When Big Brother Disproves Your Vile Lie

Over in UK the cradle-to-grave nanny state is advanced much farther than here in the USA; not only has the government instituted comprehensive gun control (including confiscation), but has also started in on knives, as well. Additionally there is a CCTV (Closed Circuit TV) network throughout the country that monitors the movements of the citizenry subjects in a very intrusive sort of way. There is no expectation of privacy in public places in the UK. These CCTV cameras are not so effective at preventing crime - - crime occurs too quickly and there's no way to monitor that many cameras on a live basis - - but have some value at finding culprits afterward - - or not finding them, in the case of a hoax gay-bashing incident.

Yes, it's another phony hate crime:

A drama student who became an internet sensation after claiming he was savagely beaten up for being gay has admitted he caused his injuries himself when he tripped on the pavement.

Richard Kennedy, 18, from Blackpool, told police he was set upon by a gang of homophobes when he left a gay nightclub in Preston, Lancashire, prompting officers to appeal for information about what they called a 'particularly nasty assault'.

He posted photographs on Facebook of his battered and bleeding face, dislodged teeth, and gaping knee wound, with the caption 'An example [of] why homophobia is wrong and it's disgusting that it's still around in 2014'. The post was shared by more than 182,000 well-wishers.

But today the teenager, who studies Contemporary Theatre and Performance at the University of Central Lancashire, admitted he made it all up.

After being shown CCTV of him tripping and falling, face-first, onto the pavement, Kennedy accepted that the 'utterly inhumane homophobic attack' he had talked about actually never happened.

This afternoon Lancashire Police, who carried out a 'detailed and thorough investigation' into the alleged attack two weeks ago, confirmed CCTV showed the teenager had not been attacked by anyone, and had simply hurt himself when he fell over.

So basically he was just being...wait for it...a drama queen?

Personally, I think that in cases like this that get prominent publicity in media outlets, that the outlets involved should run retractions placed just as prominently as the so-called crime's original story was: if the story made front-page above-the-fold placement in a newspaper, for example, so should the retraction. If it was the lead story on the 6 o'clock news, so should the retraction. And the person making the false allegations should be punished, as this drama queen was not.