It was elemental, a gratuitous act of loving that had not involved flattery or deceit, and that was unaccompanied by shame or guilt.

NEWYORKER: Silence, Exile, Punning

Oliver King, defending, said it had not been a gratuitous act of violence or part of a pattern of abuse going on for many months.

BBC: Newtown father jailed for breaking baby son's leg

In a statement, Cardinal O'Brien, the archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, described the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie as an "act of unbelievable horror and gratuitous barbarity".

BBC: Cardinal Keith O'Brien calls for Megrahi inquiry