BBCMisogyny tasered man, no mention of murdered woman victim

[Cherriesandapples]

Just this really... This morning the Today Radio 4 programme had a headline about a man been tasered by Gwent Police force and he had subsequently died and that the case had been referred to Police Complaints Commission. The 22 year old vulnerable woman that he had murdered who was living in a homeless shelter was barely mentioned! On Sky News just now they showed a picture of her, a beautiful young woman, also reported on independent Radio was the fact that the Police had arrived on the scene after the murder and that he was in an act of canabalism.

Why did the BBC yet again ignore the woman victim?

I think that both describing the man's death as unfortunate, and him as a victim, are inappropriate in the context of this situation.

messy I think it's because of the sex thing - I watch a lot of US CSI type progs (yes I know I like the pretty glossiness ) and the episodes are etremely heavy on the "women being brutalised and murdered, probably with additional sexual violence, possibly with a nice bit of torture, and she's likely to be young and attractive". One of my favourite shows I simply refer to as "women being horribly murdered".

So. People like it, they like to read about it, they like to see programs about it, they are interested in it in the news. Why? No fucking idea.

I do think that this crime is unusual enough that it would have been reported whoever the victim.

I do understand the OP's unease and anger at the way it was reported on the program she heard.

Special, I think that's true now, but when I first heard about the story it was "two people dead after police tasering incident", then a small piece on a man having been killed by police when they tasered him. I agree that now the story is much more focussed on the victim of crime now.

Cadno, given that such a high proportion on the prison population has MH problems, I'd be more surprised if he didn't. Most people with MH problems manage not to eat people they've just met though, so not sure of the relevance. People are placed in the hostel (from what I've read about it) because they are homeless after leaving prison and therefore classed as vulnerable. From the rules that have been stated, I'd think it was a halfway house for prison leavers rather than specifically for those with MH problems.

What slightly concerned me yesterday reference the reporting was what papers like the mail we're going to make of her going back to his for a drink having only just met him, given their victim blaming form, but this appears not to have happened, which is both good and surprising!

I don't think anyone would want to detract from the awfulness of Cerys Marie Yemm's death, or the savageness of her killer.

The reason why the reporting has focused on her killer's death, in my view, is that we have all been told that tasers are safe, non-lethal weapons for the police to use. The police have the right to use tasers on you and me.

So why did he die? Was it because of something specific about him and a medical condition we might not know about? Was it because the taser was misused? Was it because he was so frantic and violent during the arrest that he had to be tasered for a very long time, and that killed him? These are reasonable questions to ask and they could potentially affect any of us.

Back to the word, 'victim' again, then.

I'm not that tied up to the word itself for it to matter that much to me. I'm happy to withdraw it - maybe he was 'suffering' instead

But at the same time, it seems to me, that that if he was suffering from a mental illness that in some way contributed to his death as well as that of his victim, then I'm capable of sympathy for both.

I think that consideration of the police process and ascertaining whether he had any mental health problems / why he was not being monitored after release are all important but generally they come once the intitial shock of such a horrible crime has worn off a bit.

It is not usual behaviour in the UK media or society for the main immediate focus on news that a woman has been murdered and cannibalised to be on police use of tasers and I don't see that as a valid explanation of what the OP was objecting to TBH.

BobbyDarin

I agree. I recall reading too that Gwent Constabulary uses tazer more often than the other Welsh ones (there are 3 others). In this particular case, I think its use was probably justified - but there are questions to answer as to how it seemingly caused a death.

I think drugs and alcohol would have played a role here. I actually feel really sorry for the Officers called out. The situation that they would have been faced with, a highly dangerous man possibly delusional. I hope they get the support that they need. Perhaps this OP should have been more about how the BBC immediately condemned the police for using the taser linking it to higher use of tasering in Gwent than other Welsh Forces. Police in Gwent are faced with dealing with a much higher rate of violence, drugs and alcohol than for example Dyfed Powys so they will use tasers more!

User of taser "probably justified"? Yup, I reckon that if a policer officer as we now know comes upon a man sitting on a woman's chest eating her face, using a taser was "probably" justified. Probably as in too damn right it was.

I agree that it's a good thing there hasn't been much in the way of victim-blaming in the press. However, I do struggle to understand why anyone would choose to go home to a hostel for recently released prisoners with someone they'd just met.

Perhaps she was forced to!

Cherries Yes, possibly, or he lied to her about where he was living, who the hell knows. Poor woman.

BIWI's point basically translates to 'we expect women to be murdered, at the rate of more or less one a day, by men they know, or met recently. It's much more worthy if report when the man does it in an unusual way.' And I know what they mean. But, yes, it's a feminist issue.

That is absolutely not what I meant. Don't try and put words into my mouth.

He did lie to her, he said he was going to get her a cab from there.

I think the today programme got it wrong but under the circs maybe it's understandable - and they mostly get it right.

I'm now just relieved they didn't say; "in the news this morning...'a man (probably a victim of mental health issues) has unfortunately died after being tasered by the police in a hostel for ex offenders. This raises important questions about the use of tasering in the area."