Opinion: Celebrating migrant deaths and a vigil for a killer: Why is society so messed up?

Yesterday, four migrants drowned when the dinghy they were on capsized in the English Channel.

And locally, 38-year-old businessman and dad of four Steven Ling was found guilty of the horrific, brutal murder of Mateusz Chojnowski and faces a life sentence for an attack so violent that the victim could only be identifed by fingerprints.

The reaction to both those stories by Doncaster Free Press readers, has to put it bluntly, been unprecedented and left both seasoned journalists and readers alike shocked by the comments that have poured in on social media.

Underneath a post about the tragedy in the Channel, there appeared to be little sympathy.

"There's f*** all tragic about it,” raged one. “My thoughts exactly,” added another, before bluntly concluding: “F*** ‘em.”

"I have no sympathy,” wrote another while another posted: “Who cares? No sympathy from me.”

Fortunately, it drew horrified reactions from some readers.

"When did people become so nasty and hateful towards others that they practically celebrate the death of people?,” wrote one.

"Imagine being that awful a person you’re glad at someone else’s death? People have lost their lives, have some empathy,” added another.

It was a similar story on our reporting of killer Steven Ling being found guilty of murdering Mateusz in a bloody, sustained and frenzied attack behind a Doncaster city centre pub in July.

Because the victim had been found inside Ling’s car and was accused of being a thief, the general consensus from friends and supporters of the murderer was that ‘he deserved it.’

Comments like 'sc*mbag" and ‘good riddance' poured in - not for the killer, but for the victim. “I’d do the same,” added another. That phrase “no sympathy” was also there again in abundance.

Friends and supporters rushed to defend him. There’s even talk of a vigil in Doncaster for Ling this weekend.

Yes, you read that right. A vigil for a murderer and not his victim.

This newspaper has been bombarded with messages urging us to take the story down, to show some ‘respect’ for the family and friends of a convicted killer.

All of a sudden, the newspaper that’s reporting on a very, violent, chilling and brutal killing is being portrayed as the villain of the piece.

“Doncaster Free Press hang your heads in shame - absolute disgrace of a news rag,” was just one among a string of comments while another urged us to “give it a rest, there is innocent families having to deal with this and you are not having an ounce of respect for them.”

We are well aware that families are often indeed the innocent victims in cases as tragic as this one. But the fault lies with the convicted criminal, no one else.

If you can't do the time, don’t do the crime is the old saying. Kill someone and you can expect to be splashed across the world’s media.

But above all else, we ask the question, how has society become so messed up that people take joy in the deaths of others?

Forget the circumstances. Are you really happy to celebrate people dying in a dinghy or being kicked, punched and stamped to death behind a pub?

When TV presenter Caroline Flack took her own life in 2020, there was an outpouring of hate against the media, urging people to ‘be kind.’

How's that working out for everyone these days?

Thankfully, the majority of our readers are decent, honest souls ready to step in and challenge those who spew hatred and bile and revel in the deaths of others.

This week has shown some of the worst that Doncaster has to offer.

Let’s hope that Christmas can bring peace and goodwill to all men. Because at times, this city certainly needs it.