I might be alone in this, but I suspect I am not; there is something about other people’s lapses into what is politely referred to these days as “inappropriate behaviour” that has a certain fascination. I remember as a child being spellbound by the accounts of human nature out of control in the wonderful old scandal rag  “Truth” which while officially banned in our home sometimes made its way in, as it did in many other homes, on the pretext of having a very good racing page – which I am told it did. I can still be lured, by the sheer tackiness, into watching things like the E channel or New Zealand’s Top model. Harmless maybe?

What I have to do is to remind myself, that these are real people with real feelings. Nathan Thorose Connolly, 31 and his victim probably have children, fathers and mother, brothers and sisters who love them. And they have all been turned into a commodity. While the media maybe responsible for using people’s misfortune as a means of generating ratings or circulation I have to take responsibility for the fact that it is the likes of me who boost those ratings and sales. I am not an evil person – I reckon I am really quite compassionate, but like so many other ordinary people I am allowing myself to become inured to the human misery that is paraded before me. I have decided that I will no longer read or watch this stuff. The constant trafficking in human misery makes us all less human. Maybe I am just spitting on the ocean – but at least I

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