Thread. I need to speak. Bear with me. I shouldn’t have to say it but I don’t condone criminality. I do support really understanding why people ( especially young people in this case) commit crime & the need for well resourced early interventions.
Interventions that lead people out of criminality. That give them hope. That help break the cycle. On the front of the @ipswichstar24 today are faces of a ‘drugs gang’ jailed for a total of 72 years. They brought fear & exploitation to Ipswich. I’m very sad for their victims.
and hope they recover.
I can’t shake off this sadness.
Staring at me from the newspaper is the face of a boy I knew. By the time I met him he was already a young offender. I made him cups of tea with lots of sugar. I forced him to talk with me about his life. We laughed together
I can’t shake off this sadness.
Staring at me from the newspaper is the face of a boy I knew. By the time I met him he was already a young offender. I made him cups of tea with lots of sugar. I forced him to talk with me about his life. We laughed together
I was nosey & annoying. He was polite & self effacing.His story included poverty, exclusion from school & the PRU, of racism & deep mistrust of the police being targeted at an early age. Wrong side of town.
Deep deep inside him I saw a vulnerable boy- hidden.
Deep deep inside him I saw a vulnerable boy- hidden.
With no educational qualifications I felt he saw his only hope of having an OK life, fitting in, having the latest trainers and nice clothes (lots of teenagers want these things) was being part of the wrong crowd. I wondered what his part was in this crowd.
Was he groomed from an early age? Was he a leader or a follower? Was he scared? By the time I met him he was on an ‘intensive programme’ led by well meaning but out of touch statutory services to divert him away from crime.
Didn’t work.
Too little too late.
He is our son.
Didn’t work.
Too little too late.
He is our son.
