Latest news with #Sentamu
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Yahoo
'Men and boys struggle with emotional literacy'
"There's a real sense of emotional illiteracy among men and boys and there are difficult emotions, difficult things that happen in life, but nobody teaches us how to process them." Ben Hurst, from the charity Beyond Equality which works with young men on tackling issues around violence against women and girls, and the topic of masculinity, has been speaking to Riz Lateef on her BBC Radio London programme on Friday. Their conversation followed the news of the sentencing of Hassan Sentamu, who repeatedly stabbed 15-year-old Elianne Andam outside a shopping centre in Croydon, south London, in September 2023. He was ordered to spend at least 23 years in prison for her murder. Ben believes there is a "real systemic issue" across the UK with how boys, and men, have been socialised to move through and experience the world. He said it is about addressing the "attitudes beneath the behaviour". The Old Bailey heard Sentamu had a history of aggression towards young people and girls. In her sentencing remarks, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said on Thursday, when he was aged 11, he harmed himself and, unprovoked, assaulted other children at school. She added: "While in foster care you used a knife to threaten a pupil who you thought was mocking you on a school trip. You threatened to stab another student with scissors. On another occasion you assaulted two female pupils at the school." The court also heard Sentamu had "not had the benefit of a settled and nurturing, childhood and family life". BBC iPlayer: The Big Cases - The Bus Stop Murder Ben told BBC Radio London: "My heart breaks for Elianne and the Andam family, that's a life that's been cut short, potential that's wasted that will never be seen. "There's also some kind of feeling there for Hassan, not in a sense of 'I wish that hadn't happened to him', because we want justice ultimately, but we know the statistics about prisons, which don't often lead to rehabilitation." "So the question remains, what happens to this young man who's done this thing and how do we move forward? Two wasted lives," he added. Ben believes there are real issues with how boys are able to process situations. He said: "They manifest in a range of different ways and lots of ways that are widely inappropriate - and you add that to the context of sexual harassment, sexual violence, gender-based violence, men's violence against women and girls, men's violence against men." The court heard the day before Sentamu killed Elianne, she and her group had teased him and thrown water over him in an attempt to get him to apologise to his ex-girlfriend. Jurors were told that later that day the teenager had told a friend he felt there had been disrespect shown to him by Elianne and her group. The court heard that Sentamu had called the friend and told him: "I can't let this slide." Elianne's cousin, Reverend Denzil Larbi, told BBC London: "We knew exactly what that meant," Rev Larbi told BBC London. "We knew it meant he's going to bring some sort of harm. "I honestly believe if it wasn't Elianne it would have been someone else, and so yeah, he was looking to bring some sort of revenge that day." In his victim impact statement, Rev Larbi told Sentamu he had committed "the most monstrous and evil act that is imaginable". He told BBC London he questioned whether more could have been done to prevent Elianne's murder. "What would have happened if maybe another male took him by the hand and maybe invested in him and mentored him? "Or if other organisations really took him by the reins and said: 'Yes, we recognise you're struggling here, we're here to listen'. "I really wonder if maybe my cousin would still be here." Croydon Council said there are no plans for a serious case review. Rev Larbi said Elianne's family hope to work with schools to talk to young people about the dangers of carrying a knife. "There are many Hassans just walking around Croydon. Young boys who are angry, young boys who are lost, young boys that want to be listened to. "But I do believe there are great people in our community, great organisations who are in place who can really help and support these young people." Outside court after the sentencing on Thursday, Pastor Mark Rossell, from New Life church in Croydon, issued a statement on behalf of the family. "Our daughter Elianne Andam was a vibrant, bright and loving innocent 15-year-old with her entire future ahead of her, until it was stolen in the most horrific way. "Brutally killed in broad daylight by a 17-year-old who showed no mercy." Mr Rossell said the justice system had "failed to reflect the sheer brutality" of Elianne's killing and that the Andam family were critical of Sentamu's minimum term, saying it had left them feeling "abandoned and unheard". He added: "We cannot accept such lenient sentences are appropriate for violent, calculated crimes like this. "The current legal framework does not deter young individuals from committing violent crimes, it does not provide sufficient accountability for those who commit the most heinous acts." Ben told BBC Radio London the work of Beyond Equality is "preventative", to have conversations with boys, and men of all ages, before these situations arise. Their aim is to try to address gender equality "through the lens of masculinity", with an approach that asks the questions, "what is masculinity, how does that feel, do we like it, would we change it if we could?" and to build a picture about stereotypes, norms and the expectations from there. Ben added: "It's an epidemic - it's not decreasing, we all need to find a role in this conversation." Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to 'She was a miracle baby': Elianne had dreams of law career, aunt tells BBC Criminology student murdered woman on beach, court told Crossbow killer jailed for life for triple murders Girl begged killer to stop as he stabbed her
