Victim was 'mistaken paedophile'

[Honey]

Alan Street's body had been weighed down with bricks in a culvert



A man was tortured to death with scissors in the mistaken belief that he was a paedophile, a court heard. Alan Street, 26, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was found in a drain weeks after the attack in Padiham.
Mr Street had been convicted of raping a woman but there was no evidence he had abused children, Preston Crown Court was told.
Kieron Davison, 21, and Ian Palmer, 45, both of Padiham, and Peter Leonard, 52, of Oswaldtwistle, all deny murder.
The jury was told Allan Palmer, 44, of Stockbridge Road, Padiham, had pleaded guilty to murdering Mr Street and that Mr Leonard had admitted assisting an offender in helping to dispose of the body.
Alan Street's death was extremely unpleasant. It involved an element of torture


John McDermott QC, prosecuting


Mr Davison is alleged to have told several friends after the attack in December last year that the victim had apparently touched a young girl.
He was "egged on" to assault him and later confessed to a girl that "I killed him, I got mad, he was a pervert", the court heard.
Opening the case, John McDermott QC, prosecuting, said: "Alan Street's death was extremely unpleasant. It involved an element of torture.
"The motive for each of the defendants may have been different. Peter Leonard had real reason, the prosecution say, to hate Alan Street and to want revenge.
"Others in the dock may have been fuelled by drink and a mistaken belief that Alan Street was a paedophile.
"There is no evidence he had anything to do with the abusing of children but the label was there."
Workmen's discovery
Mr Leonard was an enemy of Mr Street after the latter started seeing his ex-girlfriend in November 2004, the court heard.
The prosecution alleged that Ian Palmer, his brother Allan Palmer and Mr Davison assaulted Mr Street in Stockbridge Road before Mr Leonard was called by phone to join in.
Workmen found Mr Street's body by chance at the culvert in Accrington in January.
His body had been tied and weighed down with bricks.
Tests showed he had a number of cuts to his face and puncture wounds, consistent with scissor marks.
Fractures to the face were so extensive that his left cheekbone was left "floating free".
The trial continues.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Lancashire | Victim was 'mistaken paedophile'

[Shinola]

I've been reading that there's an increase in vigilante justice, that in some areas the police allow it or even quietly encourage it, and that pedophiles are often targeted.

I've also heard of other cases where someone was attacked on the streets because they were mistaken for a pedophile, and they were people who didn't even have a conviction of any sort.

[crumpet]

^^^Yes, people do love to feel righteous and a mob mentality often gives thema place to act it out. I don't think all this violence happens because they really care so much about pedos....I think some people just want a convenient target to take their anger out on and pedos are the safest bet. Take this board, for example: people usually cheer on these lynch mobs even though it hasn't been determined that the victim was guilty of a thing, just because someone 'said' he was. I wonder if the vigilantes who did this think it's a good idea for the victim's family to get a vigilante mob after their asses. However, in this case the guy was convicted of raping a woman so it's hard for me to feel badly for him. The fact he was tortured makes it feel like more justice for his victim than just getting 3 hots and a cot.

[sparkly]

The pack mentality can encourage violence, and unfortunately, it's very easy to see an otherwise nonviolent person commit a heinous act when they're backed up by their friends. I hope these men realize that they are no better than he was because they tortured him, no matter what their reasons were. However, I can understand why people would be angry if they feel that justice wasn't served. Adults and children serve a life sentence when they are raped, so it seems totally unfair that a rapist/pedophile is able to walk the streets like a free man, but turning a blind eye to mob killings is setting a dangerous precedent in our society.

[Aella]

Originally Posted by Shinola

I've been reading that there's an increase in vigilante justice, that in some areas the police allow it or even quietly encourage it, and that pedophiles are often targeted.

I've also heard of other cases where someone was attacked on the streets because they were mistaken for a pedophile, and they were people who didn't even have a conviction of any sort.

With all the paedophile hysteria of the last years, this sort of thing doesn't even surprise me.