They died in vain #4

This is my amateur effort to keep track of the men, women and children murdered in the UK during the 12 months from May 17th 2007.  I will update it regularly until it is about to 'drop off' the bottom of the page when I will re-post it.  For my purposes, adults are 17 yrs or more, children are 16 yrs or less:

updated 17th June:

45  men (1 policeman):    10 women:   8 children: 

Notes: We have reached the end of the first month with a pile of 63 bodies of those who looked in vain for protection from the powers that be.  They range from a couple of 90-year olds, a policeman doing his duty, a woman deliberately set on fire, a man shot dead by two gangsters as he lay in bed, and so on, and so on. No doubt there are those amongst them who would have perished anyway despite whatever penalty their killers risked, but how many would have lived if that penalty was death by hanging and the killers knew it before hand?  I have lost track of the number of murders by stabbing and, again, I ask how many young men would decide not to carry knives if they knew the hangman was waiting for them to make a mistake.  The answer is, probably only a small percentage, but translate that into innocent lives saved and I maintain it would be more than worthwhile.

Incidentally, the statistics above probably understate the picture.  I take my figures from the BBC News site but often they will report people missing, or found dead in unclear circumstances, without following up and so I do not list them unless later information confirms any suspicion.

In response to a question from a commenter, my source is the BBC news site.  I exclude all deaths due to what would normally be called an accident even if the eventual charge might be manslaughter.  I only report those deaths in which the police are looking for perpetrators, that is, the death arose directly because of deliberate actions by third parties.  Again, some might end up being charged with manslaughter but, as I once heard an old-style copper say, "Never mind the legal jargon, just count the bodies!"

Additional: For those seeking even more clarification of what I mean by 'murder' please read my reply to the first comment here.

This is my amateur effort to keep track of the men, women and children murdered in the UK during the 12 months from May 17th 2007.  I will update it regularly until it is about to 'drop off' the bottom of the page when I will re-post it.  For my purposes, adults are 17 yrs or more, children are 16 yrs or less:

updated 17th June:

45  men (1 policeman):    10 women:   8 children: 

Notes: We have reached the end of the first month with a pile of 63 bodies of those who looked in vain for protection from the powers that be.  They range from a couple of 90-year olds, a policeman doing his duty, a woman deliberately set on fire, a man shot dead by two gangsters as he lay in bed, and so on, and so on. No doubt there are those amongst them who would have perished anyway despite whatever penalty their killers risked, but how many would have lived if that penalty was death by hanging and the killers knew it before hand?  I have lost track of the number of murders by stabbing and, again, I ask how many young men would decide not to carry knives if they knew the hangman was waiting for them to make a mistake.  The answer is, probably only a small percentage, but translate that into innocent lives saved and I maintain it would be more than worthwhile.

Incidentally, the statistics above probably understate the picture.  I take my figures from the BBC News site but often they will report people missing, or found dead in unclear circumstances, without following up and so I do not list them unless later information confirms any suspicion.

In response to a question from a commenter, my source is the BBC news site.  I exclude all deaths due to what would normally be called an accident even if the eventual charge might be manslaughter.  I only report those deaths in which the police are looking for perpetrators, that is, the death arose directly because of deliberate actions by third parties.  Again, some might end up being charged with manslaughter but, as I once heard an old-style copper say, "Never mind the legal jargon, just count the bodies!"

Additional: For those seeking even more clarification of what I mean by 'murder' please read my reply to the first comment here.

Comments

[N.I.B.]

Are you including the woman shot in Sevenoaks?

[David Duff]

Oh bugger! You back from your holidays, then, 'NIB'? Not that we didn't miss you!

No, I didn't read any report of a woman being shot in Sevenoaks.

[JuliaM]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/6751885.stm

It's this case, I think he means.

Not sure it really meets your criteria, although I suppose 'the death arose directly because of deliberate actions by third parties' would be one way of describing 'getting yourself shot by police because you refused to stop waving a pistol around in the street'....

[David Duff]

Only 'NIB' ...

[N.I.B.]

*Shrug*

Just counting the bodies.

Off again now.

[N.I.B.]

Although while I'm here, it might be worth adding her to the total, because the inquiry isn't over yet.

As you say, "Never mind the legal jargon, just count the bodies!"