BBC News
14-03-2025
- BBC News
Elianne Andam: 'Sense of emotional illiteracy among men and boys'
"There's a real sense of emotional illiteracy among men and boys and there are difficult emotions, difficult things that happen in life, but nobody teaches us how to process them." Ben Hurst, from the charity Beyond Equality which works with young men on tackling issues around violence against women and girls, and the topic of masculinity, has been speaking to Riz Lateef on her BBC Radio London programme on conversation followed the news of the sentencing of Hassan Sentamu, who repeatedly stabbed 15-year-old Elianne Andam outside a shopping centre in Croydon, south London, in September was ordered to spend at least 23 years in prison for her believes there is a "real systemic issue" across the UK with how boys, and men, have been socialised to move through and experience the world. He said it is about addressing the "attitudes beneath the behaviour". The Old Bailey heard Sentamu had a history of aggression towards young people and her sentencing remarks, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said on Thursday, when he was aged 11, he harmed himself and, unprovoked, assaulted other children at school. She added: "While in foster care you used a knife to threaten a pupil who you thought was mocking you on a school trip. You threatened to stab another student with scissors. On another occasion you assaulted two female pupils at the school." The court also heard Sentamu had "not had the benefit of a settled and nurturing, childhood and family life". BBC iPlayer: The Big Cases - The Bus Stop Murder Ben told BBC Radio London: "My heart breaks for Elianne and the Andam family, that's a life that's been cut short, potential that's wasted that will never be seen. "There's also some kind of feeling there for Hassan, not in a sense of 'I wish that hadn't happened to him', because we want justice ultimately, but we know the statistics about prisons, which don't often lead to rehabilitation.""So the question remains, what happens to this young man who's done this thing and how do we move forward? Two wasted lives," he added. Ben believes there are real issues with how boys are able to process situations. He said: "They manifest in a range of different ways and lots of ways that are widely inappropriate - and you add that to the context of sexual harassment, sexual violence, gender-based violence, men's violence against women and girls, men's violence against men." The court heard the day before Sentamu killed Elianne, she and her group had teased him and thrown water over him in an attempt to get him to apologise to his were told that later that day the teenager had told a friend he felt there had been disrespect shown to him by Elianne and her court heard that Sentamu had called the friend and told him: "I can't let this slide."Elianne's cousin, Reverend Denzil Larbi, told BBC London: "We knew exactly what that meant," Rev Larbi told BBC London. "We knew it meant he's going to bring some sort of harm."I honestly believe if it wasn't Elianne it would have been someone else, and so yeah, he was looking to bring some sort of revenge that day." In his victim impact statement, Rev Larbi told Sentamu he had committed "the most monstrous and evil act that is imaginable".He told BBC London he questioned whether more could have been done to prevent Elianne's murder."What would have happened if maybe another male took him by the hand and maybe invested in him and mentored him?"Or if other organisations really took him by the reins and said: 'Yes, we recognise you're struggling here, we're here to listen'."I really wonder if maybe my cousin would still be here."Croydon Council said there are no plans for a serious case Larbi said Elianne's family hope to work with schools to talk to young people about the dangers of carrying a knife."There are many Hassans just walking around Croydon. Young boys who are angry, young boys who are lost, young boys that want to be listened to."But I do believe there are great people in our community, great organisations who are in place who can really help and support these young people." 'Violent, calculated crimes' Outside court after the sentencing on Thursday, Pastor Mark Rossell, from New Life church in Croydon, issued a statement on behalf of the family."Our daughter Elianne Andam was a vibrant, bright and loving innocent 15-year-old with her entire future ahead of her, until it was stolen in the most horrific way."Brutally killed in broad daylight by a 17-year-old who showed no mercy."Mr Rossell said the justice system had "failed to reflect the sheer brutality" of Elianne's killing and that the Andam family were critical of Sentamu's minimum term, saying it had left them feeling "abandoned and unheard".He added: "We cannot accept such lenient sentences are appropriate for violent, calculated crimes like this."The current legal framework does not deter young individuals from committing violent crimes, it does not provide sufficient accountability for those who commit the most heinous acts." Ben told BBC Radio London the work of Beyond Equality is "preventative", to have conversations with boys, and men of all ages, before these situations aim is to try to address gender equality "through the lens of masculinity", with an approach that asks the questions, "what is masculinity, how does that feel, do we like it, would we change it if we could?" and to build a picture about stereotypes, norms and the expectations from added: "It's an epidemic - it's not decreasing, we all need to find a role in this conversation."
