Brave Darren Barker beaten unconcious by yobs

[King Tubby]

Good on you Darren, dangerous thing to do though. Hope you're well recovered.

[T.M.K]

Cowards n all

A gang of them kick him unconscious and dont get a jail term?...

Disgrace

Welcome to Labour's judicial system.

Agreed. "The Human Rights act" Blair started to enforce to the level it went to was one of the worst things to happen to this country.

Let's hope Cameron comes good and brings it all back into line.

"T.M.K"

[T.M.K]

This is one thing the muslims have right. I read recently about a case where it was proven beyond any doubt whatsoever that a man and his friends had beaten into paralysis and a wheelchair a guy they hated evidently they stamped on the mans head even when he was laying motionless leaving him a vegetable for the rest of his life. The court in saudia arabia said the three should also be medically put in a wheelchair. Now thats an extreme example .but in this case an eye for an eye applies if these ten cowardss set on barker.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/au ... se-convict

[dondada]

That's the problem. They hang around in big gangs. You never get 1 or 2 of them mouthing off. It's always like 5+ of them so you have no chance.

Another little spin on this is if you put that to them, i.e. 'Right, let's go one on one'. Most just don't seem to get the concept that this is the proper, honourable way to do things. They aren't shamed into packing it in or going for it on their own. They just don't get it. It's just a numbers game.

In the same way those scumbags shot James Oyebola because he had 'disrespected' them by politely asking them to put out a cigarette where they shouldn't have been smoking anyway. Yes, that's very brave of you and very honourable.

Concepts of 'honour' and 'fairness' have been hugely eroded because of the misguided sense of entitlement people have been brought up with.

[stujones]

Me and a mate went to local shop on Saturday evening, as we walked past a group of lads , one of them looked straight at us and said, here comes big cock and little cock, then went on to say he was going to have someone tonight.

So what do you do?

We walked back past them , to get another couple of comments. If we react and get involved in a fight , and if we win, i can garuntee they will go to the police and i would lose my jobs , or the other way is we react and get a kicking, there was about 7 of them.

Best response. Hate to sound like an old grandad, but walking away is the best thing you could do.

[JC]

Curfews and a fine? Pathetic.

[Dioufy]

God damn. A sustained, unprovoked attack on a model professional should gurantee a custodial sentence. A curfew and a fine? If Barker did a number on a few of them he'd be made an example of. I hate to say it, but Barker should've jogged on. But the guy is a throughly decent chap. It was simply no-win for him.

I hate the judicial system here.

[Lenny]

It's the standard thing.

A guy on my old football team tried to run from a taxi one time. When the old driver locked the doors, he grabbed the handle above the window and kicked 7 shades of sh*t out of the cabbie who couldn't do a thing as he had a seat belt on still. Tagged and fined.

A couple of years ago my old man had a female neighbour park in his space where he lives so he went and asked them politely to move they answered back with a load of abuse. Then later on that evening when her boyfriend and his mates came back drunk (in their early 20's), they went to knock on my old mans door and two of them knocked him to the floor (inside his own flat) threw my mum across the room causing her to bang her hear on the wall and gave my old man (aged 60) a kicking. Fined. That still gets me wound up writing that, never been so tempted to drive up to Norwich with a few mates and get revenge on the blokes. Still unsure as to whether I did the right thing or not in letting the police deal with it.

I suppose violent cases like these are too frequent to lock them all up but whatever the current deterrent is doesn't work

[dondada]

It's the standard thing.

A guy on my old football team tried to run from a taxi one time. When the old driver locked the doors, he grabbed the handle above the window and kicked 7 shades of sh*t out of the cabbie who couldn't do a thing as he had a seat belt on still. Tagged and fined.

A couple of years ago my old man had a female neighbour park in his space where he lives so he went and asked them politely to move they answered back with a load of abuse. Then later on that evening when her boyfriend and his mates came back drunk (in their early 20's), they went to knock on my old mans door and two of them knocked him to the floor (inside his own flat) threw my mum across the room causing her to bang her hear on the wall and gave my old man (aged 60) a kicking. Fined. That still gets me wound up writing that, never been so tempted to drive up to Norwich with a few mates and get revenge on the blokes. Still unsure as to whether I did the right thing or not in letting the police deal with it.

I suppose violent cases like these are too frequent to lock them all up but whatever the current deterrent is doesn't work

That is absolutely disgusting, Lenny. Deep sympathy mate and you're a model of restraint.

It's good when you have a judge who will do the business. We have one in Sheffield called Alan Goldsack. He's the one who jailed Naz. A good recent one was when some young waste of space was playing music loud in his flat and ruining the lives of all around them. A pensioner went and asked him politely to turn it down. He went back in, turned it up and came back with a knife and threatened the poor guy.

