Help after being on remand and being found not guilty.

arknor · 11 Apr 2015 at 20:57

Ayahuasca said:
Play stupid games win stupid prizes, being found not guilty doesn't mean the majority of them weren't up to no good anyway.

Same if your found guilty.

I was convicted of a crime I did not commit just because some ****** gave a false witness statement.

was casually walking home, see 3-5 guys roughly my age hanging out near a row of garages..

some guy comes running out of a back garden and they all leg it, I'm just casually walking still and he grabs me , forces me into his house, threatens to beat me with a baseball bat if I try anything..... phones the police and then has the cheek to claim he saw me physically trying to break into a garage....

His wife the whole time was telling him to just let me go.

I should have gone back and beat the crap out of the **** or at least confronted him about it after a few years

His word versus mine, claims he saw the whole thing from his slit of a bathroom window.

I'm only 15 so obviously no one is going to believe me no matter what, solicitor said I had no choice but to plead guilty..

wasn't my first time being arrested so it went to juvenile court or whatever they call it these days.

Had been arrested prior to that and received a caution when one of my friends kicked and popped an exposed rear light bulb on a skoda that had clearly been involved in a crash or something.
guy chases us with an axe..... everyone escapes after about a 5mile chase but someone has given him all our names.....

The police were told we put all the dents and stuff in his crappy skoda which is a total lie....

one guy did smash the light bulb though which we admitted to the police, everyone just got cautions so meh.

still shows how many dishonest ****** are out there

Abraham · 11 Apr 2015 at 20:58

Jones said:
In my opinion it's unacceptable to put someone in prison who are then found not guilty and not a give them the same support that people found guilty get on release (at the very least)

It is and they do.

http://www.falselyaccused.co.uk/wrongful-convictions/compensation-for-wrongful-imprisonment/

Although it does have to be by being proven innocent, rather than just being found not guilty, which covers basically all the opinions voiced in this thread.

MrMoonX · 11 Apr 2015 at 20:59

Abraham said:
There is no need to cast aspersions about anyone found not guilty, however thep02 you are wrong, not guilty does not always mean innocent, except in the eyes on the law.

Unless found guilty by a court as far as the law and society is concerned that person is innocent. Innocent until proven guilty is the cornerstone of our criminal legal system

Abraham · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:04

MrMoonX said:
Unless found guilty by a court as far as the law and society is concerned that person is innocent. Innocent until proven guilty is the cornerstone of our criminal legal system

Like I said, in the eyes of the law, as specified in the link I posted above it's a recognised difference between being proven innocent (held up alibi, someone else found guilty) and being found not guilty (insufficient evidence, or otherwise poor work by CPS). Someone who gets found not guilty on a technicality isn't necessarily an innocent person, they have just been found not guilty in a court of law, that's not to say they are guilty, it's just not guilty has a specific meaning, and it is not synonymous with innocent.

Jones · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:04

Abraham said:
It is and they do.

http://www.falselyaccused.co.uk/wrongful-convictions/compensation-for-wrongful-imprisonment/

Although it does have to be by being proven innocent, rather than just being found not guilty, which covers basically all the opinions voiced in this thread.

As I said. People found not guilty get less support than people who are found guilty.

[FnG]magnolia · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:09

Jones said:
Do you think there should be help for people who have been remanded in prison then found not guilty?

Anyone who has been on remand and found not guilty are realised without any help or money. They get less help than people found guilty and then released at the end of their sentence. During this time people often lose their jobs and home.

On average 12000 people a year are put in prison before being found not guilty.

This seems very unfair to me.

What kind of help or money would they need except in the case of job loss?

Jones · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:09

Abraham said:
Like I said, in the eyes of the law, as specified in the link I posted above it's a recognised difference between being proven innocent (held up alibi, someone else found guilty) and being found not guilty (insufficient evidence, or otherwise poor work by CPS). Someone who gets found not guilty on a technicality isn't necessarily an innocent person, they have just been found not guilty in a court of law, that's not to say they are guilty, it's just not guilty has a specific meaning, and it is not synonymous with innocent.

The only two options are guilty or not guilty. You don't have to prove your innocent.

Jones · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:12

[FnG]magnolia;27898238 said:
What kind of help or money would they need except in the case of job loss?

Losing your house or flat and money to eat.

Imagine being released without a penny after losing everything and not having anywhere to sleep. All through no fault of your own.

