Plymouth Woe

The tragedy that unfolded last Thursday evening is beyond comprehension. Whilst I still try to process this utter heartbreak, I cannot fathom how such a specimen with a history of violence was allowed to have any form of access to firearms, let alone a licence.

Already I can hear the mantra, “Lessons will be learned.” A noble statement with a chilling sub-text that inevitably connects with preventable deaths. The State assured us that “Lessons were learned” following the death of Victoria Climbie. The State assured us that “Lessons were learned” following the death of Peter Connelly (Baby P). The State assured us that “Lessons were learned” following the death of Daniel Pelka. The State assured us that “Lessons were learned” following the death of Hamzah Khan – I hope so since his mummified body was found not on some barren wasteland or in the realm of a ‘developing country’ but within an English City. I could add more innocents to the list.

Photo by Ai Nhan on Unsplash

But I have lost faith in the pious words of the State representatives who parade in front of us on the television. Public enquires are by their very nature short-term. The recommendations made by the scholarly are too. The same recommendations that identify the catastrophic failings of the State. Funny that these massive failures can be identified after the event when it is too late. So, who do I blame? The vile perpetrators of course.

But who is responsible? The community in which these subhuman’s lived? Shouldn’t they look in the mirror and ask the question, “Why didn’t I do anything?” But who is accountable? The State of course and those individuals who represent it. The public servants from a variety of disciplines – amongst others the teachers, social workers, and police. The primary responsibility of the State and its servants is to protect all citizens.

The easy targets are the front-line public servants. As an ex-cop I fail to comprehend how the “lessons learned” often show a catalogue of visits by police officers who were regularly duped by the vile perpetrators. When I was a cop, my understanding was that my primary responsibility was to save life. My power to intrude where I had the slightest inkling of a life in danger knew no boundaries. I could knock down doors and push people out of the way, until I was satisfied that the danger was no more. For those who were conned hang your head in shame. You failed those victims, and you failed the rest of us. Yet if there is a thread of empathy for those souls it must be the isolation of each occurrence, and the inherent decency of humanity. The horror of thinking the unthinkable is often enough to prevent us mere mortals from considering the potential horror.

Although I am always distressed by their gross failings my anger is not aimed at those individuals. But don’t test my patience. Don’t talk about being overworked or stressed. None of us were forced into those professions and remember that there is an explicit clue in the title of ‘public servant’.

Those who hold the more senior positions are the ones worthy of my venom and contempt. The ones who are paid handsomely by the public purse. The ones who aren’t at the front line. The ones who are charged with putting into place the sensitive mechanisms and working practices which should identify the consistent patterns that the cumulative isolated events show. They are the ones responsible for joining up the dots, working in partnership with the other agencies so that the developing trends can be identified, evaluated, and acted upon in a timely and efficient way.

So how do we get those often-faceless mandarins to step up to the plate? To learn the lessons before more vulnerable people are killed? Participation in public enquiries and the clever wordsmithing of weighty tomes is failing all of us. Significant change is required, and it is the State that must carry the burden.

Make it a punishable and imprisonable offence for those senior public servants who fail us. For those that preside over demonstrable acts of gross negligence in the way the department they head provided the cover in which the vilest of perpetrators kill with impunity. Parliament has not shirked from its responsibility in terms of punishing corporations under The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

Now is the time to make it sober reading, and for those of Director level (and equivalent) within the wider scope of public office to face the same consequences. Maybe then they would be more inclined to “learn the lessons” early enough to prevent such horrific outcomes. And maybe the focus of some attention would be re-directed from looking up to the next achievable level and down the chain of responsibility to ensure that the tools and working practices exist to collect the often overwhelming intelligence, and act before the unthinkable happens. Maybe then I could believe that the lessons have really been learnt.

© Ian Kirke 2021

Title photograph Photo by Mike Ralph on Unsplash