Stephen Regan the Exiled King of Hull, August 2005 contd

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The public demonstrations of outrage and sympathy over the killing of black teenager Anthony Walker in Huyton, near Liverpool, may well have eased the suffering of his mother, but I doubt it. We can all imagine the pain Gee Walker is going through. Her plight and that of the whole Walker family moves everyone. They have lost a lovely lad in a crime that the police have said was racially-motivated.

Life doesn't get much crueller than that. None of us expects to face the torment of having to bury our children (though actually it used to be a fairly common occurrence) and particularly not in horrible circumstances. That there have been so many heart-warming expressions of solidarity for the family, from decent people sickened by this crime, offers hope for the future. We have seen a sombre respect displayed by all for Anthony in his death. Let's thank God for that.

And what is really shown by all the public lamentation over his death is our profound respect for human life itself. We are also expressing our common humanity which exists regardless of skin colour or other unimportant things that can divide us. Anthony's death, following a vile axe attack, is first of all a harrowing tragedy for his family, but is also wounding for our national sense of ourselves as fair-minded people who long ago realised what sad, mad, bad rubbish racism is.

Now, in crimes where there are alleged racial elements, there are always activists from the race relations industry stirring things up and shroud-waving lawyers keeping legal proceedings grinding on for years, as the recent history of racially-motivated murders demonstrates. But that sort of legal and political activity won't help the Walkers. What they need now is a period of peace in which to grieve for Anthony.

They need the sort of justice that's not been mixed with politics and turned into a thirst for vengeance. They don't need telling that nothing can bring back their son. They do need our prayers and support, and I'm sure they are getting all of that in massive quantities from people across the country.

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