And so, a new year and a new spate of... 'king-hits'? (There is a call to change this cowardly act to a 'coward's punch.' Read more below).
Really, is this still happening?
Sadly, it is, and it is only the families who are left behind who can ever really, truly know this kind of deep and gutting pain of losing a family member - and watching them fight for life - to this disturbing trend in street violence.
A couple who know that kind of pain is Oliver and Rosemarie Zammit, who lost their son Doujon Zammit on the Greek island of Mykonos in July 2008.
Doujon was only 20 and enjoying that rite of passage - his first trip overseas - when he lost his life after a despicable, horrible bashing in Mykonos. His attackers have since been arrested and jailed after a long and gut-wrenching court case in Greece, attended by Oliver and Rosemarie, and younger brothers Zeake and Laurent.
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At the time of the deadly assault, Doujon's grief-stricken father Oliver flew from Australia to be by his bedside, and decided to assign his beloved son’s heart, liver, pancreas and kidneys for life-saving surgery.
Sydney man Kosta Gribilas, 35 who saved by the Zammit family’s selfless organ donation, receiving Doujon's heart.
I spoke to Oliver and Rosemarie today - we are family friends and they are truly wonderful people - about life and the new year and our conversation turned to king-hits, Thomas Kelly, alcohol and what must happen next. They shared their thoughts with me for Josie's Juice. Their words are deeply moving, make complete sense, and are a must-read.
"What I believe, and I know to be true because of what we have
been through, is that our future - and I am speaking about us, but I know it’s
relevant in everyone’s life - is determined by our reaction," says Rosemarie.
"So for us, had we dealt with our situation differently and
been angry people the reaction and the outcome of everything that’s happened
would have been different," adds Rosemarie.
"We’ve been embraced by the Greek people, we’ve met so
many beautiful Greek people, and we’ve also met evil," says Rosemarie. "I had not met evil before…
but I have now, I can say that. In that courtroom – these men were evil."
"Five and half years down the track, we still
see people in Greece who stop us to shake our hand," says Oliver.
"Had we not dealt with everything in the way we did, we’d be totally different people," continues Rosemarie. "So, I really value that your future is determined by your reaction
to everything."
What do Rosemarie and Oliver make of the spate of king hits happening on Australian streets right now?
"We have a really bad culture of violence," says Oliver. "And unfortunately the
clubs and bars being left open so late means people are drinking. A lot. And mixing that with drugs. It's a nightmare."
"And the fact that the sentencing for violent attacks that result is just so weak... I mean,
the police do all the hard work of tracking the offender down and getting all
the evidence, and arresting the person, and then... the judge gives Thomas Kelly’s
killer four years?" says Oliver, incredulous.
"I mean, how do the parents feel?" asks Rosemarie, the passion in her eyes completely evident.
Says Oliver: "I’m sure if it was the judge’s son he would have got
more…"
"So, does it take someone in power to lose a child for the situation to change, is that what it’s going to take?" asks Rosemarie. How can one argue with that? With someone who knows what this kind of pain feels like?
"Unfortunately, maybe
so," she adds. "But what do you do? How do you fix it?
"We’ve got this thing about raising the maximum sentence. It’s not the maximum sentences we need to be raising… it’s the
minimum sentence," states Oliver.
He continues: "Because, if you give out the maximum sentence -
you give out the 20 or 25 years - that’s a decent punishment. But when they can
drop the sentence from 25 years to four years… it’s a slap in the face for any
parent."
"It’s an insult to a human life, isn’t it, really? adds Rosemarie.
"You can get more time for commiting a robbery or fraud!" exclaims Oliver, expressing what we're all thinking.
"It’s just sort of saying to the next guy that does it, oh,
what are you gonna get – four years? It doesn’t matter. But if they’re going
to be in jail for 20 years and it’s going to change their life and their lifestyle – because you’ve got to remember that these people only
care about themselves - then yes, maybe they will stop and think about it," adds Rosemarie.
