Crowd urges troubled teenager to commit suicide

I, for one, was mortified this week when encountering a report of an incident involving a crowd of shoppers instructing a depressed young man to take his own life. Shaun Dykes, who was 17, stood at the top of a multi-storey car park in Derby last Saturday afternoon, whilst morally-bankrupt onlookers urged him to 'get on with it' and even filmed the action on their phones. No arrests were made, and Dykes eventually fell to his death.

Although reportedly the majority of onlookers were concerned for his well-being, the actions of those responsible raise some bleak questions about the outlook of British citizens. How anyone can display such uncaring, brutal behaviour, especially in full public view is absolutely astonishing, and to my mind, they should take some responsibility for his eventual fate. I've been increasingly coming round to the viewpoint that there is an inhumane culture of negativity in this country, encompassing a complete lack of compassion and respect for those suffering from mental illness. In a country where the media is fuelled by such an energy of negativity, greed and contempt, it is no wonder that this atmosphere seeps into the wider world. The media are powerful enough to change opinions and promote an understanding of the issue of mental health, yet our soaps, newspapers and news programmes rarely cover the issue, choosing instead to brush it under the carpet, making it a taboo subject, intangeable to the supposedly 'sane'. Coupled with a culture of 'bear-bating' as exemplified on the unbelievable Jeremy Kyle show, where the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in society are dehumanised, humiliated and blamed for their own predicament with no regard shown to the motives behind their actions, and a half-heartedly compassionate Conservative opposition going further up in the polls the further they revert to their old fascistic party line, and this country resembles a grey old unfeeling shithole I don't feel overly proud to inhabit. Remember when Frank Bruno was at a low ebb and The Sun reported it as 'Bonkers Bruno In Mental Home'? Exactly.

Respect in this country it seems can only be granted when the recipient is materialistically successful or has a borderline-psychotic sense of emotional strength. Who gives seven shits who is at the top of the 'Sunday Times Rich List'? Our celebrities are worshipped for being shallow and talent-starved, our media have a God complex to put Bob Geldof to shame, our politicians are self-serving crooks and our footballers are cunts.

Rule out Britannia!

And R.I.P., poor lad.