To promote this worthy cause
Hey kids of all ages, looking for a fun new Halloween experience? The West Midlands police have just the thing for you!
The West Midlands force used its Facebook page to advertise a charity event that will see thrillseekers pay £75 to bed down in Birmingham’s old Steelhouse Lane lock-up.
The message said: ‘These cells were occupied by none other than the original Peaky Blinders, Fred West and many more. Be there if you dare!’
That’s serial murderer of women Fred West, who killed at least 12 young women, at least 8 of whom were raped, bound, tortured, and mutilated.
Sophie Walker, leader of the Women’s Equality Party, said: ‘We have seen the glorification of violence against women used to sell all manner of things. To see police turn it into a funfair experience shows that they either don’t understand the root causes of the violence, don’t see the extent of it or don’t care about it.’
Or they just think it’s funny.
West Midlands Police said the event, organised by a third party, was to raise funds for a charity helping victims of modern slavery.
‘West’s name was used to promote this worthy cause,’ a spokesman said.
‘On reflection the organiser has agreed that using his name was insensitive and has, therefore, removed it from any advertising of this event.’
Try reflecting sooner next time.
When I saw this story yesterday it sounded like bullshit. Not that it seemed in any way unlikely or anything, there were just a few clues in the way the story was written, the way different versions were pasted and the sources vaguely referred-to that made me suspicious.
So I checked up on it and of course it’s fucking true. Idiots. It’s not as though I need any more reasons to hate police. This all led to a discussion with a friend who turns out to be even more incensed by Jack the Ripper porn than I am, which in turn caused much enraging reading, which accounted for the greater part of my afternoon.
Thanks a lot, the internet.
We have Alcatraz tourism, and walking tours of Jack the Ripper’s neighborhood. Lurid fascination with crime is certainly a thing in its own right. Fred West is such an extreme though, and such a testament to the failure to protect girls…
John:
Yes, and recent, of course, which seems to count for some reason.
As far as I’m aware, Britain still boasts the most successful serial killer of all time, Harold Shipman. Hardly anyone knows about him, though. He mostly killed older women who don’t seem to count. And it wasn’t a sex thing. He stole their jewellery but that doesn’t seem to have been his motivation.
Killing older women just seemed to be his hobby, as far as anyone can tell, and that’s not lurid enough for anyone to care, even though he killed at least 250 people, not including himself.
There have been feminist protests at the glamorization of Jack the Ripper just recently. Kate Smurthwaite organized them.
You’re right, Kate is brilliant at this sort of stuff.