What Is Wrong With Some People??

[Smowball]

All over a football? Beggars belief.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-39804073

[Smowball]

A ball over the wall wouldn't bother me- I've had it here. But I get the impression that this was a constant thing and if the mother is anything to go by then it doesn't sound as though the kids had any respect or discipline - they probably drove her round the bend kicking the ball over all the time. And they weren't even next door - it was next door but one I believe.

[waterboatman]

Exactly smow. I think, from what you posted, it was deliberate.

[mikey4444]

Eddie....again, we may be at cross purposes !

The Police should clearly have arrested the killer at the time of the attack, even though, at that stage, there didn't appear any danger of Ms Machin dying.

Perhaps an arrest was made, although I can't see any evidence of that. I can't see any circumstances where a stabbing attack would NOT result in an arrest.

The Police have a lot to answer for here IMHO.

[EDDIE51]

I had the same situation as a child. There was a neighbour who was constantly complaining about the sounds of me and my two brothers playing in our back garden. I admit we used to intentionally kick a ball over the wall.
One day he stuck a garden fork through it and then threw it back.
He claimed he had been digging the garden and the ball landed under his fork! We stopped deliberately kicking it over after that.

[TWR]

Bhj, a refurbished new Mill opened here of late, Type In Homes Mill, I think you know the one I mean!

[mikey4444]

TWR....was that meant for another thread ?

[bhg481]

Just opposite my old Primary School TWR and the previous owner went to our church.

[TWR]

Sorry Smow, yes Bhj.

[bhg481]

Mikey - I made a tongue-in-cheek comment about an earlier comment by TWR and he remembered I'd said in a different thread that I used to live near him.

[kvalidir]

I'm going to risk playing Devil's advocate here and say that it appears to me that it was just an ongoing neighbour dispute which got out of hand. The woman who was killed certainly doesn't come off as an angel- what sort of horrible person deliberately sticks a knife into a kid's football, is described as a 'neighbour from hell' by a third party on text messages found on the phone of the assailant- and doubtless tempers just got frayed and there was some pushing,shoving and thumping which ultimately resulted in this woman's death. Clearly it was not a situation where it was a premeditated murder ( how many times have you heard people in a temper say ' I'll kill you' vs how often they actually meant it) and tbh I think manslaughter is tenuous given that the ambulance service did not view her situation as sufficiently serious to even take to hospital. I have sympathy for all concerned here, people will stick up for their kids if they are being victimised by a nasty neighbour and just because someone is dead does not mean that they were a paragon of virtue. I would never dream of bursting a child's ball, but I'd sure as hell go around the remonstrate with someone who had- and I think most people would, the fact it got out of hand is regrettable to say the least and IO am very sad that someone died.

[mikey4444]

I have no sympathy whatsoever, for any person that murders a neighbour, just because they can't control their kids.

You are entitled to your view kvalidir, but can I gently suggest that any sympathy should be reserved for the poor woman that was murdered and her family, rather than the people responsible for her death ?

[andy-hughes]

It does appear from the information we have that this is the climax of a neighbour feud, and they can get seriously out of hand, as the media regularly reports.

I am not an expert, but again from the evidence we have, it would appear that the two attackers did not actually intend to kill their victim, even though threats were made.

I would suggest that there is a legal case for arguing that the attackers did not intend death as a result of their actions, so murder is not an appropriate charge to bring.

It is a terrible tragedy that people are unable to keep their tempers, or develop enough mutual respect to be able to live in the same street without this level of animosity being created.

[anneasquith]

This sad incident I'm sure is much more than a football being burst , are we a humans just becoming much less tolerant a d more angry ? If the account is accurate, paramedics and A&E staff have questions to answer ?

[kvalidir]

I'm trying to show a more balanced view Mikey- they didn't murder her- at no point have they been accused of that even. I'm not sure why there is an assumption being made that they 'couldn't control their kids' either- the kids kicked a ball over the fence- big deal to be honest- did you never do that when a child? And do you think it a level and appropriate response by an adult to destroy someone else's property when that happens, or do you perhaps on balance thibnk that adult might be somewhat of a law unto themselves? I don't it's appropriate, and I think, in fact I know, because it is stated, that this is a long running feud, so clearly there have been other issues because you can't argue on your own. Put into context you might well have a horrible troublesome neighbour who made the family's life a misery, the mother and grandfather snapped after one particularly nasty act and things went from bad to worse. You don't know that wasn't the way around it was, just because someone is dead does not make them the good guy, as I said I have sympathy for all concerned, the woman who died because I'm sure she didn't deserve that, the assailants who stuck up for their kids and especially the children themselves tbh, who are likely to be deprived of their mother and have to live with the idea that they might have started the sequence of events that lead to her imprisonment because of it. No-one has won here, but there is a lot of supposition going on.

[chelle7272]

Some different details given here, certainly indicates dispute on both sides to me.
http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/accused-weeps-as-she-claims-she-punched-deceased-kelley-machin-in-self-defence/story-30299915-detail/story.html

[andy-hughes]

divebuddy - //This is really a chav on chav incident. //

That I would suggest is something of a sweeping statement about complete strangers.

//Oh, and the female attacker is a single mother of four children. //

Is that part of the definition of being a 'chav'?

[kvalidir]

I think all this thread has done is show that assumptions and suppositions abound on AB and that some people appear unable to hide their own bias.

[douglas9401]

Jeez, no ***, Sherlock.

[andy-hughes]

kvalidir - So no change there!!!