Jailed guard is the victim of a society that ranks freedom of teenagers to drink excessively above social responsibility
Your story about the English train guard imprisoned for causing the death of a teenager ("Guard jailed for starting train that killed drunk girl", The Herald, November 16) at first made me incredulous and then angry as yet another example of our seeming willingness not just to tolerate but to encourage and protect the anarchy that now reigns in the evening in many towns and cities.
Your story about the English train guard imprisoned for causing the death of a teenager (\"Guard jailed for starting train that killed drunk girl\", The Herald, November 16) at first made me incredulous and then angry as yet another example of our seeming willingness not just to tolerate but to encourage and protect the anarchy that now reigns in the evening in many towns and cities.
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The individual case is obviously tragic for those involved, and no doubt the circumstances are complex. But for Christopher McGee to be entirely blamed for the teenager's death and jailed seems both harsh and distorted. There seems to be not just a passive acceptance that town and city centres in the evening are no-go areas for anyone over 30 who is not paralytically drunk but an active encouragement of such a view. The young, it seems, must be free to impose on the public realm any level of cost in terms of society, the environment and law and order without any consequence to them. For 16-year-olds to be out drunk in a city centre can have all sorts of dire results, but there is a view that they exist in a kind of bubble and it is always the other party's fault when accidents arise.
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Jailed guard is the victim of a society that ranks freedom of teenagers to drink excessively above social responsibility
Your story about the English train guard imprisoned for causing the death of a teenager ("Guard jailed for starting train that killed drunk girl", The Herald, November 16) at first made me incredulous and then angry as yet another example of our seeming willingness not just to tolerate but to encourage and protect the anarchy that now reigns in the evening in many towns and cities.
The individual case is obviously tragic for those involved, and no doubt the circumstances are complex. But for Christopher McGee to be entirely blamed for the teenager's death and jailed seems both harsh and distorted. There seems to be not just a passive acceptance that town and city centres in the evening are no-go areas for anyone over 30 who is not paralytically drunk but an active encouragement of such a view. The young, it seems, must be free to impose on the public realm any level of cost in terms of society, the environment and law and order without any consequence to them. For 16-year-olds to be out drunk in a city centre can have all sorts of dire results, but there is a view that they exist in a kind of bubble and it is always the other party's fault when accidents arise.
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We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.
Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.
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