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.

Grief and anger could do more harm than good

It's understandable that the case of Mick Eccles' death has caused so much pain and anguish.

And it's understandable that the anger will boil over and that people want to have their say.

But the comments by some on Facebook could be counterproductive.

By naming the 15-year-old accused on the social networking sites, those who are demanding justice could put the entire process in jeopardy.

He can't be named for valid reasons under British law and until the court of this land has convicted him he is still innocent. Yes, people may have concrete knowledge of the situation and know the inside track on the whole sorry incident. But if it such a cut and dry case then justice will prevail and those behind the attacks will suffer the burden - physically and mentally - of what they have done for the rest of their lives.

We're lucky to live in a society where mob rule isn't the norm. To put the case in jeopardy because of a loose tongue would be scandalous.

Let the justice system operate. If we're not happy with it afterwards, that is the time to speak out, not before.

The Dimbles puts Lichfield on the map for all the wrong reasons

Shocking news has emerged in the last 24 hours of the death of Mick Eccles.



Early reports suggested he had become involved in an argument with a gang of youths after leaving the shops at the Dimbles. It was only as the story developed that we have discovered he was kicked to death in front of his daughter.

This incident has brought the horror of feral youngsters on Britain's housing estates into a very local focus. You read about this sort of thing more and more, but it somehow becomes more real when you see it happening on your doorstep.

But when you examine the evidence it was hardly surprising that this sort of thing would happen. The real sadness of it all is that it took the death of a 43-year-old man to make Lichfield stand up and take notice of its problems - particularly on the Dimbles.

The nearby doctor's surgery, the shops (and even the Tesco a little further away) are all gathering points for gangs. They provoke people who work in the area and those just visiting the shops.

Just a day before, a relative in the area had seen youngsters with a baseball bat and a golf ball smashing glasses up on their garden, with one glass being thrown at them while they carried a baby. When confronted, they just carried on without any regard for the safety of others.

If you've ever been down to the shops at the Dimbles then chances are you'll have seen a police car there. So why, if the police seem to spend an above average amount of time in the area, has the problem continued to exist? Why are the same thugs allowed to terrorise a community week after week, month after month and year after year?

And most importantly, how many people will have to meet the same fate as Mr Eccles before something effective is done about it?