All my life I’ve believed that the death penalty is unacceptable – a barbaric and out-dated act of vengeance that has no place in the modern world.
This conviction, however, has been incredibly tested. The case of David Fuller, who not only took the lives of two young women – Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20 –but also admitted 44 charges of necrophilia, involving women and girls aged between nine and 100 in morgues across Sussex and Kent, is beyond the comprehension of most people.
And when I read the account of Nevres Kemal, the mother of one of Fuller’s victims, Azra Kemal, I felt an overwhelming sense of rage on her behalf, and on behalf of the families of all his other victims, which police fear may run into the hundreds.
After officers visited her home to tell her that the lifeless body of her beautiful, vibrant daughter had been violated not just once, but three times, by this monster – and that he had filmed himself doing so – she grabbed the nearest knife and ran to her local police station with the intention of putting ‘that knife straight through his heart because he’d put a knife through mine’.
All my life I’ve believed that the death penalty is unacceptable – a barbaric and out-dated act of vengeance that has no place in the modern world. However, that conviction has been severely tested
If she had been my precious daughter, I would have done the same. It would have made me mad, depressed, angry, and determined to avenge her without regard for the possible consequences. This would have been the best and only way to respond to this insane act.
And I’m afraid that when I read that this poor woman, clearly delirious with emotions no one should have to suffer, was handcuffed and thrown to the floor by eight or nine officers and then confined to a cell for 34 hours, all I could think of was: ‘I wish she’d got him.’
This is especially true when you consider that there are only two years for the punishment of raping a dead body in this country. And that life all too rarely means life, and even if it does, people like Fuller are held at Her Majesty’s pleasure – and the taxpayers’ expense – in conditions far more civilised than those afforded to their poor, forgotten victims.
Certain crimes cannot be forgiven. Some people do not have the right to civilized society’s privileges. One such person is this man, an indescribable villain who cannot be forgiven.
By his actions he has rendered himself subhuman, and he deserves – in my opinion – the ultimate sanction and no mercy. He will continue to be an evil presence on this planet.
This is something that deeply troubles me. Opponents of the death penalty – and, remember, I’ve always been one – will disagree with me, of course.
Heck, I’m still not happy with a lot of people.
Particularly, I worry that innocent people could be executed in countries that still have capital punishment.
And when I read the account of Nevres Kemal, the mother of one of Fuller’s victims, Azra Kemal, I felt an overwhelming sense of rage on her behalf, and on behalf of the families of all his other victims, which police fear may run into the hundreds
Unfortunately, this has sometimes been true.
The evidence is unambiguous. Fuller captured these crimes repeatedly and recorded them. Fuller also kept meticulous records. Fuller has taken the life of another person and has defiled death’s sacredness.
Whatever the motive, it is impossible to imagine what he was thinking.
It is necessary to pay a price, and not only for the sakes of the victims or their families but for the good of all humanity. There is no other punishment that could meet this challenge.
At the end of the day, it’s simple: men like Fuller who do the unthinkable force us, as a society, to think the unthinkable.
It’s not pretty. But it’s true.
The Ministry of Defence has instructed staff to use their pronouns in meetings. I can’t help wondering what my grandfather, who fought with the Chindits, would have made of that. ‘Name, rank and preferred pronoun, soldier.’ Not sure that would have cut much mustard with the Japanese.
John Major has called the Prime Minister’s handling of the Owen Paterson case in Parliament this week ‘shameful’. Are you serious? John Major? Has he never heard the saying ‘people in glasshouses’?
ArchAeologists have found the remains of a Pompeii-era slatted bed, which has prompted comparisons to Ikea. I was aware that the Romans were fond of cruel bloodsports; Ikea, however?
Even they couldn’t have conceived of such torture.
Protect children from playing vile and harmful games
After reading about Jacob Talbot Lummis’s horrific 16-year old obsession with violent videogames, and leaving him with severe injuries, it was clear that I had to go see what these games were all about.
It was a horrible evening that I spent exploring dark corners of the game world.
The problem is very similar to that with porn: if you’re an adult you are able to differentiate fantasy from reality; but if you are a child with a child’s brain which doesn’t have that capacity, you can’t. So these sickeningly violent games normalise aggression in a way that – as we have seen – can be catastrophic.
On November 19, Baroness Beeban Kidron’s Age Assurance Bill has its second reading in Parliament. This Bill will ensure Ofcom is empowered to establish a code of practice that governs the age verification and enforcement of adult content.
The MPs are given the chance to protect future generations from such toxic influences. Let’s hope, for once, they show up and do their duty.
I was horrified to read the story of Jacob Talbot Lummis (16), a violently obsessed 16-year old who shot his school friend in the face at close range, leaving him with severe injuries.
Someone like you…with a £3k bag?
Rumours about Adele’s love life have been raised after she was photographed in London with a ring attached to her wedding finger. If you ask me, far more questionable is the fact that the 33-year-old singer, left, was carrying a handbag that costs more than £3,000.
Firstly, I don’t care how wealthy you are, that’s a stupid amount to spend on a bag, especially one that small and boring; and second, if she is going to behave like the accessories version of Imelda Marcos, she might want to drop the coy ‘I’m just a girl from Tottenham’ act. It’s getting a bit much now.
Nadhim Zhawi was an Education Secretary who helped to roll out the Covid vaccination programme. I love the way he looks. On Friday, he took aim at teachers for bringing politics into classrooms. ‘Schools should always remember impartiality,’ he said.
‘Any contested theory should not be promoted… and political groups like Extinction Rebellion should not be promoted in any school.’ Absolutely right. I hope now he will turn his attention to his own department which, it transpires, has handed almost £600,000 of taxpayers’ money to Stonewall over the past five years in exchange for promoting the organisation’s highly politicised trans agenda.
All faiths are disappointed by this crass archbishop
I don’t think enough has been made of Justin Welby’s spectacular idiocy in comparing failure to act on climate change to the Holocaust. I know it’s yesterday’s chip paper, and I know that he’s apologised – but how does he get away with it?
And how can we continue to have an Archbishop of Canterbury who not only displays crass insensitivity to other faiths (in this case Jewish people), but who also represents such a let-down to Britain’s ever-shrinking Christian community?
Supply shortages have hit Walkers Crisps in the most recent instance, as demand exceeds supply. As the mom of a teenager boy who eats cheese and onions, this has been something I’ve known about for some time. This was after my local supermarket began rationing deliveries. Poor little boy had to have fruit as an alternative. The drought will continue for many more years!