GAY DAY FOR KILLERS

18-06-2006

Good news for murderers - kill a heterosexual and you're likely to get a shorter sentence than if your victim is gay.

That's the only conclusion to be drawn from a verdict in London which enshrined in law George Orwell's famous dictum from “Animal Farm”.

“We are all equal, but some are more equal than others”.

First the facts. Barman Jody Bobrowski was beaten to death on Clapham Common when cruising for sex.

The two men who took his life, Scott Walker and Thomas Pickford, were intent on attacking a gay man, and showed no mercy when they chanced across him.

Judge Brian Barker sentenced them both to life imprisonment with a recommendation that each serves at least 28 years.

A good thing too! (This is the opinion bit, by the way).

Murder and manslaughter are treated too lightly by the legal system, and killers are often free to walk the streets after just eight or nine years.

But in this case, the judge made it clear the severity of the sentence reflected Walker and Pickford's deliberate choice of a gayvictim.

Their vicious “homophobia” was, he said, an “aggravating factor” which he took into account when handing down the unusually severe sentence.

Now don't get us wrong here.

Hompohobia is as loathsome as it is pathetic, and “gay-bashing” is a despicable crime deserving of a long stretch inside.

Laws have been framed, quite rightly, to protect people who've been victimised for centuries because of their sexual orientation.

But I always thought the battle was gay rights was all about ensuring equality in the eyes of the law - not superiority.

This sentence flatly contradicts that ideal.

If justice is truly"blind", surely every life should carry exactly the same value.

Victims' families feel no less hurt at the loss of a loved one because he or she is straight.

And the awful fear and pain involved in being beaten is no greater if you are gay.

British justice now apparently disagrees.

It holds the life of an individual to be of greater or lesser importance depending on their sexual orientation.

Gay day indeed for killers who will surely take heed of the judge's message - "hey guys, next time pick on a straight guy".