Oh Brockman, the jokes are already streaming and believe me, they are much stronger then Oliver Stone's remark.
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Oh Brockman, the jokes are already streaming and believe me, they are much stronger then Oliver Stone's remark.
I'm sure you've already heard this, but police have arrested a man and are holding him in an un-named police station.
Let's hope they've got their man.
Doesn't necessarily mean that they have. I'm sure they will arrest people even if they think they have information which they are withholding.
I hope this doesn't turn into a tabloid frenzy demanding he be immediately executed without trial.
Hope all you want Mark........
Hope it is the man. But something tells me this murder case isn't going to be an easy one to crack.
I was wondering what the latest was on this... I didn't catch the news yesterday.
It must be truly awful for all involved, and I also mean the police who have this mammoth task of trying to solve this before any one else is found dead. If they do manage to trace down this man ( I assume it is a man anyway) then I'll be amazed... It just seems like such a massive thing with very little leads. I mean some of the girls were sadly not even reported missing for weeks. Just really sad I think.
Well they've named the bloke and said what job he has....bad move in my opinion incase he turns out to be innocent :down:
Quote:
Originally Posted by speedy king
I was shocked that they named the man. The defense is probably warming up for a prejudiced case as we speak :rolleyes:
What a surpirse...the Police HAVEN't named him....the media have...... not that it was made difficult for them in all fairness though..
Like Huntley before him, this chap has spoken to the media about the case before his arrest. I believe he was the subject of an interview in one of the red tops yesterday.
My uneasy feeling is that that Stephens was getting his side of the story in first, which would - on the surface - appear strange.
However, trial by media isn't something which the UK excells at, so let's wait for the police to do their job before we jump to too many conclusions.
For my money the bloke is guilty beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt. I base my damning but irrefutable conclusion on 2 undeniable facts:
1) He's got a beard
2) I bet he hasn't got a belt in his casual slacks.
It's my considered opinion that we should burn him face down before he gets away. (picks up pitchfork and flaming torch)
Yours faithfully
Reg Rancidnob
Millwall
I don't think the media should be legally allowed to publish the indentity of people who are held over crimes, but are still considered innoncent.
If this man turns out to be innocent, his life is going to be extremely hard to live.
Presumably the police know more than we do, but I'm not convinced he is the killer yet.
A prostitute interviewed about him said he would help them out whenever he could, they could phone him up and if he could, he would drive them to where they wanted to be.
She also said if it was cold he would turn up, and drive them around until they were warm.
She said he did this for many of the women, and that he looked after them.
Something needs to be done about the media releasing information too soon.
it seems from the news report i've just watched that the police had this man as their main suspect since the beginning - he was first interviewed 2 days after the first girl went missing and has been spoken to 4 times since, at least once under caution and the forensics searched his house a couple of months ago.
i feel that they have known it was him for a long time but have only just managed to get enough evidence to confidently arrest him and hopefully charge him.
if not then they have made a massive mistake as it was inevitable the man would be named given that the media knew who he was and everything about him before, so would have known it was his address.
i hope they have done the right thing and got their man, but i feel there is much more to come of this case yet, it seems to becoming more odd
I must say it's so reassuring in today's chaotic and oft violent British society to observe that even the most depraved and murderous of our serial killers still has time to enjoy a nice bowl of piping hot custard. :)
It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to relate that only last Tuesday I myself fell victim to a deranged serial killer :(
I got my first inkling of the fact when I came down to the kitchen only to be greeted by the grisly sight of 2 Oatabix lying in a pool of their own milk and a Shredded Wheat biscuit with gunshot wounds to the back.
A chilling message was left daubed in milk on my Bob The Builder breakfast bowl stating:
Dear Boss
I've got a down on wheat and bran based comestibles and I wont stop ripping them until I'm caught.
Regards Jack.
Still mustn't grumble :mad:
I agree. It amazes me just how much is shown on TV. It is endlessly discussed, facts are regurgitated....and the desire to know everything right now is overwhelming. Just seems wrong to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonnieDarco
Once someone is charged then his/her identity or any details which could be used to identify them, can't be published.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew
But until then, nothing should be released anyway. This man hasn't been charged, but we know a lot about him already, which kind of negates the rule about not releasing information once they have.
