• Security incident: ISF was recently accessed by intruders. Please change your password, and change it anywhere else you used it. Read more

London lesbians beaten for not kissing

What a sham. What a joke of a punishment.

On-off comments like this do not contribute very much to the discussion.

How much prison time would you find acceptable? 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?

Or just take him outside in the morning and hang him? (Not that it would occur in the UK; they no longer practice capital punishment.)

Would a public flogging be acceptable?
 
Wow what a joke.

I'm not really for vigilante justice, but I hope he trips on his shoelaces and busts his face up.
 
Whether you agree with the sentence or not the head line that he has been "let off" is patently untrue as the article itself goes on to show.

Because of the reporting restrictions it is hard to form an opinion as to whether it is an appropriate sentence or not, we don't know his actual involvement, what he did and so on.
 
They certainly don't contribute as much as sarcastic hyperbole...

..... and snarky jibes, don't forget the snarky jibes! Unless, of course, you thought you were adding to the substantive portion of the thread and not just creating more noise.
 
I know the UK justice system is much more lenient than the US, but no prison time for violently robbing two strangers strikes me as unjust.
 
A 100 quid fine does seem a bit light for terrorizing a couple for 9 minutes and stealing their property.

Of course, but it's not necessarily being "let off." Five were arrested, four charged, and it looks like three were actually found (or pleaded) guilty, reflecting the obvious reality that not all of them behaved in exactly the same way. The one sentenced yesterday seems to have been on the middle of the scale, rather than the extreme end of it.
 
All London buses have multiple internal CCTV cameras, so it's probably fairly clear in the evidence which of the assailants was actually violent, or rather to what degree.

I hadn't considered that. Not sure if we'll ever get that level of granular detail, seeing how they are youthful offenders and information is kept secret.

That grainy CCTV cam is a bit hard to piece together, but it certainly seems like one of the offenders was doing most of the punching and the others were taking a support role in the robbery, so there's that. Hopefully some more severe punishment will be meted out for the most aggressive of the group.
 
Last edited:
Whether you agree with the sentence or not the head line that he has been "let off" is patently untrue as the article itself goes on to show.

Because of the reporting restrictions it is hard to form an opinion as to whether it is an appropriate sentence or not, we don't know his actual involvement, what he did and so on.

We know that he admitted to stealing a purse. That's in the video.

The youth, who cannot be named due to his age, admitted using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress against the two women. He was also fined £100 ($132) and ordered to pay a £20 ($22) surcharge. He also admitted theft of Ms Ramirez's handbag and handling Ms Hannigan's stolen phone. Both the handbag and phone were later recovered after the 16-year-old was arrested at his south London home.

Let's forget everything else for a moment. What is an appropriate punishment for stealing a purse? 100 pounds and some vague talk to somebody thingy?
 
We know that he admitted to stealing a purse. That's in the video.







Let's forget everything else for a moment. What is an appropriate punishment for stealing a purse? 100 pounds and some vague talk to somebody thingy?
I honestly don't know. I would defer to the experts. What I personally want from the justice system is two fold. First of all the person being much less likely to commit another offence again, and secondly restitution if it is appropriate.

Unfortunately sentences tend to end up being dictated by populism via politicians' election campaigns and often effective sentencing is viewed as "being soft on crime".
 
I honestly don't know. I would defer to the experts. What I personally want from the justice system is two fold. First of all the person being much less likely to commit another offence again, and secondly restitution if it is appropriate.

Unfortunately sentences tend to end up being dictated by populism via politicians' election campaigns and often effective sentencing is viewed as "being soft on crime".

There should be a balance between a criminal being able to be brag about a proverbial slap on the wrist and doing a life term for stealing a loaf of bread. This sentence seems to be the former. At the very least, the fine should be more substantial than what a person could make at a low-wage job in no more than two days. I don't know about the UK but a simple speeding ticket in the US could cost more.
 
Last edited:
Another interesting post. Bit weird, but interesting

Couldn't think of an appropriate yet measured punishment for the scum on the fly. :D

I've been harshly bullied before, so I know how it must feel, but I've sort of settled down on taking violent revenge. It's probably worse when it's a woman and they're forcing her to do sexual acts for their amusement.
 
They certainly don't contribute as much as sarcastic hyperbole...

Guilty as charged. For sure it was over the top, but sometimes people who make one-off simplistic comments like "What a sham. What a joke of a punishment" are often also the type to mete out harsh punishments for even minor offences. I was wondering where the poster stood on that, and by using gross exaggeration I was hoping to get a response.

It was also designed to kickstart a discussion about what would be appropriate. It looks like I succeeded.

Deciding on an appropriate punishment means weighing a lot of factors. Had this defendant shown a pattern of anti-social behaviour in the past? Was he known to have stolen items before? Or was it out of character because he was bowing to peer pressure due to having chosen his friends poorly?

Some people think justice is served when the punishment is decided and carried out. For me it's served when that happens and the person does not re-offend. That's why the youth was sent to counselling. It is my hope it works.

I'm thinking a £100 fine is low, even for a teenager. £1,000 is probably too high. The idea of the fine is to cause some inconvenience, remind the offender there is a price to behaving badly, and inform him that should further intervention be required it will cost more. Maybe a lot more.
 

ISF - Join now!

Every member here is approved by hand. No bots, no spam, just people who care about evidence and honest debate.

Membership is free!

Create your free account

Back
Top Bottom