Hello,
As long term readers are doubtless aware commuting is more difficult for me than other people. To give a brief explanation of my woes, the 40 and 41 buses to and from Easterhouse contain more than their fair share of sub human filth.
Anyway the anti- social element have now plumbed depths even I couldn't have predicted. They have discovered a new found enthusiasm for beheadings and shootings. I should stress that they themselves aren't carrying out beheadings on the bus. Yet. No, some particularly depraved scumbag has made full use of his internet mobile phone and downloaded footage of executions from Iraq to the evident delight of the lads. Their joy in witnessing these gruesome scenes is both nauseating, offensive and all the more sinister for bordering on sexual excitement. These people should not be using drugs.
Some people are a blight on humanity. Quite apart from leaving me shaken, distressed and angry by their behaviour they have left me pondering a dilemma. Should they be prosecuted? I have been pondering this all day, largely to stop me thinking about what the footage must have been like. Mercifully they kept the actual footage to themselves though their gleeful running commentary left no-one in any doubt as to what they were watching.
With regards to the question of them being prosecuted I haven't come to any definite conclusion and suspect that the answer to this will be something I arrive at by discussion and debate. So any comments are more than welcome.
Arguments which advance the idea that one has a right not to be offended are extremely dodgy. However if the lads had been watching footage of an actual rape or kiddie porn up the back of the bus they'd have been arrested or more likely lynched first. So surely restricting people's 'right' to view actual murder can reasonably curtailed. On the other hand footage of this sort could be regarded as news in which case it sets a very dangerous precedent to allow the the state to intervene and prevent people viewing it. I know we have D notices and suchlike in UK law and as I'm opposed to them I'd be loathe to see similar legislation on this type of thing.
There was a case a few months back where a young man was prosecuted for showing a female work colleague footage of a beheading and at the time I sneered and shared the ill man's sentiments that two months was a bit severe for behaving like an annoying prick, however having been within earshot of that degenerate scum this morning I'm starting to see why this woman pressed charges.
I also support the idea of free speech and situations like my awful experience today are a test of that. It would be unreasonable to prosecute anyone for an offensive conversation they had being overheard, even if they were shouting at each other throughout.
So you see I'm uncharacteristically undecided. Perhaps we should just get a team together kidnap the lads and dump them on the doorstep of Downing St. Let the government work out how to clear up it's own mess.
Cheerio
6 comments:
Good God Margin. You haven't done anything rash like move to the east end have you?
Oh I see. For some reason I thought you were an Edinburgh chap. You're not the manager of a housing association by any chance are you?
I think I had some second thoughts on that post at the time and chopped out much of the scathing tone. I still thought the sentence was OTT, but on further consideration I realised that if some fucker had sent me a beheading in an email at work, i'd have been in a fair bit of distress. It is also entirely possible that it was the Bigley beheading, which I believe took about three minutes to carry out.
The sentence was inappropriate, but the call to the police was in hindsight, entirely understandable.
From a purely pratical point of view you'd have to report the matter, and probably personally identify the offenders, and that in itself would place you in jeopardy every time you stepped out of your door or onto a bus. It wouldn't be worth it, not least because the police would almost certainly find some excuse or other for not pursuing the complaint to its logical conclusion - which would be to press charges. That's not to say that I don't agree entirely with your view. I do. It's shameful and offensive in the extreme. Perhaps a word with the Transport Police, if such a body exists, would be the answer. You may be able to lodge a complaint - incognito - with them, and that might spur them to take some kind of action themselves. Alternatively a letter to your MP might have a similar effect.
Well, clearly there is a legal precedent for their conviction, were they to actually show it to someone who didn't want to see it. However, while they keep it to themselves, they probably haven't done anything wrong, although it does depend which website the material originated from.
Thank-you everyone.
I have given the whole thing some thought. Obviously it's too late to involve the police and likely to be ineffective in any case. I'm tending towards the view that the issue is one of doing things in the appropriate place. If they'd been watching these clips at home, then revolting as it is, it's not really any of the state's business. I still feel such behaviour is unacceptable in public places though and for that it would be acceptable to arrest and charge them, possibly with a breach of the peace. On the wider issue of the daily misery these thugs inflict on bus passengers I have decided to contact my MP. The most annoying thing of all is that at least one of the anti social element are out of prison on licence, (they like to boast of this at top volume), I find it hard to believe that any of these people can be considered rehabilitated. Unless going to work under the influence of drugs and alcohol and shouting abuse at people on public transport is considered acceptable by the criminal justice system.
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