Political Crossfire Forums

JoeBen81 · Joined: 13 Jun 2006 Posts: 4162

I'm sure this happens more often than reported. Goes to show the ugly side of this type of communication, when people think they can say anything. What do you think the future will hold in terms of laws being applied to chat rooms and BB's?

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British man said to have carried out the country's first "Web rage" attack was jailed for 2-1/2 years on Friday for assaulting a man with whom he had exchanged insults over the Internet.

Paul Gibbons, 47, from south London, admitted he had attacked John Jones in December 2005 after months of exchanging abuse with him via an Internet chat room dedicated to discussing Islam.

London's central criminal court heard that Gibbons had "taken exception" to Jones, 43, after Jones alleged that Gibbons had been "interfering with children."

After several more verbal and written exchanges, during which Jones threatened to track down Gibbons and give him a severe beating, Gibbons and a friend went to his victim's house in Essex, east of London, armed with a pickaxe and a machete.

Jones himself was armed with a knife but Gibbons seized it from him, held it to his throat and "scratched" him across the neck, the court was told.

Gibbons, who the court heard had previous convictions for "violent offenses," pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding on the first day of his trial last month.

Other charges of attempted murder and issuing online threats to kill four other chatroom users were not pursued but could be reactivated in future if he reoffends.

Media reports said it was Britain's first "web-rage" attack and Judge Richard Hawkins said the circumstances were "unusual."

"This case highlights the dangers of Internet chat rooms, particularly with regard to giving personal details that will allow other users to discover home addresses," said Detective Sergeant Jean-Marc Bazzoni of Essex Police.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/17/britain.webrage.reut/index.html

Judas · Joined: 14 Sep 2006 Posts: 13

JoeBen81 wrote: I'm sure this happens more often than reported. Goes to show the ugly side of this type of communication, when people think they can say anything. What do you think the future will hold in terms of laws being applied to chat rooms and BB's?

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British man said to have carried out the country's first "Web rage" attack was jailed for 2-1/2 years on Friday for assaulting a man with whom he had exchanged insults over the Internet.

Paul Gibbons, 47, from south London, admitted he had attacked John Jones in December 2005 after months of exchanging abuse with him via an Internet chat room dedicated to discussing Islam.

London's central criminal court heard that Gibbons had "taken exception" to Jones, 43, after Jones alleged that Gibbons had been "interfering with children."

After several more verbal and written exchanges, during which Jones threatened to track down Gibbons and give him a severe beating, Gibbons and a friend went to his victim's house in Essex, east of London, armed with a pickaxe and a machete.

Jones himself was armed with a knife but Gibbons seized it from him, held it to his throat and "scratched" him across the neck, the court was told.

Gibbons, who the court heard had previous convictions for "violent offenses," pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding on the first day of his trial last month.

Other charges of attempted murder and issuing online threats to kill four other chatroom users were not pursued but could be reactivated in future if he reoffends.

Media reports said it was Britain's first "web-rage" attack and Judge Richard Hawkins said the circumstances were "unusual."

"This case highlights the dangers of Internet chat rooms, particularly with regard to giving personal details that will allow other users to discover home addresses," said Detective Sergeant Jean-Marc Bazzoni of Essex Police.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/17/britain.webrage.reut/index.html

I wouldn't mind pick-axing a troll.

Alizard

JoeBen81 wrote: I'm sure this happens more often than reported. Goes to show the ugly side of this type of communication, when people think they can say anything.

You get the occasional internet macho man demanding to "meet someplace".... I suspect they are usually five foot tall geeks from a Star Trek convention. :lol:

One guy made a threat about coming after me a long time back. I think I made a peace offering and said I would give him his choice of any of the two dozen medals and trophies I have in my closet that I won in the local PPC shooting leagues.

Funny..... I never heard from him after that. :lol:

wyldejackyl · Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 7137 Location: Chicago, IL

Well, over in the UK they can't have guns..so they use whatever they have. Looks like that gun ban's really effective in cases of violent crime..yet another example of people finding a means to an end..

The Grandmaster

Alizard wrote: I suspect they are usually five foot tall geeks from a Star Trek convention. :lol:

:h Whoah whoah now there....
Nothing wrong with Star Trek conventions. Not everyone who goes there is small and weak now...I do alright on the bench if I do say so myself.

thundertaker · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:19 pm Post subject:

wyldejackyl wrote: Well, over in the UK they can't have guns..so they use whatever they have. Looks like that gun ban's really effective in cases of violent crime..yet another example of people finding a means to an end..

