Another sad example of how the justice system looks after us all

**wc2** · 2 November 2006, 09:30

35 years of SKY TV & Playing pool. @ £500 per week £910,000

It would be far cheaper to bring back capital punishment (Even with the payouts for mistaken convictions)

Maybe the government could issue death threats to these people then simply drop them off in India where they could seek asylum.

**tim123** · 2 November 2006, 11:01

Originally posted by Angela_D

... Oh, well that's all right then. Five dead at the hands of this @*":!"^ but procedures were followed. Keep up the good work.

And what is it that you think the system should do?

It's easy to sit there and be critical but this is unreasonable unless you can point to a fixable error.

Yes it was very sad. And yes (with hindsight) the guy was a nut-case, but ISTM that there was nothing that realistically could have been done.

The guy was previously convicted of manslaughter, a jury of his peers made that decision, not an agent of the state. He was given a 'normal' sentence for the crime he was convicted of, served his time and was let out early on license (as every prisioner in the county is). He attended his probation sessions (which many ex-prisioners don't).

Short of following him around 24/7, or of punishing him longer for his first offence, there is little that could have made a difference. But if you want either of these then they will have to apply to *everybody*.

You can't use hindsight to say that this person's treatment was wrong, but ever other crims treatment is right. You have to increase sentences/survailance for every crim and we just don't have the resources to do this. I know that its crass to equate human life with a value, but the CBA for this approach just doesn't stack up.

So, ignoring everything that you have learnt in hindsight, just what would you have done, that would have made a difference.

tim

**Mailman** · 2 November 2006, 11:04

The system should remove people like this PERMANENTLY from society. Be that either through the application of capital punishment OR life terms that mean life behind bars.

BUT we all know the Government can get more by chasing crimes that have no victims than it can by putting real criminals behind bars!

Mailman

**BoredBloke** · 2 November 2006, 11:38

"The guy was previously convicted of manslaughter, a jury of his peers made that decision, not an agent of the state. He was given a 'normal' sentence for the crime he was convicted of, served his time and was let out early on license (as every prisioner in the county is). He attended his probation sessions (which many ex-prisioners don't)."

Why manslaughter? Why not murder. It strikes me that too many people are convicted on charges which are less than what they should have been. He beats somebody to death with a hammer - why is that not murder. He should then have been given life.

**MarillionFan** · 2 November 2006, 11:40

Isnt AtW a loner and obsessive????

We need to know!

**shaunbhoy** · 2 November 2006, 14:05

Originally posted by MarillionFan

Isnt AtW a loner and obsessive????

Yes, but fortunately he cannot get girlfriends, so the women of the land remain safe. The sheep however...............that's a different matter!!

**tim123** · 2 November 2006, 14:21

Originally posted by TonyEnglish

Why manslaughter? Why not murder. It strikes me that too many people are convicted on charges which are less than what they should have been. He beats somebody to death with a hammer - why is that not murder. He should then have been given life.

You'll have to ask the jury that. It is normal in the case of a culpable homicide for the perp to be charged with both murder and manslaughter. The jury then decide whether there was sufficient premeditation for it to be murder ... or not.

They seem to have decided not.

tim

**shaunbhoy** · 2 November 2006, 14:58

Stop being such a wuss timothy. What are you, a social worker or a lawyer? I think we should be told. The guy was clearly a cyclepath and should have been whacked the first time round. That did not happen due to failures in "the system". It is the system that needs to be changed, and it will happen a lot quicker without bleeding hearts like you extolling its virtues!

**tim123** · 2 November 2006, 17:06

Originally posted by shaunbhoy

Stop being such a wuss timothy. What are you, a social worker or a lawyer? I think we should be told. The guy was clearly a cyclepath and should have been whacked the first time round. :

And how, without the benefit of hindsight, do you know this? From all the obvious info available, the guy just looked like any one of thousands of thugs that get arrested every day. Most of them get no more than a slap on the wrist.

Originally posted by shaunbhoy

That did not happen due to failures in "the system". It is the system that needs to be changed, and it will happen a lot quicker without bleeding hearts like you extolling its virtues!

I'm not extolling its virtues. I'm saying that you cannot use hindsight to bash people with. You have to point to a failing that they made, that was obvious at the time.

The guy went on to commit another (worse) crime. That is regrettable, but apart for locking everybody up for life, how do you stop this happeing?

Apply this to your own job. How does one make sure to catch all the bugs in a system before its release? Or do you not bother?

tim

Another sad example of how the justice system looks after us all