http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39078685?post_id=10154314517261133_10155081038556133 ****ing disgusting
I think it's a tough one. I'm not a violent person at all (a lover, not a fighter), but on a regular basis I deal with people who are. From my perspective they tend to be people who are highly paranoid and, for whatever reason, are hard-wired to see slights in even the most innocuous things (recently I came across a person who went into an almost murderous rage because, in his opinion, somebody in the toilet looked at his shoes funny). They are also individuals who almost always default to attempting to solve any issue, even one that many of us might think is small, with violence. That's how they deal with life - to paraphrase somebody with whom I've had a 'discussion' on this board, it's how social orders are worked out for that kind of person. Fighting is normal, squaring up to others (and, if they don't back down, following through with the threat of violence) is how problems should be solved,; and often how they are. In general I feel sorry for people who live their lives like this, although I have no sympathy for their views. However, punches are thrown every weekend, by hundreds or thousands of people. It's deeply sad when one of these punches results in the death of an individual, but nobody hits someone with their fist with the intent to kill. Punishments, for me, should be given based on intent, not results. It's fairly well known that any punch could result in the death of an individual - should we then lock people up for life whenever they throw one, even if it only had the potential to kill? I realise that I might not be making my point clearly. My basic opinion is that any kind of attempted stabbing, for example, should be punished far more harshly than a punch. I'd stand by this even if the stabber completely missed their intended victim, or if the puncher manage to kill theirs. Nobody goes at somebody else with a knife unless they mean to seriously harm them, but plenty of people throw punches because it's simply their way of dealing with an argument.
Very lenient sentence. Understandable (possibly) if it was a first offence with some mitigating circumstances but this man has plenty of history.
Maybe the punishment should be on a sliding scale. Gun > Knife > fist, but within each scale depends on injury level: Death > Disfigurement/Disability > Bruise/Cut > missed the body.
Ridiculous sentence unprovoked attack by someone with a history of violence, who wants scum like that walking round free, should've been a minimum of ten but 15 wldve been better
I could understand it if it was self defense or as a result of an accident but anybody who goes round punching a peaceful person for no reason doesn't deserve to be walking the streets, given his history he must have known the potential consequences
My issue with this is that your sentence depends, to a certain extent, on luck. Why should someone who can't fire a gun for toffee get a worse sentence than a master marksman when they wanted to do the same thing? Punishing the consequences of a crime rather than trying to work out what the motive was just seems like appeasing the desire for revenge to me rather than justice.
Re: Ridiculous sentence Is it 6 years he got, or is it really 3 when you count good behaviour? If it ends up being only 3, then that is pathetic. He's probably done half his time already......
Whilst I agree with the majority of what you've said, if the consequences were harsher, then I think more would think about their actions before they attack innocent people. This bloke has a history of unprovoked violence to both men and women, probably over a period of time. Had they given him a lengthier sentence, it may have provoked others to reconsider their actions in the future. However I am just guessing as like yourself, I've never felt the urge to throw a punch at someone, even when provoked. The consequences are high enough for someone like me already, but the bloke in this particular article will be out in a maximum of 6 years, and I get the impression that he could very easily do it again in the future. Sent from space using satellites and things
