Roger the thug

I was very pleased to read that Oscar Pistorius finally received some justice for his crime. Oscar was always guilty of murder in my books, for a number of reasons which I have previous expressed here. Firstly, at the time he shot through the locked bathroom door, neither Oscar's life, nor the lives of anyone else living in the apartment, was under threat. There was a locked door between them, and there was a clear exit. Oscar had an alternative: he could have left the apartment. He chose to stay and he chose to shoot. This was his choice. Finally, when he fired through that locked door, Oscar knew, or suspected, that there was a person on the other side of the door. Who he thought that person was, is immaterial. He knew that a person was there and he knew it was likely that 4 shots fired through the door would hit that person. He also knew that bullet wounds would most likely be fatal. He knew all those things and he still made the choice to fire. That makes Oscar Pistorius a killer.

 

 Moving forward to recent events published in New Zealand newspapers. Not as dramatic as with Oscar Pistorius, but the message is the same. Following a near traffic accident which was, clearly, the fault of the other driver, New Zealander, Roger Brereton climbed out of his car, marched over to the driver of the other car, and promptly punched him in the face. Roger then tried to play the victim card by crying about how close his life had come to being destroyed. When he didn't receive the heroes reception that he clearly expected, he has repeatedly gone running to the media in a vain attempt to justify his actions. Doesn't seem to be working, and rightly so.

 

Roger and his family could have been killed by the driver of the other car, a tourist to New Zealand. Quite possible, and everyone should consider themselves lucky that there was no collision. However, and this is the Oscar connection, at the time that Roger Brereton made the choice to punch the other driver in the face, neither his life, nor the lives of his passengers were in danger. Not one of them. The only person who's physical safety was threatened, was the driver of the other car, when Roger Brereton decided to assault him. There is only one victim here, and it is not our heroic Roger.

 

Roger Brereton is a thug. Let there not be any confusion about that. He assaulted another person and, just like Oscar, should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for his thuggery. That he has not been prosecuted to date, I expect he can give thanks to his victim for not wishing to pursue the matter. I would not have been so forgiving.