Ridiculously Lenient Sentencing

MacRS4

MacRS4

MacRS4

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Joined
15 Dec 2008
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Stumbled on to this today while amusing myself watching cyclists do their nut on Twitter about absolutely everything:

Hartlepool mum spared jail for hit-and-run which left 10-year-old schoolgirl with serious injuries

Seems the woman:

  • Hit the teenager, drove off, leaving the lass unconscious in the road.
  • Removed number plates on her car as way of concealment.
  • Driving while disqualified, and uninsured
  • //Some other unquantifiable stuff about broken 'breaking' (sic) system.

Doesn't go to prison.

I'm a bit all boggled by this. How has she escaped a prison sentence? It seems absurd.

What am I missing.
 
Can see why she was spared - looks as though single mum with 3 kids and an elderly parent. The impact of prison would have effects elsewhere in social services etc if the dad is not in the picture or not fit to take care. Couple that with mental health issues maybe prison wasn't the best option and rehabilitation could be better?

Not sympathising as I still think prison should have been the outcome but I can see what the judge was taking into consideration.

Still a 18 month sentence hanging over you for 2 years would hopefully have an effect.
 
SC0TTRS said:
Still no excuse to leave a 10yr old girl die in the street.
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True

Not disagreeing at all - I just think that sometimes rather than going full steam ahead and throwing the book at people, taking context into consideration and using common sense might have more of an impact. Particularly as she has shown remorse? Plead guilty etc.

If she went to prison the 3 kids and parent would need to be cared for - potentially adds strain to the social services and has an impact there. There is also the impact of kids losing their only parent and the knock on impact there. Was just adding a viewpoint from the judge and why he may have spared prison as a sentence.

If she gets the right support from the right services she could potentially come out of it better than going to prison.

I know there's a lot of ifs and buts there but is that not the same with prison? Stick people in there, hope they learn their lesson and let them out?
 
What good is a ban and suspended sentence going to do to somebody who's already driven over somebody while already disqualified? I get the points raised, but it just seems so...heartless :-/
 
MacRS4 said:
What good is a ban and suspended sentence going to do to somebody who's already driven over somebody while already disqualified?
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The only people that sentences like that affect are law abiding people. They serve no purpose whatsoever to the criminal element in society (or out of it rather) but the judiciary and government are too thick to realise it. Largely because they don't actually exist in the real world.

Only one when of them or their own is harmed by a career criminal will something actually be done.
 
so if i claim mental health issues and perpetrate a bit of vat fraud with no one hurt can i get off without a prison stretch too?
 
Wide open to a civil case though. She isn't insured so would have to take the full cost of the damages. I hope they clean her out.
 
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skaif said:
Can see why she was spared - looks as though single mum with 3 kids and an elderly parent. The impact of prison would have effects elsewhere in social services etc if the dad is not in the picture or not fit to take care. Couple that with mental health issues maybe prison wasn't the best option and rehabilitation could be better?
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But knowing these consequences didn't make her stop and consider the impact her actions would mean to her family.

The courts should NOT take them into any sort of consideration when sentencing.
There are hundreds of drivers still on the roads after amassing 12+ points because they bleat that losing their licence will impact them negatively. So? Should have thought about it before being a grade A *******.
 
So basically, you just need to pop out a few kids and you can expect to break the law, almost killing somebody, with little to no recompense. What a great example she is to them, I'm sure they'll also turn out to be great contributors to our society.
 
skaif said:
Still a 18 month sentence hanging over you for 2 years would hopefully have an effect.
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I've never really understood this. A person like this doesn't just turn into a model citizen over 2 years. They should throw an 18 month sentence suspended for 10 or even 20 years at her. If she can behave then she's got nothing to worry about. Just seems a bit dumb that after 2 years she could run someone over again and effectively not have to serve her original sentence.
 
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