1993 - 3 year old killed by two 10 year olds.  Blair described the murder as “a hammer blow against the sleeping conscience of the nation” and sought to blame the Tory Government. Blair was rightly castigated at the time for seeking to use the death of a child for political advantage.

2010 - 2 boys attacked. David Cameron claims that the teenage boys torture case in South Yorkshire had to be considered as part of what was “going wrong” in society because of Labour. Surprisingly the papers have not castigated him, instead many have chosen to agree and blame Labour - double standards or what?

Attacks like this have unfortunately taken place without reason or pattern over the years - and sadly may happen again - irrespective of which party is in power. They are, thankfully, too rare to tell us much about the state of the nation.

I believe political leaders and the media should avoid using the human tragedy of families involved for political gain!