Sunday, July 15, 2007

"the determination that no one who dies shall go unmourned ... "

Thus Kenneth Tynan on the original production of 'Look Back In Anger'.

There's a gap in the market for a blog which just reports UK homicides. They run at about 1,100 a year - 3.3 a day - for the whole UK. Not an unreportable number. Yet they're not all reported. Why ?

I don't understand how the BBC find room on the Web for this :

A man was taken to hospital after being struck by a bus in Bristol, it has emerged. The pedestrian was hit on Hotwells Road in the city centre at about 2200 BST on Saturday.
The man, aged 21, suffered minor head injuries.


Yet not this :


A murder hunt is under way after a builder beaten up in a busy Hoxton park lost his fight for life. James Houliston, 44, of Regan Way, was left with a fractured skill when he was attacked in Shoreditch Park three weeks ago. His life support machine was turned off at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel last Thursday.

Police have launched a murder inquiry and have made an urgent appeal for witnesses to come forward. "I believe the man who assaulted Mr Houliston is a local man and is likely to have been a regular visitor to the park," said Det Chief Insp Carl Mehta, who is leading the investigation.

Mr Houliston, a builder with two grown-up sons, was walking through the park at about 7.30pm on Tuesday, June 12. He was near the Mintern Street entrance when he became involved in an argument with another person. Mr Houliston was punched in the face and fell to the ground, crashing his head on the pavement. He was taken to the hospital in a serious condition and never regained consciousness. A postmortem carried out at Poplar mortuary on Friday found he died of head injuries.

Police are keen to trace a dark-skinned Asian man in his late teens, who is about 5ft 11ins tall and has an athletic build. He was wearing light-coloured shorts and was wearing or holding a white T-shirt. It is believed he was with a group of about six Asian and black youths in their late teens, as well as a white girl with blonde or bleached hair. The incident room can be contacted on 020 8345 3734, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.


It can't just be racism, can it ?

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you scroll through this chap, you'll see he's counting.
http://www.duffandnonsense.typepad.com/

Anonymous said...

Obviously in the Beeb's hierarchy, a traffic accident with no call for witnesses requires higher prioritisation than a murder hunt where police are actively seeking witnesses.

Or perhaps they are just saving the latter for 'Crimewatch'...?

Anonymous said...

Of course it could be racism.

After all why wouldnt a married man in his 40s suddenly attack a large group of non-white youths, obviously I dont condone violence but when persecuted minorities are threatened, undestandably they may react with force.

Didnt three white girls attack 15 black girls just the other day, see, it happens all the time.

ba ba said...

There is a blog just like that here; The fallen list.

Best,
G.

Anonymous said...

Regarding under reporting how about this guy

Alex McIlveen

Alex McIlveen faced down the Glasgow Airport terror suspects ... Alex punched and kicked the two men after they crashed a Jeep Cherokee loaded with gas canisters into the door of Terminal One.

The 45-year-old booted one of the suspects, whose body was covered in flames, as hard as he could between the legs.

But the man didn't appear to feel the blow ... Alex, of Glasgow, was one of several hero Scots who took on the men who targeted the airport on Saturday afternoon.

He punched and kicked the passenger from the Jeep, believed to be Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla.

Then he went after the driver of the vehicle, even though the heavily-built man was in flames after apparently turning himself into a human torch."I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"The guy in the passenger seat was wearing a white T-shirt. He got out carrying what looked like a petrol bomb and seconds later the Jeep was in flames.

... "Then he kicked and punched a man to the ground before punching a policeman square in the face. That's when I saw red. That sort of thing just isn't on.

"I told my passenger to run for her life, then I went for the man in the T-shirt and managed to skelp him in the face. I followed it up by booting him twice.

"By that time some other people had joined in and it seemed like the T-shirt guy was trying to get back into the Jeep.

"Then the driver got out of the car. He was already in flames. It was obvious he was the real psycho of the pair.

"Someone was hosing him down but the flames seemed to jump up again just as it looked like they had gone out.

"It was obvious the driver wanted into the boot of the Jeep for something and I was worried about what it was. I thought it must be a gun.

"He was going crazy, just lashing out at everyone and babbling p*sh in a foreign language the whole time.

"I've heard people say since that he was shouting 'Allah!' but I didn't hear that. It just sounded like a lot of c**p to me.

"I ran for the guy and punched him twice in the face with pretty good right hooks.

