London's Children

[ethsnafu]

I did debate whether or not to post this topic as I found it intensely disturbing but my sheer disbelief and revulsion that this could be happening has made me of the opinion that this should not disappear into the quagmire of celebrity scandals and showbiz news reports unheralded.

*

It begins with the unrivalled horror that was the tragic case of the child known only as Adam. In September 2001 a gruesome discovery was made in London's River Thames. The hideously mutilated torso of a small black boy was found floating through the city. The boy's arms, legs, and head had all been hacked off.

*

So began a stranger-than-fiction detective story that led U.K. investigators into a macabre netherworld of witchcraft and child sacrifice.

*

Murder squad detectives had nothing to go on: There were no reports of a missing child and no witnesses or crime scene. No face, fingerprints, or dental records remained that could help identify the boy. The police simply called him Adam. He was believed to have been between four and seven years old.

I remember the horror so vividly yet further news has reached the UK headlines that I had trouble even comprehending or accepting could be real.

*

In conjunction with their enquiries Scotland yard asked education authorities for a quote on the number of black boys, aged four to seven, who have vanished from London schools. The education authority stated that between July and September 2001, 300 children had disappeared. 300 children had vanished without trace in one UK city alone.

*

I am not so fiercely patriotic that I believe my country to be an Eden in an otherwise troubled world. The UK has its trials and tribulations like any other nation. But how? How can any nation, or person, not feel horror, terror and revulsion regarding this figure. This simply cannot be allowed to happen.

*

A link to this story in today's headlines is below.

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4541603.stm

*

My sincerest best wishes to you all...

Till then,

ethsnafu

[The Old Man]

This was an extremely disturbing crime. I seem to recall that the TV Series The Bill based a storyline on it (intentional or not) at one time in which the child washed up in The Thames river was found to be one that was 'sneaked' into the country by the child sex industry after reassurances were made to the parents in the originating country that they would be safer and looked after. As I said, disturbing.

[ethsnafu]

Disturbing it is: and I have a vague recollection of the story line in the Bill - tragic to think that the horrors we once viewed uncomfortably through fiction are sadly a reality. I do hope you won't mind if I share a story with you regarding an elderly patient I worked with some years ago (with all necessary respect to her confidentiality). It is digressing slightly but the message will become apparent.

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When I left school, before the heady days of university, I worked with a Community Rehabilitation Team who had a profound effect on the lives of elderly stroke patients confined to ongoing care. One particularly inspiring old lady told the tale of the night she returned home from a dance during wartime. As she walked, alone, through a lane that was a short cut from the dance hall to her home she was startled by a man who ran past her with such force that he knocked her to the ground. He didn't stop to assist her and as she looked up to rebuke him as he fled she saw what she thought was a blade in his hand. As she steadied herself to her feet she became aware that the sleeve of her coat was smeared with blood.

The following morning the residents of the street were full of the gossip of a tragic murder, a few doors away from the lady's home, of a young bride by persons unknown. As far as the lady could recall the case was never solved. It doesn't require any explanation as to who the lady passed by that night or from where he was running.

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The lady explained how she became something of curiosity as, she explained, things like that never, ever happened in those days and if they did they happened in London not in the quiet backstreets of Yorkshire (her opinion not mine.) She told me how the world today was quite unthinkable to her. 'They kill children today you know?' she added. After some chat I asked her how she thought we had got from then to now in such a relatively short space of time.

'It was the war' she said very definitely. 'That was when the world let the evil out.'

*

That last line has never left me.

From the days of leaving doors unlocked without fear to the days of dismembered children. I often wonder if she was right.

*

Again, best wishes.

Till then....

[The Old Man]

That's a thought provoking story, thanks for sharing it!

[Guest jebus]

'That was when the world let the evil out.'

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Disturbing but true. There is a lot of evil in the world. Is there any hope?

[HighPlainsDrifter]

hope is all we have

[Gunslinger]

Disturbing but true. There is a lot of evil in the world. Is there any hope?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"try to treat our loved ones and friends better than the criminals we chase treat theirs. that is all we can do. that is the job. that is who we are."

ive forgotten which instructor relayed this to my class, but ive always rememberd it..

[Guest blondton13]

Hope-that's a good feeling. Never really thought I had much hope, but I must! That, and a sense of preparation if evil overrides the hope. I will be ready to fight to the death to protect the ones I love, and I will, by all means available, ensure the future of my offspring. Sounds animalistic, but I tend to think even people use thier animal instincts when their world feels threatened. And mine does, sometimes.

[Gunslinger]

Hope-that's a good feeling. Never really thought I had much hope, but I must! That, and a sense of preparation if evil overrides the hope. I will be ready to fight to the death to protect the ones I love, and I will, by all means available, ensure the future of my offspring.  Sounds animalistic, but I tend to think even people use thier animal instincts when their world feels threatened. And mine does, sometimes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you are right to think that blondton13, every day i deal with people i would not let within 1 mile of my family without a fight to the death, there are monsters out there but ive never encountered any who didnt walk on 2 legs and the ugliest and scariest thing about the is their warped minds and hearts..this is who we are..

[Guest blondton13]

you are right to think that blondton13, every day i deal with people i would not let within 1 mile of my family without a fight to the death, there are monsters out there but ive never encountered any who didnt walk on 2 legs and the ugliest and scariest thing about the is their warped minds and hearts..this is who we are..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah-I'm way more afraid of some people than I am animals. I have a pet black widow, for goodness sake!! But I also know that if I treat any animal with healthy respect and fear, it will leave me be~for the most part. (Rabies doesn't count here!-haha) You can't expect anything from a human~no matter how you act. People can do great things way beyond your expectations, but they can also do things you can't even begin to fathom...I should know! You should see some of my black thoughts~and I would NEVER act on them. I can't imagine how an individual with no remorse or self control would act with these same thoughts-well, yes I can....