[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Flyboy

I believe that I have yet to see such a distasteful, prejudiced and quite frankly, ignorant series of posts in my entire life. You have absolutley not one iota of evidence that his Autism was the driving force behind his motivations. You have not one inkling of how the condition affects the decision making process of a sufferer and you have no idea what the hell you are talking about. Your comments disgusts me and all parents of children who have to live this condition day in and day out. How dare even pretend to know what it is like for a child growing up with Aspergers and how it affects them and all around them. Your belief that reading a few lines on a website makes you an expert in how the condition works, is ignorant and lazy and has no place on this forum. I dare you to call the NAS and spout the same BS to them and see what response you get.

I will not give two hoots about any response you may give to this post, because you have destroyed any credibility you may have in even producing a mere utterance upon the subject.

I referred to the 'alleged' Asperger's. As such I am not linking the two, in fact I am pointing out that his actions were inconsistent with Autism as specified by the link to the National Autistic Society webpage on Asperger's.

This is the post that brought up Asperger's with regards to this case.

Originally Posted by Osem

I've heard reports that the lad in question has Aspergers Syndrome. If this indeed the case, it might go some way to explaining why the first judge acted as he/she did but it doesn't explain why sufficient supervisiory conditions weren't applied in order to keep him from reoffending. Where a crime is committed by someone who's mentally ill, I think it should be incumbent upon the authorities to ensure that the punishment imposed is intended first and foremost to protect the public and then to assist that individual, if possible, to modify/control their behaviour. This latter goal may well have been behind the initial decision not to jail the lad but tragically, in the absence of effective supervision/controls, he was able to reoffend.

My initial reaction to that post was this:-

Originally Posted by nomadking

If someone has been found to have an untreatable medical condition and that condition is alleged to have played a part in them committing a serious crime, that is all the more reason to lock them up, as they are certainly going to commit another offence.
...

I didn't bring up the issue of Asperger's and no link for that claim was provided by the person that did. My reply refers to where an untreatable mental illness of whatever sort is used as mitigation for a serious crime of whatever sort.

This is the post that sought to possibly link Asperger's to it.

Originally Posted by Osem

Which is pretty much what I've said.

None of us have any idea what aspect(s) of this lad's personality have caused him to behave in this way. The Aspergers may be a significant part of the reason in this case but that will be up to experts to determine. If that is indeed found to be the case and deemed a mitigating factor than punishing this lad in the same manner as a cold, calculating paedophile with no such 'mitigating' conditions would seem to me to be unfair.

Protecting the public is however a different issue and clearly this lad must be held in custody for that reason. Prisons are not the place for mentally ill people yet many such people are languishing inside them. IMO secure units which can offer whatever remedial treatments there may be or at least provide a seccure environment which is less likely to cause the offender's behaviour to spiral out of control are a far better option.

I have NEVER tried to link the two things and have only responded to that specific mental condition in reply to what 'Osem' has said. Even then pointing out the general position that a mental condition should not provide a 'get out of jail free' card for a serious offence.

It is my understanding that one of the cornerstones of autism is lack of interaction. I checked that on the National Autistic Society website.