"Then I kicked him with full force right in the balls but he didn't go down. He just kept on babbling his rubbish.

"I couldn't believe that he was still standing. I know I would have been floored by that kind of kick."

... "I don't think the policeman I saw at the scene drew his baton during the whole thing. He should have given it to me - I'd have leathered those guys with it."

Anonymous said...

""I don't think the policeman I saw at the scene drew his baton during the whole thing. He should have given it to me - I'd have leathered those guys with it." "

The policeman probably hadn't completed his risk assessment in time....

Anonymous said...

"It can't just be racism, can it ?"

I think it must be. If the races were reversed in the Hackney killing I'm sure it would be all over the news.
The racism of the Beeb is matched by the racism of the so-called 'anti-racist lobby' who are conspicuous by their silence. As are the police.

Anonymous said...

I entirely agree Laban. One better, the BBC should be obliged to report all homicides committed in the UK on
the tv and radio national news. That'll be the day.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous wrote “... the BBC should be obliged to report all homicides committed in the UK on the tv and radio national news.”. A good idea, but being fair is not the way things are done. I have not seen the BBC reporting guidlines (anybody have a link?) but regarding the print media (and broadcast journalists?) we have the

Reporting Diversity MultiCult propaganda guidelines.

For some of this nonsense from over the pond written by a displaced Brit, John Derbyshire see

Better Dead Than Rude

His subtitle is “Political correctness began as a reasonable adjustment of manners, but as an ideology, it corrupts language and dulls thought.”

A sample:

“Law enforcement. The fact, borne out by every statistical inquiry under the sun, that some racial groups are more inclined to criminality than others, is of course anathema to those who have internalized PC precepts. Any program of law enforcement that delivers disproportionate numbers of black or Hispanic perpetrators to the courts and prisons is ipso facto considered to be “racist.” Such programs are strongly discouraged.

In my own county of Suffolk (New York), the police launched a campaign against unlicensed drivers. Within three weeks they arrested 50 such, with Hispanics heavily over-represented. The police commissioner, on orders from the district attorney and a local judge, thereupon suspended the program on suspicion of “racial profiling.” A revised version of the program has since been permitted, but presumably, while the program was in suspense, some county residents—myself, perhaps—might have been killed or maimed in crashes with unlicensed drivers, another instance of the “better dead than rude” mentality that has long ruled our airport-security screening procedures.”

Laban said...

bnpguy - the "fallen list" is a list of native Brits killed by non-natives. It just so happened that we saw there a native victim. I'm looking for a complete list of homicide victims - of all races.

Suzie said...

I was a friend of James and he was not a racist. If this was a racist attack, then he was the victim.

Anonymous said...

Are these "persecuted minorities" you're talking about the ones damaging the car outside your house, or perhaps the ones firing vile abuse at a man on his own walking innocently through a park and then following it up with a fatal punch, because they know they can get away with it? Don't make me laugh. It works both ways dear.

Anonymous said...

