Today we learned that a family of murders have been sent to jail. One of them must serve 36 years. Others have been found guilty of familial homiciode, a relatively new crime. They were part of a family conspiracy but cannot claim innocence on the grounds that they did nothing in terms of assisting the crime of murder. This is no longer possible since a new law came into force to say that a family member who knew about or witnessed a murder by a family member must come forward and tell the police of what they know. In other words, if murder is carried out by a member of your family and you are aware of it, you are guilty of familial homicide.
It is good to know that this loophole has been plugged. However, it beggars belief that people will act in this way. A young and vulnerable adult ends up dead after being tortured and beaten systematically for his benefit money. But it beggars belief that a man can keep his daughter a prisoner so that he can have sex with her and she bear him children. The depths to which some people sink is something that we ordinary mortals cannot understand.
Too often, these days, we hear stories of the abuse of children and adults. It means, of course, that we can now appreciate what has been happening in secret for centuries in some cases. I remember hearing about 50 years ago a woman commenting on her son's engagement, "I don't know why he wants to get married. He gets what he wants here at home." One can only assume that behind the doors of some house some pretty awful deeds take place.
Once the criminals are brought to justice, sadly, any surviving victimes are scarred for life. They cannot simply "pick themselves up, dust themselves down, and start all over again." They then carry forward into life some very nasty baggage. These people must face a life of still being in fear of doors opening at night, adults carrying belts, bats and any assortment of weapons of torture. They have problems sleeping at night, no matter how settled a life they have.
I do not subscribe to the placing of the local authority in the pillory. The Social Services Departments of councils have a very difficult job to do. It is they who are considered responsible for not intervening in cases of child abuse. It is also they who are considered responsible for intervening in cases which turn out to be a mistake. In other words, they are damned if they don't and damned if they do.
During my career in local government I spent some time as a union activist and defending social workers when they were considered to be acting incorrectly. In know how often they have visited houses in fear of violence themselves because the residents have a history of attacking social workers. There was even one case where a female social worker had to accompany her male boss because the woman of the house would attack him if he went alone. Social workers visit homes to tell parents their children will be taken into care and sometimes do not know how the parents will react.
What society has become in 2010 is quite bizarre. Yet, in the past, there have been cases of crimes just as horrific. The nature was different but the level of horror much the same. It is little wonder that the number of people in jail is at an all time high. What to do about it is not something anyone can fathom. I just hope the level of nannying will go down. When teachers cannot separate fighting children because they can be counted guilty of assault themselves we have a serious problem.
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