Headline, June07, 2013

'''THE WORLD'S ''INVISIBL​E VICTIMS''

OF POINTLESS CRUELTY'''

On the fateful day of 26 September,  2006,  the paramedics answering an emergency call found Kevin Davies,  -29, collapsed, unconscious on the kitchen floor of 14 Badgers Way, home of the three people who kept him enslaved. Despite efforts to resuscitate him, Kevin Davis was pronounced dead at the scene.

To anyone seeing it for the first time, the makeshift shack looked like a small garden shed, the kind hastily assembled by men all over Britain to keep tools and junk. Situated behind a small semi-detached house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the village of Bream in Gloucestershire, and tucked beside a brick wall, it was poorly constructed from wood, drab green corrugated iron and an old door; the only light came from the opaque glimmer that penetrated the plastic roof.

For men all over the country, the shed is a handy refuge from the modern world, but for Kevin Davies this cabin could not have been more different, 6ft long, 4ft wide and 5.5ft tall, it was more of a torture chamber than a sanctuary, albeit one which had walls decorated with gloss pink paint and spare bathroom tiles, and a floor partially covered in linoleum. Bolted from the outside, the hovel had no electricity, water, bedding or toilet, yet for almost four months in 2006, Kevin was held captive there by three people who lived in the adjacent house, and who he tragically regarded as ''friends.'' He was only allowed out to do the chores.

Kevin Davies was born in Lydney in Gloucestershire, in 1977. His mother Elizabeth Knight, worked as a cleaner in a local district hospital; his father Keith Davies was a skilled toolmaker. Kevin had a sister, Hayley, who was two years older than him.The family lived in a council house in the town, but after his parents split Kevin and his sister went to live nearby

Placid and good-natured, Kevin was well liked. ''He was not one of the brightest kids at school, but he was pretty popular,'' says Richard Goulding, a close childhood friend. ''Whitecross was just a normal comp and Kevin was just an average kid, who didn't excel at anything. In fact, unless you were in the top groups, the teachers never really bothered with us. We fell through the cracks.''

At 15, Kevin was diagnosed with epilepsy, and his mother found it difficult to cope. By this time he was approaching 6ft 2in. ''He was a gentle giant and wouldn't hurt a fly,'' said his mother. ''I asked for advice on how to handle Kevin, but nothing was ever done, except offering him medication.'' So, Kevin left school at 16 with few qualifications and began an apprenticeship as a welder.

His epilepsy gradually worsened and he was forced to leave. Keven lived at home with his mother and survived in disability benefits, although his mother says he had no contact with adult social services.

By his twenties, Kevin had become something of a loner, seeming happiest when he was roving alone along the paths, fields and valleys of the nearby Forest of Dean. He had also began to spend more time with his father, who by this time was homeless and an alcoholic, living most of the time in disused railway carriages. And Kevin was often forgetting to take his medicine.

At the local pubs he began making a circle of casual acquaintances and friends. ''He was a very trusting person,'' says Richard Goulding. ''If someone started befriending him it would be like for like with Kevin   -which is why he ended up the people he did.''

This tragic and shaming post continues. And it raises a very basic question that I address in the following post:

''Was`Kevin's torture and death another example of man's capacity for casual brutality?

With respectful dedication to the memory of Kevin Davies and all the sufferings in Almighty God's world!

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless