Homeless "hero" from Manchester bombing stole victims purse and mobile phones

[dowie]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...bomb-victims-phones-purse-arena-a8139631.html

A homeless man who was hailed as a “hero” for helping victims of the Manchester attack has admitted stealing a purse and mobile phone at the scene of the bombing.

Chris Parker was in the foyer of Manchester Arena when an Isis supporter detonated his homemade bomb, amid crowds pouring out of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May.

He gave emotional media interviews claiming to have helped the injured, sparking a crowdfunding campaign that raised more than £50,000, but disturbing CCTV footage played in court showed him preying on victims as they bled on the floor.

Parker could be seen repeatedly returning to injured victim Pauline Healey, whose granddaughter was killed in the blast, before leaning over her to reach into her handbag.

He also stole a mobile phone belonging to a teenage girl who cannot be named because of her age.

There does seem to be a trend at the moment for giving people credit/publicity for basically having done very little in reality.

In this case I guess the theft itself highlights that the guy was a bit of a **** but I remember seeing the original story, without the theft, about how he'd comforted a few people and thinking "so what?" I mean there would have been plenty of people comforting/helping others during that tragic event, that is what lots of people do. We then see the just giving campaign being set up, the story going viral about this "hero" etc.. thanks in part to him pushing for publicity himself. And now it all comes undone when it turns out he decided to steal from the victims(and in doing so, that petty theft has cost him 50k).

It is hardly the only story of its kind either (while not trying to compare either of these to someone as callous as an individual stealing from bombing victims) there was the bullied kid in the US recently (something loads of kids experience) who went viral and then had the inevitable just giving campaign set up etc.. which went well until it turned out his family perhaps hold the wrong political views (and potentially worse) -pics of him in front of a confederate flag, allegations that he'd used the n-word etc..

Likewise there was clock boy and his blatant fake bomb prank, this didn't really get acknowledged by the media and the school were prohibited from revealing lots of details from their side... but it became quite clear that he'd done nothing other than rip out a clock from it's case and put it into another case as part of a prank. Of course he was hailed as a "genius", he'd "invented" this clock etc.. and the usual, just giving nonsense, celeb invitations etc..etc.. appeared.

(sorry just an extended rant... but we do seem to end up with the media getting carried away with rubbish stories like this and donations that could perhaps be used for something useful like combatting malaria in Africa etc.. instead get spent on fake "heroes" and "geniuses" who did very little and got a lot of press for it)

 

[terley]

To be honest, i kind of guessed this when i saw it on the news just after the bombings.. If i remember correctly a gofundme was setup and raised a ton of money for him..

I may be scalded for this, but honestly in my experience the vast majority of homeless people are thieves, druggies and general stains on society that blame everyone else for their problems.. of course there are exceptions.

 

[Malevolence]

Absolute scum. He should be thrown into the deepest, darkest hole and forgotten about.

 

[Ayahuasca]

It doesn’t really surprise me that those deemed to be at the bottom of society do things like this, I think some people are very naive and think they’re all kind people who just had some hard luck and found themselves on the streets.

There were 3 “homeless” people caught near my area for operating in a gang collecting money on the streets that was well coordinated and taking advantage of areas situated where they’d likely receive cash that may have went to better use with other homeless people further up the street. Who really knows who’s genuine and what they’ll do with the money though.

 

[Chris Wilson]

"Homeless" people are certainly in the news right now, aggressive begging and rough sleeping in Windsor is being addressed as many refuse to take up council shelter offers, and its affecting tourism in a very negative way. A taxi driver friend often regales me with tales of picking "beggars" up late at night, waiting with the meter running whilst they pop into their homes to shower and change, and then have him drop that at clubs and casinos, looking like a million dollars, spending some poor well meant mug's hard earned... My personal experience is there's been a plethora of beggars around here from the likes of Bulgaria and Romania that if you are not of a robust disposition can be very intimidating. Luckily, being a farming community, there's no shortage at all of very robust blokes around who are not fazed about manhandling them somewhere quiet for a few suggestions in their shell likes as to other towns to visit, like *NOW*...They seem to find these suggestions palatable as they soon disappear! Must be a nightmare in some areas where they are now part of the furniture.

 

[rubberduck]

I don't think homeless people actually exist in the real sense in the UK. Exceptions will occur but for the most part I don't believe it is a thing.

 

[Nasher]

"Homeless" people are certainly in the news right now, aggressive begging and rough sleeping in Windsor is being addressed as many refuse to take up council shelter offers, and its affecting tourism in a very negative way. A taxi driver friend often regales me with tales of picking "beggars" up late at night, waiting with the meter running whilst they pop into their homes to shower and change, and then have him drop that at clubs and casinos, looking like a million dollars, sppending some poor well meant mug's hard earned... My personal experience is there's been a plethora of beggars around here from the likes of Bulgaria and Romania that if you are not of a robust disposition can be very intimidating. Luckily, being a farming community, there's no shortage at all of very robust blokes around who are not phased about manhandling them somewhere quiet for a few suggestions about other towns to visit, like *NOW*...They seem to find these suggestions palatable as they soon disappear. Must be a nightmare in some areas where they are now part of the furniture.

Yep it's true. You won't hear that side of the story on the BBC though.

There are some genuinely homeless people around. But TBH the majority around tourist areas/cities are con men (and not British, so legally shouldn't even be here if homeless).

 

[McBain]

Scumbag.

 

[Sho]

Absolute scum. He should be thrown into the deepest, darkest hole and forgotten about.

This.

 

[Rroff]

I don't think homeless people actually exist in the real sense in the UK. Exceptions will occur but for the most part I don't believe it is a thing.

