The Flowering Of The Lesions

From, let’s say, the moment he moved here, he managed to contrive himself as the sworn enemy of that gang of kids, the Above The Law crew or whatever they were called. The ATL. Whose only point of existence was to

(Whose only point of existence was to what? Those kids who cried only for the open, unfamiliar arms of good, good loving? It is understood, surely, that there is no such thing as a rotten kid?)

Well, those rotten kids were at least responsible for a good deal of the pain he felt since the moment of moving here. Not even two feet out of the removal lorry when an egg hit him, right in the face. The laughter of the group and the abuse aimed at his daughter, nine-years-old: fucking whore, fucking bitch, fucking slag. Not yet even on the pavement.

They ran, those youths, and in time he caught up with one of them. Floored him, took his ankles away so that he fell on his face, teeth flying everywhere, blood etc. The howls, the obvious pain but also, surprisingly, the grim defiance. It would have been enough, that fall, but the continued threats and abuse, even as he tried to walk away, could only have led to: a kick in the face, a kick in the stomach, a punch in the face, two quick punches in the face, a kick at the back of the head. Then he walked away.

No, he didn’t die. The kicks and the punches were real, their ferocity muted. Bruised, battered, bloody and with a full crowd of witnesses, the kid took himself through the whole process, through the police, the court, the papers.

‘Rotten little cunt’ attacker freed

A father jailed for six months for attacking a youth he said was harassing him and his family has been freed by the Court of Appeal.

David Roley, 39, of Daffodil Crescent, Kelston, won his appeal against the length of the prison sentence given to him in April at Kelston Crown Court.

The term was reduced to three months, resulting in his immediate release.

Roley had pleaded guilty to three counts of grievous bodily harm, intent to injure and intent to cause fear through extreme violence.

Although his sentence was reduced, his counsel, Beaker Lestrade, failed to persuade the judges to follow the decision in the case of teacher Harry Smelts. His six-month jail term for waving around a blowtorch in a confrontation with yobs was quashed by the Court of Appeal in May and replaced with a conditional discharge.

The Recorder of Cardiff, sitting as a judge of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division, said the facts of the Smelts case were "truly exceptional" and the court was not persuaded that Roley fell into that category.

Announcing the decision of the court on Wednesday, he said there was a "good reason" for Roley's offending.

Odious little bastards

The judge added: "The victim and his friends were clearly behaving like rotten little cunts and were doing all they could to intimidate Mr Roley and his family through threats, abuse and gratuitous name-calling."

Mr Coode told the court: "When these youths stood outside his house, they were clearly looking for some kind of fight and would have probably administered some level of violence. It was fortunate that Mr Roley, through his actions, ensured that this didn’t occur. He attacked the boy in an attempt to warn him off and to send out a clear message to others."

Summing up, Mr Coode added: “If only more of us were as civic-minded as Mr Roley. These odious little bastards, these dreadful, nasty cunts, running round our estates, ruining the lives of decent people. We should hang them. Fuck them and hang them. And people like Mr Roley should be paraded through the streets, awarded the highest honours and given the freedom of every city. Hurrah for Mr Roley, I say. And boo to all the little cunts."

In the court's judgment, the Recorder of Cardiff said, it was right that there should have been an immediate custodial sentence, but it should not have been longer than three months.