Oh, and while I’m using the sterling work of others to fill my own blog space, Louis Barfe makes some excellent points regarding tabloid behaviour over the Jon Venables affair.
We can all dream up our little legal, psychological and judicial theories about it, but creating a furious media storm based purely on hearsay and prejudice is not going to benefit anyone.
I agree completely. Here is another interesting article:
http://the-bastard.com/index.php?section=1&page=2221
It reminds me of the time when the News of the World printed pictures of known paedophiles on it’s front cover. That lasted a couple of weeks before they had to stop because mobs attacked ‘lookalikes’! They also attacked a paediatrician!! People can’t be trusted with that kind of information. That is why I am strongly against Sarah’s law. People have a right to know if a paedophile is living in their area, but not who they are and where they live. It should be the responsibility of the police and local authorities to keep them in check. If they can’t do that – I wouldn’t be against holding paedophiles in institutions for life.
Sarah Payne’s mother and Denise Fergus should not be held as public authorities in cases like these. I feel a strong sympathy for them both – like everyone does. But they have both proven themselves to be reactionary and irrational.