Tuesday, August 23, 2005

A Black Day In West Lothian.

On Sunday evening we found out the police had found a young man's body in West Lothian. It seemed inevitable that it was going to be Rory Blackhall the 11 year old who had gone missing in the area on Thursday.

Yesterday the police confirmed that this was the case. Sadly today we found that his death was no accident and the police launched a murder enquiry.

I am sure I am not the only one who had been hoping this was simply a case of a boy skiving school and being too afraid to return home fearing the consequences. Unfortunatley this was not the case.

What his family must be feeling now I simply cannot pretend to know. Most parents have at some point felt that immediate panic when they lose sight of their child for even a few minutes. The panic you must feel when your child is missing for 3 days is beyond me. To then find out the unthinkable has happened...

As a citizen of West Lothian I can tell you that the shock and sadness is felt throughout. We live just a few miles from this family and the thought that this has happened so damn close to home is hard to comprehend.

5 year old started school last week, already he likes to walk with his Sister, normally I give tem a head start of 5 minutes and follow them in the car to make sure they get there alright. Today I took them to school in the car, I didn't want them to walk. I wasn't alone either. Mum's and Dad's who normally drop their kids off and go stayed for the bell, other kids who normally walk were taken by car. Irrational behaviour? Probably. It's unlikely that lightning will strike twice but then only a few years ago it was taken for granted that no-one would murder your child as long as they were with a friend. Then we had the terrible events in Soham when Ian Huntely and Maxine Carr changed that theory.

So far the police have not released much more information. As far as parents are concerned at the minute there is a killer on the loose somewhere. Until I know otherwise I will be a little more protective and I know others will be doing the same. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

My thoughts are with Rory's family and friends.

Jenny xx

3 comments:

Divemaster GranDad said...

Let's hope that this case will be solved asap, or at minimum, let the police prove that the guy who killed himself in Livingston yesterday is, indeed, the guy who cut the wee guy's life prematurely short. Fucking paedophiles should all be castrated...or worse...

jenny said...

Damn Right! If ever they are looking for a woman to do the job I'm there cv in hand...I wonder what experience you need though!

Divemaster GranDad said...

Enuff said...you're hired!! ;-)