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Putrid politics, public defender, 'night stalker'
Franklin JOHNSTON
Friday, April 15, 2011
Our esteemed public defender asks us to be ambassadors abroad, so I now push the fire with this cautionary tale. Once upon a time Delroy Grant, 53 - an avid Jehovah Witness - was given four life sentences by a UK court. A polite taxi driver - smart dresser, well-liked - he dominated the media in March and his serpent smile draped all front pages. For 20 years "Night stalker" Delroy brutally robbed and raped people in their beds and terrorised the UK; a thousand crimes, 300 reported sexual assaults on men and women some in their late 80s - gerontophilia - and in 2009 they caught him. This depraved man told officers not to bother fingerprint him as he wore gloves; told the court his ex-wife planted his semen on rape victims to spite him and said the rapist could be his own son, Delroy Jnr. He was arrogant in court but the media were kind to us, giving just facts, not sensation. Brought up by a grandmother in Jamaica; was he abused sexually then and vented his anger on white people in the UK? Delroy is not typical of us, but his crimes will define us in Europe into the future. Kingston-born Courtenay Griffiths QC - a top-ten UK barrister - thought his client's crimes "perversely disgusting and uniquely revolting". Use of this case in police training will sear our bad name into recruits forever - the longest-running case, costing over $1 billion, 30,000 suspects questioned, 3,000 DNA samples taken and most featured on Crimewatch TV. Other inmates are so horified at his crimes he may not live long in prison; only in the Guinness Book of Records. The moral: things happen to us abroad, we don't know why and "get vex". We now know "Delroy was here!" What you don't know can hurt you. As you travel, be aware, foreigners know more than they say. Be conscious!
Franklin JOHNSTON
Friday, April 15, 2011
Our esteemed public defender asks us to be ambassadors abroad, so I now push the fire with this cautionary tale. Once upon a time Delroy Grant, 53 - an avid Jehovah Witness - was given four life sentences by a UK court. A polite taxi driver - smart dresser, well-liked - he dominated the media in March and his serpent smile draped all front pages. For 20 years "Night stalker" Delroy brutally robbed and raped people in their beds and terrorised the UK; a thousand crimes, 300 reported sexual assaults on men and women some in their late 80s - gerontophilia - and in 2009 they caught him. This depraved man told officers not to bother fingerprint him as he wore gloves; told the court his ex-wife planted his semen on rape victims to spite him and said the rapist could be his own son, Delroy Jnr. He was arrogant in court but the media were kind to us, giving just facts, not sensation. Brought up by a grandmother in Jamaica; was he abused sexually then and vented his anger on white people in the UK? Delroy is not typical of us, but his crimes will define us in Europe into the future. Kingston-born Courtenay Griffiths QC - a top-ten UK barrister - thought his client's crimes "perversely disgusting and uniquely revolting". Use of this case in police training will sear our bad name into recruits forever - the longest-running case, costing over $1 billion, 30,000 suspects questioned, 3,000 DNA samples taken and most featured on Crimewatch TV. Other inmates are so horified at his crimes he may not live long in prison; only in the Guinness Book of Records. The moral: things happen to us abroad, we don't know why and "get vex". We now know "Delroy was here!" What you don't know can hurt you. As you travel, be aware, foreigners know more than they say. Be conscious!
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