Death by Remote Control…

The unlucky Lotto winner

My condolences go out to the family of the woman killed by remote control (click here for the full story). Judge Giles Forrester, sentenced her husband, Paul Harvey – who had tried desperately to resuscitate her by giving her the kiss of life – to 3 years imprisonment, after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March. Turns out, he threw the remote control unit “in her direction” during a row and it hit her. The Old Bailey heard that Ms Laguna had a very rare condition which neither she or her husband knew about. Apparently, when the remote control made contact, it caused a weak artery in her neck to burst and she died of a severe brain haemorrhage. Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting council said: "It would only have required a trivial incident to cause her death."

Yes, a terribly sad story and yet, I can’t help but wonder…does this mean she is now the first recipient of Rupert Murdoch's ultimate BSkyB package? And more importantly, has her husband now invalidated the warranty on his plasma?

I accept the gags are in poor taste, but PLEASE, what a ridiculous way to die. And as for the poor motie-thowing dude, who by all accounts, “loved this woman very much” and is now currently banged-up. For doing something most of us (yes women, I’m talking to you as well) have regrettably done, at some point in our lives too.

Sorry, but 3 years, when paedophiles and rapists often walk away with less than 18 months! It just don’t make no sense to me. In my opinion, this is a simple case of falling in a barrel of tits and coming up sucking your thumb. I thought the defence attorney, Jonathan Goldberg QC, made a good point when he asserted,  "By a fluke chance, maybe the same as, in a different context, winning the lottery, it landed on the exact spot where she had a weakness.”

My instinct is, Mr Harvey will serve far longer than the 3 year custodial sentence within the confines of the prison cell in his own mind.

RIP Gloria Laguna – I’ll never complain about losing my motie down the back of the sofa again.

- Cheyelle Omar

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