In Melbourne on Monday morning a fine upstanding citizen and a backpacker from overseas did the right thing by trying to stop a man from assaulting his girlfriend. Apparently, this man and this woman had been fighting in a taxi and as they stepped out into the street, the ruffian continued to hit her.
So the fine upstanding citizen, a husband and father of three young children confronted the scumbag and was rewarded with a bullet which killed him. The other good samaritan is fighting for his life in hospital and his parents are making the traumatic journey from Europe to be with their son who is in intensive care.
The scumbag, a member of the Hell’s Angels bikie group, is on the run. The police have said that he is a violent specimen with a criminal reputation. His girlfriend is in hospital with gunshot wounds.
Now I no longer remember the names of the two heroes and isn’t that the way with heroes, but I bet that their families will never forget that their sons, husband and father rushed in where angels fear to tread.
This is a tragedy of monumental importance because it reminds us what a sick and horrible world this is. A world in which no good deed ever goes unpunished.
We are all grieving at the waste of life, at the futility of the defenders’ actions and we have to rethink our attitude about what we owe another human being. After this, more people will hesitate about interfering when someone is being bashed in the street. We will become even more cynical because we have had a very sad confirmation that the world is a dangerous place and that perhaps we should think twice about helping others. And how soul-destroying is this lesson. Moreover, we should accept the fact that if we are in trouble, then fewer people will be prepared to come to our rescue.
Who can blame us for wondering what we would do and perhaps deciding that it’s just not worth it?
I know one thing for sure, though. When the scumbag is finally caught he will be offered the best criminal defence lawyer that legal aid can supply. And this high-profile lawyer will probably defend his client by trying to make him a victim of circumstance.
I can already hear the violin strings bleating.
And there will be a memorial service for that other lawyer, the good samaritan who was murdered by the scumbag and then life will go on as before.
postscript: 6pm
The scumbag has just turned himself in to the police. His mummy and daddy begged him to do so because they love him.
His girlfriend whom he had bashed up has left hospital and refuses to co-operate with the police. Ain’t that the way!
Was it worth dying to save the life of such a person?
I don’t believe that all human life has equal value.
LiliGans.com 
She’s left hospital? Four days after having a bullet and a kidney removed? And two days after waking from a coma? It’s a miracle! I wonder if your source about her ‘refusing to cooperate’ is similarly accurate.
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The Herald Sun, not normally sympathetic to bikies’ molls, paints a quite different picture of Kara Douglas: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21941109-2862,00.html
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I had originally heard that she had had a kidney removed and then the next day the radio said that she had left hospital and was refusing to talk to the police. If you have any gripes, then let it be with the media which is notorious for getting things wrong.
My mistake was in believing them but then how do you know that what you read is correct? I would expect her father to say that she is a victim, wouldn’t you?
In any case, even if she is Mother Theresa in a bikini I still maintain that coming to the aid of someone being attacked is not as forthright as it used to be, now that the public has been informed of what can happen to you if you do the “honourable” thing. All I said was that it would make you think twice. I also maintain that in this case it wasn’t worth the waste of a life and the ruin of an entire family. Kara is a single woman and the solicitor leaves a wife and three fatherless children. I also have not forgotten the backpacker from Holland and don’t know how severe his injuries are.
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I, like you, have no idea who Kara Douglas is. Or, for that matter, who Brendan Keilar is. For all we know, he’s a pedophile and Chris Hudson did his kids a big favour. The Age today says Paul de Waart is ‘close to dead’, but who cares? He’s only a backpacker.
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Now you are really arguing for arguing’s sake. I never said the backpacker was unworthy. All I said was that I know nothing about him. For you to say that Brendan could have been a paedophile is being ridiculous. By the same argument, Hudson could have been a wonderful and decent person instead of a murderer. But he wasn’t, was he?
Again, let me repeat, my main point is that from now on it will be considered even more risky to come to the aid of a person in trouble given that you may be killed.
I will always maintain that de Waart’s injuries or possible death and the death of Keilar were not worth the sacrifice.
You have every right to disagree with me but I don’t believe that all life is precious and equal. I actually don’t really care about Kara Douglas either. If you add up two lives sacrificed for one, then it doesn’t compute. And if you asked de Waart’s poor parents or Keilar’s family I suspect they would agree with me. I bet they wish that neither of their family members had been anywhere near Hudson and Douglas on that fateful day.
Now Jeremy, you are free to argue that they are actually delighted about it all.
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