to not understand the lynch-mob style fb page?

[SmileAndPeopleSmileWithYou]

I noticed on Facebook that there was a page with the pictures of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson as children and what they supposedly look like now. The page was being shared to get as many people as possible to know the killers identity.
The comments on the page are astonishing as people are posting death threats etc.

My issue I guess is with the lynch mob "eye for an eye" comments when these poor men are not the killers. These pictures have been circulated and I can't help but feel sorry for whoever it really is, being labelled as a child killer when they may actually be innocent men. Surely Facebook should take that down?

Regardless of what people think about the real Jon and Robert and if they believe in an eye for an eye or not, surely people should realize they cannot take the page seriously and honestly believe it is them.

There is a court order that protects them and forbids people from identifying them, so everyone who posts anything about them does not have reliable knowledge as if they did they wouldn't be able to post it.
If anyone did, the images would be removed (like the ones of Jon Venables recently) and there would be consequences for the friend/family member who gave them away (if known).

There was a poor man who committed suicide because he was wrongly identified as Robert Thompson.
I think it is terrifying that there are people out there who just take gossip seriously and it obviously has an effect on innocent people.

[MrsRajeshKoothrappali]

Yup.

I have 'facebook friends' who are currently sharing a picture of some poor bloke who's allegedly trying to obtain a dog to train to fight.

It's clearly bollocks.

I read about the bloke who commited suicide - it's hideous.

:(

People need to let sleeping dogs lie.

We're not going to find out who these men (who were boys when they commited the crimes - they may be overwhelmed with guilt over what they did and now be nice men) are. I don't understand the point of these pictures. What are people trying to achieve?

[DesperatelySeekingSedatives]

I've seen this picture pop up so many times on my news feed last couple of days. The comments beneath are all mostly talking vengence and some pretty nasty violence. One or 2 like me have tried to be voices of reason. Reasoning like This man may not be JV! Repeat this man may not be JV! but honestly the words flogging a dead horse come to mind

Even if this bloke is JV comments like "an eye for an eye, kill the bastard!" dont make sense. If that was the law of the land you could kill JV and RT and then you would be killed too. A life is a life after all. Also comments like "They shoulda been hung then and there for killing that child!" make me they were 10 years old, children themselves. Deeply unpleasent children but still children.

I do think they should have got longer in jail though. I just dont agree with viglante justice. Ofcourse admitting this makes me hugely unpopular but honestly I couldnt give a shit.

[SmileAndPeopleSmileWithYou]

I agree, it does seem to be pointless telling these people that Facebook/gossip/internet/media is not reliable and not an excuse for starting violence.
I wonder if there is anyone who can post to discuss the other side of this?
I would be interested to know what goes through the minds of the people circulating these images.

I don't think vigilante justice is the right way to be either, people are just not clever enough for it! They don't seem to understand that even if the real identities were published officially, innocent people would get hurt if they happened to look remotely like JV and RT.

Where does justice go after that? An eye for an eye? Should the people who go after them be put on trial? Should their identities be revealed so a new lynch-mob can be started?

It never ends and it just wouldn't work.

[mrsjay]

I have a thread about it apparently there is a couple i just reported the picture to facebook. there was a man a few years ago ID as 1 of them he was hunted out of his town

[mrsjay]

I am sure the man i am on about killed himself

[SmileAndPeopleSmileWithYou]

mrsjay I haven't seen that thread, I'll have a look.
You're right though, he committed suicide. That was the one I was on about. I'm pretty sure the picture I've seen on Facebook was the poor bloke falsely accused which is pretty sick considering his family still have to deal with that.

[AKissIsNotAContract]

It was Scott Bradley who committed suicide:
www.clickliverpool.com/news/national-news/1216904-tragic-dad-kills-himself-after-false-accusation-he-is-liverpool-killer.html

[pictish]

I feel for Scott Bradley, but really why would you not move rather than kill yourself over it?

He must have had other things going on as well, besides the mistaken identity.

[plonko]

I saw this on my Facebook feed this morning and was absolutely appalled. No one can ever defend what those lads did, but justice was carried out according to the law. What's the use of continually dredging it up? They can't ever have normal lives, god knows how they sleep at night....I certainly don't have any sympathy for the actual murderers but the justice and rehab systems in this country exist for a reason. It is better to try than to simply condemn. It's what makes us civilised. When cases like this get tied up with mistaken identity, well, suddenly a lot more people have to live with a guilty conscience.

It was wholly depressing to see my friends sharing this photo as if it were just another bit of gossip.

[DialsMavis]

I understand it perfectly, the people sharing the pic and especially those commenting are thick as pig shit and nearly all seem to be almost completely illiterate. They lack the processing ability and critical thinking skills to not just go along with whatever other foul mouthed and almost shockingly thick twats are baying about on Facebook this week