This one's going down

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Chris

Again, none of that is the children's fault. I assume you've never had to visit anyone in prison. I assure you, it's not a pleasant experience.

You assume wrong. There is one person at fault and that's their father and his punishment is time in prison, not time in prison with a few days of at Christmas, you'll be saying "let Rose West out next, after all she has children".

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

You assume wrong. There is one person at fault and that's their father and his punishment is time in prison, not time in prison with a few days of at Christmas, you'll be saying "let Rose West out next, after all she has children".

I think that's a bit extreme. They obviously looked at this case, assessed his danger to the public (none), the risk of him absconding (presumably none), and his character and behaviour and decided that on balance it would be a decent thing to let him out for Christmas.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Damien

I think that's a bit extreme. They obviously looked at this case, assessed his danger to the public (none), the risk of him absconding (presumably none), and his character and behaviour and decided that on balance it would be a decent thing to let him out for Christmas.

Decent for whom, his victims mother who they didn't even bother to notify...

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Damien

I think that's a bit extreme. They obviously looked at this case, assessed his danger to the public (none), the risk of him absconding (presumably none), and his character and behaviour and decided that on balance it would be a decent thing to let him out for Christmas.

Whereas I agree with most of what you say, why should the authorities do anything 'decent' for him?

[Derek]

He won't be the only prisoner out for Xmas by any means, some prisons are actually closed over the festive season as all the cons are on leave.

As Damien says what risks are there to the public with him being released?

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Derek S

He won't be the only prisoner out for Xmas by any means, some prisons are actually closed over the festive season as all the cons are on leave.

As Damien says what risks are there to the public with him being released?

This isn't about risk, it's about punishment, his actions caused some ones death, it's not like he was caught shop lifting after all

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

This isn't about risk, it's about punishment, his actions caused some ones death, it's not like he was caught shop lifting after all

Punishment is only one aspect of prison. There is also public protection and rehabilitation. All three should be in evidence, and all three should be in proportion to the crime.

Causing death by dangerous driving is rated way down the scale in comparison to manslaughter in our system (and rightly so). Intent should always be a significant factor when deciding on an appropriate sentence. The usual cries of "well there's a family that doesn't have its little girl for Christmas ever again" are part of the consideration but they're not all of it.

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Decent for whom, his victims mother who they didn't even bother to notify...

Decent to his family, anyway I was making the point that the comparison to Rose West is not fair.

Originally Posted by Russ

Whereas I agree with most of what you say, why should the authorities do anything 'decent' for him?

Some compassion, to the right people of decent character, should be a feature of our justice system.

[LondonRoad]

The guy was still in denial during his trial claiming he did nothing wrong and his driving was in line with his training. My sympathies lie with the families of victims not with the families of the guilty.

i don't have a problem with this ,i didn't agree with him going to prison in the first place

Originally Posted by LondonRoad

My sympathies lie with the families of victims not with the families of the guilty.

Then you have a *lot* to learn about the effects of crime on the families of criminals.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Chris

Punishment is only one aspect of prison. There is also public protection and rehabilitation. All three should be in evidence, and all three should be in proportion to the crime.

Causing death by dangerous driving is rated way down the scale in comparison to manslaughter in our system (and rightly so). Intent should always be a significant factor when deciding on an appropriate sentence. The usual cries of "well there's a family that doesn't have its little girl for Christmas ever again" are part of the consideration but they're not all of it.

Funnily enough the judge decided an appropriate sentence, 3 years, not a few days of after serving a several months.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

This isn't about risk, it's about punishment, his actions caused some ones death, it's not like he was caught shop lifting after all

Depends what you want prison to be. If its pure punishment then everyone should pretty much be in solitary for the duration but its not and people get some form of rehabilition for when they get out.

Of course, IMO, he should never have been convicted in the first place but that discussion has been done to death. He was convicted and is now being treated as if he were any other prisoner with no special treatment.

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Funnily enough the judge decided an appropriate sentence, 3 years, not a few days of after serving a several months.

Funnily enough, judges are generally well aware of exactly how long someone will actually spend inside for any given length of sentence, and tend to take that into account.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Funnily enough the judge decided an appropriate sentence, 3 years, not a few days of after serving a several months.

How many people do you think serve anything like what they are sentenced to?