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Original poster

If you were an eye witness, why didn't you help?

23 replies

NAB3 · 01/10/2007 13:50

I have just heard about a boy who drowned after he was chased over a row about a bike and thrown into some water. He clawed his way to the side, being a non-swimmer, and then was pushed back in. "An eye witness", it is reported on the ITV news, saw missiles raining down on him. WHY DID'T YOU HELP????

DD wants the computer so will try and post a link later.

OP posts:
NotADragonOfSoup · 01/10/2007 14:13

Maybe because they were too far away?

Don't make snap judgements.

donnie · 01/10/2007 14:14

what a weird post.Do you actually know the people involved NAB3?

JeremyVile · 01/10/2007 14:16

Oh yes, I saw that - I couldn't be arsed tbh.

Is that what you were looking for?

Tutter · 01/10/2007 14:17

blimey at everyone going for NAB3

everyone have nastyflakes for breakfast?

Tortington · 01/10/2007 14:22

i understand the sentiments of the OP - its the same jamie bulger - you saw him why didn't you say anything - thing

i rather think that if there were a gang of youths and it was kicking off and i was on my own - my own safety would be paramount - and i would live with the guilt of the tradgedy afterwards.

policywonk · 01/10/2007 14:25

My brother once intervened when he saw someone being set upon by a group of thugs, and he got stabbed. (He's OK, but still.) We'd all like to think that we'd be brave enough to get involved, but unfortunately there are some really nasty f*ckers out there.

SueBaroo · 01/10/2007 14:34

yes, I intervened once and got a gob full and 'what are you going to do about it?' crap. As I was walking alone with two young children in a pushchair, I didn't really have much more to say. The kid who was being bullied did get away soon after that. But what can you do?

Desiderata · 01/10/2007 14:34

It is difficult to know what you would do in any given scenario, but generally speaking I'm a bit of a have-a-go hero. It doesn't always work, but I'm a pretty fast runner!

I find that men/young boys get mightily scared when women come down on them like a ton of bricks.

It's very different for men, though. That's a much tougher call.

HorribleHorace · 01/10/2007 14:39

it's all very well asking 'why didn't you help?' what do you think the person's answer will be 'i couldn't be bothered' 'well,i was rushing to catch a bus'

the person/people who witnessed it will no doubt feel pretty shit about it now and for a long time but they probably a) were scared for their own safety and/or b) were not aware of the severity of the situation

mytwopenceworth · 01/10/2007 14:42

Elderly / pregnant / alone and scared of being turned on by a group of thugs / with children / disabled / on other side of lake / terrified

It is not always the right thing to do to disregard your personal safety.

maisemor · 01/10/2007 14:47

As far as I have read though the eyewitness was one of his pals.

Personally hope that I would have quietly stepped back and phoned the police/ambulance. I would like to think that I would not have drawn attention to myself in the hope that they would not be throwing me in after him.

the bit relating to the above is half way down the page

HorribleHorace · 01/10/2007 14:50

his friend wasn't actually there so it's unclear who the eye witnesses were.

Original poster
NAB3 · 01/10/2007 17:12

It was just a knee jerk reaction to a report on the news. Presumably if you are an eyewitness and not just a witness, you were pretty close.

JV What is your problem?

OP posts:
NotADragonOfSoup · 01/10/2007 17:40

Eyewitness and witness are the same thing. You can be an eye witness from, say, the third floor of a building or the other side of a road/field/lake but be unable to help.

Original poster
NAB3 · 01/10/2007 17:46

We were told that an eyewitness was definitely there. Never understood the anomoly myself.

OP posts:
mytwopenceworth · 01/10/2007 18:01

eyewitness simply means you saw it. Eye. Witnessed.

Instead of hearing something or being told something.

It's got nothing to do with how close you were, physically. So you could have been quarter mile away with binoculars and if you saw it with your own 2 eyes, you'd be an eyewitness, iyswim.

edam · 01/10/2007 18:07

I imagine any eyewitnesses were bloody terrified they'd be stoned as well. I'd hope anyone there would have had the nouse to call the cops, though.

Dh is a bit of an intervener - has saved a couple of people from muggings (and ended having the shit kicked out of him) and helped a woman who was being bitten by a dog. I'm proud of him, but worried all the same. In the second mugging he's lucky he didn't have a knife pulled on him.

Original poster
NAB3 · 01/10/2007 18:26

I take your point but I find it hard to see how anyone would not help a child.

OP posts:
HorribleHorace · 01/10/2007 18:37

he was 16 years old. How do you know who the witness was? it could have been one of the group of 16 year olds, it could have been a passing woman on her own, it could have been an elderly person. You don't know so you can not judge the situation. This was a large group of youths, difficult to approach I would imagine.

HorribleHorace · 01/10/2007 18:38

and you don't know how close the witness was. They could have been looking out of a 10th floor window or something

mytwopenceworth · 01/10/2007 18:53

I would not go up to a group of youths throwing stones at another youth. Hand on heart, I wouldn't, for fear they'd just turn on me. I would call the police. I assume this is what the witness did - how else did the police know to go there if nobody called them?

edam · 01/10/2007 18:54

Poor lad, though. Been so busy talking about what eyewitnessses should do, forgotten to say how terrible this is.

Original poster
NAB3 · 01/10/2007 18:55

I am truly not meaning to judge. My post was a knee jerk reaction to a news item and it just struck me that eyewitnesses had seen missiles being thrown.

OP posts:
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