Christine LawlerJonathan Kelly, 33 from Drumchapel, Glasgow, is on the run from police after breaching bail conditions following release from prison. He boasts of paralysing a man in a machete attack, assaulting many police officers and cellmates, and also seeking out and attacking homosexuals.
If all of this is true, why is he on our streets? It seems to me he has a mental deficiency of some kind that a standard prison can not help. Allowing a person of such violence out on bail when there is ten years remaining on his sentence seems nothing short of irresponsible. Are jails so eager to clear out cells? Is the system so desperate to wipe their hands of people regardless of their records and mental states?
I never believe what is portrayed in the media, i do my research and try to make up my own mind which is difficult, knowing which sources are trustworthy is a tricky thing. I urge others to do the same, don’t take things on face value and willingly swallow all that is poured out by the authorities.
So in the case of Kelly i have been researching as much as possible on the man and the case and so far have uncovered only one thing, he is a dangerous man with a long history of violence and homophobia and he is now loose in Glasgow.
Kelly seems proud of his record, including the “gay bashing”, all of which he details in his letter to the Ministry of Justice in an apparent cry for help against the regime that is keeping him down. There are many victims within the system, i truly believe that, however Jonathan Kelly is not one of them. Anyone who willingly goes to pride to attack those who are there is not an innocent victim, this goes for his friends who were probably never caught on any charges.
It seems to me prisons are no deterrent for those on a path of destruction and no help to those who end up in them. Kelly’s record stretches back a long way and yet here he is, still violent and still being chased by police. People should not have to fear this. The LGBTQI community should not have to fear running into him – and others like him who have no need to fear reprimands.
I write this not in the hope of changing the justice system, i know it will take a lot more than this, i write this in the hope that people reading this feel the same and will go away wondering what can be done to change it. If every one of us holds a tiny spark of wanting change then maybe change can happen. I have always been cynical of this but what is the alternative? Sit back shaking our heads at these stories before checking Facebook again? We all do that. But that does not get Jonathan Kelly off our streets. That does not create awareness within the community. That does not create a society of safety and freedom.
Maybe i am being naive. Maybe i should forget about it and go about my day knowing my little bubble and those within it will probably never be troubled by Kelly. However i believe i am more than that, my outrage and my passion for the good that i know is in this world will always win through and i want, more than anything, for others to feel that too.