"If we were only giving them four years, it doesn’t deter
anyone else, and we’ve got this stupid mentality that we can rehabilitate people," says Oliver. "We can’t rehabilitate people that have a violent nature. You’re not
going to stop that," states Oliver. "Or, people that rape constantly… you’re not going to stop that,
okay? And by giving them a lesser sentence they think – well, I only got four years for raping that lady so, what’s another four years?
"But if they’re getting 20 years to sit there and think about
it, they’ll think twice about it… it’s the sentencing that is letting us down," says Oliver.
Sitting with these incredibly poised, passionate, beautiful people is humbling. I know them as my friends but the world now knows them as an example of living their lives in the face of unimaginable adversity with grace and humility and a renewed sense of purpose in their life.
Please, help change this mentality towards street violence and attacks by sigining this petition below. It's one step to change. And as the Zammits will tell you, every single act of kindness towards shifting this "bad culture of violence" mentality counts.
This is the newsletter received from change.org - please read:
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Josie - There's a new petition
taking off on Change.org, and we think you might be interested in signing
it:
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By Ralph Kelly
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Sydney, NSW 2088
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We’d
prepared ourselves for this kind of news, but it still came as a shock.
On
New Year’s Eve, in almost exactly the same spot in King’s Cross where our
beloved son Tom was killed, another young man had fallen victim to the
rage of alcohol-fueled violence.
A
single punch. Another young man fighting for his life. Another family
distraught and torn apart. When is this going to end?
Our
hearts go out to the family of young Daniel Christie. No-one outside the
family can really understand the pain they are going through right now.
Police
allege that Daniel’s attacker had drunk eight beers and a glass of wine
beforehand and that he was already on a good behaviour bond for assault.
Because
someone has been charged, we can’t comment more on this particular case
right now. But we know that something has to change. Too many lives are
being taken from us. The toll is mounting, and the Government is far too
slow to act.
Just
a few days after Kieran Loveridge was sentenced to a miserly four years
jail for killing Tom, we started a petition at change.org/thomaskelly calling for minimum sentencing
laws in cases of manslaughter.
More
than 23,000 people have already signed our petition and we’ve had some
encouraging signs from the Government.
And
while we are still determined to see changes to minimum sentencing laws
in cases of manslaughter, it’s clear that more needs to be done to tackle
the spiralling issue of alcohol-fuelled violence.
In
particular, we need laws that will send a strong message to young people
and the community in general that alcohol abuse and excessive drinking
should not serve as an excuse for violence. Right now, the law doesn’t do
that.
Too
often, criminals are using excessive drinking as an excuse for their
behaviour.
We
need to turn this around 180 degrees. The central plank of our new
proposal to the NSW Government is to increase the penalties for any crime
committed whilst affected by alcohol or drugs.
Recently,
accompanied by leading Sydney lawyer Alexander Street SC, we met with
Attorney-General Mr Greg Smith to propose three key areas of reform to
the NSW Sentencing Act.
1.
Any crimes committed whilst affected by alcohol or drugs are identified
as a "mandatory aggravating factor" that must be taken into
account on sentencing.
This
will serve to send the right messaging of the primary role that alcohol
plays in violence and crimes within NSW and require sentences to reflect
this aggravating feature.
2.
The aggravating factor of "conditional liberty" expanded to any
"good behaviour bond".
This
will tackle the issue of repeat offenders.
3.
Youth and the inability of a victim to defend themselves as being
aggravating factors that must be taken into account.
This
would help stop attacks on the most defenceless and vulnerable in our
society.
We
have asked the NSW Government to incorporate these three key elements
into the Act. Importantly these additions would be
incorporated within all areas of criminal activity, including domestic
violence and sexual assault.
Right
now, our sentencing laws are completely out of sync with public
sentiment. 18 months ago we lost Tom. 3 days ago, another family’s
boy was attacked. Until
something changes, the only thing we can be sure of is that there will be
more.
Social
and behavioural change only occurs when we stand up as one and demand
that change happens.
Now
is that time.
Time
to say that we’re fed up with the culture of excessive drinking.
Time
to say that we’re fed up with violence on our streets, fuelled by rampant
alcohol abuse.
Please
sign our petition on change.org/thomaskelly and share it with friends and
family. Together, we can do this. Thank you.
Ralph
and Kathy Kelly
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