Perhaps if people had listened to Mr Rancidnob and burned him face down immediately after his arrest we wouldn't be having this conversation. :mad:
Yours Insanely
Agnes Putridpuss (Miss)
25 Mellow Birds Custard Mews
Cockamouth
Aah, you might have had a visit by the Bishop of Southwark, on his way home from a very entertaining drinks reception at an embassy. Oily Towers anywhere near Streatham, the good Bishops last known residence?Quote:
Originally Posted by oily oaf
A second suspect has been arrested this morning, at 5am. He's 48, and lives in Ispwich, close to the red light district. The first one is still being questioned, they've got permission to question him for a further 12 hours.
There ought to be a media blackout on this if there is to be any hope of a fair trial, from the point of view of protecting a possibly innocent person and also making sure that the guilty party doesn't get let off on an "unfair trial" defence.
Well they've arrested a second person, so it continues.
Unless they are both linked to each other I somehow think these people are just being taken in for a talking to. The media have portrayed this first guy as a bit of a loner, hence his need to use the services of the prostitutes. Perhaps he's extremely smart and knows how to pass himself off but he doesn't seem the type to hunt in a pack with another person. But of course this is just an opinion and the Police are the ones who know what's going on.
I agree :up: Suspects are just that, suspects, and the old addage of innocent until proven guilty applies.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonnieDarco
The media's role in these situations should be questioned.
The trouble is that there is an almost unique aspect to this case, namely the way in which the first suspect made himself available to the media and said things about his involvement with the dead women on his web site. That's harder to regulate.
Also, I'm sure that many would argue that a news blackout in such cases could be counterproductive, in that a lack of information being released could mean that fewer people get in touch with potentially useful information.
However, this is not to say that I'm not uncomfortable with some aspects of the media's treatment of this case.
Drown him in a bucket then burn him face down just to be on the safe side :tweetie:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark
Go With God
Pope Benny
Exorcisms R Us
Cleethorpes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6194351.stm
Stephen Wright has been charged with the murders. Doesn't mention the other guy who is seemingly innocent yet whose life is now ****ed up beyond belief (by the media and not the police I should add). Nonetheless it's good that they seem to be certain it's this guy.
What an interesting way for the police to carry on. They question aggressively first, Tom Stephens, holding him in custody, a man who seems quite willing to talk and naively confident that, because he is innocent, he has nothing to fear from talking.
The police told us after Stephens's arrest that Mr. Stephens was 40 to 50 percent likely to have done it, which made me wonder about the search and arrest warrants for this hapless gentleman. Don't the English police have to show probable cause to a magistrate? Don't they have to convince this jurist that the victim of the search or arrest is probably guilty?
They don't, apparently, in England, so they take in Mr. Stephens (who is apparently enjoying the celebrity) for information. And here is the brilliance of the investigation so far: the police concentrate most on a single theory, which is obvious once you are told it, but is nonetheless a clever insight; the murderer, they assume, must be one of the few very regular, most trusted, most long-standing customers of the Ipswich Red Light District. He cannot be an occasional visitor, because if he were, then the fourth and fifth victims would never have gotten into the car with him. So investigators should concentrate on the most trusted regulars, engage them in gossip, and they wil be led quickly to the culprit.
And so, apparently, it has proved. Now the curtain goes down, and the news blackout begins. Damn! Just when things were getting interesting . . .
Good Interminably long and boring bit before we can all steam into the strong grog and Quality Street.
I'm an 87 year old pensioner and I can remember when it was all fields round 'ere and I should like to express my relief that that nice man with the beard and no belt has been released by the policemen.
I could feel it in my water that he was a good boy...................I SAY FEEL IT IN ME WATER I COULD.......Good boy yes.................
Thank Gawd we never listened to Mr Rancidnob who wanted to burn 'im face down. I mean to say where would we all be if we all burned each other face down ....................face down yes. I think I'll just put me woolie on dear it's gettin a bit parky round me kidneys..........I SAY A BIT PARKY DEAR.
