To think justice served on the Mum of Disabled Child in Revenge Attack

[Mitmoo]

Thanks to milkmilk for posting this on a different thread but it has got lost.

The mother of a disabled child who plotted a revenge attack on a poster who launched attacks on a disabled child via the internet found not guilty.

DM but that doesn't matter - it's an important article.

A mother who joined a revenge attack on a man responsible for a vile campaign of internet abuse against her disabled daughter has been spared prison.

Sylvia Hooper, 52, was described as a ?decent and law-abiding? woman who dedicated her life to her seriously ill daughter Kim Arnold. But she snapped after looking on helplessly as a cowardly bully sent her a series of appalling comments via Facebook.

One labelled her a cripple and said the wheelchair user should be left to ?roll down a hill.?

Another message read: ?Your mother should have had an abortion. She only had you because she felt sorry for you.?

Mr Hooper, 19, punched the bully after his mother said ?hit him? and Berwick was then taken back to the family home by car. He was forced to crawl inside and make a ?grovelling apology? to his victim while on all fours. At one point he was hit on the chin with a rolled up newspaper.

All three admitted assault but denied false imprisonment and the judge ruled that not guilty verdicts should be entered.

He said: ?I sentence you on the basis that Mr Berwick sent messages that were wholly disgraceful and shameful but then tried to put the blame on his girlfriend.?

Mrs Hooper was given a conditional discharge. The two men were given community orders which included voluntary work.

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2028961/Judge-spares-mother-jail-plotted-attack-internet-troll-posted-horrific-comments-disabled-daughter.html#ixzz1Vpq1S3To

Precised down full article on the above link.

Good for the judge, the right decision was made.

I was wondering why the abusers photo wasn't on the link, still he has been named so hopefully he will get shunned by local people who want to share their disgust. Glitter* agree, focus should be on his behaviour, without that nothing else would have happened.

We've had comments online but far more IMO significatly people turning up at the house and on one occasion a family member making comments that easily broke down to a backing for euthanasia (implicit but not explicit, however still pretty obvious- satill cannot find any other meaning). These were made in front of my autistic sons, one of whom is extremly HFA in terms of language and was quite aware that the people socirety could not afford therfore had to find a solution for meant him and his little brother.

I can't say I felt a desire to hit or hurt the speaker though. I was badly upset, and extremly shaken but it would be beneath me to resort to violence unless I felt my children were at direct physical risk.

I suspect I understand why people snap: disability comes with a fear for the future attached, and quite often the sort of sleeplessness that screws your head up anyway. From being a strong person helping to run a branch of an interventionalist kid's charity I am now quite easily hammered down and defensive. From being politically active to the extrent of being asked to stand I now avoid the news and related stuff as every item about cuts, changes to welfare, failingc are homes leaves me depressed.

But violence is violence and whiolst I can understand someone snapping, I don't think we can ever condone it. I do wish society would start to take hate crimes against disabled people seriosuly though. I was proud of ds1 for trying to start anti racism schemes at his school: and devastated when I heard he was being redered to as an R, and his brother was hit for having a R brother. School intervened but as with homophobia also I notice it just isn't accepted by the parents as a big issue.

The words on a screen thing- it never works in RL. Partly this is due to the nature for many of caring: when I am busy I can put down the PC and think whatever saddo. But quite often I am lonely and more vulnerable, I worked out the other day I have not had a night out with friends otehr than DH since 2006, that in the summer I don't speak to non related adults for weeks at a time in any real way, I think my record was 10 weeks a few eyars back of going without talking to anyone other than DH, and my Mum on the phone. There's something about the isolation that caring soemtimes brings with it that means the interaction you do get is more significant and that you ahve less of the defences to protect against the nastiness. I often ahve to flick a switch in my head when I think of what I am as a person- I know I am decent, honest, helpful, kind, have a wicked SOH and like a party in RL- but I also know that we cost the state a fortune in school placements and disability provision / carers etc. I know financially the world would be better off if me and my Sn kids died tomorrow. Now in reality i worked for years and year, I still pay NI through the choice of making my business dormant rather than closing it (hope voer sense ), I am making strides with the boys that mean they are more likely to cost far less and they bring a lot to people's lives. But it's ahrd to remember that on occasion and I guess I understand why she snapped but I can;t say it is OK and I hope I never world.

Soorry, far too long a post!