Goldsack basically called him a disgrace and jailed him for 10 months.

[TheCobra]

What bothers me so much is that surely 80% of people at least are in agreement here and yet what gets done about it? Everyone here is in agreement, they are thugs and deserve a harsher sentence, so why, as a 'democracy' do we feel so powerless? Why is their so much voter apathy? This country is absolutely f**ked.

The problem for me goes all the way back to schools, a general lack of respect in society and the youth feeling that 'no-one can touch them'. Britain has become an absolute soft touch. I firmly believe that at some point this softly softly approach will end and people will start taking things into their own hands. We tolerate so many things in this country it is absolutely absurd.

Wasters on the dole, disability benefit fraud through the roof, illegal immigrants staying for years on holiday visas or no visa at all, youths on the street causing trouble and intimidating people, thugs battering people and getting community orders or tags.

I'm sorry for the rant, but this country disgusts me!

[dondada]

Great story, Terry. Simpler times when some common sense was used by the coppers.

[freddydoesdallas]

Even walking away sometimes doesn't do any good.

Something a bit more positive to go in here. A mate of mine is visually impaired and was out over christmas to have a few drinks in town. A group of lads wouldn't let him past as they thought he was with one mate and then began to chuck stuff at him when he sat down.

Two of his mates who were at the bar saw this, one got thrown into a wall so had he was ko'd and another one got dropped. The lads were then dragged out by the doormen and decided to wait around threatening to bottle the guy who dropped their mate. 2 more got dropped and the rest ran off. Karma working at it's finest there.

[TheCobra]

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchesterevening ... ibute_page

This guy got 18 weeks inside for some trolling on facebook, and yet yobs kicking people in the head get tags??!! The world's gone mad. I sound old, I'm 29!!

[Scottrf]

Some of these stories are sickening. I really hope this doesn't impact Barkers' career. Not sure if it's worth intervening, as said before you don't know what they might be carrying.

[mickey1975]

It's the standard thing.

A guy on my old football team tried to run from a taxi one time. When the old driver locked the doors, he grabbed the handle above the window and kicked 7 shades of sh*t out of the cabbie who couldn't do a thing as he had a seat belt on still. Tagged and fined.

A couple of years ago my old man had a female neighbour park in his space where he lives so he went and asked them politely to move they answered back with a load of abuse. Then later on that evening when her boyfriend and his mates came back drunk (in their early 20's), they went to knock on my old mans door and two of them knocked him to the floor (inside his own flat) threw my mum across the room causing her to bang her hear on the wall and gave my old man (aged 60) a kicking. Fined. That still gets me wound up writing that, never been so tempted to drive up to Norwich with a few mates and get revenge on the blokes. Still unsure as to whether I did the right thing or not in letting the police deal with it.

I suppose violent cases like these are too frequent to lock them all up but whatever the current deterrent is doesn't work

That is absolutely disgusting, Lenny. Deep sympathy mate and you're a model of restraint.

It's good when you have a judge who will do the business. We have one in Sheffield called Alan Goldsack. He's the one who jailed Naz. A good recent one was when some young waste of space was playing music loud in his flat and ruining the lives of all around them. A pensioner went and asked him politely to turn it down. He went back in, turned it up and came back with a knife and threatened the poor guy.

Goldsack basically called him a disgrace and jailed him for 10 months.

A guy i know got seven years off Goldsack when he was expecting 18 months!

[charlieb]

If the problem lies with prisons being overcrowded, the cost of running and maintaining them, on top of the time, cost and resources required to catch, try and process the crims... then surely the answer is to turn it into a money making venture?

Put the bastards to work without pay. If they refuse, make life hell. There has to be ways of recouping the cost of their keep.

Energy crisis? Set up massive farms of inmate powered energy generating hamster wheels. Run them ragged, make prison a place they don't want to come back to.

[Chambers2]

Lets hope these nobheads get their just desserts

[el_grande_mauro_mina]

If the problem lies with prisons being overcrowded, the cost of running and maintaining them, on top of the time, cost and resources required to catch, try and process the crims... then surely the answer is to turn it into a money making venture?

Put the bastards to work without pay. If they refuse, make life hell. There has to be ways of recouping the cost of their keep.

Energy crisis? Set up massive farms of inmate powered energy generating hamster wheels. Run them ragged, make prison a place they don't want to come back to.

What they should do is build a prison on the falkland islands, 10,000 cells and fill them with the shit that is making everyone's life a misery. Put them to work? There are thousands of mines that need clearing that the Argie's laid. No drugs over there so whoever ends up there will be clean as a whistle, (if they don't get blown up by an Argentinian mine) and they can't come back for another five years after their release - they have to work in the local enconomy for minimum wage sheep shearing or whatever.

