YOUR VIEW: whole country is a cesspit of lawlessness, and our area is no different

I am sure that Dave Wilson and BID are a force for good, but for him to contradict recorder Stuart Sprawson's statement that '˜Nobody is safe when they walk the streets of Mansfield', is somewhat disingenuous in my view.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th May 2018, 10:34 BST
Updated 4th May 2018, 10:36 BST

Having said that, Mansfield is not unique regarding this situation as the whole country is a cesspit of lawlessness and violence.

In Sutton-in-Ashfield recently an acquaintance of mine was mugged, knocked to the ground and robbed of £130 and as he was lying on the floor he heard one of his assailants shout, “Kick him in the head”. He was very lucky not to lose an eye, or indeed his life, but ended up with 26 stitches in his scalp.

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Contrast this with a recent visit to Japan where I felt really safe walking the streets at night. I asked a Japanese friend what crime was like in Japan and she replied: “There isn’t really any, if you left your wallet in a bar it would still be there untouched the next day” (Just like in Mansfield).

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Also, a friend recently visited Singapore and he was discussing the subject of criminal damage with a taxi driver who could not understand this concept, saying: “Why would anyone want to do that?”

Thirty years ago I was a police officer in Mansfield and preparing for a weekend night shift was like going to war - the drunken violence was sickening. Things have obviously improved vastly over the years reading the Chad of April 4 - ‘Drunken mum kicked police officer in head’ or ‘Handbag thief had consumed ten pints of lager plus shots and had also taken cocaine’ - laudable behaviour.

A great aid to crime prevention and detection is CCTV and in a recent job I viewed videos of drunken morons of both sexes emerging from night clubs, urinating in gutters and indulging in much worse behaviour which I will not describe.

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We were done a great disservice by T. Blair & Co who extended the drinking hours. Whatever were they thinking of?

That it would be akin to Parisian cafe society where drinkers would congregate sipping a glass of chardonnay?

For this dismal state of affairs I do not blame the Government or the police, who do an excellent job, but I do blame feckless parents and their miserable offspring who think that a weekend is incomplete if they do not get severely intoxicated and then assault an innocent person.

Mick Holmes

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Related topics:MansfieldJapanBID