Of the two, death is certainly the least pleasant. Especially when a death
is caused by violence or other unforeseen or unexpected circumstances.
It was thus that the murder of Jill Dando, 37, UK news reporter and television
presenter on the 26th of April, 1999, made for depressing news.
Gunned down on her door step, killed by a single shot to her head, it is
indeed a sad and terrible way to have one's life ended.
But this loss must be kept in perspective.
Whilst it is to be appreciated that her colleagues at the BBC have been deeply
shocked by her death and the method of execution ( and once more I find my
sympathies sincerely going out to a family which I do not know ), it is, to
be brutally honest, just another death. Tragic and terrible, yes, but no more
so than many others.
By all accounts ( a message of sympathy from the Queen, another from the Prime
Minister, the opening of condolence books around the country, becoming the
lead news story of the day and with special tribute programmes presented after
the BBC's 9 o'clock news and a special Venesssa Show ), it would seem
that some goddess has walked amongst us and has now departed;
Evita reborn.
The outpourings of sensationalised emotions are little less than those which
accompanied the death of Princess Diana when her p--sed-up chauffeur ploughed
Her Highness and boyfriend, Dodi Al Fayed, into the concrete walls of a Paris
underpass.
Jill Dando was undoubtedly a great personality, a natural as a TV presenter and
she will be sorely missed by many.
I personally know very little of her but am aware of the programmes she has
worked on, although I rarely watched them, and recognise that her
professionalism was held in high regard by her peers.
It is indeed a sad day when anyone you know passes away, having lost both
parents, I am well aware of the emotions which accompany such events.
But emotion and sympathy should not be hyped up. The encouragement of public
grief is an awkward path to tread.
When one person's death is put in higher standing than another's we become
guilty of judging the value of life of individuals. By elevating the life
of one we diminish the standing of others.
As it was when Diana, Princess of Wales, died, and the deaths of 400 Indians
on a ferry was consigned to a single line of newsprint, the prominence given
to Dando's death over the burial of many more innocent people, killed by NATO
bombing in Yugoslavia, was nothing short of disrespectful.
More so when those being buried overseas had been workers at the Serbian
Television Centre, bombed despite written reassurances from NATO that the
media in Yugoslavia were not to be considered as legitimate military
targets.
The appearance of Kate Addie, most commonly known for her role as one of the
BBC's War Correspondents, at the scene of Dando's death highlighted the
similarity between the two atrocities.
Whilst suppositions that Dando had been executed because of her media
involvement, by an unknown assassin, were bandied about across the UK;
the fact that nearly a dozen others, for the same reason, had been
killed, assassinated by design, by NATO bombs, merited no such condemnation.
Whilst not wishing to detract from the death of Jill Dando; the hypocrisy is
astonishing. It is nothing short of the, "Three Hundred people died in an
air crash today, none of them were British", reports which still, unfortunately,
surface from time to time.
It is also remarkable that the media, so self righteously, declared that her
death was a result of her fame and stardom ( she had been victimised by a
stalker in her recent past ) was unable to take a step back and consider
that her death may well have been related to her appearances on Crimewatch
UK, where many would say she was responsible for having seen many
criminals put behind bars.
Whilst it may be a while before we discover the true reason behind the motive
of her murderer, it is presumptuous, at least, to say what it was when the
evidence has not yet been assessed. Not until well into the day following
her death were such views being expressed or even accepted.
The coverage of Dando's death, regrettable, tragic and sad that it is, has
been blown out of all proportion. When Shiela McDonald, a Channel 4 news
reporter and presenter, sustained serious head injuries and was almost killed,
after she was run over by a police van, the reporting of the incident was
considerably lower key than that with Dando.
Such news reports have contrasted sharply to those which originally
accompanied the death of Stephen Lawrence ( now a media cause celeb )
and the recent death of Roger Sylvester, a perfectly fit and healthy 30 year
old black citizen whose life ended whilst in police custody, has hardly been
touched upon.
Even the death of a police officer, run over by a van, which then failed to
stop, whilst on traffic duty, the day before, received little more than a one
line report.
I am not demeaning Dando's death; I deplore every death and injury caused by
violence or from non-natural causes.
All human life is valuable, no matter what one's position or role, and I find
it offensive that I should discover myself being encouraged to show personal
grief for someone I didn't really know because they were considered to be a
respected member of the British establishment whilst being condemned at the
same time for lamenting the loss of innocent life in Yugoslavia because these
people had the misfortune to live in a country which our government and others
consider to be evil and unworthy of continued existence.
All life is precious; to deplore one death by violence and not another is
hypocrisy at its worse.
The saddest aspect of this whole affair is how the fears of viewers of
Crimewatch UK are to be placated.
With its favourite presenter gunned down in cold blood, undoubtedly to be the
show's lead case if initial news reporting momentum continues, the immortal
line, "Remember that crimes such as these are not commonplace; don't have
nightmares", is going to ring cold and hollow to the great many people who
are mourning their loss.
Just hours before Dando's death, the Metropolitan Police and Jack Straw, the
Home Secretary, were assuring the people of London that their, "Number one
priority", was to capture those responsible for the recent nail bombings in
two areas of London populated largely by ethnic minorities.
From reports, not many hours later, it would appear that their number one
priority had suddenly shifted in a blaze of media publicity surrounding the
death of what some would call a middle class, highly respected, professional
woman, the typical girl next door.
If local black communities feel let down, and continued cries of
institutionalised racism rise again, it would be hard not to understand.
December, 1999
Eight months on from Dando's horrific murder and the police are no closer
to solving the crime and finding her killer than they were on the day.
This must be a huge embarassment to the police who, at the start of the
investigation, almost promised they'd have the murderer banged up to
rights quicker than you could say Crimewatch UK.
And the public interest in the case must be a heavy weight to bare; this isn't a
case which the public are going to let the police drop or throw in the towel,
declaring the case unsolvable. The public wants answers and the continued
investigations must be eating into finaces.
Initially, the police claimed there were a number of suspects, a fair few being
men running from the scene, sweating profusely and jumping over railings and
on to buses. These suspects were however quickly eliminated, no doubt, as this
is the reality of over-weight, non-health conscious men running for buses.
Beyond that time there has only been speculation although it has been alleged
that 500,000 GBP was wasted, on an unproductive, covert operation, whilst
tracking a suspect after a name was slipped to the police from an underworld,
gangland source.
The only two concise statements the police have issued during their continued
investigations are that Dando was shot in the head at close range, something
which everyone was clear about the day after her murder, and, more recently,
that the murder was committed by a criminal gang, a lone obsessive or stalker
or a hired hitman; hardly a narrowing down of suspects and something the
average man in the street has already guessed at.
It looks increasingly likely that the true identity of Dando's killer will
remain unknown as will the motive behind this crime.
The only fear I have is that, as the case becomes an increasing burden on
police resources, there will be a pressure to bring someone, anyone, to court
on the charge of her murder.
Let's hope that this does not become the case.
