What's Going On?

The shooting of 11 year old Rhys Jones, allegedly by another youngster, in Liverpool last week has shocked the UK.

In its own way the story below (taken from This Is Local London via Fark) is just as disturbing.

Body lay in High Street for 13 hours
By Sara Nelson

The body of a man apparently lay in Orpington High Street for 13 hours before a passerby realised he was dead this weekend.

The man, thought to be in his mid-to-late-30s, was found on the ground outside the Job Centre at 5.05pm on Saturday.

But bystanders said he had been lying there since 4am that morning.

Ambulance crews informed police, who are treating the incident as a sudden death.

Police believe they know who he is and are informing his next-of-kin.

Mother-of-three Hayley Hind was passing by when the police were called.

She said: "We had stopped for a cup-of-tea at the Silver Lounge and the police were just arriving.

"We asked the waitress what was going on and she told us and said people were saying he'd been there since 4am.

"Apparently he had been just lying there, not moving, while people were setting up their market stalls just feet away from him.

"The police were very good, they tried to shield everyone from the scene, but I am disgusted that he was left there for so long - more than 12 hours.

"A little bit of public spirit would not have gone amiss, you know, somebody stopping to say: 'Are you alright, mate?'

"Even if people thought he was just drunk or asleep it must have been unusual that he hadn't been moving at all to top up his alcohol levels or answer the call of nature.

"It's just so sad that he was left there for so long, there seems to be no compassion for anybody these days."

The 42-year-old, of Joyce Green, Dartford, added: "How dare they just walk past him."


I'm not sure if things are actually getting dramtically worse or if its just that one absolutely horrendous incident skews your vision of what is going on for a period of time.

Whatever it is one thing is for sure, Great Britain is not looking that great at the moment...