?My son was killed by a knife…’UKWatch.net - 28 Jul 2008‘... but he was failed by the system? Leon Francis was just 24 years old when he was fatally stabbed in December last year. He was a bright young man, adored by his family and treasured by his friends. Yet life had not been easy for Leon. He was excluded from his Birmingham school aged 15, and without proper help he drifted into crime and then a prison sentence. On release, Leon was determined to turn his life around and plan a future away from crime. But every effort Leon made to do this was met with failure or contempt by the very bodies that were supposed to help him. Following Leon?s death some of the press chose to demonise him. This week Jackie Ranger, Leon?s mother, speaks to Socialist Worker to set the story straight. My eldest child Leon was only 24 when he was stabbed to death in December last year. Our family and friends are still devastated at his untimely death, but we are campaigning for justice for Leon, and to make sure that his name is not discredited. We want him to be remembered for the person he was. Sadly Leon?s story is indicative of the destructive paths that some of our young people find themselves trapped on. My son was no angel. He made some mistakes throughout his short life, but it is important to know that 2007 had been a year of reflection and transition for him. He realised that he had to change and he kept trying to turn his life around right until the day that he died. Leon brought joy and laughter throughout his life and was a popular young man with a potentially bright future ahead of him. He was extremely loyal to his family and friends and greatly valued his close relationships. His troubles began when he was permanently excluded from school aged 15. Sadly it was a downward spiral from there. Exclusion Inadequate post exclusion support contributed to the choices that Leon made. He blindly entered a life of crime and went to prison for five years for attempted armed robbery. To this day I question if Leon really understood the seriousness of the offence that he committed and the consequences it would have on his life ? he was after all still a child at the time. Leon?s imprisonment was an extremely traumatic period for all his family, but more so for Leon himself. He often tried to mask the pain of the injustice he felt at being excluded from school, and subsequently excluded from society. As a parent it was important that I did not allow him to minimise his responsibility for what he had done, while acknowledging the way social factors contributed to his predicament. Leon himself understood he had done wrong and was remorseful. During his sentence Leon was transferred between prisons more than 15 times. He was also placed in some difficult situations ? a poignant and most insensitive ordeal was being jailed on the same wing as the man who killed his fiance?s brother. Nonetheless, Leon remained extremely resilient, striving to remain positive about the future. While incarcerated he gained some qualifications and was determined to lead a more productive life after his release in 2006. Due to the nature of his offence, and the political climate around ?gangs? at the time, Leon was released with extremely strict conditions about where he could go and what he could do which impacted on his human rights. In April 2007 he was wounded after being shot in the head while in his ?exclusion zone?. He reluctantly offered the police information about the incident and was assured he would be treated like a victim, but instead he was sent back to prison. This led to an irretrievable loss of trust in the police. When he was released again in August 2007, Leon fought to maintain his focus of rehabilitation. He was on the verge of beginning a new life outside Birmingham and had secured a place on a BTEC music technology course. Leon was excited about his fiance?s pregnancy and the thought of becoming a father. He was looking forward to 2008 with an increasing sense of maturity ? he had everything to live for! However he became increasingly concerned that his efforts appeared not to be taken seriously by those responsible for assisting his rehabilitation. He was sick of the differential treatment and outcomes for people of African heritage in education and the criminal justice system. A series of incidents in October last year meant Leon was in breach of his residency conditions, and as a result he went on the run. His family urged him to give himself up, but Leon was adamant that he would never go back to prison. On 27 December 2007 Leon was fatally stabbed. Quite rightly there is national uproar when the victims of knife crime are innocent. However, when the victim is involved in a gang or caught up in violence it is a different story. The press demonises them, and their families are further victimised, humiliated and treated with disrespect. There is no opportunity to present an accurate picture of their loved one. Yet my pain is no less than the mothers of ?innocent? victims. My son is also dead. My family have the same feelings of grief, sorrow, regret and frustration that the family of all other victims share. Leon was also somebody?s son, somebody?s fianc, somebody?s father, somebody?s brother and somebody?s friend. He was my child and I love him and miss him dearly. He was my friend, my confidant, and my heartbeat. Statistics about exclusions, violence and black deaths belie human tragedies, and Leon is yet another tragic victim that can all too easily be forgotten. However, both his life and his death emphasise the drastic and urgent need for more preventative, innovative and timely measures to be developed for all young people who have been excluded from school or who are subject to anti-social behaviour measures. Myths We should not fall for the myths of poor parenting, absent fathers, family breakdown or demonise our youth like the media often does. Instead we must try to understand the complex reality of young people?s struggles and provide them with proactive support and an earned second chance. That is their right! I want to reach out to all the families, and especially the mothers, who have lost someone to gun, gang or knife crime ? particularly those who have been made to feel ashamed that their child was involved in a gang, and it is said that they only ever did terrible things. Now our children are dead, and there is little sensitivity towards us. We have to stop demonising people and look behind the myths that stop us from acting to change things. Leon left us with a beacon of hope, his beautiful daughter Princess who was born five months after his death. She symbolises life, youth, opportunity, hope and light.