[FnG]magnolia · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:15

Jones said:
Losing your house or flat and money to eat.

Imagine being released without a penny after losing everything and not having anywhere to sleep. All through no fault of your own.

Are you suggesting that this is a common outcome? It sounds unlikely.

arknor · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:17

Jones said:
Losing your house or flat and money to eat.

Imagine being released without a penny after losing everything and not having anywhere to sleep. All through no fault of your own.

What exactly do people who've been in prison and served a sentence get anyway?

PMKeates · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:19

This problem could be solved by executing them. Then, when they are found not guilty, it doesn't matter as they're dead.

Jones · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:22

[FnG]magnolia;27898268 said:
Are you suggesting that this is a common outcome? It sounds unlikely.

Yes. 12000 people a year are found not guilty after being in remand. Sure not all of them have jobs but a lot do. Unless you have a very good employer you will lose your job and there is no way to pay rent while in prison.

[FnG]magnolia · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:26

Jones said:
Yes/12000 people a year are found not guilty after being in remand. Sure not all of them have jobs but a lot do. Unless you have a very good employer you will lose your job and there is no way to pay rent while in prison.

Are you basing this on anything, like facts? If we're going to guess how these things work then I'd guess that most people have some savings behind them, at least enough to cover their rent or mortgage for a short while.

I'm not sure about the employer part either and I don't think it's as clear cut as "Welp, you're on remand so you're fired".

You've probably got some data which proves me wrong though

Jones · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:34

arknor said:
What exactly do people who've been in prison and served a sentence get anyway?

It's not a lot (which I am not complaining about) and I don't know all the details. I think they get £46 on release but this might have changed. Might not seem like a lot but would pay for food for a couple of weeks food until you get a job or benefits sorted. There is a resettlement team in prison which help sort things out for when you leave. How much they help I don't know.

I think people found not guilty should get more then this but to get less then the small amount convicted prisoners is awful.

fatiain · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:51

Our local courts are completely spineless and hardly remand anyone at all, convicted shoplifters with 120 previous convictions, known drug dealers, the lot. All get released on wishy-washy bail with conditions.

Edrof · 11 Apr 2015 at 21:55

andy_mk3 said:
Just out of interest, did you specifically join a computer enthusiast forum to ask this?

This is the general discussion section for...general discussion.

Abraham · 11 Apr 2015 at 22:12

Jones said:
The only two options are guilty or not guilty. You don't have to prove your innocent.

You don't have to, the prosecution have to prove your guilt.
However if you are proven innocent (by the ways I mentioned or others), then you are eligible for compensation, which is likely to be significantly more than the amount you've stated for those released after serving a sentence.

Jones · 11 Apr 2015 at 22:54

Abraham said:
You don't have to, the prosecution have to prove your guilt.
However if you are proven innocent (by the ways I mentioned or others), then you are eligible for compensation, which is likely to be significantly more than the amount you've stated for those released after serving a sentence.

Do you realise how hard it is to prove you're innocent at the trial? It's nearly impossible. There are cases where it is clear the person didn't do it but can't 100% prove he didn't do it. In which case you don't get any compensation.

If you're accused of a crime how do you prove you didn't do it? If you could prove it you wouldn't be on remand in the first place!

Being taken from the streets, locked up and lose everything to get thrown out without any help isn't right.

Arsonist · 11 Apr 2015 at 22:55

OP. While you may have had nothing to do technically with either incident, the first clearly put you in a difficult situation through fault of your friends, who broke the law. If you want to avoid situations like this in the future, pick your friends more wisely.

As for receiving help after being remanded and then found not guilty, I do think there should be a system that allows you to not lose out; ie compensation for earnings lost, a place to put your head down etc. This is not to say there should be a flat rate when you come out. If you go in jobless and homeless, you should come out jobless and homeless. If you go in with a good job and a place to live, you should come out with proper support until you get a job and another place to live.

Malevolence · 11 Apr 2015 at 22:55

Jones said:
Do you think there should be help for people who have been remanded in prison then found not guilty?

Anyone who has been on remand and found not guilty are realised without any help or money. They get less help than people found guilty and then released at the end of their sentence. During this time people often lose their jobs and home.

On average 12000 people a year are put in prison before being found not guilty.

This seems very unfair to me.

Is this you?

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2062380