Thread:Comments:Man steals dying lorry crash victim's purse in Greater Manchester, England/A viewpoint on the story

I find it incredible that the Police seem more interested in the thief than the dead woman! This unfortunate old lady has died in a road accident. That her purse was stolen is altogether secondary. And the remarks of the police officer are, in my view, absurd. He describes this as "one of the most disgusting crimes" and as "a horrific offence". I would suggest that there are plenty of more disgusting crimes (from acts of violence to forms of hatred). And I certainly don't consider this offence as 'horrific'. Taking someone's property can certainly be harmful; but in this instance the theft is minor indeed. To describe it as 'horrific' is pure sensationalism. I think this particular police officer needs to develop some understanding of what's really important and what's not.

The interviewed resident, whose comments are in the article, are more apt: they describe the death of the woman as "a horrible thing to have happened". Yes - that's true. But reporting this fact is also utterly redundant. Of course it's a horrible thing to have happened! Why state the obvious? Such is not news ... just like reporting that 'contracting the plague is not nice' or that 'the planet Earth is continuing to orbit the Sun' is not news. It's just simple, obvious truth.

But the death of the old lady - described as 'horrible' - is, by the police officer, related to the theft of the purse - similarly described as 'horrific'. Yet the two events are utterly unrelated. The death of the woman is something quite distinct from the theft of her purse. The former is important, the latter is trivial. And I - as a resident of northen England - do not agree with the police officer, who - commenting on the theft - says "I am sure the community will be equally disgusted". Well, I'm not 'disgusted' by the theft. It saddens me to think that some people feel so desperate that they resort to theft; but I am disgusted that the police officer employs such needless language. Instead, he ought to be doing something to try and ensure that the roads are safer - so that road deaths are prevented.