The Independent
12-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Lords talking about themselves ‘to destruction' during hereditary peers debate
Members of the House of Lords are talking about themselves 'to destruction' amid a proposed law to oust hereditary peers, Parliament has heard. Labour peer Lord Grocott, who has long campaigned to end birthright membership of the upper chamber, criticised colleagues for the pace of debate on the legislation. He argued that the Bill is a narrow and specific one, with just five clauses, intending to end the right for hereditary peers to sit and vote in the Lords, not to carry out wider reform of the unelected chamber. The former MP said: 'Everyone knows that no organisation is happier than when it's talking about itself and we're demonstrating this, I think testing it to destruction, during the debate on this Bill so far. 'A simple five-clause Bill would not normally have an attendance like this.' His comments came as peers continued their line-by-line scrutiny of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, which is on its third day of committee stage. Lord Grocott continued: 'So far we've discussed, up to today, 10 groups of amendments. There are 32 groups left to discuss. We are averaging five groups a day. 'At this rate of progress, we shall be debating this for committee day after committee day after committee day, some of us no doubt enjoying ourselves. We all like talking about our own organisation and how we work. 'But in relation to other matters that this House should be considering on the floor of the House, to spend another six, seven or eight days or more that these stats suggest we will be doing on this Bill, repeating arguments that have been heard on numerous occasions and 90% of which we know are not directly related to the Bill and will at any event some of them come forward at a later time…' Lord Grocott, who has tabled numerous private member's bills over years attempting to remove the remaining hereditary peers, insisted: 'We really do need to do better today if we want to be seen as relevant.' Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Sentamu agreed, saying: 'I am not a prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I would like to have a healthy check. None of the amendments you put are going to end up in this Bill.' He added that the amendments 'have nothing to do with the Bill' and that peers are 'luxuriating' by discussing further reforms that are set to happen in the future. Lord Strathclyde, a Conservative hereditary peer, said: 'There is no attempt to try and filibuster this debate.' Peers debated for more than two and a half hours the idea of adding to the Bill an attendance or participation requirement for members of the Lords. Several argued that a participation requirement was listed in Labour's election manifesto, alongside the ousting of hereditary peers. However, the Government argued that there is no consensus on what this participation requirement should be and that the Bill is the first step in the process of wider Lords reform. During the prolonged debate, peers exchanged numerous ideas on how a participation requirement could work. It was suggested that peers could be required to attend a certain percentage of sitting days, with debate about whether this should be set at 1%, 10%, 15% or higher, and potentially with exceptions for those with a good reason or a leave of absence. However, some argued that this would eliminate 'low frequency, high impact' peers who are at the top of their fields and only contribute occasionally on the subject they are an expert in. It was also argued that it could result in peers coming in as 'lobby fodder' to vote and do little else. It was then suggested that peers should be required not just to attend, but to actively participate. This could take the form of speaking in the chamber or grand committee, serving on a select committee, asking oral questions, tabling written questions or taking part in official delegations overseas. It was argued that this would eke out those peers who 'clock in and disappear', but others claimed this would create a 'perverse incentive' to take part in proceedings only to meet the minimum requirement. Attorney General Lord Hermer said there is 'very considerable agreement' that peers should be obliged to participate, that metrics to measure participation should be decided on, and that failure to meet these without good reason would be 'incompatible' with membership of the Lords. But this is where the agreement ends, he said. The senior law officer said: 'As the amendments and the debate today has demonstrated, there is as yet no measure of agreement as to what the requisite participation levels should be, what the metrics will be. 'Participation in this house can take many different forms, but specifying which should be the metrics applied to requisite participation is a complicated and nuanced matter… 'We are not yet at a point where consensus has been reached and further work and further discussion is required.' Lord Hermer told peers that Lords leader Baroness Smith of Basildon has engaged in 'over 60' discussions with peers to develop the plan for how to move forward with further reforms after this Bill. He concluded: 'The Government is committed to moving forward, hopefully through consensus, to push to the next level of reform, at which participation will be key.'
