Posted on 01/13/2003 7:31:17 PM PST by dighton
A father who stood up to a gang terrorising his community bled to death after being slashed with a Samurai-style sword.
Robert Dunne, 31, a scaffolder, was attacked by youths outside a parade of shops near his home in daylight. He died after being struck once in the back by the weapon with a large, curved blade on Saturday afternoon.
Three teenagers, aged 14, 17, and 19, were being held for questioning last night at Dunning Road police station, Middlesbrough, after going there voluntarily with a solicitor.
Mr Dunnes girlfriend Julie, by whom he has a nine-month-old son Liam, was being comforted by relatives.
Friends said Mr Dunne had been determined not to allow young thugs to ruin the lives of people in the tight-knit West Lane area of Middlesbrough.
Detectives are trying to establish a motive for the murder and it is known that he confronted a gang of local teenagers three months ago.
Paula Kay, 21, a shop assistant with an 18-week-old son, said the gang of five or six had made life miserable for two years as they roamed streets looking for trouble.
Mr Kay said: I think they are involved in dealing drugs and I know Roberts family hate that kind of thing. He stood up to them when they were causing trouble. He went outside and told them to calm down because there were younger kids about.
Robert was being a good citizen and a friend to his neighbours. Now he has paid with his life.
A shopkeeper, 31, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals, said the gang was always full of drink, no matter what time it is. They shout abuse and throw stones at peoples cars.
Mo Nomaz, 32, West Lanes postmaster, who called police and an ambulance, said he saw a crowd around a pool of blood. It was just horrific.
He added: This is the type of thing you see in Hollywood films, but you never think it will happen on your doorstep.
They are joking, right?
Yeah, well, at least they don't have 'vigilante values' like those dumb racist gung-ho Yanks, right?
pings and bumps
Perhaps that is the problem: There's no room for dead bodies in the trunks of those little tin cans the Europeans tool about in. There was plenty of room for stiffs in the trunk of my '71 Dart. And no lack of horsepower in the 318ci V8 (that's 5.2L for you communists). And that was a mid-size car by the standards of the day.
The do as much good as the gun control laws, which is to say they actually do tremendous harm in making sure only criminals are armed.
When you outlaw swords, only outlaws will have swords.
And samurai, and shoguns, and daimyo.
You CAN'T mean Hollywood, CA.
Those folks are all about "caring" and "sharing".
Why would they depict such grue$ome, $en$le$$ act$ of violence?
You can kindly keep us out of your problems. You created them and they're all your's. Besides, in a Hollywood movie, the American Hero would have wrappped that sword around the bad guy's neck and then cleaned up the neighborhood in 90 minutes.
True cowards, whoever did this to the poor man did not even have the guts to look him in the face, but waited to strike when he turned his back on them. I hope some brave soul finds these bastards and dispatches them to the nether regions.
I think I can run a liberal political platform...shazaam!
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