self-soothing repertories' (really); as if all these various deficiencies somehow rationalise the callous act that was perpetrated. Again in these theories we hear the same old socialist platitudes that 'deprivation' and a 'lack of education' (although Mr Brown even managed to acquire some GCSEs and complete a one-year sports course at Uxbridge College) must invariably lead to crime; that in our 'progressive' society criminality is a social and economic disease and as such criminals are somehow the helpless victims of happenstance; annulled of individual responsibility for their actions. This ideology is fallacious because, as with poor Mrs ap Rhys Price, it leads us to pity the criminal and seek to 'understand' and 'treat' them instead of meting out severe punishment; an example which may act as a deterrent to those of a similar persuasion.
Does the belief that such wicked behaviour can be blamed on mere 'inequality' seem so credible when a recent study has revealed that for many criminals mugging and other forms of street crime are 'fun' and that the proceeds from such actions are often spent on 'non-essential, status-enhancing' goods? Professor Trevor Bennett, one of the authors of the report said,

'The decision to commit street robbery can be explained in part by particular characteristics of the street culture. This finding is important, because British research has tended to explain robbery in terms of rational choice and to focus instead on the role of cost-reward calculations. Our research suggests that any explanation must primarily take into account cultural factors associated with life on the street.'

Kwasi Kwarteng, a friend of Mr ap Rhys Price, does not agree with the bereaved mother's assessment either and hits the nail rather squarely on the head writing in The Daily Mail:

'To suggest that this pair's utter disregard for human life was the result of their deprived background is patronizing and insulting. Such a suggestion implies that they can't help behaving like mindless thugs.
'…To suggest that mindless violence is the only possible outcome of being raised on an inner-city estate by a single mother offends the law-abiding majority of people who are brought up in similar circumstances.'

He also identified the law and order issues raised by this case:

'These tearaways had absolutely no fear of being caught. They thought they were invincible. They lived in a world beyond good and evil.
'In their own view, they could do whatever they wanted. The more people they attacked without being caught, the more confident they became of being able to get away with it.'

Indeed, without fear of facing justice just what limitations might such animals set for themselves? This sorry killing provides the clear answer; one might almost say that police ineffectiveness provoked their heinous act. Such people, possessing grossly defective moral compasses and whose only motivations are that of avarice, antagonism and the protection of their own overblown egotism, will behave in the most barbaric of ways if the barrier of law enforcement, which should serve to separate the law-abiding majority from such hoodlums, is broken down. And, because of the withering of formerly robust policing and sentencing, due to the prevalence of the above-mentioned perceptions of criminality as a social ailment amongst the political elite, it has been broken down in a most reckless manner.
In his polemic Mr Kwarteng goes on to invoke Thomas Hobbes' vision of anarchy, where there is an unending war of all against all and morality is nonexistent (sounds appealing, eh Commander Paddick?). Whilst the situation might not be quite as dire as that on our streets, the grim truth is that unless politicians and the police hierarchy stop regarding criminals as victims of circumstance in need of therapy and becomes more draconian in their approach to dealing with them, then Hobbes' nightmare vision may soon become a reality in many of our blighted cities.

Until then Tom ap Rhys Price, like Damilola Taylor, John Monckton, Daisy Fenton, Timothy Robinson and the countless others, becomes yet another indelible blood-stain on Blair's multicultural dystopia.

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