[Football] Gazza charged with sexual assault...

[Hugo Rune]

Gazza should have been helped sometime ago.

So many people have tried.

He is beyond help and I’d be surprised if he makes it to the next decade.

It’s very very sad to watch.

 

[theboybilly]

What going to Durham?

My parents hometown...take away the local council's efforts to make it look like any other city centre in the country, you have the most beautiful city in England and the nicest of people. In my opinion of course. My overnight stop of choice for Newcastle away

 

[GT49er]

Sad. The lad seems to have lost it. No sexual assault should be taken lightly, but 'touching'? - yes, distressing if unwelcome, but it does sound like the lower end of sexual assaults. Just because he is famous, I hope whatever punishment is handed out (if he is found guilty) isn't over the top for the crime.

 

[Klaas]

How long till the Victim Blaming train pulls into the NSC station?

Not long I wouldn't have thought. Not long at all.

 

[darkwolf666]

Sad. The lad seems to have lost it. No sexual assault should be taken lightly, but 'touching'? - yes, distressing if unwelcome, but it does sound like the lower end of sexual assaults. Just because he is famous, I hope whatever punishment is handed out (if he is found guilty) isn't over the top for the crime.

Sorry, got to disagree strongly with that. He’s not been charged just because he’s famous, instead you have only read about it because he is famous!

I am not even sure I would recognise PG now such has his appearance changed, so not sure the victim would even know who he was!

It’s an all to familiar sad spiral of inevitability, played out in front of the media, that just isn’t going to end well...

As for the sentencing, judges can’t go over the top because he’s famous, their are statutes and pre-determined maximum length of sentence for each offence, taking into account all aggravating factors, of which being famous isn’t one of them!

 

[GT49er]

Sorry, got to disagree strongly with that. He’s not been charged just because he’s famous, instead you have only read about it because he is famous!

Of course he hasn't been charged because he's famous, and I never said that. You seem to have misread my post.

 

[Hugo Rune]

According to his twitter, he sat down next to a woman and gave her a ‘peck on the cheek’ because someone else had just called her a fat cow.

Despite his protests, you simply can’t do that.

 

[Commander]

Annoys me all this clamour to try people for historical crimes. It was back in August for heaven's sake.

 

[Saladpack Seagull]

It seems that when God (or whoever/whatever) dishes out phenomenal talent of the type the rest of us can only dream about, He (She/It) counter-balances this by also dishing out more than a fair share of human frailty. George Best was another example. This is not to say that all superbly gifted sportsmen/women are like this, obviously they're not, it's just that Gazza was too weak to handle the success and further weakened himself by shipping vast amounts of alcohol. We're witnessing a very sad human story being played out in the full glare of the media. Tragic for all concerned including of course the woman concerned in an incident she never expected nor invited.

 

[Simster]

It seems that when God (or whoever/whatever) dishes out phenomenal talent of the type the rest of us can only dream about, He (She/It) counter-balances this by also dishing out more than a fair share of human frailty. George Best was another example. This is not to say that all superbly gifted sportsmen/women are like this, obviously they're not, it's just that Gazza was too weak to handle the success and further weakened himself by shipping vast amounts of alcohol. We're witnessing a very sad human story being played out in the full glare of the media. Tragic for all concerned including of course the woman concerned in an incident she never expected nor invited.

I agree with all of that. I wish I could be more sympathetic towards him, but the way he's treated his family and involved other innocents (such as this woman) has been inexcusable.

 

[Saladpack Seagull]

I agree with all of that. I wish I could be more sympathetic towards him, but the way he's treated his family and involved other innocents (such as this woman) has been inexcusable.

Absolutely. As you say, it's not just Gazza, it's all the people he drags down with him you've got to feel sorry for. Many of them have tried to help him only to be let down time and again.

