Saturday, May 26, 2012

Compare and contrast

Yesterdays post on my site could have had no better counterpart to today's headlines about the millionaires daughter who received a two year sentence for her role as a 'chauffeur' during the riots last year.
Telegraph.
A millionaire's daughter was yesterday jailed for her "pivotal" role in last year's summer riots after a judge said she was caught up by the "excitement" and "thrill" of the mayhem and lawlessness.
Laura Johnson, 20, a former grammar school prefect, acted as a chauffeur for a drug-dealing robber and his friends as they pillaged electrical goods during an eight-hour crime spree.
The university student left behind her privileged background and embraced the new world of cannabis, alcohol and violent gangster rap music, willingly partaking in the rampage.
Her actions added to the "overall lawlessness" that threatened to overwhelm the forces of law and order, the court heard.
After a two-week trial,Johnson was found guilty of burglary and handling stolen goods.
Yesterday Judge Patricia Lees sentenced her foir a total of two years for both counts after she said Johnson was caught up "through immaturity and ill judgement" what she thought was an "exciting experience".
Do I think she got what she deserved? Well yes and no, she certainly deserved some sort of punishment for her actions and the crime wasn't exactly victimless. Yet at no time was anyone injured over her actions, so I suppose two years (even if is reduced to seven months due to various other factors)  is fair enough.
However as I pointed out on Saturday, if you get annoyed with someone on the dance floor and then proceed to glass them severing one of the four arteries to the brain irreparably, then the chances are with the right judge you'll end up with a ten month prison sentence suspended for two years and even called a decent person by the judge to boot.
Yes I suppose there's a case for making an example of a millionaires daughter, however at the end of the day something stinks to high heaven with the UK's judicial system where a violent attack carries far less weight than driving a getaway car.
Our entire legal system seems to be based around property rights, not individual rights, not a day goes by without some MSM headline telling us so and so got a minuscule sentence for some form of violent attack, even murder, which should carry a maximum sentence, you can be out in 7 years assuming you behave yourself, hardly a just way of dealing with the taking of a life.
Perhaps one day (come the revolution) we'll get a decent legal system that's both fair and just. But I'm not holding my breath on that one.

2 annotations:

Anonymous said...

Our entire legal system is not fit for purpose. The judges are bonkers, I get sick of reading stories about their poor judgements. How can this country have become so bad at everything from the law, Government, NHS education, religion, manners, morals, everything? It makes me so angry, how did we get this way, when did it start and who the hell started it?

andy said...

The riot girl got what she deserved,the neck slash girl should have got at least 5 years.