On being spared the gory details

It's impossible not to feel outrage at yesterday's brutal murder of a British soldier on a Woolwich street. How will all the different parties affected by this act of public brutality react? Islamists cannot represent the religion they claim to defend. Using religion as an alibi for their action makes ordinary believers very vulnerable to attack by extremists of another kind. One can only imagine how hard it must be for officers and leaders having to maintain discipline and restraint to angry young soldiers under their command.

The highly diverse local community seems to be taking the lead in its determination to stay strong and united and not scapegoating anyone for the actions of individuals whose minds have been poisoned by the deceit of doctrine that justifies futile violent retaliation. The spontaneous action of a couple of female passers-by, one tending to the victim the other engaging with one of the attackers about what they'd just done was a remarkably brave humane contradiction to an act of brutality, which will live in public memory long after the perpetrators have been punished and their names forgotten.

Most disturbing however was the broadcast of video of one of the attackers taken by a passer-by at the scene, enjoying his ten seconds of public notoriety, having his say before arrest. All part of the modern conviction that if it can be seen it must be seen. Was it in the public interest to let the murderer's speech broadcasted across the planet before he comes to trial? Doesn't this interfere with due legal process? Who knows what unintended consequences could have been unleashed by this news editorial 'need to know' decision? How many more perverted minds will feel the need to ensure their violent crimes are recorded in this way in order to have a few minutes to make their statement in the public eye?

As it happened, this morning was the monthy RadioNet Users Group meeting, and although the attack was not a subject for discussion, it was clear it was on people's minds, as public security and safety is one of the chief concerns of all who attend. In any time of economic down-turn, security budgets tend to get whittled down, there are fewer police available to attend incidents and response times are slower.  What if something like this were to happen on a Cardiff street? The Woolwich attach may not have been predictable, but one of the unfortunate things about publishing video of the incident was hearing a voice at the scene remonstrating with police officers arriving on the scene: "Why has it taken you do long to get here?" It's become a familiar refrain in many parts of the country.