A town unites against Knife crime

oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

on Tuesday night a young lad (19 y.o.) was stabbed after being robbed when he had already handed over his wallet (£12 in it)
he died shortly after in hospital
unfortunately this is a regular occurrence where I live, Blantyre is well know for knife crime

the young lad this time was a well liked boy that worked for charity in Thailand teaching handicapped kids during his summer holidays
this was one too many young lives lost and people started a page on facebook to hold a walk
in memory of this sad and useless waste of life, in 3 days the message went around
and by last night (Fri) over 1300 people had pledged to attend including me and my kids

today (sat) according to police figures over 5000 people walked around the town
to show we are fed up with the violence and blade culture we now live in
it took the cops by surprise the amount that turned up as they had not blocked the roads
the walk closed every major road in the town as the procession was almost 2 miles long and took up the full width of the road

I was overwhelmed at this show of disgust by the people of blantyre for coming out in these numbers
and it was every age group from kids to pensioners even a couple in wheelchairs
the hope is it will send out a message to the scum of this town that people will not put up with this any more
and meetings are being organised to try to find ways to put an end to the knife culture

as to the two scumbags that did this they have been arrested, one turned in by his mother
they are 18 year old and both have a long history of slashing and stabbing people
hopefully this time the court will do there job and lock them up for as long as possible
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oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

this was posted tonight on a facebook page Keep Blantyre Safe

I think it says it all

To my friends of Blantyre:
What we saw today was extraordinary, a community pulled together by the death of a good young man. We took our first steps today to honour his memory in a way that no one could have imagined, in his memory we are taking back our village from the scum that infested it. I believe and I am sure all of you will agree that by the time it took to complete our walk something happened, we became a community again. A community that has sent out a clear message that we have had enough. The eyes of the wider communities of the country are upon us and if we lead they will follow, let's show them the way and not only will we have a better village but a better country to live in. Now that's what I call honouring Reamonn's life.

To the scum:
Let me be the first to say it "your reign is over, we have served you notice. Clean up your ways or get out you are no longer welcome in our village. We won't stand by and let you rule by fear because we don't fear you anymore."

To the police:
You have a community that is ready and willing to support you, don't let us down. We know you face untold challenges in your day to day duties but we are by your side and we've got your back.

To the councillors:
Get your finger out
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hornetmike · World Chat Champion Joined: 06 May 2008 Karma :

oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

hopefully some good will come from this
we are already mobilising and a group of us have called a meeting to get idea's and then we plan to take on the councillor's and call them to account
with the turnout we had today we have the people behind us to force them to act or be voted out
and get people in that care about the community

Stand up to the thugs, take our community's back and let decent people feel safe in the streets
I seen the people of blantyre make a start on this today
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Damon · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Aug 2007 Karma :

I don't have much to say other than well done. It's great to see a village pull together like this. Karma

Ichy · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Karma :

I really appreciate what the community has done but how effective is it? Walking around saying that you won't allow it to happen achieves what? Its good to see people unite in a common cause but it also needs to defend its rights.

Law and order has no value to the type of person that it should deal with. Seriously, laws only exist for those that accept them, is that not obvious? The Police are ineffective and Prison is not a deterrent.
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colin1 · Captain Safety Joined: 17 Feb 2005 Karma :

Well i dont think it did any harm. I think a big event like that may give people the strength to report things they know and feel the community is on their side, rather than that they are ratting on someone.

Prison may not be a deterrent but it can physically remove people for a short period of time so they cant do crimes when in prison. Arguably worth the huge cost on that basis alone, when it comes to murderers.

The problem is when crime is seen as inevitable and acceptable. If a community makes a stand against it, those who might do bad things, may do slightly less bad things. Those who before would stay silent, might now come forward.

Can't do any harm.
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oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

https://video.stv.tv/bc/stv-news-saturday-central-20110205/

watch the first few minutes of this link you will see the depth of feeling and the amount of people
that came out to support this and this was all by word of mouth and facebook in 3 days
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stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

It can be done. All you need is one good Judge prepared to take them on and a community prepared to back them up.

It happened in the razor gang war-zone that was Glasgow in the 1950's. Lord Carmont was on the bench in the crown court and is reputed to have told the police "Bring them before me and I'll put them away!". He gave everyone brought before him for a stabbing 10 years and within 3 weeks, the streets were safe to walk.
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GhostRider · World Chat Champion Joined: 31 Jan 2008 Karma :

Yeah, it'll be great if the police don't arrest you alongside the real criminals, but that's probably be far too much like police work for their liking I'm sure.

