390 - Mailbox: "Come out here and fight like a man"
Insults, neighbours, mental health, drugs and murder.
Copyright © 2023 by Jeth Randolph
All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author.
I was sent this news story from the BBC by a reader - thank you.
I don’t visit their site for news (or anything else) as it’s the usual mix of government mouthpiece items and “The narrative”.
I’ve cut down this article to focus only on the useful facts as I see them and also to remove identities and places.
I’ll leave some comments in brackets here and there. Jeth
(Jeth: The story features court evidence statements)
(Lead in): “A man who bludgeoned his neighbour to death with a bag full of Pokemon cards because he was angry about being insulted has been jailed for life.
(Name removed), 31, murdered (name removed), 50, in an "ferocious and brutal" attack outside his flat.
The aggressor also punched and stamped on the father-of-one in a sustained assault witnessed by horrified neighbours that saw him jailed for at least 17 years.
(Name removed) suffered from a psychotic disorder, most likely schizophrenia, which was exacerbated by cannabis use, and had stopped taking his medication before the killing.
(Jeth: Cannabis but not taking meds?
Reportedly absent meds were no longer controlling the mental health issues, the drug mentioned was then worsening the situation and that is the order and, I feel, emphasis that this should have been reported.
What about this man’s access to support? If he was in contact with a health worker then in a system that was designed to actually work, someone would then know he was off medication.
This theme is repeated again later.)
He had been involved in a number of arguments with neighbours before he confronted the deceased.
(Jeth: The victim knew his killer as an acquaintance and there was likely a history of problems between them from what is reported here.
In my book, “Blunt weapon tactics” , I wrote in detail about a local example of the running row scenario and how this was ignored by the authorities until it resulted in murder (and also about the concept of a slow social decline as our immediate present and near future rather than a possible spectacular SHTF Hollywood scenario).
This running dispute situation is a flag for the individual to take note and be wary of, a possible escalation from a ongoing row that could be a precursor to violence.
Also, as this is stated as happening over an insult, an increasingly common “cause of death” these days (along with “suddenly”), it is an example of the importance of being very careful with your communication during conflict with others!)
After telling the deceased to "come out here and fight like a man," he attacked him with a bag containing four or five tins of Pokemon cards, she said.
(Jeth: So it seems the deceased did just that and died - there was a bag in the aggressor’s hand which is an immediate potential weapon tell - not going there, or leaving and then arming yourself to equalise if pursued would have been a better course of action.
Personally, I’m 53 and if faced with a younger and no doubt stronger man with known mental health issues…I wouldn’t be taking chances and consenting - or being seen to consent - to a fight that I could have possibly been avoided).
Witnesses described seeing (name removed) repeatedly swinging the bag "like a cricketer," leaving the deceased bloodied and lifeless on the ground.
(Jeth: The story starts by mentioning Pokemon cards - which may well be an attempt to score higher in SEO searches for the original article - and almost making light of what happened, but the reality is a swung impact weapon - a bag with metal tins - and a man dying.)
He then repeatedly punched and stamped on the victim before retrieving a bat or a plank of wood and hitting him "numerous times".
(Jeth: initial assault starts with an impact weapon, then moves to punching and stamping, then to a second possibly more effective weapon to increase the damage).
He later told officers he "got carried away" while confronting his neighbour and had "murdered him in cold blood". He said he had "felt bad" for the seriously injured man following his initial attack and so "tried to end his life".
Neighbours had also suffered "extreme trauma" from witnessing the "horrific attack," she added.
(Jeth: no mention of anyone trying to intervene or disrupt the attack on the fallen man and this is the reality of being assaulted - you will most likely be on your own even in front of a crowd.)
The judge said (name removed) had not set out to kill the deceased but had decided, in his "deluded state," that murder was "an act of mercy".
The judge noted a psychiatric report had concluded (name removed)’s mental illness probably did not affect his ability to understand his behaviour or exercise self-control and it was most likely cannabis use had influenced his judgement at the time of the killing.
"This case is a stark reminder of the dangers of cannabis use particularly with someone with such a complex mental health history as yours," she added.
(Jeth: Again, framing as an anti drug use story and the fault of a mentally ill individual - this drug does indeed have a bad effect on mental health especially with artificially increased potency including being sprayed with cheap secondary drug compounds to increase profit.
But there is again, no mention of the support or monitoring that this man should have clearly been receiving for him to be safe to others and himself in the community including reducing the possibility of him self medicating with drugs and that is because there probably wasn’t any support and if there was, it was probably so reduced from cut backs as to be practically absent but we are being nudged away to another certain way of thinking here.
This isn’t the reported fault of an individual for taking drugs while off meds even though the idea put forward was that despite his condition he was able to know his actions were wrong, that happens for a reason and events spiral from there.
I’ve talked - not read - talked to several people recently, who confided in me of severe mental health issues including despair, suicide attempts and drug use, also with their children - depression, eating disorders, self harm, hard drug use, violence...
And though, a quiet, happy, instagram friendly outer appearance is just about being maintained, this seems to be literally everywhere.
This is the slow decline.
The true “New normal”).
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Thanks, Jeth