Jill Meagher

[pully]

so terribly sad and such a waste of a life.

she was nearly home and safe. such damage and misery directly caused by the actions of 1 individual. truly awful.

what the outcome will be in terms of justice remains to be seen, but nothing can repair the damage of a lost life.

we never know who we are passing in the street, or their history.

we must not discuss any details about the man involved.

we must all be mindful that many who walk our streets and live in our communities are capable of such acts, and have the history to demonstrate that reality.

the fact they are free to do as they wish and do often without consequences is a travesty.

 

[herewego]

Go to twitter or facebook.

Why not here?

 

[herewego]

It seems that so far all comments have been in fair taste and not irrelevant to the subject.

 

[Dazz]

Fortunately, I haven't read any of the twits as yet....

Apparently quite a few things went very wrong...basic basic stuff that precipitated the opportunist to attack....most of the security guys would chip in similar I would imagine ;


1. I don't understand where the husband was ?? It was 1 or 2 in the morning, and his wife was only a few hundred metres away. Is it normal for working wives to stay out drinking alcohol to that hour and then walk home unaccompanied through dark streets in high heels and short skirts with their face afixed to bright phone screens to blissfully unaware husbands who are safely tucked up in bed ??

1a. Why didn't he come and pick her up and walk / drive her home ?? My wife used to do the late shift at the Royal Randwick when we were both at UNSW. We also lived about 700m from the pub. Her shift finished at 1am. Without fail, I would go down and walk her back home. I always carried something heavy with me and wore a big jacket. We met some pretty crazy characters on the empty streets some nights....but always got home safely.

1b. Why wasn't he at the party ??


2. Why didn't she accept the chivalrous offer of the male colleague to walk her home ??


Listening to some safety experts on radio, there were about 7 or 8 major things she either chose to do or didn't do which exacerbated the opportunity to strike against her by the perp. Changing only 1 or 2 of those would have eliminated the opportunity and saved her life. Doing all 7 or 8 would have guaranteed her safety.


The experts were saying this type of attack is opportunistic in the extreme. Doesn't excuse the actions of the attacker at all....for if he had of simply walked past, nothing untoward would have happened.....but do really want to place your safety in the hands of an unknown person and what they may or may not be capable of ??

This will have major ramifications for behaviours in the city for most women I'd imagine.

 

[cimbom]

Dazz, it seems your question has been answered. Apparently, she sent her husband a text message saying "meet me at the pub" but he fell asleep in front of the TV and didn't notice it until it was too late. Very sad story all round

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/meet-me-at-the-pub-20120928-26r4d.html

 

[twobobsworth]

Is it normal for working wives to stay out drinking alcohol to that hour and then walk home unaccompanied through dark streets in high heels and short skirts with their face afixed to bright phone screens to

Yes have seen it happen regularly.

1a. Why didn't he come and pick her up and walk / drive her home ??

Apparently asleep. Maybe it's a regular thing. The Irish love a drink so it was going from one "home" to another.

1b. Why wasn't he at the party ??

Hanging out with partners work colleagues talking shop. No thanks I wouldn't like to go either. Feels like a third wheel.

2. Why didn't she accept the chivalrous offer of the male colleague to walk her home ??

I don't know but common again. Maybe the ladies can answer? Maybe it's a case of independence, false sense of security from doing the same trip many times or not wanting to be seen leaving the venue with a staff member of the opposite sex and the connetations that may have back at work.

place your safety in the hands of an unknown person and what they may or may not be capable of ??

I think it's pretty sad if we all have to carry a big metal object in our jackets. Maybe we could all carry guns like the americans and we'll all be safe.

 

[cegosling]

I also agree with Dazz, and tragic though her death is perhaps it will help other people - both male and female- take more care when heading home in the small hours. Hindsight is a great but commonsense would have told her the streets are not safe-you just need to turn on news any weekend to hear the list of assaults, king hits etc. I always preach safety in numbers to my kids.

 

[eXc]

It seems that so far all comments have been in fair taste and not irrelevant to the subject.

I just wrote a whole post, but deleted it to not start anything, but I will say, comments have been fair, except the reverse-racism ones.

 

[Dazz]

I think it's pretty sad if we all have to carry a big metal object in our jackets.

Indeed it is....very sad....but when you are approached at 1am in the streets by drunk / drugged random people screaming their head off, it quickly reverts from being sad to quite comforting.

Being fully aware of your surroundings, fully alert with eyes and ears constantly scanning for threats, and wearing appropriate clothing and footwear are all key ingredients to getting home in one piece.

