Violating humanity

"This is YouTube material!" Anthony Anderson shouted.

It wasn't a wild stunt or dumb trick that he was shouting about. What happened in July 2006 in Hartlepool England joins what seems to be a growing list of man's inhumanity towards each other.

Anthony Anderson, 27, an ex-soldier, did more than just nothing when his neighbor, Christine Lakinski, 50, collapsed in the street that day. A friend of Anderson's recorded what he did on a cellphone. That friend caught Anderson shouting that his actions were worth putting on YouTube as a group of onlookers gathered around the two in the street.

Anderson first poured water on Lakinski and then urinated on her as she lay in the street. He then ran home and returned with a can of shaving cream, which he sprayed on her. The group then left her lying in the street until one of Anderson's friends called emergency services......... just before they headed out to a nightclub, 20 minutes later.

Lakinski suffered from numerous medical problems and she died at the scene. It was later determined that she had died of pancreatic failure. Her family was appaled that anyone would act that way to another human, especially one who was dieing in the street. They also had very harsh words for those who stood by and watched Anderson and his depravity.

"It beggars belief that these people chose not only to condone his cruelty, but also to walk away from a neighbor who was clearly in distress and needed help."

Anderson though didn't just walk away with his video, he was arrested and pleaded guilty to a charge of outraging public decency. This month he was sentenced to three years in prison.

It is a shame that it was only Anderson who was sentenced to 3 years.... to read that his friends evidently found his antics amusing or not too far from normal behavior makes me wonder what has gone wrong with some of the thinking in the world. Good samaritans seem to be far out numbered by people trying to get their 15 minutes of fame, any way they can.