RIP PC David Rathband

[dave87]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-17216389


Found dead after a report to the Police over a concern for his welfare. RIP

[chuckskull]

Very sad. My thoughts go out to his family.

[blueball]

Very sad. Life cut tragically short

[peterb]

Very sad and although not so in the eyes of the legal system, just as much a murder victim of Moat as any of the others murdered on the day.

[jim]

Very sad and although not so in the eyes of the legal system, just as much a murder victim of Moat as any of the others murdered on the day.

Exactly what I wanted to say, but phrased much better. RIP.

[Knoxville]

Very sad news, it's a real shame that it sounds like he gave up after enduring so much. R.I.P

That said with all due respect and the knowledge that I might be putting cats amongst many peoples pigeons by merely pointing out the following... It does however bring to mind all those press conferences in which he branded Moat a coward for taking his own life after what happened...

[Saracen]

Such a sad outcome. But I really feel for the guy, and what he apparently felt had become of his life, assuming the cause of this is what it appears to be.

My commiserations to his family, friends .... and of course, brother and sister officers.

[jackobyte]

Very sad news, it's a real shame that it sounds like he gave up after enduring so much. R.I.P

That said with all due respect and the knowledge that I might be putting cats amongst many peoples pigeons by merely pointing out the following... It does however bring to mind all those press conferences in which he branded Moat a coward for taking his own life after what happened...

I see the comparison you are making but the difference being is that Moat robbed humanity the chance to bring him to justice for the totally deplorable crimes he had committed and to punish him in a fitting way,thus he branded him a coward.
PC David Rathband on the other hand was robbed of not only his sight, but because of the trauma after being shot he lost, his family, and the work as a police officer which he loved and lived for and had his whole world turned upside down for no real reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time and being a upstanding police officer who protected the likes of you and me.
At least he done positive work in forming Blue Lamp Foundation for fellow officers hurt in line of duty
which in turn makes him in my eyes a Hero and a very worthy and honorable human being being able to do that after what he had been through.

My sympathy go out to all his family and friends and all the people who's life he enriched

[Knoxville]

It wasn't so much a comparison I was trying to make as a remark on the fact that nobody knows what they'll do until the worst happens

I didn't mean to disrespect or take anything away from the chap.

You could argue that the unlawful application of electric current robbed both Moat and humanity of that chance and that he may not have been a coward in that respect (although he certainly was craven in many others) but this thread certainly wouldn't be the place for it and considering that society is better off without Moat and that today the country lost someone of which the polar opposite is true, now wouldn't be the time for it.

[melon]

It wasn't so much a comparison I was trying to make as a remark on the fact that nobody knows what they'll do until the worst happens
.

guy with tinnitus stabbed himself to death no so long ago.. losing a sense is no fun esp when you spent most of your life with it - I lost my sense of smell in 07 and in some ways its almost worst thing that ever happened ( yes even more than mobility )

You just dont realise how big a role it plays till its gone, and then theres the issue of how there being no cure - hope , and in what degree you have it.

m

[0iD]

Sad that the guy was not getting the support he so plainly needed to cope with what he had been through.

[sammyc]

guy with tinnitus stabbed himself to death no so long ago.. losing a sense is no fun esp when you spent most of your life with it - I lost my sense of smell in 07 and in some ways its almost worst thing that ever happened

http://techland.time.com/2011/05/27/...ense-of-smell/

Can't imagine many of those surveyed last year who chose technology over their sense of smell would be happy for long after their decision.

The tinnitus guy I can quite imagine it's a good example of how what one person can cope with differs widely from another's, ie not necessarily following any given scale of supposed impairment.

Interesting the comments David Blunkett made, in terms of how well PC Rathband was coping, in the practical sense, (in David Blunkett's view) better than he deemed himself to be. Very hard on himself & demanding of himself evidently.

RIP & respect.

[leonkehoe]

What's sad, as someone else pointed out above, is that he didn't get the help and support he so clearly needed.

[sammyc]

Loss of independence being one of the things he was finding toughest, you could suppose that it was by no means easy to get him to accept help. By definition, being helped can serve to highlight any situation you're already finding difficult (imo).

[watercooled]

I really feel for the guy. Not much I could say really.

But it speaks volumes for how much of an impact losing one of your sense can have; for example, idiot kids buying laser pointers from eBay and flashing them at planes/people don't understand the seriousness of what they're doing, it might as well be a gun they're holding.

[hnosyalnif]

Very sad and although not so in the eyes of the legal system, just as much a murder victim of Moat as any of the others murdered on the day.

Agreed. RIP PC David Rathband.