Will these young scumbags never learn?

With the death of Mick Eccles fresh in the memory and a community trying to convince us that the problems are being hyped by the national media, I saw first hand over the weekend that Lichfield's troubles are as bad as ever.

The incident in question saw a gang of youths gathered outside a Bird Street fast-food outlet and throwing some of the most vile racist filth at the staff and issuing threat after threat - leading to the arrival of three police cars and an ambulance as trouble flared.


The youths were all aged around 15 or 16 and were clearly under the influence of one substance or another.

Given everything which has happened in the past week or so, you have to ask the question of the part parents play in the scene I witnessed on Saturday evening.

People aren't stupid. They must know that their kids are hanging around the streets and they must surely smell the alcohol on them when they finally return home. And with the death of Mick Eccles, surely they must take a greater responsibility on knowing where their little princes and princesses are.

Perhaps it's time for the parents to be punished for their misdemeanours of their kids or a curfew be introduced?

One thing's for sure, if nothing's done then another Mick Eccles situation WILL happen - I saw the evidence of that from the mouths of those vile, racist youths in Bird Street.

Is the Dimbles really like Beirut?

For anyone who has seen the front page of the Lichfield Mercury this week, you'll know that a councillor's likening of the Dimbles to Beirut hasn't gone down well.

Apparently, it's the last thing the area needs. I tend to disagree.

The last thing the Dimbles needs is a sugar-coated vision of itself. Don't let the wave of community spirit in the wake of the death of Michael Eccles fool you into thinking the area was rolling meadows with a fabled London blitz community spirit - it wasn't.

The Dimbles was a place where you never felt safe. You only have to look at the amount of times you'd see a police car in the area to get a vibe for what it was really like.

To get through its problems, the Dimbles community needs to take a stand in much the way it has in the aftermath of the recent tragedy. But like anyone with a problem, the first step towards recovery is to admit you have a problem.

And no matter what the community say right now, they do have a problem.

Two charged with Michael Eccles killing

Various reports this morning are doing the rounds after a boy of 15 and a man aged 20 were charged over Michael Eccles' death.

The justice system will now swing into action, but no outcome in court will ever compensate the family for their tragic loss. Nor will Mr Eccles' daughter ever remove the mental scars of what she saw on that fateful day.

Hopefully as the dust settles in the immediate aftermath of this case, questions will be asked by the authorities in Lichfield.

Why has this problem of 'Shameless' youths been allowed to fester and reach such a tragic crescendo? What steps are they taking to ensure this problem is finally addressed?

Staffordshire Police - it's over to you.