I like to believe that even the most tolerant among us can be absolutely horrified by an attempt to decapitate a fellow citizen on our streets.

I also like to believe that even the most myopic of us can accept that when the assailant is of a different skin colour or ethnic group to the victim, raising the question – is this terrorism? – is not an inherently racist thing to ask.

I even like to consider that questioning the value of jailing someone for years over an ill-advised social media post after a high-profile incident which shocked the local community doesn’t make someone a fascist. Nor indeed does concern about the speed with which justice and hefty prison sentences are handed out when community anger boils over into rioting – while those accused of murder and rape can wait years for trial. Little wonder cries of two-tier justice resonate with so many. Yet the deeper problem isn’t two-tier justice so much as two-tier memory.

Some names and events are destined to be etched onto our memories for life. Things that shock us, people that repulse us – for what they have done and what they stand for – will leave a notoriety that neither the place nor the perpetrators deserve. Mention Hungerford or Dunblane and you instinctively know the names of the evil associated with them. We remember the perpetrators forever, while the names of most victims fade with time, recalled only by those who loved them.

Read more by Calum Steele

I’ve knocked on too many doors. The screams are always the same

How the first line of defence against the mad and the bad has been lost

Our justice system is broken, and you and I are the victims

We can be horrified by the alleged attempted........

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