AIBU to think a man accused of throwing a child into a crocodile enclosure should not get bail?

[YourKeenOliveNewt]

Aibu to think the man who threw an unknown 3 year old into a crocodile enclosure shouldn't be out on bail?

If anyone could provide any insight into the reasoning behind why was granted bail I would be very interested to hear it.

AIBU: He's a danger to society
AINBU: Innocent until proven guilty

And without looking it up I believe it was
Enoch Powell as Minister of Health 1960
who first proposed closing the long stay mental hospitals and liquidising their vast estates.

As well as saving on staff costs and bed and board for patients.
What's not to like...

@Honeyhonay @Bollihobs

Would you mind linking to one of these. Google's finding nothing for me

Couldn't agree more. Some people just cannot be out in public safely, ever. It's not a question of human rights it's just a fact.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/18/man-arrested-after-boy-3-injured-in-cambridgeshire-zoo-crocodile-enclosure

The Guardian has it but paywall obvs. Or this free to view : www.msn.com/en-gb/news/insight/toddler-critically-injured-in-crocodile-attack-as-suspect-bailed/gm-GM75DCE981?gemSnapshotKey=GM75DCE981-snapshot-14&uxmode=ruby

Not all people with profound leaning needs or autism are dangerous. If we start locking up big groups of people because of what they might do we would have hardly anybody free. All men would be locked away because they may rape, not all men do but enough that the crime of rape has to involve a penis etc

An earlier poster made a point about the widening of diagnosis like autism to include those with lesser needs or more mental health needs than learning needs leading to the diagnosis not being seen as serious as it once was. I think this is an incredibly pertinent as it's changed societies view and influenced policy.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp9l2278m8no

Missing my original point.

🙄

Well obviously not everyone is dangerous but once they've tried to kill someone whether intentionally or not then they are dangerous and should be detained in a secure unit.

The Guardian isn't paywalled.

Pp who said

Also, from what I have read that 3-year old has a broken pelvis, arm and was attacked by at least 1 crocodile. He will have life long injuries

Is not correct. The crocodile didn't get to the child thankfully. And nothing has been said abput lifelong injuries thankfully:

A local person told the Sun: “Apparently the boy has a broken pelvis and a broken arm, but thankfully the crocodile didn’t actually get to him.”

That is shocking!

The organisation I worked for is an LD care provider and a lot of my former colleagues had worked in various LD settings.

Every outing with a resident had to have an individual risk assessment that showed how any potential trigger factors that could reasonably be anticipated would be avoided or mitigated against.

And what kind of secure unit would you deem appropriate, given the broken care system and general lack of resources within mental health care ? People with learning difficulties and MH problems often end up in jail because they have committed offences - mainly due to the fact that they are unable to access the care they need.

This man clearly has little or no awareness of danger and has been failed by the authorities charged with his care. Given the nature of the incident I think it’s highly likely that he was placed in an inappropriate care setting because there was simply nowhere else to place him.

So the Guardian are reporting what the Sun said

A local person told the Sun: “Apparently the boy has a broken pelvis and a broken arm, but thankfully the crocodile didn’t actually get to him.”

As a scouser I'd have thought you wouldn't be trusting of the Sun

Well, personally I don’t think a crocodile farm is really the right place to take someone who needs two carers to control them!

Interesting that he chose to throw in a defenceless child and did not attempt to try and wrestle one of his carers into the pit, or himself!

I do think that a secure facility with nice gardens, space and activities is needed for people like this. I’m not sure what they (or anybody else) get out of them being at large in the community?

Ok where do you suggest he goes and who’s going to look after a man who needs to be on a 2:1 and it would appear he lacks capacity to understand what he’s done wrong. Lock him in a prison cell? The last thing I read prisons are enormously over crowded with prisoners sharing a cell. Or perhaps solitary confinement in prison who’s going to assist him with his care needs? Prison officers I think not they too I understand are incredibly short staffed. Oh let’s gets the prison nurses to do it, again often agency/bank and definitely they don’t have the staffing levels to do this.
Thankfully we don’t live in El Salvador where there are hideous mega prisons where human rights are violated on a day to day basis including physical sexual and mental abuse. So he needs to be looked after in a place where his physical and psychological needs are being met, to keep him safe, and also the general population and the staff caring for him safe and in these circumstances. I suspect his own home is likely to be the best and most appropriate place as long as there is sufficient supervision.

Oh I don't know somewhere with locked doors? Somewhere where dangerous individuals aren't allowed to mix with the public. That kind of place. Secure units are a thing you know.

I think intention plays a big part in this. If he honestly doesn't understand risk/ his actions and didn't intemd for the child to hurt then the consequences of his actions should rest with those who put him in the position to do that in the first place. The person who signed off on him going to somewhere like this and the carers who allowed him to close enough to a small child to pick them up. This doesn't mean he should be locked away for the rest of his life. He would essentially be being punished for the failings of those looking after him.

If however he does understand his actions in some way then yes he should be to account and punished in a suitable way.

Actually a very large proportion of them are volatile, lack any kind of impulse control, lash out sporadically etc and are a danger to themselves and others. Not their fault, but the facts remain!

He should not have been taken to a crocodile farm. Period.

-Interesting that he chose to throw in a defenceless child and did not attempt to try and wrestle one of his carers into the pit, or himself!'

Yes, very selective behaviour. Oh he didn't know what he was doing yet chose a tiny defenceless child not a strapping 6 footer to try to murder.

And how would you like this lovely facility paid for, given the shit state of care and MH services generally ?

Tell me you know nothing about learning disability/mental health without telling me………………

Is there any suggestion this is not happening?

There is a long history of abuse by staff in secure facilities. No one wants to pay for “nice gardens, space and activities”. Most people with severe learning disabilities are cared for in the community, this is often “supervised/assisted living” either shared houses or some will have individual homes run by “charities” (although as someone said above care staff maybe on minimum wage but directors often aren’t) with funding from local councils who as we know don’t have any money are paying the bare minimum. IME they struggle to get essential maintenance of buildings undertaken let alone nice gardens, spaces and in site activities.

This. And this is what needs to be clarified. My suspicion is that this is down to either severe learning disability or MH condition, and that he was placed in an inappropriate care setting for the level of disability. That being the case, the responsibility is squarely on the authorities who placed him. Mental health services are in crisis, and often there are no suitable placements for difficult cases so they end up in inappropriate social care situations.