Rough justice for Richard Bowes, would zero tolerance have ...

...given him a longer life.

Should the rights of the majority who are law abiding citizens be curtailed because of the actions of the few, the very tiny minority who turn their back on society.

The word-smiths of Britain offer as an explanation for the recent mindless violence ...

• Welfare dependence
• Social exclusion
• Lack of fathers
• Spending cuts
• Weak policing
• Racism
• Gangsta rap and culture
• Consumerism
• Opportunism
• Technology and social networking

... the BBC link is here, it generated 1700 comments from the public.  It's psycho babble from those with more time on their hands than the majority who will recognise Richard Bowes by his constant willingness to stand up for that community against antisocial behaviour.

If the rioters represent one group at the margin of society, Mr Bowes belonged to another — solitary, private, but fiercely resistant to social disorder.

He lived in a flat above shops on Haven Green in central Ealing, and neighbours said he regularly remonstrated with youths who would urinate in the street after a night out drinking.

Detective Chief Inspector John McFarlane, who is leading the inquiry, said local officers had witnessed the attack but were powerless to help as rioters bombarded them with bricks. “There was some suggestion he was attacked because he was stamping out fires that had been started,” he said.
The Times 12 Aug 2011

... and the statement by the police officer who admits the police failed to protect Richard Bowes, probably holds the key to why this man was murdered by the rioters, they had allowed the criminal activity to the point that they were suppressed by the rioters.  The police had become subordinate to the lawlessness.

The death of Richard Bowes is a testament to those that would look for excuses for lawlessness, it would be a better testament if a permanent solution were put in place throughout the UK ...

"Zero Tollerance"

Why should you or I be forced to tolerate any ant-social or criminal activity, the fact that a perpetrator didn't have access to the latest must have gadget is irrelevant, many millions of people unable to afford a BlackBerry or latest gaming machine do not go out onto the streets of Britain and make a nuisance of themselves to others.

The turgid word-smiths of the regions call the riots the "English disease", to the pathetic of Scotland and Wales I would ask them to look around their streets for symptoms of this particular disease, if you look you will find it, it is everywhere.  The riots were a manifestation of a culture so long ignored, a culture of "ME", a culture where people are expected to look the other way, a culture that emasculated the police, the courts and prisons.

Is there a place in Britain for the lawlessness that burnt neighbourhoods to the ground, the rioting and indiscriminate violence, I don't think so, and believe a certain answer lies with ...

"Zero Tolerance"

... why should anybody have to put up with people making their life a misery, and if you look under the carpet we call society there are not that many who should be excluded from society permanently and kept under the miserable conditions they expect us to tolerate.

It's time to take stock of what the public should be able to expect from society Mr Cameron and chums, chums of all political persuasions.