Karma for the whole thing though, don't think I've quite seen anything like that before.

GhostRider
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Colin Edwards · Brolly Dolly Joined: 06 Jul 2007 Karma :

Well done to all those that turned up and those wanting to make a difference

What a fantastic show of the people. Lets hope its the start of a positive change in a community that clearly wants it.

Its sad that places have come to this in the country and people have to live in fear.

Hat off to you all those that are standing up for their towns, family's and community

CE

oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

from the Daily Mail today

Town of tears as thousands march for murdered Reamonn Gormley

THOUSANDS of tearful mourners brought a town to a standstill yesterday as they paid tribute to murdered teenager Reamonn Gormley.

Reamonn, 19, was stabbed to death as he walked home in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, last week.

Yesterday, his closest friends led a parade round the streets of his home town in his honour. They were joined by more than 2000 members of the shocked community.

Pals wore Celtic tops with Reamonn's name on the back and waved banners reading: "Reamonn Gormley, true gentleman. Gone but not forgotten."

The crowd, including Labour MSP James Kelly, brought traffic to a halt, with many motorists stopping to pay their own respects.

Last night, John Tierney, who helped organise the event, said: "We are overwhelmed by the reaction. It's absolutely unbelievable.

"The good people of Blantyre have come out in tribute to one of our own.

"One of the most important things is the Gormley family know the community are behind them. Hopefully they can take a bit of strength from this."
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oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

from another paper

Im-a-Ridah · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Karma :

What needs to be done is to not so much tackle knife crime, but tackle what leads to knife crimes. The root problem is the kids at school that get away with being violent, and then continue it in adult life, and those that get involved in gangs. Prison is not such a good idea as it more like a University for criminals, and actually just turns borderline criminals, into well skilled criminals! If people go to prison for offences where they are likely to learn new criminal skills, then they should be put in solitary confinement for the entirety of their term. If you go in for causing death through drink driving though for example, then there would be no need for solitary. If you go in for burglary then there is!

If this town wants to make a big difference, why not campagin for construction of a 20,000 place prison so there is actual place to send the criminals? Thumbs Up

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

I was a bit surprised by the original post, as I expected there to be a few stabbings in Blantyre, though overall it is a pretty friendly place actually - but a rather large one to 'unite'. Not the one I've visited, then Razz

.

smegballs · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Karma :

As said before, its the causes of knife crime need tackling not "knife crime" in general.

Why should I, a friendly non-scumbag type of person, get sent away with some good ol' MMS (mandatory minimum sentencing) just because I choose to carry a knife on my person.

Stabbing people is already illegal, so if I go round stabbing people by all means bust me for that. Criminalising me and giving me a 5 years (i assume) for merely possesing a sharp piece of metal is fucking insane.

DrDonnyBrago · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Jan 2010 Karma :

I live in Newport where pregnant chicks get stabbed at home and have their houses burned down.

Story here

It's a cool story (the community against knife crime thing not the murdering pregnant chicks thing) but what does it really achieve? The knifey scrotes will still be knifey scrotes even if they are declared as universally unwelcome.

sickpup · Old Timer Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Karma :

oldpink · World Chat Champion Joined: 02 Aug 2006 Karma :

well tomorrow there is a meeting that started off as a handful of people that want to take this forward
its already snowballed up to a large meeting with lots of concerned people of the town
my daughter and others involved in community projects and kid / youth groups are all attending

I was involved in community projects before that did a lot of good but as per usual cutbacks and closure of community centers
put a stop to the project when we ran out of money to put on these events
I'm seeing people I worked with back then resurfacing and looking to see if we can get this going again

but already there is a change taking place in the community, everyone I spoke to said it was about time
and that there fed up just closing the blinds or turning a blind eye like we have been doing
we all know who the troublemakers are and who to look out for
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Fruit'n'nut · Could Be A Chat Bot Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Karma :

sickpup · Old Timer Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Karma :

Icey · World Chat Champion Joined: 18 Apr 2006 Karma :

I read this topic and it reminded me of a song from one my favourite combos.

Just because of these lyrics:

You see knife crime knife crime ain't about knifes,
It's about young Britain and the ways of lives,
You don't solve knife crime by taking knifes to hand,
You solve it by instilling new hopes and plans,
You've got positives though, I swear it's true,
In north south east west and the midlands too.
God damn viresty, that shines right through.
Who's makes the best music in the world, we do

Great Britain
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Hetzer · Super Spammer Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Karma :

A child is the product of its parents, and the root of all problems lay with them as a general rule.
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