The status of Irish Australian bushranger Ned Kelly as a great folk hero has been questioned by one of the country’s top cops.
Under fire – Ned Kelly
New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione, criticising the glorification of crime in films and computer games, took aim at the deification of Kelly who he said had “shot and killed police”.
Mr Scipione suggested that Kelly, who was executed for his crimes, deserved his fate.
“Advocates of capital punishment would be saying: ‘Here’s a prime candidate’,” he said.
Ned Kelly is embraced by the Irish Australian community as a man who stood up to the anti-Irish establishment of the day. He was a hero in his own community and seen as a threat by the government of the day.
The NSW Commissioner cited everything from Xbox games to television crime dramas and Hollywood movies as “abhorrent”.
“Building a movie theme around the notion that it’s cool to steal cars – like Gone in Sixty Seconds? There’s nothing cool about a kid stealing a car, driving it round the corner, and wrapping himself and three others in the car around a pole and killing them all,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Scipione refused to comment on whether local shows such as Underbelly – known for its charismatic portrayal of criminals – created a similar mindset.
“I haven’t seen Underbelly, so I can’t talk about it,” he said.
But for Mr Scipione, the most worrying influence is computer games.
“The notion of getting the Xbox out, putting on some really crazy game, rolling the car five times, and smashing into a pole – when all you’ve got to do then is just press the reset button and you can go again – is not reality,” he said.
,Regina O'Shaughnessy(Roscommon),Triona O'Shaughnessy(Roscommon).Arthur Guinness Day 23_09_2010 .jpg "Martin Reilly(Galway),Regina O'Shaughnessy(Roscommon),Triona O'Shaughnessy(Roscommon).Arthur Guinness Day 23_09_2010")