Anyway I'm glad 'es out bless 'im but I do think that the police should 'ave stuck 'is 'ead in a bucket for a few minutes while 'itting it wiv their truncheons and then made 'im eat the smouldering contents of the desk sargent's pipe for wasting police time.
TIDDLES!......TIDDLES! ..........Where's that bleedin' cat got to now :mad:
Yours Forgetfully
Ada Popshot-Climax
Coffin Dodger's Old Folks Home
Piddleton
The police statement yesterday evening left the media in no doubt as to their responsibilities. I haven't seen this morning's headlines yet, though...
whilst they have charged the second man, and released Mr Stephens on bail (a man who the majority of the media hype was self made), i realise that people will be pointing out that he is innocent yet is infamous for his connection to the murder enquiry.
However his connection is there because he was involved illegally with all 5 of the girls in paying them for their services, its not like he is a random guy who had nothing to do with it and has done nothing wrong - he is still a criminal and if caught kerb crawling would be prosecuted.
Firstly, if he has used prostitues, it doesn't mean he had a part to play in their murder. Secondly, he is innocent until proven guilty, and therefore does not deserve to have every tiny detail of his life exposed to the nation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robinho
true, but he has been engaged in criminal activity with all the murdered girls, and then went public with that information himself, before he was arrested, and that information suddenly became far more newsworthy after his arrest.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeansBeansBeans
i agree that perhaps the media went overboard with their reaction, however its not like he was an entirely unassociated and innocent name that was dragged into the case, he put himself there both through his actions with the girls and with the media.
also, all i was saying that is he admitted to using prostitutes, and as such is perhaps lucky to not have been prosecuted, seeing as that act is illegal, if he weren't engaging in that act then he would have had no connection and would not have been dragged into the enquiry.
As Gannex has pointed out, the Police were sensible in questioning Stephens, due to his connection with the girls. However, he was effectively hung, drawn and quartered by the press for the murders, before he had even been charged (he still hasn't been charged now).Quote:
Originally Posted by Robinho
The argument that it's okay to reveal every detail of his life because he volunteered some information to the press is also flawed, as Mr Wright is receiving similar treatment, and he didn't go to the press. As far as I'm concerned, neither of these men are guilty until a court finds them so.
Absolutely. However, it was still a strange situation because of what Stephens wrote on his website, something you couldn't expect the press (even the respectable papers) not to pick up on.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeansBeansBeans
I see your point. I don't have a *great* deal of sympathy either... but at the end of the day, as others have said it's up to the courts and police to decide who is guilty and NOT the media. And as for him being a criminal, the police HAD to say that any information given from people wouldn't lead to a prosecution for using prostitutes... other wise they wouldn't have had so many people coming forward to help.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robinho
Quote:
Originally Posted by BeansBeansBeans
i agree the media have gone overboard in the information they have provided, although i haven't seen them being "hung, drawn and quartered" for either suspect, although i have not read too much of the tabloid news on the subject.
you are right to point out that Mr Wright is getting similar treatment, but i have not seen anything like the coverage given to the first man, who himself put into the public arena pretty much all the information reported, including his criminal activity with the victims, and the information on Wright has only been found from the public arena, not from police sources etc
Stephens had his Myspace site, had an interview with the BBC and went to the Sunday Mirror all prior to being brought in, telling the Mirror that he expected to be arrested but was innocent. i assume he wanted his story out there in advance and possibly even wanted to cash in on the fame he could see coming.
the news are now reporting he has been released on bail and have charged the other man, no-where have i seen any news saying that either men were guilty.
i also agee that no-one should be considered guilty until found guilty by trial, and i hope that the press attention given to the case does not jeopardise anyones chances of a fair trial, but also it should be noted that the media have not reported anything that what not available to the general public and that the Police have kept very quiet with any details of the suspects.
Good points, but they don't all work in the real world sadly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robinho
Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson, to name just two who are strongly considered to have beaten the justice system. Not that anyone like Stephens would face a similar thing (he can't afford the lawyers of course) but he'll still have the average Sun reader bawling at him in the street for a few months.
I've little sympathy - he begged attention on himself as much as he could from what I've seen. Wouldn't be at all shocked if he's signing a book and TV deal right now :mark: