After Aliya's post it doesn't get any better.

[Raffles]

As if the recent post by Aliya wasn't enough, it goes on and on and on.............. ;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/mers ... 297971.stm


Cyclist stabbed to death in row
A female cyclist has been stabbed to death in the Anfield area of Liverpool in a "vicious and brutal" attack.
Police said she was riding a bicycle on Whitfield Road on Friday night when a car pulled up alongside her and an argument broke out with its occupants.

Witnesses reported that she rode off but the car followed and on Woodville Terrace two women got out, pulled her from her bike, and she was stabbed.

Merseyside Police are trying to find out the victim's identity.

She is aged between 16 and 20, about 5ft 6in tall, and had dark brown, shoulder-length hair which she was wearing in a single plait.

Garland tattoo

She was wearing a black Location brand tracksuit and a zipped jacket, a black t-shirt and red, black and silver Nike trainers.

The woman was riding a black and light pink Universal Fusion mountain bike with a black seat.

She had "Atalia" tattooed on her right hip, and the name "Demi Lee" tattooed on her right foot with a rose entwined with the letters.

She also had a tattoo of a garland of flowers circling her navel.

Witness appeal

Det Ch Insp Richie Davies, of Merseyside Police, said: "This was a vicious and brutal attack on a young woman and I would appeal to anybody who has any information which could help us with our inquiries to contact us urgently.

"I am also anxious to trace anyone who may recognise the victim from the description we have released.

"It may be that you have not seen your partner, daughter, sister or friend since yesterday and if you believe she fits the description we have released I would urge you to contact us."

Officers are carrying out house-to-house inquiries and the area around the attack has been cordoned off.

Police believe the women who attacked the victim were passengers in the car, which was being driven by a man.

Det Insp Davies added: "We are following up a number of positive lines of inquiry, but again I would like to reiterate that if anyone out there has any information which could help us with our inquiries they should contact police as soon as possible."

[Tack]

But Raff, look at it this way for your own sanity's sake; thank goodness it is such a rare story that it makes headlines. When such a story is buried deep in other stuff and only warrants a few lines; then we should despair.

[Raffles]

thank goodness it is such a rare story that it makes headlines.

Is it? Twenty six teenagers were murdered in London last year, this year the total is already nine. Assaults on various members of the public and for that matter the police are a good deal more common than gets mentioned in the press. I remember when I first moved to London there were quite a number of occasions when police were stabbed which were never mentioned in either the local or national news. Admittedly not every attack results in death and much of what you hear is drunken violence but it is becoming markedly more violent, especially with the drugs culture that now exist.

[Tack]

But this IS a big story.

People's perceptions are that UK is "becoming markedly more violent" but I would like to know if that really is the case. Nothing of my own experience (in my wider circle of knowledge) suggests so, the stats don't bear it out (we all know about stats however), which leaves the press...ho hum. Dog attacks on kids are big in the press at the moment, so what is it in the water making Brit dogs so violent nowadays?

On the basis that folk generally like a bit of comparative superiority: who'd have thunk that Eng is such a desirable place to be if you choose your country of residence by murder rate (lower being better of course!)? Check out the indisputable Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... icide_rate (Remember I did say I know about stats but I do enjoy a good graph or table).

I tried to find other violent crime comparative data but no 2 countries measure it the same way or have similar reporting reliability.

[Raffles]

But this IS a big story.

A big story? You mean you doubt its authenticity when it is already known fact? You state your 'wider circle of experience' but neither do you state what it is and I certainly don't know what you mean. Whatever, I was not referring to stats which might or might not give an accurate indication.

Looking at graphs you quote is neither here no there; for a start our population is nowhere near as big a the United States, violent crime is more common than it used to be; there are far more armed robberies than say 27 years ago when I first moved to London. The incident in the articles cited by Aliya is not the first time I a have heard of someone's head being stamped on, knife attacks where I live have happened quite frequently and if you care to spend some time in Nottingham which has the highest crime rate in Britain you might get an idea. The police figures may indicate a drop in crime but it could be debatable what sort of crime they are referring to (e.g. burglary, firearms offences, alcohol related offences, shop-lifting etc). As I mentioned previously drunken violence is certainly more prevalent nowadays, in Northampton for example the police set up a first-aid post in advance of a Saturday night knowing that somebody will be injured for sure!

From a previous post it would seem you live either a secluded or privileged life-style, failing which you could be in for a very rude shock (you have obviously been away a while).

[Tack]

Ok, I didn't really mean to start a big debate but I'd better explain what I didn't explain well enough. I don't doubt the original story, my point was that this is such a big story because it isn't common. You yourself talk about the common crimes not being reported. So this causing a flutter is a good thing (if that doesn't sound too awful).

And my wider circle means events that have happened in the circle of people that I know. I know now and have known thousands in the past and there is no increase in violence upon them. This isn't a terribly reliable indicator I realise but I threw it into the mix anyway because we've not got very much to go on if you totally discount stats and clearly it would form some of my opinion. And it beats remembering ad hoc newspaper reports.

As for stats I would never dream of using non adjusted ones ie murders per 100,000 of pop I think is a usual one. I think the murder one is prob the only reliable violence one as it is fairly unambiguous what comes under that category. I was amazed to see England and Wales have a lower rate than Sweden, Canada and France with Switzerland being positively lawless by comparison (Switzerland )

I am not arguing that all is well in the UK, but that you have to keep it in perspective for your sanity's sake. I look at this from the viewpoint of someone who has those most dear to her living there. My boys are exactly the demographic of those most likely to have violent crime affect them (age and genderwise) but I console myself with the knowledge that most of the bad crime is quite removed from them if they keep away from it.
BTW I have close family living in Nottingham, which is where I was a student .

Keep safe

[Raffles]

I know now and have known thousands in the past and there is no increase in violence upon them.

Thousands? You have a lot of friends. Even if you have the UK population is millions.

[Tack]

I apologise if there was something in any of my posts that you took personally.

[Raffles]

I apologise if there was something in any of my posts that you took personally.

Oh, don't worry about it, no point having a scrap on a Sunday evening (afternoon where I am).

[Possum]

Play on this site for some country comparissions...scary reading for us kiwi's!
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/uk- ... /cri-crime

[sundaymorningstaple]

Hey Poss,

Thank's for the link. That's a good one. I've added it to the Misc heading on my links page as well.

[Tack]

Excellent stuff on there Poss.
But Eng is lumped in with those murderous Scots (the Wiki link earlier uses the same source but separates them as well) ?

Now why is NZ so scary? Do you think those figures are right?

[Possum]

The data on there comes from more reliable sources than Wiki but saying that any statistical data is only as good as the people designing it.
As for NZ, I believe it is in a complete mess socially at the moment. The sooner we get rid of that stupid cow Helen Clark the better!!