Friday 17 August 2007

Dr Anyetei Murder

Police investigating the horrific murder of paediatrician Dr Victoria Anyetei have issued a statement in connection with their inquiries, which, if the BBC has reported it accurately, absolutely boggles the mind.

Firstly, witnesses apparently recall hearing a car horn sounding at about 7:30AM on the day Dr Anyetei was murdered. Det Ch Insp Anne Brittain said: "We have witnesses who say they remember a car horn sounding at around 0730 BST. It is possible this is linked to the murder of Dr Anyetei. The horn may have been sounded during a struggle with her killer, or she tried to raise the alarm."

That certainly sounds plausible on the face of it, and, in this day and age, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if everyone else in the neighbourhood completely ignored this poor woman's desperate honks for help.

Oddly, though, the same article goes on to say: "Dr Anyetei left home for work at 0800 BST and was found by her 19-year-old son at 1020 BST. "

Honks at 0730 BST, but Dr Anyetei didn't leave for work until 0800 BST? Seems unlikely that she'd be struggling, or honking for help half an hour before she left the house, but I can't imagine that DCI Brittain has missed that fact. With incredible insight, and demonstrating a phenomenal grasp of the case, she went on to say: "Either the attack was targeted or it was a random attack and Dr Anyetei was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Well, that narrows it down, doesn't it? With deductive reasoning of that calibre, I should imagine that an arrest is anticipated shortly after Satan is seen skiing down the snowy slopes of Hell - doubtless honking a horn as he goes.

According to the BBC's article - and, in fact, every other article on this case that I've read - it is believed the killer may have lain in wait in her car, a silver Toyota Avensis. Hmmm, here's a random thought that may, or may not, be of use to DCI Brittain - did that Avensis have an alarm system fitted? And if it did, would it, by any chance, be attached to the vehicle's horn? If so, the honking may have been caused, not by the victim, but by the culprit as they gained entry to the car. As I say, just a thought, and probably way off base. But, based on her statement above, it seems that the bobbies need all the suggestions that can get right now.

It may well be that the honking horn has nothing whatsoever to do with this tragedy. But, if it did, it's a sad and depressingly accurate snapshot of the times we live in. Burglar alarms, car alarms, personal attack alarms, gunshots and final gurgling screams are almost always seen as somebody else's problem; the motto is Don't Get Involved, right? Well, maybe, if you're a lame-brained, irresponsible wimp, you might think it's right to go on your way and never pause to investigate.

I don't, and never have. Despite being cynical and bad-tempered, I've always been willing to help someone in real trouble - if more people thought that way, instead of burying their heads in the sand, maybe Dr Anyetei would still be alive.

Most of the papers are also suggesting that the perpetrator of this vicious attack may have been one of Dr Anyetei's patients, or an aggrieved parent of one of her patients. Yesterday's Times went a little further, pointing out that, as a paediatrician, Dr Anyetei was likely to have been involved in child protection cases and could have been used as an expert witness.

Whether or not she was an expert witness - and, after a brief search, I have found no information to confirm or refute that theory - child protection is a dangerous business, as anyone who has followed the decade-long witch-hunt against Professor David Southall will know.

And, although the campaign against Southall - orchestrated, in large part, by a small group of medically untrained oddballs who hang out on the Mothers Against Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy website - is probably the most famous case of persecution, it is far from unique. The Times reports that, according to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, one in seven paediatricians has been the subject of a formal complaint, whilst, last year, 75,000 health workers were attacked by relatives, patients or carers.

So, on top of a heavy workload and the difficulties of a National Health Service that's collapsing around them, paediatricians also have to put up with an endless stream of meaningless complaints dreamt up by a clueless pressure group and constant threats of physical violence - which may, or may not, be encouraged, perhaps even inadvertantly, by the barrage of misinformed propaganda put forth by the said pressure group.

Yet, so dedicated are these men and women that they still go to work every morning. To my mind, they deserve a bloody big medal just for getting out of bed!

Billy Seggars.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It makes me sick to think in this day and age only negligent parents (mc canns)and gang banging youths get any publicity and or a police force with at least one shared brain cell among them.
What incentive is there to deter street justice if the police can't be bothered to do their job. Then they wonder why people don't trust them.
I'd like to take this oppurtunity to thank you mr billy seggars for taking an interest and pointing to all the holes in the police investigation. (though its a wonder you have enogh fingers to do the job)
yours sincerely Chris Anyetei