 

[Billy the Fish]

It seems that when God (or whoever/whatever) dishes out phenomenal talent of the type the rest of us can only dream about, He (She/It) counter-balances this by also dishing out more than a fair share of human frailty. George Best was another example. This is not to say that all superbly gifted sportsmen/women are like this, obviously they're not, it's just that Gazza was too weak to handle the success and further weakened himself by shipping vast amounts of alcohol. We're witnessing a very sad human story being played out in the full glare of the media. Tragic for all concerned including of course the woman concerned in an incident she never expected nor invited.

I agree with all of that. I wish I could be more sympathetic towards him, but the way he's treated his family and involved other innocents (such as this woman) has been inexcusable.

There's more to it than just the alcohol. From what I've read and seen in documentaries about him I gather that he's had issues since he was a kid. The alcohol and drug abuse (painkillers, anti depressants etc) is an escape from the real problems rather than the cause. The fact he was talented and became famous was just like tipping petrol on an already burning fire.

 

[Simster]

There's more to it than just the alcohol. From what I've read and seen in documentaries about him I gather that he's had issues since he was a kid. The alcohol and drug abuse (painkillers, anti depressants etc) is an escape from the real problems rather than the cause. The fact he was talented and became famous was just like tipping petrol on an already burning fire.

Yes, he was bulimic as a kid, for example.

The 1990s at the height of his fame was a time when footballers became instant millionaires and the infrastructure just wasn't there in football to support people with money and time on their hands.

 

[Saladpack Seagull]

There's more to it than just the alcohol. From what I've read and seen in documentaries about him I gather that he's had issues since he was a kid. The alcohol and drug abuse (painkillers, anti depressants etc) is an escape from the real problems rather than the cause. The fact he was talented and became famous was just like tipping petrol on an already burning fire.

That's a good point. I suppose we'll never really know the underlying cause - perhaps Gazza himself is unable to pin it down.

 

[ManOfSussex]

There's more to it than just the alcohol. From what I've read and seen in documentaries about him I gather that he's had issues since he was a kid. The alcohol and drug abuse (painkillers, anti depressants etc) is an escape from the real problems rather than the cause. The fact he was talented and became famous was just like tipping petrol on an already burning fire.

He's got Bi-Polar Disorder with a concurrent alcohol problem. I'm not condoning what he's done, and he's done a lot of things, but he's a very vulnerable adult and his erratic behaviour is an unfortunate consequence.

 

[Commander]

It seems that when God (or whoever/whatever) dishes out phenomenal talent of the type the rest of us can only dream about, He (She/It) counter-balances this by also dishing out more than a fair share of human frailty. George Best was another example. This is not to say that all superbly gifted sportsmen/women are like this, obviously they're not, it's just that Gazza was too weak to handle the success and further weakened himself by shipping vast amounts of alcohol. We're witnessing a very sad human story being played out in the full glare of the media. Tragic for all concerned including of course the woman concerned in an incident she never expected nor invited.

If he really did just give her a peck on the cheek then I'm not sure I'd class that as 'tragic' for the woman concerned.

I'd imagine there's probably more to this story though.

 

[Simster]

If he really did just give her a peck on the cheek then I'm not sure I'd class that as 'tragic' for the woman concerned.

I'd imagine there's probably more to this story though.

Well I can't imagine anyone would press charges of sexual assault based on one unsolicited peck on the cheek, surely?

 

[Commander]

Well I can't imagine anyone would press charges of sexual assault based on one unsolicited peck on the cheek, surely?

I'm 100% sure that there are people out there that would.

That's not to say this is the case here though, obviously.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

According to his twitter, he sat down next to a woman and gave her a ‘peck on the cheek’ because someone else had just called her a fat cow.

Despite his protests, you simply can’t do that.

If he really did just give her a peck on the cheek then I'm not sure I'd class that as 'tragic' for the woman concerned.

I'd imagine there's probably more to this story though.

DEFINITELY more to this story, I would say...

 

[Wilko]

How long till the Victim Blaming train pulls into the NSC station?

Chooo chooo. Maybe we should check her underwear before we decide? #Satire