“You forced me into a corner” says Judge Foster

I think it is probably well known  by now that here in Ruralshire, you need to virtually kill someone to go to prison for more than a few weeks. I have also been banging on (for what seems like far too long) about the uselessness or the so-called community sentences, fines and early release programmes for violent prisoners.

While we are on the subject, it’s probably worth my mentioning that the various drug and alcohol treatment programmes are also a waste of time, with over 80% of criminals (because that is what they are) re-offending either during the programme, or shortly afterwards.

I have never claimed to be a psychologist, I have no idea and little interest in why these things don’t work, I just know that they don’t. And we have to support the victim’s shattered lives, take the blame for crime in Ruraltown and quite often get a good kicking in the process of arresting these people. I know it’s my job to deal with these things, but when I joined the police I had no idea that I would have to deal with the same offenders time and time again.

I had no idea that such hateful people could cause so much damage to so many victims and continually get away with it. I had no idea that the powerful liberal elites would take us to a place where these people are regarded as victims themselves in some way, not just the first time or the second time, but in a huge number of cases hundreds of times.

Once again, after highlighting issues in the Shire, readers have sent in information which shows that we are not alone:

Are we supposed to feel some sympathy for Luton’s Judge Richard Foster?

Poor Judge Foster feels that he has been “pushed into a corner” by the fact that he must now send Danny Baker to prison for a few weeks (he will not serve the whole 12 weeks sentence; they never do) after an incident in July 2008 at the Old Oak pub in Arlesey during which he punched a man in the face, fracturing his eye socket. Baker (with a previous record as long as your arm) could have been dealt with at the time of course, but he wasn’t. He was given a a 12-month community order, 80 hours unpaid work and a three month nighttime curfew. He was also ordered to pay £200 compensation.

Baker failed to attend for the work in June after already having been being given a second chance. He had only completed seven hours out of the 80 hour order.

Or what about the case of Jack Bolton, Andrew Griffin, and Nathan Marshall (all with previous criminal records) who used a mobile phone to film themselves carrying out depraved assaults on their 17-year-old victim. The terrified teenager – who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism – was also pelted with dog mess, had his limbs scratched with sandpaper and was forced to drink vodka and gin until he passed out.

Mobile phone footage showed the yobs laughing and joking as they made him endure other abuse and, in a final humiliating assault, they applied adhesive tape to his genital area before ripping the tape off. Judge Jonathan Geake imposed three-month curfews on them and ordered them to carry out 80 hours’ unpaid community work as ‘an intensive alternative to custody’. When exactly did it become acceptable for a non-custodial sentence to be handed out to people like these?

And what of Frederick Doe, Michael Tebbutt and Samantha Vander, who subjected a fellow train passenger to a ‘volley of punches and kicks’ and repeatedly stamped on his head after he asked them to keep the noise down.

Captured on CCTV, the trio were then seen laughing and celebrating – apparently revelling in the violence. The assault continued for several minutes before another passenger came to the victim’s aid and separated the group.

On Friday, each defendant was handed a four-month suspended sentence and 300 hours’ community service by St Albans Crown Court, in Hertfordshire.

Apart from the empowerment of criminal attitudes and the moral argument of leaving these sociopaths unpunished, showing them that they are stronger than us and free from any real danger of consequences, I have three main issues with this lack of proper sentencing. First, it makes society a really dangerous place to be. Second, it creates real and unnecessary suffering for victims. Thirdly, it makes it impossible for police forces to effectively deal with crime. I hope the new elected police chiefs realise that it doesn’t really matter what they think they can do with a police force to make things better; as long as these thugs and criminals carry on, free to carry out their grisly and sinister business, we will always be at their mercy.

I know personally of criminals with records of violence and dishonesty going back several decades who are still escaping custody today. Every police officer in the land knows of people like this.

 

 

 

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