Perhaps if this incident had taken place in the US, the man would have taken a gun instead of a pick-axe and shot him dead........

wyldejackyl · Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 7137 Location: Chicago, IL

Along those same lines, perhaps the aggressors would have thought twice when the victim brandished a firearm in defense. Do you really want to pick that fight?

thundertaker · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:44 pm Post subject:

wyldejackyl wrote: Along those same lines, perhaps the aggressors would have thought twice when the victim brandished a firearm in defense. Do you really want to pick that fight?

The man who was attacked was himself armed with a knife. Clearly, the fear of being stabbed didn't deter him from going after him, so I don't see what difference it would have made had they both been armed with guns. This man was clearly bent on violence.
The fact that neither had guns probably increased the chances of both of them surviving the encounter and the thug behind bars were he belongs......

NAB · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:49 pm Post subject:

thundertaker wrote: wyldejackyl wrote: Well, over in the UK they can't have guns..so they use whatever they have. Looks like that gun ban's really effective in cases of violent crime..yet another example of people finding a means to an end..

Perhaps if this incident had taken place in the US, the man would have taken a gun instead of a pick-axe and shot him dead........

Guns for show, knives for a pro

wyldejackyl · Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 7137 Location: Chicago, IL

^^ he's right. During tactical training at close range, a knife is FAR more deadly.

The person who was attacked was defending himself. Had he been without even that knife, he surely would have been murdered. I think they all got lucky; if they had guns it could have turned out the same way..or not. You can survive a gunshot..but last I looked, a pickaxe to the chest wasn't too favorable..the hole's much bigger!

TheGirlNextDoor · Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 22608

Pretty pathetic.

Think maybe people will think twice about harrassing someone over the internet after this?

Highly doubtful.

People suck.

thundertaker · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:09 pm Post subject:

wyldejackyl wrote: ^^ he's right. During tactical training at close range, a knife is FAR more deadly.

The person who was attacked was defending himself. Had he been without even that knife, he surely would have been murdered.

Well, actually, no. As the article says, the assailant took the knife off him and held it to his throat.........

wyldejackyl · Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 7137 Location: Chicago, IL

That's why most people who don't know how to use one shouldnt' carry one and/or draw it in a fight situation. I train with rubber knives but they still hurt getting jammed into your throat when you screw up!

DSwain · Joined: 09 Jun 2006 Posts: 3552

I think there should be a PCF 'Fantasy Fighting' league - to obviate the need for members to meet each other in dark alleyways

NAB · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:01 pm Post subject:

DSwain wrote: I think there should be a PCF 'Fantasy Fighting' league - to obviate the need for members to meet each other in dark alleyways

E-pistols at thirty paces.

Norpsel · Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 15

Surprisingly, this article didn't provoke very strong feeling in me :-\ Now had it been more that the man was charged, but never took any physical action, solely with assault over the internet (as ridiculous as it sounds), I would be more ... excited ... for lack of a better term. To me this is just an attempted murder case - nothing special. But I guess the dips**t who allowed his address to become known in a chat room is equally as responsible, not to mention stupid, as the man who took the physical action.

TheGirlNextDoor · Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 22608

DSwain wrote: I think there should be a PCF 'Fantasy Fighting' league - to obviate the need for members to meet each other in dark alleyways

Naw.. I'd rather meet some of the people here in person. Not to cause them physical harm (or attempt to).. just to see how they act in person versus hiding behind a computer screen.

Geronimo · Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 73 Location: Boogeyland

Internet abuse is so lame. No one should take anything someone else says over the internet to them seriously if it is just ridicule. There are Jerks everywhere. Some type, some write, and all of them talk. People that just can't handle them (like the people in the article) obviously cannot evolve to modern days environment, despite how terrible it can be. As for not allowing guns: murders will happen regardless of citizens have guns or not. That law just forces killers to become creative.
In Highschool last year, everyone had to take an "online bullying test" with questions like "how does it make you feel when you are abused on the internet?" and "Have you ever felt like killing yourself after someone made fun of you over the internet?" PSHHH[/i]

thundertaker · Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:19 pm Post subject:

TheGirlNextDoor wrote: DSwain wrote: I think there should be a PCF 'Fantasy Fighting' league - to obviate the need for members to meet each other in dark alleyways

Naw.. I'd rather meet some of the people here in person. Not to cause them physical harm (or attempt to).. just to see how they act in person versus hiding behind a computer screen.

LOL, I can tell you right now, I am a very different person in real life than my on screen persona would suggest. I'm a hell of a lot more confrontational online for example.....

wyldejackyl · Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 7137 Location: Chicago, IL

Who isn't?

I was just thinking of that the other day. There's vwvortex.com get-togethers..jeepforum.com has GTG's too..if we had them, there'd end up being little groups of us a fair distance from the others, all shouting stuff and yelling names at each other. Lucky Luke would show up and someone would gun him down just for irony.