Since the rave culture stems from a place of love, it is always disheartening to hear of heartbreaking situations where people get hurt or die during events that revolve around them.
Tragically, a week after getting punched while providing services as a disk jockey at a private function, in Perth, Scotland, Derek Wilkie, passed away a week after sustaining injuries that stemmed from an altercation.
According to reports, an attack brewed between the DJ and a thirty-six-year-old man named Lyall Dick, allegedly over an argument that ensued after the DJ refused to accommodate a song request by the attacker.
While it is unclear of the exact motive of the attack, first-hand reports from Dick state that he did deliver one strike to the DJ after exchanging a series of words.
Dick did not intend to kill the victim with his strike, nor was he aware that the DJ was taking a blood thinning medication to combat a deep vein thrombosis that would make it difficult to slow down any bleeding that would occur, but all of that is hindsight because a man lost his life after he lost control of his temper and punched him hard enough to break his glasses and false teeth over words.
The victim’s girlfriend, Jodie Hamilton, tried to step in between the men to dissolve the situation, but eyewitness reports state that she was assaulted in the process as Dick pushed her out of the way before attacking the man. The construction worker and father of three said that he was sorry for his involvement with both the assault on Ms. Hamilton, as well as the dearly departed.
The attack happened back in September and is just now being processed by the Perth Court System. Instead of charging the man with murder, the system decided that they could not prove that the attack was the leading cause of death, and they merely fined him 300 euros for the assault on Hamilton, and 600 euros for attacking Mr. Wilkie.
Official reports stated that after the attack, that staff and friends of Wilkie that were on site were unable to slow bleeding, and paramedics were called to the scene and able to stop further blood loss. Before authorities arrived on the scene, the bleeding ceased, and the altercation simmered. Since a week passed between the attack and the time the man died prosecutors were unable to prove that the attack was the official cause of death, therefore the fine was the only course of action that they could take as a penalty for Dick.
It appears as though the punishment is rather light considering that a loss of life did occur. It is a very sad situation for everybody involved. Certainly, somebody should be held accountable for the death of the victim. Justice does not seem to be served in this situation.
A man simply performing at a professional function should have been better protected by security and should have never been struck in the first place while doing his job. The court system should take a second look into this and consider further investigation regarding the cause of death. Establishments must protect people that they hire to perform at events, or at least be held responsible when incidents like this occur. Hearts and thoughts go out to the family and friends of everybody involved.
