Norwich councillor Rupert Read, prospective Green Party MEP for East Anglia, today expressed sorrow and sadness at the late night murder of Frank McGarahan in Norwich City centre (1). But Dr. Read, a local resident of Norwich, also called for the self-examination of a society in which this vicious act could occur.
He said
"Our thoughts today are with the family, friends and workmates of the Mr. McGarahan. The men who perpetrated this violent act are to be condemned thoroughly and brought to justice.
"His murder is symptomatic of a society which has in some cases grown selfish and materialistic in its prosperity. The greatest honour we could pay the courageous Mr. McGarahan is to prevent similar tragedies ever happening again.
"To prevent incidents like this re-occurring we also need to examine just why a group of adults in a reasonably wealthy society should feel the need to beat another man to death. This awful event makes plain how strong is the need for a change from a selfish, materialistic, Thatcherite society to one that is more caring, compassionate and peaceful, and where we treat each other as neighbours and not as a competitive threat. We surely need to look at how to change our society itself so that events like this no longer blight the towns and streets of East Anglia."
ENDS
Notes to editor
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