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Saturday, February 14, 2009

'Emery deserved a medal'

a neighbour who wanted to be known only as John for fear of reprisal said Emery deserved a medal for what he did, and called him a hero.

John, who had his home vandalised with graffiti six times last year, said tagging used to be a "massive problem" on the street but had "stopped overnight" since the stabbing.

"Emery did what the police and city council failed to do, and for that he deserves a medal, not a jail sentence."


I am sure more than a few property owners feel the same way.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This kid's human rights were violated by his senseless slaughter. That's true. But it's only one side of the argument. It's also true that we can't have a civil rights/human rights world without the rule of law, and basic to that rule of law, foundational, really, is the issue of property rights.
And when the two collide, we often meet with disaster.
What to do about it, I don't know, at least not for certain, but the whole country needs to debate this issue, deeply and throroughly.

PM of NZ said...

Disaster/debate? Property rights were blatantly violated. The kid had already forfeited any rights in committing the crime.

Whether the action Emery exacted post-crime was warranted is open for debate. I do think he was fairly charged for his reaction. I also note Mr Plod did not go for the higher charge of murder.

Like the the common problem of farmers shooting trespassing thieves and then being booked, the core problem I feel lies in that Joe Public knows that Mr Plod does not respond quickly or forcefully enough to property crime.

Till a positive response is given by the Police to any property crime, I fear this type of outcome will not be the last.

While the outcome was horrendous, the whole incident certainly has made more than a few consider the choices.

Oswald Bastable said...

Damned taggers ought to have a bounty put on them!