Autumn 2007

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ATTACKED BY THUGS!

This year had been uneventful until we played at a birthday party in Clare Town Hall on 19th October.  Over the past year or so, Lewis Clark has helped us with sound engineering.  Although only 15 and still at school, Lewis is already studying to become a sound engineer and is already very good.

He was in charge of sound at the gig in question.  The desk, etc was situated on a balcony at the opposite end of the hall to the stage.  It was near the entrance and access to the balcony was via a short staircase by the front door.  Lewis has suffered threats and other forms of bullying at school in recent months because some of his contemporaries are jealous of his success and ability.  Two of them live in Clare and had heard that Lewis was there.  They waited for him on the stairs and, as he was going to the desk for the second set, one of them hit him with a baseball bat.  Luckily, Lewis put his arm up to protect his head and so only his arm was hit, but this was very badly bruised.  Lewis backed off down the stairs and the boys ran away.

Lewis bravely carried on and didn’t make a special effort to tell anyone, only doing so when the first opportunity arrived.  We then placed a burly friend on the balcony with Lewis in the hope the thugs would return.  They would have been more than a little surprised to find Lewis so well protected, but, like all bullies, they are cowards and stayed away.

I am pleased to report that Lewis will recover from his injuries and that the police have caught the culprits.  One of them has admitted his involvement (in fact, he “shopped” his “friend” who actually hit Lewis) and we expect them to feel the full force of the law – our only hope that their punishment is consistent with their crime and that our faith is, at least to some extent, renewed in the justice system.

UPDATE:  Lewis’s mum reported the incident to the headmaster of the school that both Lewis and his two attackers attend.  Although previous bullying incidents had been reported to him and he had said the boy would be expelled if this was repeated, he refused to take any action saying that it was outside his jurisdiction as the incident occurred off school premises.  He didn’t even have the courtesy to speak to Lewis although Lewis did discuss it with his year teacher, who agreed with the headmaster adding that they were all out of school uniform at the time.  (What difference does that make?  If you are hit with a baseball bat, it hurts just as much whatever the attacker is wearing!)

To add insult to injury, the police decided not to prosecute, but to give a formal warning instead.  This is in spite of the fact that the perpetrator was known to them for violent and antisocial behaviour.  Although Lewis does not see his attackers often, they continue to act in a threatening manner whenever their paths cross.

So what lessons can any youngster take from this incident:

1. You cannot rely on the authorities as they will not take any effective action to prevent serious acts of aggression.
2. There are no serious sanctions against anyone that inflicts serious bodily harm on another person.
3. Given 1 and 2 above, the only way of preventing someone from hurting you is to ensure you hurt them first.

Is it any wonder that acts of violence are increasing?

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