By the Editor: The psychological despair of Derrick Bird

By the Editor

It was with alarm that I browsed the BBC’s Latest Headlines this morning, as ‘Gunman kills several in Cumbria’ was the leading story.

For the second time in a fortnight, an icy shiver ran down my spine; the emergence of the ‘Crossbow Cannibal’ having perturbed my every day sense of reality once already in recent weeks, reminding us that manic killers obsessed with human blood sport actually exist amongst us, in the UK.

So it was with a sick familiarity I read that a gunman had roamed the notoriously quiet and unassuming community of west Cumbria in order to sporadically kill and injure innocent civilians without an apparent motive.

It is believed that the body of Derrick Bird, a 52-year-old man, has been found in woodland by police but until this is confirmed residents have been advised to stay inside their homes for their own safety. That Bird has committed suicide is an obvious and speculative assumption.

But the absurdity of such a situation renders the answers to such crucial questions exasperatingly slow. Bird has been described by those who knew him as “fairly popular,” a “quiet” man who was a divorced taxi-driver with two sons.

It is easy to assume Bird’s malevolence is attributed to an evil soul, but after the initial shock of the headlines, I am more inclined to agree with Whitehaven councillor John Kane that ‘Something must have pushed him over the edge.” Why and how such an event took place remains to be seen, but the psychological despair of Derrick Bird is more likely a post-mortem than an innate and twisted evil.

Suzanne Robinson: The Gaza controversy

Journalism and French undergraduate from the University of Sheffield, Suzanne Robinson, blogs about how the bloody interception of aid to Gaza has halted the peace process.

http://slrobinson.blogspot.com

More than ten people were killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid due to arrive in Gaza.

This bloody interception reveals the continuous fragility and instability of the region of Gaza following over sixty years of problems since the creation of the state of Israel.

This is a huge step backwards for the peace process, which was already moving forward only in baby steps.

The “proximity talks” organised by the USA between Israel and the western-backed Palestinian Authority already appeared to be going nowhere.

Fresh hurdles will now have to be faced.

The unit was told to confront protesters verbally, use crowd control tactics and use firearms only to save their own lives, according to eyewitness Ron Ben Yishai who is a reporter of the Israeli newspaper.

The commandos expected just light resistance with the possibility of minor violence. But according to Israeli videos the passengers onboard began attacking with bats and other weapons.

The commandos used had been trained for combat, not crowd control and they were ill-prepared. It is claimed that they were acting in self-defence. But latest claims are that the Israelis opened fire before boarding the ships.

It is reported that paintball guns were initially used to calm the situation but tension increased and the commandos began using real weapons.

There was no legal right for them to storm the ships given this was in international waters. The passengers could be expected to use force against the commandos given the piracy and if the Israelis did open fire even before boarding this resistance is far from surprising.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the commando’s actions it is clear that serious action needs to be taken.

A huge amount of international attention has already been attracted following this controversy. It remains to be seen whether this outcry and condemnation will have any real effect or whether the area will remain fragile for the significant future.

I sincerely hope that the international community will finally stand-up to the Israeli regime.

Up-2-the-minute journos

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