At approx 2.00pm yesterday,(22 July 2004) a pensioner was walking along Old Rough Lane and a group of lads, about 7 of them aged 12 and upwards, tried to pull a bag from the pensioners hand. This was only a plastic carrier bag wrapped up and contained nothing of value, and luckily the pensioner had the handle of the bag wrapped round his hand, this meant that the quick tug on the bag by one of the gang bore no fruit, if indeed the youth was trying to steal it. It's possible the lads thought that this would just be 'funny' and intended no more than to simply take the pi** out of someone who was old enough to be there granddad. But either way, it's wrong. This is the sort of incident the average journalists would not really see fit to mention, although some of the Echo and Daily Post journalists have had a good pop at various aspects of the general lack of respect to the elderly. This was just one minor incident in a small town in Liverpool, but is symbolic of the declining breakdown of the communities and working class values which once made sure the elderly were respected and protected.

Having a Laugh?

It wasn't really an incident you'd report to the police, but upon questioning the pensioner, he was not sure what the reaction of the lads would have been if they had taken the bag. Would they have just thrown it round to each other? Would they have searched it to see if there was anything worth taking? Had the bag contained money, would this 'playful incident' have become a street robbery, a mugging? Questions aside, the main issue here surely has to be the fact that there hands should NOT be reaching out to grab hold of other peoples property, nor should they in anyway intimidate our pensioners. This was clearly a case of intimidation, albeit on a minor level, as the pensioner involved did feel threatened to a point, anyone would be if they had gone through it. Had the bag been taken, the situation may have got worse, it may have escalated. The lads may have thought that they were just 'having a laugh', but bullying or intimidation often starts with 'a laugh', and as ever, the bullies don't give a thought as to how others may feel. Had this person had a heart condition and subsequently died, we can almost predict some smarmy lawyer would get the attackers off with a slap on the wrist.

Gong Downhill

Kirkby and indeed Knowsley and Liverpool is going downhill if our pensioners can be threatened in any way shape or form. Knowsley Council seem to have sat back and not tackled the situation. Only last week an old folks home in Huyton was bricked by kids, some as young as 8. Other pensioners are thrown out of care homes whilst our councillors look on and simply do not see it as an issue. Attacks on people in the community here have led to a fair number of people being hospitalised after attacks by mobs of kids. Break ins and thefts still continue, and to top it all off we have record amounts of heroin heading here to the UK and a generation of kids who have never been challenged by the community at large. A few local kids carry knives and other weapons, and the use of such weapons will bring a tragedy here in Kirkby if we don't act . We could do a lot to prevent this but community services are cut to the bone and money wasted with reckless abandon by new labour and there friends here. Nepotism hardly helps us when it comes to choosing community leaders or so called political leaders, none of whom seem to be on the streets unless there's an election coming. Thankfully the use of guns has not taken off, perhaps the warnings by Liverpool's top gangsters to the young 'up and comings' has found an audience. Sadly, this influence has little bearing on the streets and whilst respect for the elderly is still very much a code of conduct amongst older more traditional gangsters, Liverpools Council Estates can still very much be places were the elderly population is ruled by FEAR. This may be a small minor fear, the fear which leads you to walk around the mob in the park, or to avoid that mob at the corner of the shops, or it may be the very real fear which comes after being assaulted or robbed or seeing your own streets become no go zones with buses boycotting areas. At worse it means a local heroin addicts cashing your pension book as you lie dead in a slum of a council flat. It means you may be lying dead outside Kirkby Police station stabbed to death because you've tried to tackle some youth interfering with your car. This fear in the community is there for a reason. Kirkby Times is giving a voice to those who feel that fear and those who are the victims. But this is only an intermediate stage towards action and those us who can stand up need to do so and join together.

Were it all begins

It all starts with the little incidents as described in this news item. Dragging some old persons bag, throwing stones at them, telling them to f*** off, we all how it works. We all know how the little things lead to big things and we all know the first few steps towards that road to nowhere that looms on the horizon. Every generation will in turn challenge the one that came before it, but now we can see something which goes beyond this natural order of things. Challenging the older generation's ideas is one thing, making them feel fear in there own community is another. It all ends when WE, the Working Class, stand up to it.

Crime figures deceiving.

The Police and the Public they serve are being deceived by taking onboard the figures of crimes reported. The real figure of crime is much higher and many people in Kirkby will leave minor crimes or incidents unreported. The same is happening all over the UK with only '78% of burglaries being reported, only 34% of attempted vehicle thefts are reported, along with 31% of cases of vandalism and 30% of common assaults.*' (*The British Crime Survey, which includes unreported crimes based on interviews with tens of thousands of people) Incidents such as knives being carried by kids are not reported by parents, a pensioner having a bag dragged may not seem much - but it IS a big deal. Isn't it?

It's were it all starts.