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| Britain | |
| Vigilantes Kneecap Child Rapist - Authorities See Vigilantes As Greater Threat | |
| 2009-04-01 | |
| A man shot in both legs in a paramilitary-style attack in Londonderry was awaiting sentencing for raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl. Keith Burnside, 37, was shot in his Rosemount Gardens home by two masked men in front of his girlfriend and two children at about 2315 BST on Monday. Burnside was convicted in March of raping a girl in his car at Sandbank Cottages in 2000. He is being treated in hospital for his injuries. SDLP Councillor Mark H. Durkan said he had spoken to Keith Burnside's girlfriend who witnessed the attack. "She's in an awful state of shock, it was an extremely traumatic experience for everyone involved," he said.
Councillor Durkan said he did not discuss the motive for the shooting. "This attack must be condemned regardless of what it was in connection with," he added. "We cannot have this law of the jungle where people are taking the law into their own hands." Burnside was due to be sentenced for the rape shortly. During the trial the court heard that his victim blocked the attack out of her mind for seven years before reporting it, after the accused smirked at her outside a nightclub. A defence application was due to be heard in Londonderry Crown Court on Tuesday but was adjourned when the court was told of the attack. Community worker Tommy McCourt said such incidents made people fearful of a return to violence. "It takes you back to the bad old days," he said. "We believed that those days had passed and nobody wants to see this kind of thing happening again." SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey also condemned the attack. "The people who carried out this shooting have no support from the local community and no place in a civilised society," he said. The police said that those responsible were of slim build and wore tracksuits, baseball caps, and scarves over their faces. The first man was 5ft 10ins and the second 6ft 2ins. They want anyone who was in the area at the time and may have seen the men to contact them. | |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #15 I could think of a couple 'to the pain' ideas that would make a 6-pack seem like a good time at the golf course, 'specially if it were my daughter. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-04-01 16:39 |
| #14 he got off pretty lucky with the knee capping they should have just shot him in the head |
| Posted by: Mt Dew addiction 2009-04-01 14:25 |
| #13 'Six pack", huh? I've always thought the worst that could be done, was cut off the big toes and thumbs. Can't walk and helpless by themselves. Guess I'm just naive that way. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2009-04-01 13:58 |
| #12 At least he didn't get the 'six pack' - knees, ankles and elbows. |
| Posted by: Elmolurong Lumumba3922 2009-04-01 12:22 |
| #11 SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey also condemned the attack. "The people who carried out this shooting have no support from the local community and no place in a civilised society," he said. I'm betting he doesn't speak for the community and "civilised society" doesn't condone child raping. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2009-04-01 11:51 |
| #10 Vigilantes are the greater threat - to both the child rapist and the authorities. |
| Posted by: flash91 2009-04-01 11:07 |
| #9 Maybe she was just mad because he hadn't come back for more. Sorry - from The High Plains Drifter I think. |
| Posted by: Goober Glomonter4456 2009-04-01 10:41 |
| #8 "During the trial the court heard that his victim blocked the attack out of her mind for seven years before reporting it, after the accused smirked at her outside a nightclub." How the hell was he convicted? Based solely on seven year old memories of the assailed? |
| Posted by: Zenobia Thenter9958 2009-04-01 10:02 |
| #7 Vigilantes Kneecap Child Rapist - Authorities See Vigilantes As Greater Threat Of course. It's simple. The miscreant is a threat to the public. The vigilantes strike at the very heart of authorities - their legitimacy to power and its power/perks. The act of the vigilantes says they believe those in government are unable or unwilling to provide justice. That was one of the points of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the state was unable to end the vendettas by providing justice. Same with the opening scene in the Godfather with the mortician pleading to the Don asking for justice. The authorities will never be 'outraged' by criminal acts. They will be 'outraged' by vigilantes. Its all about power. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-04-01 09:36 |
| #6 The city is Derry, the land County Londonderry and the sky above Derriere. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-04-01 08:45 |
| #5 (oh, and "London"derry? This writer is going to get kneecapped as well). Ummm... Why? Should it have been referred to as 'county derry?' Serious question, my knowledge of things Irish is limited. |
| Posted by: Free Radical 2009-04-01 08:38 |
| #4 Probably raising his next set of victims, whatadeal. |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2009-04-01 08:31 |
| #3 What's a child rapist doing in a house with Small Children? |
| Posted by: whatadeal 2009-04-01 04:05 |
| #2 Kneecaps---isn't it too low? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-04-01 02:30 |
| #1 Vigilante-style justice by paramilitaries have been an issue, depending on how you see it, forever in NI IIUC (oh, and "London"derry? This writer is going to get kneecapped as well). I remember reading a translated article in an once-very good mag which brought foreign press views to the french public, about how northern-irish hospitals were dealing with paramilitaries punishing "anti-social" behaviors. What stuck into my mind is that lotsa kneecappings actually didn't involve guns, and were made with power drills, cinderblocks, hammers,... and often involved elbows as well (which is kinda counter-intuitive for "knee"cappings), and that with guns there was an hierarchy, shots from the front (for "good" offenders, with precautions taken to reduce risks of amputation) were less crippling that the shots made from behind the knee... Those wacky irish. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2009-04-01 01:47 |