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Thursday, April 03, 2008

Shot man's 'compassionate' side


Shot man's 'compassionate' side

"Charity worker Simon Murden has been described by family and friends as a "gentle man" with an "infectious" passion and enthusiasm for life".

When Simon Murden's father alerted the police to the fact that his son was suffering from some kind of psychotic episode and had driven off in a van armed with oriental swords, I don't believe that he expected the police response would be to shoot his son dead. The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of justifiable killing. I don't believe that the police were necessarily justified in taking such drastic action. For example, why did they not use the equipment like helmets and shields which they use in riot situations?

Video Link.

1 comment:

eeore said...

A sad story.

On the one hand it says much about societies treatment of the mentally ill.

And on the other it says much about police training and staffing levels.