No, I think it’s a case of him being a severe control freak.

I am a mother, and I consider this matter of more importance than other issues ‘of national interest’, for the reasons La Redoute outlined above.

As a human being first and a mother second, this terrible incident has shocked me.

I am also pretty certain that the victim’s famiy are not against the matter being discussed publicly – I believe that they would be more than happy with the truth being out, and with more people coming forward should they know of anything else which would be of relevance to the police with regards to the case.

Nothing will bring the poor girl back, but perhaps some good will come out of this terrible incident, and, importantly too, justice will be served, with Tanti getting what he truly deserves.

“The monster myth also perpetuates a comforting lack of self-awareness. When I heard Bayley forming sentences in court, I froze because I’d been socialised to believe that men who rape are jabbering madmen who wear tracksuit bottoms with dress shoes and knee-high socks. The only thing more disturbing than that paradigm is the fact that most rapists are normal guys, guys we might work beside or socialise with, our neighbours or even members of our family.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/18/my-wife-was-murdered-by-a-monster-but-most-perpetrators-of-violence-are-normal-guys?CMP=fb_gu

There are a lot of national issues and this one puts them into sharp focus: the mistaken belief that children are safe at school, loopholes in the teacher approval system, gaps in schools’ internal monitoring systems, a hidden epidemic of psychological distress, warped acceptance of abnormal behaviour, collective denial that there’s anything wrong here at all, the persistent belief that we should not discuss matters of public interest because that suits defence lawyers, etc.

True, but the defence lawyers’ strategy is to portray the victim as suicidal, which may lead a jury to have reasonable doubt about the murder charge.

There is real physical, though short lived, benefit. The initial result of cutting is emotional relief brought about by the release of endorphins, unlike in compulsive behaviour like repetitive hand washing where emotional tension is relieved by the fulfilment of a compulsive drive.

How facetious. This is real life, not a telenovela.

It was called Trilby written by George Du Maurier and was about this man Svengali who used to manipulate this young girl’s mind.

Does anyone recall this novel?

One could speculate that instead of his hand Erin offered his jacket, intending to snatch it back quickly.

But he forgot one important detail: gravity exerts a greater pull on an airborne body.

Short of being dragged down as well he had to let go. That would explain the jacket ending up down there.

However, I don’t believe, have never believed and cannot believe that this was suicide of any kind.

The facts known so far don’t seem to point to a double suicide or even to one suicide. The sooner people stop talking and thinking of suicide, the better it will be for everybody.

Death in the family always causes grief. That grief is at least doubled when death is untimely as a result of an accident or murder.

The grief of suicide is immeasurable and not time-limited.

The family have to bear that burden for the rest of their lives. It leaves an indelible scar.

So stop talking about suicide. I don’t know anybody from this particular Zahra family and would not recognize any of them if they bumped into me. But please spare them additional grief.

If any feelings of human decency remain in Erin Tanti, he would tell the truth about what really happened.

As it is, everything he has said so far has brought him nothing but ridicule and contempt.

Telling the truth, he may even receive some sympathy for sparing a grief-stricken family so much additional and unnecessary pain.

Who the hell needs psychologists on the island, Joe?