Grant De Patie
Based on some feedback (no matter how rudely delivered) I am still editing this post in an effort to find out exactly what motivated Pratt to run over de Patie.
The De Patie family were once again on the Global news earlier this week berating the Canadian Justice System.
On March 8, 2005 their son, Grant, was dragged to death under the stolen car driven by then 16 yr old Darnell K. Pratt.
Details can be found here, and here.
Of course there is the obligatory knee jerk reactionary lynch mob mentality here.
I really feel bad for the family of this young man but bad decisions lead to bad consequences.
It was a very bad decision that led a very drunk Mr. Pratt to steal $12 worth of gas
from the station that Grant worked.
It may have been a bad decision on Grant's part to try and stop him.
Here is an another version of the events, obtained from a web site:
The youth and his friend stole a car, punched a screw driver into the ignition and started it. The 17-year-old estimates he had consumed about 20 beers by the time he got behind the wheel of the stolen car and entered the gas station where de Patie was working.
Court was told that de Patie saw the screw driver in the ignition. Apparently the killer suspected de Patie was going to call the police.
Bernard said the youth veered out of the gas station to get away and hit de Patie, trapping him under the carriage of the vehicle.
I find this scenario highly unlikely. The media made a big deal about the theft of $12 worth of gas. If you go along with this scenario, the theft of the gas had not even occurred. It also refutes the assumption that Pratt put his car in reverse and backed over Pratt.
However I have edited out events that turned out not to be proven facts. That being that Pratt in some way chased after and tried to intercept Pratt.
Pratt was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison and later reduced to 7. The De Patie Family was disappointed in what they considered to be too short a sentence and became bitter with the further reduction.
It's really all about revenge isn't it? Read my post on The R Word.
I'm really getting fed up with people whining about the justice system. It's like when your team loses and you do nothing but complain about the officiating.
We have the finest justice system in the world, if you don't believe that take a look around and see whats going on in other countries. Our judges have seen and heard it all before. Their goal is not to satisfy the immediate family but to satisfy society in general, now and in the long term.
It seems to me that 9 years in jail is a long time, 7 years in jail is a long time.
Pratt was a screwed up kid when this awful tragedy occurred and you can bet your life he will come out of jail 10 times worse.
As far as knowing what actually occurred during the events that led to De Paite's death, well who knows for sure.
Regardless of whatever really happened my thoughts on this subject remain unchanged.
I work in a retail environment and theft occurs there. And I won't lift one finger to stop it. Because:
1. It's not my job to apprehend would be criminals.
2. Theft is a cost of doing business and that cost is applied to the mark up of every item and service.
3. Protecting someone else's money is not worth so much as a scratch on my skin.
This is the message the news media should be presenting to the public, not cries of injustice from a bitter family denied revenge.
Young men between the ages of 16 and 25 have a hard time getting their brains to catch up with their testosterone.
That's why the military drafts/recruits them to be soldiers, because they are too stupid to know better.
Think back to the time when you were in that age range and all the stupid things you did. I cringe at some of my past actions from that time period, I was just lucky nothing bad happened.
Only trained security people should be chasing after thieves and every employer should be required to tell their staff in writing that they are NOT to pursue shoplifters or anyone else engaged in illegal activity.
It's just not worth it.
I now have three comments to this post.
It's disappointing to know that people of such low levels of ability are reading it.
When someone stoops to name calling and verbal abuse and veiled threats, all under the safe umbrella of anonymity, it really takes all validity and credibility out of their argument.
If you want to disagree with me, I have no problem with that. But if you are going to present an alternate view please express it like an adult and not a 10 year old.
Due to the low maturity level of the comments I have, for the time being anyway, comment availability is restricted.