Well, where do I start? I am James Houliston’s big brother. It is a fact that all the members of the gang who attacked James were black/Indian, apart from one white female and from the start I would like to get something very clear, which is that my little brother James didn’t have one scrap of racism in his blood. He would have gone out of his way to help any man, woman or child. James had a son who was named after him - he was a lovely little fella. Sadly, he had a very short life as he got hit by a motorbike on his way to school aged five. He never had a chance as he had too much damage to his brain stem and so never pulled through. My little brother James, his father, also died in exactly the same way. James senior never ever got over what happened to his son and I do mean he never got over it I think that is why he turned to drink, but he seemed to struggle by every day. Now, as far as these killers are concerned and I do mean killers, what they said to James as he was walking by that peaceful day in the park I wouldn’t repeat as it was so low, but James walked away. It was only later on when James was walking on his own that he was attacked by one of these mindless thugs. These 10 losers confronted James again for nothing, just because they were all stoned out of their heads and they thought “yes, we’ve got a victim”. That’s all he was to this lowlife and his mates, another victim attacked for their own warped entertainment. Who will be next on their list? You, me, the next-door neighbour? We just don’t know. As for James, he never stood a chance. James came from a very large family - he had four brothers and two sisters so you can imagine all the cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas and all the friends of the family. James was a big part of that, then these killers came along and took my little brother away from us. Now, for me and the rest of his extensive family, memories are all we have, some bad, but mainly good. We did everything you can imagine during childhood from swimming in the sea on the west coast of Scotland, Burns country (James loved Rabbie Burns), to playing soldiers on the sandy beaches, having pillow fights, rolling our boiled eggs down the hills in the countryside, fighting in the bath together, running to school in case we were late. I could go on and on - the list would be endless, so to say his death is a big loss for me is an understatement. I miss him so much - everyone that knew him misses him - he was one of a kind. In the last days of his life after the attack in the park, spent unconscious in hospital, I think I knew that we would have to let him go as his brain was slowly pushing out of a hole in the side of his head. We were all there holding his hands just hoping, but deep down I knew I must let my little brother go - it was so hard and still is. All the family were called to the hospital - they came from all over Britain. One of our sisters is blind but even she travelled from Lancashire to be with James during his last hours. She is his eldest sister and was like a little mother to him when he was a boy, and one of the most poignant moments in that hospital was when she was saying goodbye to him and commented “Aye, I won’t be changing your nappies any more little brother”. When we were all together in the hospital, we were told that we had to let our brother go as he was brain dead. That killed all our hopes. We were told it would take James between three and five minutes to die. It didn’t - it was over thirty-five minutes which was very distressing. My whole family had to sit through all this. It feels as if someone has cut a limb from my body and still these killers walk these streets. James has two other sons, one of whom is seeing a psychiatrist in the aftermath of his father’s death and the other finding it hard to even get out of bed. His other sister still hasn’t gone back to work as a much needed midwife - it is soul-destroying for everyone, all because someone else couldn’t bring their children up to be decent guys. Someone out there knows who they are - let me tell you people, these are the scum of the earth, they are lowlife KILLERS. They took a lovely guy’s life away putting his family through torture, but believe me, the net is closing in, so if you were there in the park that day in that “gang” but didn’t do anything, please, please get on the phone to the police now. Imagine if it was a member of your family who’d been attacked - wouldn’t you want justice? Do you have a conscience? It could be your last chance before it is too late. If any of you do read this, just spare a thought this Christmas when you’re sitting round your Christmas trees with your loved ones exchanging presents, for James and his family. We will all be in Scotland standing round James’ son’s grave burying his father’s ashes with him, saying prayers on a cold winter’s day. I have no wish to offend anybody by the following, but I often wonder whether this case would be nearer being solved if the gang had been made up of white men attacking a black person (which would be equally as horrific) and I can’t help feeling this is likely which, sadly, is a depressing sign of the times. Thanks a lot for reading this and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from James’ big brother, Brian.

Brian said...

I put a comment on hear in 2007,it was all about my brothers murder.well to this date my family hasn't heard one single word from the police.Come on there was six asain guys two or three blacks and one White girl more people than the SE Kray firm yet not even one arrest in all this time. Yet the word going about it was the haggerston elders. This happen in shoreditch park hackney London in broad daylight, yet still nothing. Google his name and read about the case James Houliston is his name then give your comments.

Brian said...

Stil no arrest on this racist murder

Brian said...

Well it's now the12/4/15 and it still doesn't get any better, to this date we still haven't heard one word from the police on James Houlistons Murder in shoreditch park. Just incredible how can these people sleep at night. What has our family to do to even get a letter or ph call about his Murder.

Midwife 2510 said...

Well Brian its now 2017.-ten years have passed since James was snatched from all of us. I'd like to say time has eased the pain and the emptiness that losing him left in our family but i'd be lying. I miss him as much today as I did in 2007, I still pick the phone up to speak to him then remember that I can't do that anymore because he is gone. The heartache is always there, the loss is always there and the knowledge that he was taken from us never leaves me. He was my big brother and he was always there for me. He always seemed to know the right thing to say and advice me on the right path to walk, he steered me in my darkest moments. I doubt we will ever, as a family, find justice in any court in London, as you have rightly said James had the wrong colour of skin in the fight that took him for the authorities to pursue it with any great passion. As for the media, apparently if you have powerful friends and money in the bank then the government has no problem throwing away taxpayer's money away on cases involving a most certainly killed at the hands of parents dead child. We just aren't important enough and as a result neither is James, and we don't have access to any important people with influence, like the parents of said child. My anger is directed at the families of the thugs who stole my big brother away in 2007 because they know who was involved and who did what but they have battered down the hatches and went to ground in their communities. Lets be honest here, the police haven't looked into James's case in years and they probably wont do so again. But I think the family already know that now and have lost faith in the so called justice system...