When they get there, the governor should give them a speech like the Japanese colonel gave to the POW's in Bridge Over The River Kwai. 'Gentlemen, there are no fences here because we have no need for fences...' The British own enough islands - about time we started using them.

[charlieb]

If the problem lies with prisons being overcrowded, the cost of running and maintaining them, on top of the time, cost and resources required to catch, try and process the crims... then surely the answer is to turn it into a money making venture?

Put the bastards to work without pay. If they refuse, make life hell. There has to be ways of recouping the cost of their keep.

Energy crisis? Set up massive farms of inmate powered energy generating hamster wheels. Run them ragged, make prison a place they don't want to come back to.

What they should do is build a prison on the falkland islands, 10,000 cells and fill them with the shit that is making everyone's life a misery. Put them to work? There are thousands of mines that need clearing that the Argie's laid. No drugs over there so whoever ends up there will be clean as a whistle, (if they don't get blown up by an Argentinian mine) and they can't come back for another five years after their release - they have to work in the local enconomy for minimum wage sheep shearing or whatever.

When they get there, the governor should give them a speech like the Japanese colonel gave to the POW's in Bridge Over The River Kwai. 'Gentlemen, there are no fences here because we have no need for fences...' The British own enough islands - about time we started using them.

Capital idea

[Carbo]

What bothers me so much is that surely 80% of people at least are in agreement here and yet what gets done about it? Everyone here is in agreement, they are thugs and deserve a harsher sentence, so why, as a 'democracy' do we feel so powerless? Why is their so much voter apathy? This country is absolutely f**ked.

The problem for me goes all the way back to schools, a general lack of respect in society and the youth feeling that 'no-one can touch them'. Britain has become an absolute soft touch. I firmly believe that at some point this softly softly approach will end and people will start taking things into their own hands. We tolerate so many things in this country it is absolutely absurd.

Wasters on the dole, disability benefit fraud through the roof, illegal immigrants staying for years on holiday visas or no visa at all, youths on the street causing trouble and intimidating people, thugs battering people and getting community orders or tags.

I'm sorry for the rant, but this country disgusts me!

I'm not sure the problem goes back too far to schools, although the schooling system is certainly part of the problem.

I personally think that the issue is a problem with the way kids are brought up. I mean, I don't know about you, but I know if I'd have spat on the street, thrown a chocolate wrapper on the ground instead of finding a bin, spoke rudely to my mother or anyone else while she was in earshot, or any of those little things, she would give me a good hiding. She simply wouldn't have tolerated me growing up to be a yob. And it's not as if I grew up in some wealthy gated community, or that my parents have money.

But good manners and civility cost nothing, and yet they're so, so important for the smooth running of society.

I'll give you an example: the drivers in Moscow are completely nuts, pay no attention to the rules and don't care about anyone but themselves. I used to live on the 12th floor overlooking a cross roads. From my balcony, I would be able to look right down on it. And every single night it was total gridlock. Why? Well, you'd get long queues forming at each of the four entrances to the crossroads, but as the lights turned amber and then red, you'd get a bunch of stragglers who wanted to get a jump on the rest by jumping the red. Some would get through, but a few would be blocked by those turning left coming in the opposite direction. This meant that when the lights turn green for the guys coming from the left of them, they get blocked by the cars who tried to sneak through the red, but they too have stragglers on the end who try to beat the red and get caught in the middle. Within a few rotations, the middle of the crossroad is completely logjammed with cars going in four directions all blocking everyone else off and nobody can get through from any direction.

If they'd all just stuck to the rules, and waited for the next green, they'd have to wait, but eventually everyone would get through. Instead, they're rude and break the rules, so nobody gets through and it costs everyone huge amounts of time.

The same thing happens with thugs who cause bother on the streets. It spoils it for everyone and makes life harder.

The problem as I see it comes from the Labour party. I assume you're mostly working class lads and lasses here, and the Labour party simply doesn't represent what the working classes want anymore. As far as I can see -- and this thread has borne out my view -- the working class in Britain are pretty conservative when it comes to social views. They're patriotic (far more so than the middle and upper classes), they want tough criminal justice and old fashioned policing, they want decent, strict schools so their kids have a chance to better themselves, and they want a fair chance at work. The Labour Party used to have a conservative wing that represented this, but now it's dominated by liberals who just don't. And the Conservative Party has not been conservative since at least Thatcher -- it's been classical liberal and libertarian.

Working folks just don't have a voice anymore, and that's the problem.

[davidas]

Great story, Terry. Simpler times when some common sense was used by the coppers.

Yep, the police get a lot of stick but part of the reason we don't trust them is because they've had their hands tied in recent times. Society went head over heels to ensure that the police weren't corrupt and brutal but it has led to a force that is inert and incapable of cutting through the BS and doing their job.

