Birthday Party

I spent the afternoon in hospital at a birthday party. 

 

A young lad who attended one of the film making workshops I run for outreach groups turned 25 today.

 

He is a proud father, he is a son, he is a brother, he is an uncle.  He is hilarious, he is full of life and has a very definite twinkle in his eye, especially when you mention boobs.  

 

In May this year, he was jumped by a couple of lads.  The reason?  He was on the wrong side of town and didn't have the £1 they demanded.

 

The beat him so badly he lost consciousness.  When he was down and incapacitated, they jumped up and down repeatedly on his head.  His girlfriend managed to get away and call for help.

 

He was in a coma for almost 4 months.  He woke up a changed man.   

 

He is now confined to a wheelchair, gets fed through a tube in his stomach, is fitted with a permanent catheter, gets daily botox injections to allow his arm to move and he cannot speak properly or swallow at all.  He cannot move his legs and the entire right hand side of his body is almost totally paralysed.  He can understand what you say but can only communicate back at the most basic level.  

 

He is likely to need 24/7 residential care for the rest of his life.

 

He dreams of the day he can take his first mouthful of solid food (which, 2 weeks ago was to be a massive pepperoni pizza that he "will NOT share", but today he was swithering and thinks it might be mince instead!).

 

He dreams of the day he can have a kick around in the garden with his footie mad uncle and rib him about being a Rangers fan when "Celtic are clearly the best"!

 

He dreams of the day when he can walk down the street.

 

He dreams of the day when he can brush his own teeth.

 

He dreams of the day when he can go to the toilet by himself. 

 

It's all okay though cos the guys who jumped repeatedly on his head and caused him to be like this are 'out on bail', hanging around the local primary school.  

 

Did I mention that one hour after they'd finished stamping on his head, they went to another part of Edinburgh and stabbed another young lad?  Presumably, they still needed a £1.

 

They are both out walking the streets until their court appearance in November.  Why?  Because they are 15.  They are up for attempted murder and are outside making the most of what time they have in case they are sent to 'bad boy' school for a year or so.

 

WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?

 

If only he had had that £1 to hand over to them. 

• A bag of Farmfoods frozen mince = £1.00

• Saved from a life in a wheelchair, being fed through a tube = £1.00

What a bargain. But would it have made a difference?

 

*** 

The little fuckers better hope they don't cross my path in court in November.

 

Assuming no learning or developmental issues, after the age of 7 you understand the difference between right and wrong - John Venables, Robert Thompson, Mary Bell - all under 15, all committed horrible acts of fatal cruelty against other children and are now living free as birds with brand new identities.

 

My lad doesn't want a brand new identity, he just wants his old one back.  

 

I guess he is supposed to be thankful that they hadn't quite practiced their beatings or stabbings enough so didn't manage to actually kill him or the other lad.

Just give them time...

 

Justice?  What a fucking mockery.