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Criminal justice ain't justice

Wednesday, 9th July 2008

Here are three examples of our wonderful criminal justice system today.

First, the now traditional 'punish the victim' story:

For more than two years, Sydney Davis's house has been under siege from youths throwing stones. After two hours of bombardment in the latest attack and no sign of the police, the 65-year-old retired builder decided enough was enough. As a particularly large missile landed in his kitchen, he grabbed a plank of wood from the garden and ran towards the gang to scare them away.
The police arrived just in time - to arrest Mr Davis for possession of an offensive weapon. He now faces up to six months in prison. Yesterday Mr Davis said he was bewildered by the decision to prosecute him. He claims objects have been thrown at his house on 700 separate occasions. His windows have been smashed five times in eight months.

But heh, it would be quite wrong to punish criminals:

Burglars should no longer be sentenced to jail, official advisers have said. Unpaid work or a curfew would normally be a better way of punishing break-ins and thefts, said a panel that issues guidelines to judges.

This is my favourite bit:

For the first time, magistrates and judges could be ordered to listen to victims – or bereaved relatives – and be guided by their views on how an offender should best be punished. But, crucially, only messages of forgiveness would be taken into consideration. The views of those who demanded the harshest penalties would be disregarded.

Of course.

And if you want to kill someone, just make sure you do it with your bike and you'll get off with a fine:

The parents of a teenager killed by a speeding cyclist called for a change in the law after he walked away from court with just a £2,200 fine. Jason Howard was convicted of dangerous cycling for killing Rhiannon Bennett as she walked to a shop with friends.
Howard, 36, sped towards Rhiannon at more than 23mph, shouting at her to get out of the way. With no time to react, the 17-year-old horse management student was hit with the full force of the £4,750 custom-built bicycle, suffering fatal injuries as she hit her head on the pavement.
The two-day trial at Aylesbury Crown Court heard that as Howard, a line painter from Buckingham, sped towards Rhiannon on a quiet road near his home in April last year he shouted: 'Move, because I'm not stopping.' Howard admitted he could have avoided Rhiannon if he had slowed right down.

A question: why isn't that manslaughter?

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C Powell

July 9th, 2008 1:28pm

I think the answer to your question about the dangerous cyclist is that if he had done the same thing in a car it's unlikely that he'd have been prosecuted for manslaughter. It's not the fact that he was a cyclist which was worthy of note but that accidents caused by those who use the road, whether cyclists or motorists, are so casually treated.

Entirely agree with your views on the first example. As to the second, I don't think that victim's views as to what the level of sentence are relevant. But the court should certainly hear about the impact on the victims as one of the factors relevant to the sentence.

Kevyn Bodman

July 9th, 2008 2:10pm

The first case:
I would like the case to go to jury trial and the jury to acquit.
Is it possible?

catesby

July 9th, 2008 3:00pm

why isn't that manslaughter?

23 mph may sound like a high speed for a bicycle, but it would be a very slow speed for a car.

Clearly this man made an effort to avoid a collision by shouting ahead for the pedestrian to get out of the way.

When a motorist toots his horn at me, or a cyclist rings their bell to alert me to their impending presence, I take evasive action.

I imagine the cyclist in this case expected something similar.

The article you link says there wasn't time for her to get out of the way.

But was that easily forseeable?

How long does it take to move out of the way of a bike?

Could this not be a genuine accident caused by the pedestrian's slow reaction?

Had this accident featured a car driver travelling at 23 mph , who had used his horn to warn the pedestrian, we wouldn't probably be reading about it in the papers. Nor, probably, would it have ever come to court.

So long as the guy was on a road and not on a pavement, I don't think this was deserving of a prison sentence.

JOSH TOBIN

July 9th, 2008 3:30pm

www.colonel-radioshow.co.uk new satire comedy have a laugh

Verity

July 9th, 2008 3:36pm

Yes, but wasn't the cyclist on the pavement? Where most of them are? I believe he was, and that the young folks were walking on the pavement as a group.

Anon

July 9th, 2008 3:54pm

Re: Case 3. The two articles I have seen both said he was on the road.

Neil

July 9th, 2008 6:06pm

What's to stop a thug unlucky enough to have been caught and convicted from 'encouraging' his victims to ask the judge to be lenient?

Mr Potarto

July 9th, 2008 10:21pm

If he said (and had time to say), "Move, because I'm not stopping" then he admitted a disregard for the victim's welfare that led to her death.

If a pedestrian stepped out in front of a car and the passenger quoted the driver saying, "I'm not going to brake" before he hit them, I think we would read about it in the papers.