Getting Stuck OnUKWatch.net - 28 Jul 2008I’ve been campaigning and taking direct action against the growth of the aviation industry for the last two years. Last month I found out I won an award for my work. To collect it I was to go to 10 Downing Street and meet the PM, the same man who has been wilfully ignoring all of Plane Stupid’s campaigning work, and the objections to the third runway of 70,000 London residents. It didn’t take long to decide what I would do. With a team from Plane Stupid backing me up, I put on my second hand suit wearing a device in my pocket which was linked up to an anonymous Skype account on a computer in front of the team, so that they could hear what was said. At 6.15, the Prime Minister made his way out into the audience to shake our hands. I knew what I was about to do as I squeezed the superglue packet into my left hand… ‘By the way Prime Minister, I’ve just super glued myself to your arm,’ I said. ‘Don’t’ panic. This is a peaceful protest in line with Plane’s Stupid uncompromising commitment to non-violent direct action.’ I continued: ‘We just wanted five minutes of your time because, Prime Minster, you cannot shake off climate change just like you can shake off my arm. ‘Prime Minster, you must realize that we can beat climate change- but not by expanding the worlds’ biggest international airport at Heathrow, and supporting aviation, the fastest growing contributor to global carbon emissions. That’s why we, Plane Stupid, are taking our campaign from the roof of parliament to inside ten Downing Street. (to the whole audience including the PM): ‘We are the last generation with the opportunity to adequately tackle climate change before it is too late. ‘We need the Prime Minster to make the tough decisions he keeps on talking about and if he needs someone to hold his hand, then we are willing to do just that. But we are not going to wait around for politicians to catch up. Remember, he only has two possible legacies before he leaves office. As the first Prime Minster to take climate change seriously. Or the last one not to. ‘It’s time you stopped hiding from communities on the frontline affected by climate change. Whilst we stand here smiling nicely for the cameras in the Arctic, Inuit communities are planning survival strategies for their families as the deep seas gradually engulf them. Whilst we stand here drinking champagne and eating canaps, communities in Tuvalu are desperately building sandbanks to stop their island, their families, their lives and ultimately, their dignity, from going underwater. And, Prime Minister, as you know so well, whilst we stand in each other’s arms, the community of Sipson in West London awaits complete demolition because the of the planned third runway at Heathrow airport.. ‘ Brown’s Heathrow consultation is a fix pure and simple. It is the single most anti-democratic, anti?national, anti-human, outright evil thing this government has done since the Iraq war and that’s saying something. If super-gluing myself to the Prime Minister is the only way to cut through the power of corporations like BAA and ensures he hears what people from West London really think, then so be it. I talk of Heathrow, not because everyone is, but because it is a sign of things to come. In Heathrow, the battle lines are drawn. We could continue careering down the path of relentless economic growth and ignore the world’s top scientists who are calling on us to curb aviation, or stop, take a breather, and support workers in the aviation industry and communities living around airports into a sustainable lifestyle, before it is too late. The choice, Prime Minster, is yours. Allow us, the future generation, to shake your faith. Put your hand in ours, let us lead you through this labyrinth and realize that we have this remarkable opportunity. I could be your son. Explain yourself to the next generation. The people of next generation will either thank us for taking the necessary, logical action, or lament us for not being radical enough. It is not good enough to do our bit- we must do what is necessary. Do this, because it’s important that you understand. If you find a basis to disagree, by all means take the other side. But please don’t ignore it, don’t look away. Prime Minister. It’s time to stand up to the bullies from BAA and stand up for the British public. Every morning since leaving 10 Downing Street, I have woken up and asked myself whether I should write press releases or obstruct the machinery which is causing environmental destruction. The world is drowning in a sea of words, and I don’t want to add to the deluge. Almost everyday I notice signs that more and more people are longing for our species to cease its self-destructive war with the earth and each other. And that’s the real strength of Plane Stupid; creating new spaces in which to confront climate change. Powerful people know that ordinary people are not innately selfish or slaves to consumerism. Creating spaces to strategise resistance to forces promoting this inter-generational catastrophe is not just a campaign, or even a movement -it’s a whole culture not negotiated by governments, but enforced by people. By the public. A public who can link hands across national borders and acknowledge that we are all learners, and always continuing to learn to tackle climate change. Brown’s brazen belief that we can run the world disjointed from natural phenomena with his imprudent riot squad of aviation industry techno-crats has exposed the fragile relationships this government upholds with the polluting industries. The sheer ignorance of deliberately ignoring the consultation results regarding Heathrow expansion has placed on full public view the trickery and collusion inside the government walls. Now that the Government’s sinister relationship with the aviation industry has been put into mass circulation, it could be disabled quicker than the pundits predicted. Bring on the spanners. If we succeed no one will remember; if we fail no one will forget Plane Stupid, and communities taking action on aviation expansion around the world, will not go without a fight.