I have also been on the receiving end of abuse directed at my son. I have been told he is a waste of time/resources, that I shouldn't bother with his physiotherapy because in any case he will never be independent, that he is a drain, his life is pointless, all sorts of stuff. One woman I know was told her child would never make a contribution to society and should never have been saved at birth. (Because contributions to society can, of course, only be measured economically, and if you can't contribute in that way you should be rounded up for immediate euthanasia )

I'm only human and I won't deny that there have been times I've felt like punching people, but I have never taken the law into my own hands. I try to remind myself that people like this are the reason why it took us so long to come out of the Dark Ages that held back humanity's progress.

To go back to the OP: Yes, he was a nasty bully and the mother was seriously let down by the law, BUT that does not make her actions right.

peachy great post. Alex I'm not saying she was right, she wasn't, what I am saying is that this time the sentence was proportionate and justice was served.

Alex hugs.

I suspect teh phrase economically inactive has done more to ahrm the disability movement than any protest over offensive words. Words matter but if society has a construct where only a narrow definition of contribution is accepted as valid then people are set up to be dismissed.

Her actions, and those of the two young men who supported her were not right, but they were very understandable I think. More protection, easily available is one of the main answers.
They should have been able to ask the police, and Mr Berwick should have received a caution for hatemail. It might have stopped him, it might not, but at least an effort to address the problem through legal channels would have been made.

Exactly, Peachy, and very well put. I HATE the phrase "economically inactive". One of my friends once stopped someone and listed all the people her son was keeping employed - physiotherapist, neurologist, specialist paediatrician, etc...!

I linked to this yesterday on a different thread. Mencap started a campaign, along with other charities such as Scope to have the law tightened up on disability hate crime. The law is letting people down and so are the police in some incidences.

The actions of the family may not be 100% right but it will generate a debate on why the disabled person could not be protected which may help to change the law. The same thing happened with racism and homophobia, and hopefully disabled people will soon be given the same protection.
I would have rather had the man assaulted than another Fionia Pilkington case.

www.mencap.org.uk/

Just to add it is often hate crime and exploitation that stops those with disabilities especially LD's or MH problems, living independantly, rather than the nature of the disability.

glad the woman didn't go to prison.
having been the target of a hate crime, it is horrid and wears you down, sad that people can't see how bad it is.

no two wrongs don't make a right. but...

The law did nothing.

And in all honesty, sometimes there's only one language that people like that understand.

What I don't understand is how he was able to send a series of messages?

Facebook has a block and delete function and to be honest, I wish more people would use it.

If they'd blocked him after the first sick message, it wouldn't have escalated and ended the way it did.

so now it is the victims fault!!!!
the man was lucky, he got of lightly,
the shame in this is that disablist attacks are not taken seriously enough.
people shouldn't be forced to take justice in to their own hands.

but then I know form here how disablism is rife and allowed

Being a non-facebook user, I just want to ask a question. Do you mean you can just delete an offensive message, but then have to put up with someone reposting it, or do you mean you can delete a person from facebook entirely? Or do you just mean a person can be blocked from contacting you?

alex

You can delete a person entirely but if you see them on someone else's 'wall' you can still exchange chat with them.

You can also block and delete a person which means you become totally invisible to each other.

That's what should have been done in this case immediately imo.

This is a link to their local paper and some very mixed responses from the readers. Also a reply by Mr Hooper himself.

www.kentonline.co.uk/medway_messenger/news/2011/august/22/revenge_attack.aspx

It was a false facebook account, so he could have just set up another, and another.

It was only one facebook account as far as I can make out.

Also, it's easy to set security so that only your friends can contact you.

I know, but did the victims?
I wonder what help, support and advice they were given by the authorities?

imo there is more to this story than FB.
how did they know where he lived?
sound to me like he was some vile creature who they were unfortunate enough to know in rl,

Once again putting the onus on the victim to stop the behaviour rather than the perpetrator not doing it to start with.
If the perpetrator had been blocked then there was nothing to stop him from setting up account after account. Nothing.

Agrees with Worra, there are always other (better) ways of dealing with issues. I think the behaviour of all the adults was disgusting and served little or no purpose. There will be retaliation, there always is.

I'm not putting the onus on the victim at all

But the fact it could have been stopped with the click of one button instead of escalating should not be ignored imo.

There are far too many people on FB who prefer to 'slug it out' in public in a great big sweary slanging match, instead of simply clicking 'block'

Glitterknickaz sad sin't it.
people just can't see the victim in all this

Nup. Clueless.

Well that 'block' facility works as many times as necessary.

I don't understand the mentality of people who continue to be abused on facebook anymore than I understand the mentality of people who abuse on it.