- Karen Matthews, a sociopath who placed her own interest above those of her children
- Roy Keane's "volatile temper" and past behaviour.
As it turns out, the Roy Keane tackle (the second one in the video) was intended
, and received nothing more than a fine and suspension from playing. An injustice on this account surely?
On the Karen Matthews case, Debroah Orr makes the case of a Broken Society and mentions Beatrix Campbell giving a defence of Karen Matthews' character, treated differently because of class when compared to the similar Madeleine McCann case.
Arguably it was even considered by the most popular newspaper (albeit controversial) as an injustice that a reward of a mere £20,000 at the time was for Shannon Matthews' discovery, compared to the one offered for Madeleine McCann.
Now, I am not arguing that Karen Matthews is innocent - far from it. She is an example of parenting at its worst, it is horrible how she could have treated her daughter that way. However, her crime aside, the case of a working class compared to that of the McCanns - middle class - and how the McCanns sued whatever came their way; all this is an indication that people can be treated differently because of class.
Even the high profile case of Roy Keane, who intended on injuring a player on the football field - and succeeded - received a fine when he should have, in any other walk of life, been prosecuted for his actions.
I am not a Marxist at all, but everyone should be, I beleive, treated as equal before the law. Clearly in these instances, this does not seem to be realised. Perhaps this is a case of all that is wrong with society - we surely can't hope to fix it unless we get the fundamentals right and treat everyone equally.
The facts, as Beatrix Campbell rightly pointed out (see link to article above) that the McCanns are officially suspects, and last time I checked, they are living free and still raising for the Madeleine fund as recently as last month.
My qualm, is not with whether the McCanns are guilty or innocent - but that they were treated differently by society, meeting foreign dignitaries, when children go missing every day in Britain. That, regardless of class, is an injustice itself. The Roy Keane case, likewise, a millionaire footballer was treated very lightly over his alleged 'crime'. This is all indicative of one rule for some, one for another.
Sadly, evidence would suggest that we are living in a broken society - our culture, media, our attitudes to life are all responsible.
Perhaps we should get back to the drawing board...
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