In the 1980s, the sight of my dad running around in undies attacking (male) people or shooting at yobs with his air rifle was quite common in our local area. Them were t'days.

F*ck all to do with the police this. They can only put the scum infront of the courts and the court system which they obviously did in this case. Its the courts and the judicial system where the failings lie. Nowadays to even think of getting a guilty plea or a conviction means a case has to be absolutely 200% watertight which obviously requires alot of work and dedication from the police and prosecution - to be then let down at court is as much frustrating for them as the friends/family of many a victim. To see the scum who do this stuff swanning around after a court hearing - doing exactly the same thing numerous times - before a court will even consider a custodial sentence or until someone is killed/permanantly maimed is the problem with this system. Its inept and puts normal members of society off ever supporting or giving evidence in future.

[Chambers2]

Great story, Terry. Simpler times when some common sense was used by the coppers.

Yep, the police get a lot of stick but part of the reason we don't trust them is because they've had their hands tied in recent times. Society went head over heels to ensure that the police weren't corrupt and brutal but it has led to a force that is inert and incapable of cutting through the BS and doing their job.

In the 1980s, the sight of my dad running around in undies attacking (male) people or shooting at yobs with his air rifle was quite common in our local area. Them were t'days.

F*ck all to do with the police this. They can only put the scum infront of the courts and the court system which they obviously did in this case. Its the courts and the judicial system where the failings lie. Nowadays to even think of getting a guilty plea or a conviction means a case has to be absolutely 200% watertight which obviously requires alot of work and dedication from the police and prosecution - to be then let down at court is as much frustrating for them as the friends/family of many a victim. To see the scum who do this stuff swanning around after a court hearing - doing exactly the same thing numerous times - before a court will even consider a custodial sentence or until someone is killed/permanantly maimed is the problem with this system. Its inept and puts normal members of society off ever supporting or giving evidence in future.

I've got friends in the force who say the same. Supposedly the CPS gets marked on a win/lose %, so they're scared to take on anything that isn't 200% watertight. It's extremely annoying for coppers when they catch someone they've been after for a while only for the CPS to chuck the case out and put the criminal back on the streets.

It doesn't help that the majority of the police force are high on power and devoid of any people skills

[chinny]

Brilliant, fair play to him.

Reminds me of the footballer Duncan Ferguson. Some silly sod tried to burgle his house, Big Dunc caught him and smashed him (and suffered a broken hand in the process). Then a few months later...some other silly sod tried it, and the same thing happened again!

It was even better than that mate. There were two of them robbing his house. Duncan & family were there so Ferguson goes down and absolutely nails one of the lads. The other one just dropped his arse. They both ended up in hospital, one for facial injuries and the other one (who witnessed his made get filled in by Big Dunc) for shock. A burglar in hospital for shock.

Gotta love Big Duncan

[Nightmare Roy]

Jake Simmons, 20, of Boundary Way, Watford and Iain Hughes, 22, also of Boundary Way

Lloyd Osborne, 25, of St Johns Road, Watford,

From all accounts Darren is a decent lad and well liked; I think those 3 will be a bit nervous with the winters dark nights and mornings.

Hope so, hope they get a good shoeing,

[McCannW14]

It's the standard thing.

A guy on my old football team tried to run from a taxi one time. When the old driver locked the doors, he grabbed the handle above the window and kicked 7 shades of sh*t out of the cabbie who couldn't do a thing as he had a seat belt on still. Tagged and fined.

A couple of years ago my old man had a female neighbour park in his space where he lives so he went and asked them politely to move they answered back with a load of abuse. Then later on that evening when her boyfriend and his mates came back drunk (in their early 20's), they went to knock on my old mans door and two of them knocked him to the floor (inside his own flat) threw my mum across the room causing her to bang her hear on the wall and gave my old man (aged 60) a kicking. Fined. That still gets me wound up writing that, never been so tempted to drive up to Norwich with a few mates and get revenge on the blokes. Still unsure as to whether I did the right thing or not in letting the police deal with it.

I suppose violent cases like these are too frequent to lock them all up but whatever the current deterrent is doesn't work

That is absolutely disgusting, Lenny. Deep sympathy mate and you're a model of restraint.

It's good when you have a judge who will do the business. We have one in Sheffield called Alan Goldsack. He's the one who jailed Naz. A good recent one was when some young waste of space was playing music loud in his flat and ruining the lives of all around them. A pensioner went and asked him politely to turn it down. He went back in, turned it up and came back with a knife and threatened the poor guy.

Goldsack basically called him a disgrace and jailed him for 10 months.

A guy i know got seven years off Goldsack when he was expecting 18 months!

This bloke Goldsack should be Lord Chancellor.