There are a fair few that genuinely have fallen through the cracks, etc. - I've a relative who works for one of the charities who try to help them off the streets and finds it very frustrating as so many are straight back there weeks or months later even if everything is handed to them on a plate to get back on their feet.

So largely I kind of agree but at the same time I don't think the numbers that are genuinely in a bad place are insignificant.

 

[kindai]

"Homeless" people are certainly in the news right now, aggressive begging and rough sleeping in Windsor is being addressed as many refuse to take up council shelter offers, and its affecting tourism in a very negative way. A taxi driver friend often regales me with tales of picking "beggars" up late at night, waiting with the meter running whilst they pop into their homes to shower and change, and then have him drop that at clubs and casinos, looking like a million dollars, sppending some poor well meant mug's hard earned... My personal experience is there's been a plethora of beggars around here from the likes of Bulgaria and Romania that if you are not of a robust disposition can be very intimidating. Luckily, being a farming community, there's no shortage at all of very robust blokes around who are not phased about manhandling them somewhere quiet for a few suggestions about other towns to visit, like *NOW*...They seem to find these suggestions palatable as they soon disappear. Must be a nightmare in some areas where they are now part of the furniture.

Years ago I saw a homeless man and his dog sat on some shredded up old mat asking for change and notes which were rolling in thick and fast. After his pot got to a certain full level he emptied 3 quarters of it into one of his pockets and added the notes to a wrap of money the size of a fist, he then checked his at the time state of the art phone for texts and went back to begging.

Never given to a 'homeless' person since.

 

[robfosters]

I can’t think of a much lower thing to do than to steal the belongings of injured and dying men, women and children.

I saw the thing about Windsor beggars and homeless today. I don’t think the councillor said it in the right way, but I can see his sentiment. I also sympathised with the restaurant owner whose business suffers because of homeless people just sitting by his doorway and begging from customers.

Windsor is a nice place, but it must seem awful to tourists who are faced with these aggressive beggars. Like we live in some third world country. There’s plenty of places these people can go to for help and food, but we all know they want money for different reasons, whether it be a healthy can of special brew, a few grams of the brown stuff or another payment on the BMW 5 series they have parked round the corner.

 

[Nasher]

I can’t think of a much lower thing to do than to steal the belongings of injured and dying men, women and children.

I saw the thing about Windsor beggars and homeless today. I don’t think the councillor said it in the right way, but I can see his sentiment. I also sympathised with the restaurant owner whose business suffers because of homeless people just sitting by his doorway and begging from customers.

Yea, you will hear "oh the poor homeless people in Windsor" from some news outlets. But if you actually go and watch them for a while you see what they are talking about. They are actually gangs of professional scam artists, fraudsters and thieves praying on tourists.

It's the same in many other European cities. In Paris they will take people's change and then blatantly try to sell them weed within minutes stepping off the train.

 

[Uther]

I was staying in London about 4 years ago while my wife was in hospital. One very early morning walking down the Kings Road to get a coffee I actually watched a van dropping off several 'homeless people' in various spots who immediately took their shoes off and set up for the day begging.
I know at least one of the supposedly homeless people in the local town goes back to his house after a day begging on the street. It annoys me no end because I honestly believe there are plenty of people in real need in this country, but there will always be scumbags who take advantage.

 

[dowie]

Yea, you will hear "oh the poor homeless people in Windsor" from some news outlets. But if you actually go and watch them for a while you see what they are talking about. They are actually gangs of professional scam artists, fraudsters and thieves praying on tourists.

same situation in London - especially on the overground, some are quite persistent and occasionally aggressive

they'll get framed as "homeless" when it is convenient to do so for the purposes of media outrage (such as towards the Windsor council leader) but in a lot of cases they're not and are just beggars/scammers

 

[wesimmo]

I don't think homeless people actually exist in the real sense in the UK. Exceptions will occur but for the most part I don't believe it is a thing.

Absolute rubbish.

I have a good friend who lived on the streets during his teens and early twenties due to his family life, or lack of.

He managed to drag himself out of the situation and now works for a homeless charity in London.

I'm not saying there aren't people playing the system and that we don't get a lot of foreign begging gangs, far from it.

There are, though, still genuinely tragic cases of mental illness etc that result in people having no home and no support.

Even alcoholism and drug dependency can be as a result of, for example, abuse and mental issues as a result.

What is it they say about judging and walking in someone else's shoes?

 

[Sankari]

Likewise there was clock boy and his blatant fake bomb prank

It wasn't a fake bomb prank. Bomb hoaxes are a criminal offence in Texas, and he was never charged. He had previously brought similar homemade devices to school (some more complicated than the clock) without incident.

(sorry just an extended rant... but we do seem to end up with the media getting carried away with rubbish stories like this and donations that could perhaps be used for something useful like combatting malaria in Africa etc.. instead get spent on fake "heroes" and "geniuses" who did very little and got a lot of press for it)

Agreed.

 

[dowie]

It wasn't a fake bomb prank. Bomb hoaxes are a criminal offence in Texas, and he was never charged. He had previously brought similar homemade devices to school (some more complicated than the clock) without incident.

I dunno I'd be rather skeptical about his intentions, I know he wasn't eventually charged but that in itself doesn't negate the view that the purpose of the device was to make something that looked like a Hollywood style fake "bomb" - especially as he'd been told to put it away/keep it in his backpack by a different teacher earlier in the day... he knew what it looked like and he decided to get it out again in front of a different teacher - sure he perhaps didn't anticipate getting the police called etc..

Anyway it was just another example of the media getting carried away/people clamouring to offer free things to this new "hero" who'd done nothing much in reality.

 

[Efour]

Absolute scum. He should be thrown into the deepest, darkest hole and forgotten about.

Dudes already in Manchester. Leave him be.

 

[Zhuni]

I know nothing about this guys life so can't judge. I doubt he's having a great time though.