Choices

1. Alone or with someone or with a group. Bad / OK / the best.

2. Being intoxicated or being sober. Bad / Good.

3. Looking into a bright phone screen contrasted to a dark night or constantly scanning your surroundings. Bad / Good.

4. Having those stupid iphone plugs in your ears so you can't hear people approaching or being fuly alert to who may be approaching. Bad / Good.

5. Wearing appropriate clothing. What's excellent for the day in the office is totally hopeless at 1:43am out on the street. Bad / Good.

6. Wearing appropriate shoes. What's excellent for the day in the office is totally hopeless at 1:43am out on the street. Bad / Good.


The guy that attacked her would have been assessing all of that, plus also who else was in the street at the time. Unfortunately, the lady scored poorly on just about every one of those...

What's more alarming for most of the women in the city, is that a large majority of them after a big Friday night or Saturday night would score very poorly. Their freedom of expression, freedom to wear whatever they want, freedom to do what they want are all being impacted by this.

In the very short term, some aspects of awareness and security will tighten up with some people, but long term it will fade away and the same mistakes made will give rise to opportunistic predators taking action that they otherwise wouldn't.

The whole thing is wrong.....but that is modern life nowadays.

I suspect the Parole Board ain't feeling too clever right about now either.

 

[Graves]

I've always been the type to go alone at night regardless of anything, but I guess nowhere is truly safe when you come down to it.

Her story I think really resonates with people because what she did was very Melbournian, just that this time something went very wrong =/

 

[buzzlightyear]

Living relatively close to the area (15mins) and having gone out there on a few occasions, it is a relatively safe environment. Of course I see this through the eyes of a 42yr old male.

People will start putting together the 'what if', 'if only' and 'why didn't he/she' scenarios after the event. But this is something that many people have done and will continue to do into the future. And in my eyes, up until now, it would not have been an unreasonable thing to do.

However, this is a very timely reminder of personal safety & security. One that, I know I have been fairly flippant about in the past, mixed company or not.

Leaving aside this very tragic event, at night, males are far more likely to be hurt/injured through attacks by other males.

 

[Dazz]

Leaving aside this very tragic event, at night, males are far more likely to be hurt/injured through attacks by other males.

...that's probably very true as well....

Looks like the only 100% iron-clad guarantee is simply not be there, at that time, in that situation.

 

[Mr. Ploppy]

Looks like the only 100% iron-clad guarantee is simply not be there, at that time, in that situation.

This ain't a 100% guarantee either.

 

[cmason]

This ain't a 100% guarantee either.

Agree, this kind of random and/or opportunistic event can be on Sydney Rd as this was or as part of a home invasion or in your private space/world as we have also seen plenty of. The probability of either happening to you especially in the instance of random and/or opportunistic is low, still possible but low, so I like and adhere to an article title I saw which was to do with this case "Be alert but don't let paranoia suck the fun out of your life"

 

[Dazz]

This ain't a 100% guarantee either.

I'd very much like to know a situation where one can come to physical harm if you aren't physically there.

By not being physically present 100% guarantees your safety if an incident goes down in a location where you are not present.

How can any logical person argue otherwise ?? You're talking out of your hat.

 

[virgo]

Paranoia

Hiya

Do you think it is cultural? My other half is Irish and i find in general they are a very trusting people....

My hubby would walk in places where i wouldn't and would poo-poo me...i get frustrated sometimes especially when i am trying to "educate" my kids...he calls me paranoid

 

[INVSTOR]

What about the other women ... the ones who didn't bother going to the police in the previous few weeks to report their incidents in the same area ... may have prevented this tragedy.

I think that part of the problem is that most likely nothing would have been done about it anyway.

 

[gottabespotless]

I think that part of the problem is that most likely nothing would have been done about it anyway.

I believe it would have made a difference had they reported their attacks to the police. For one, random attacks on women usually result in a public comment either by way of tv news, newspapers, facebook etc by police - perhaps knowing this would have resulted in women in the area taking more care with their personal safety.

Police may have also stepped-up their patrols in the area had they known...?

 

[Dazz]

.....if the magistrate had of forced him to serve his full sentence for the last series of rapes he was convicted for, he would've still been in jail 'til 2013....

If only the magistrate's and judges were held accountable for their decisions.

 

[weg]

.....if the magistrate had of forced him to serve his full sentence for the last series of rapes he was convicted for, he would've still been in jail 'til 2013....

If only the magistrate's and judges were held accountable for their decisions.

I suppose you've read the court transcript dated early this year as well.

It should raise Q's regarding courts and the parole board but it won't happen because the wider public will remain none the wiser to such details, even in such a high profile case.