Joking aside, I suppose it depends on where you live. If you was unfortunate enough to be brought up in certain parts of Ireland, and you are financialy restricted in not being able to move, something you would learn very quickly is to keep your mouth shut. Remember, you have a family and property to protect too. But in a 'normal' situation I get your point. Did you see where the police tried to dismantle that bonfire, and wasn't it someone who was supporting the police that was seconds from being taken out by a knife. Then you had that journo that was shot while standing with the police, although that incident did cause a bit of an uproar, in a 'peaceful' Ireland.
The old don't grass way of thinking is a bit dated and in all honesty just wrong. I'm not going to stick my nose into every going on but if someone has been genuinely wronged and I can help then I will.
Yeah if lets say I saw someone bump another car and drive off then it's none of my business but as I've said I'd grass for a lot of things.
I’m tempted to say it depends on the crime, but I don’t know. Like if I knew someone who was knocking his wife or kids about, that’s probably the situation where you should call the police. But then I remember a time when one of my neighbors, an Irish bloke, knocked on my door to tell me that he his wife was distraught because she’d just witnessed another neighbor beating his wife with a stick. It didn’t occur to either of us to call the Old Bill, we went together and knocked on the guy’s door and warned him off. Maybe that was the wrong thing to do, I don’t know. When I lived on an estate in Wood Green, I knew who all the criminals and drug dealers were. Everyone did, but no one grassed. That had more to do with self preservation though. I got burgled on that estate, after my missus left the keys in the door. I was 95% certain I knew who had done it, so I went and knocked on his door; doing that was a lot less dangerous than going to the Old Bill, believe me. I didn’t get my stereo or my wife’s jewellery back, but they left us alone after that.
I wouldn't risk my family by going to the police but a quick call that doesn't involve your name may help a victim of crime and I'm fine with doing that.
Yeah I agree with looking after yourself and those around you and I've done that myself, no need to go to the police in those situations.
I witnessed a young lad beating up a lass about five years ago, just outside a legal travellers site. I managed to pin the lad down and started ringin the police. With that, about ten guys came from the site (who had also witnessed the assault btw) I got the **** kicked out of me for having the audacity to not only stop this girl getting absolutely battered, but to also ring the police. No charges brought against the young lad. Lack of evidence. Bollocks to em
You have to be careful getting involved in the modern world as some ****er can pull a knife on you or kick the **** out of you without caring about the damage it may do. I'd be tempted to do the same as you in that situation but as you know it can go very wrong.
No point getting involved in domestics. Both parties end up turning on you. If a bird is stupid enough to hook up with a ****ing idiot, that's her problem.
As a dad, i’d be fuming if my daughter was getting beat up and people just stood by and watched. Sounds like a cliche but I always try and put myself in the other persons/families shoes.
Thirty years or so ago, the police used to take that view. They don't now, they can't afford to. But you can be certain they hate getting called out to a domestic. My mate's wife, who was a very volatile woman, once called the cops on him after he threw a bucket of water over her. When the Old Bill arrived, he was sitting calmly in his arm chair,. They asked him why he'd done it and he said it was the only way he could think to shut her up. Meanwhile, she was shrieking like a maniac, and they very nearly ended up arresting her. In the end he agreed to go with them for everybody's sake. Spent the night in the cells, went home, kissed and made up. They're not together any more though.
As I said, I chose an extreme situation by stating certain parts of Ireland. I get what you are saying in an anonymous call, but if you lived in that situation, i wonder if you would really make that call. In Ireland to do that was known as 'touting' the penalty if your call was regarding a member of the IRA was death. They would grab you at some point, toture you, while recording it on a tape, then send the tape to your family once they had killed you. I'm pretty sure, you wouldn't make that call.
Here's an example for you Luv, one I lifted from the Guardian.... Caroline Moreland, 34, a single mother of three, was last seen alive ironing in her kitchen. Six weeks before the IRA announced its 1994 ceasefire, she was abducted, tortured and shot dead in County Fermanagh. The family received a recording. What did she do...........she admitted betraying the location of a hidden IRA rifle. Just for something as simple as that.
These are extreme examples and no I'm not daft enough to risk my life or family by grassing on the IRA but I doubt I'll be in that situation.
Old style sense of community died in the 60's and things since have got progressively worse year on year.
