Practically Classics Forum

Sad enough to lose David Jones from the Monkees yesterday.

But what I found most upsetting was the death of PC David Rathband who had been blinded in 2010 when shot in the face by that Moult tosser.

I was always moved to tears by his public appearances, his fund raising and don't think I was alone in seeing his bravery and determination as something to truly aspire to.

Sadly, even the knowledge of his own special place in the nations heart was not enough to prevent PC Rathbands tragic circumstances from being just too much for him to bear.

I hope that everyones thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues.

I too was very sad to hear this news this morning, a good man who just went to work one morning and had his life ruined but a scummer.

My own father is a serving policeman, family man and avid classic car enthusiast. Just because he wears a uniform he and all police officers can become the target of nutters and people who hate them just because of the job they do not because of the person they are.

My deepest empathy lies with his family not just for the sad loss of David but for how their lives have been irreversible altered by that person. All we can do is be the best people we can be and live the best lives we can

Blindness must be of the worst disabilities and I suspect that for someone not born to it, blindness maybe worse than for someone born blind (I suppose a case of what you never have you never miss). I knew a partially sited person, who I think had been to a school that taught blind people and she said that people who go blind, usually look forward to going to sleep, as in their dreams, they can see once more.

I don't think I could cope with blindness and would sooner die. It appears that this may have been the choice of PC Rathband. However, when you drive some to suicide, that's murder. Sadly the services of Mr Pierrepoint are no longer available.

Martin Evans wrote:when you drive someone to suicide, that's murder.

Yes, and had that scummer Moat not been such a dirty coward and taken his own life, he certainly should have been tried as a result of yesterday's sad ending of a life, at the very least for manslaughter. But concurrent terms don't really make a difference when someone is given the life behind locked doors that would have been handed down to that psycho.

Passing through Blyth on the way to work this Morning, there were floral tributes aplenty to be seen in the area that PC Rathband had made his home. His charitable work seemed to have given him a purpose, but as Martin wrote; sudden and irreversible loss of the eyesight must challenge the will to live in even the strongest of characters. By doing the job he did before Moat went on the rampage, PC Rathband demonstrated just that strength yet still found his life untenable.

His charity will live on as a reminder of his recent work, may the man rest in peace.

Yes to all the above, I shed a tear today when I heard this.