IAN HART: Do we choose to see what we want to see?

The news that a woman was raped in broad daylight in Westcourt Road, Worthing, last week is a sad indictment of our society.
Ian HartIan Hart
Ian Hart

Did no-one hear her cries for help? Surely someone must have seen something?

Or sadly, do we as a society choose to see what we want to and effectively react in the same manner?

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The other day I found myself in a situation in Broadwater. A young lad, 12 or 13 years old, was coming out of the new Subway sandwich shop.

He was accompanied by his mother and as soon as he got out of the shop he threw his wrapper on to the pavement.

(At this point, I might add that the mother had the look of someone who would enjoy extended air time on the Jeremy Kyle show.)

It presented me with a quandary. Do I ask the teenager to pick up his litter and face a possible tirade of abuse from mother, or do I go for the easy option and pick the litter up myself?

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Apologies, readers, but with a family waiting to see me back at the office, the easy option was really the only sensible option.

It doesn’t make it right, but at 51 years old, do I really need the risk of a public altercation over an item of litter?

But that’s my point. On a far larger scale, did anyone see or hear anything in Westcourt Road last week and mistake it for some kind of domestic dispute and think, ‘Actually, I really don’t want to get involved’?

If anyone has any information, however trivial they think it might be, please contact the police immediately.

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