Seven years jail for manslaughter

[lionking]

Last year a Canadian tourist was killed outside a pub in Melbourne when his head was stomped on. I heard the judge, who, unusually, allowed his sentencing to be recorded, say that this sort of crime required a harsh response.

Seven years.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/men-jailed-over-tourists-bashing-death-20100820-133a4.html

Justice Simon Whelan told Victoria's Supreme Court that a drunk Akoteu got jealous of a female friend spending time with Mr Aguiar at the hotel.
He said Akoteu had admitted during his police interview that Mr Agiuar did nothing to provoke the fight outside the pub after it closed.
Akoteu told several people, including Seau, that he planned to assault Mr Agiuar, Justice Whelan said.
Seau indicated he would support him, stating "don't worry about it ... I'll fight with him", before he approached Mr Aguiar and swung a punch.

The victim's parents can't believe such a lenient sentence. Nor can I.

 

[Furcifer]

The victim's parents can't believe such a lenient sentence. Nor can I.

That does seem a little light. The judge indicated he had high prospect for them to be rehabilitated, in which case the sentence might be acceptable. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt I suppose.

In the event either one of them j-walks or spits on the sidewalk after they are "rehabilitated" they should be executed in the most painful and disturbing way possible. The goal of the law should be to make them into contributing and productive members of society, anything short of that and they just taking up valuable real estate.

Is there civil law in Australia that they can pursue? It seems like there should be punitive damages in addition to criminal penalties. The two responsible should be "slaves" to the family they wronged.

 

[lionking]

Is there civil law in Australia that they can pursue? It seems like there should be punitive damages in addition to criminal penalties. The two responsible should be "slaves" to the family they wronged.

There is the civil law avenue but AFAIK it has a low success rate. I'm not a lawyer though.

 

[Furcifer]

There is the civil law avenue but AFAIK it has a low success rate. I'm not a lawyer though.

You'd think part of the "rehabilitation" would be a constant reminder of what their actions did, and how it ended a productive life in it's prime. To me that would entail supporting the family of the person they wronged.

To be able to entirely pay off their debt to society in 7 years, or less, just doesn't seem right.

 

[a_unique_person]

Manslaughter seems to be the reason, but I think anyone deliberately stomping on someone's head has to be aware of the fact they are very likely to kill their victim.

 

[lionking]

Manslaughter seems to be the reason, but I think anyone deliberately stomping on someone's head has to be aware of the fact they are very likely to kill their victim.

Yeah I know. I like Simon Whelan (he's an ex-Couldabeen Champion, I'm sure you know), but I think he got this quite wrong.

 

[Beerina]

That does seem a little light. The judge indicated he had high prospect for them to be rehabilitated, in which case the sentence might be acceptable. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt I suppose.

No, you give high punishment the benefit of the doubt. It's the incarcerated person's responsibility to do everything they can to make sure they are rehabilitated. When in doubt, it's your responsibility to leave them in jail for the duration of the sentence.


I wonder why it's manslaughter, given the apparent premeditation on the attack. For the lawyers: Is someone who "intends to do great bodily harm less than murder", who ends up killing the person, legitimately subject to a murder charge?

 

[Loss Leader]

Once again, this is a story where the reporting does not provide enough information to reasonably assess the sentence.

I will note that Aguiar was sentenced to 10 years in jail, not 7. He came into the fight after it had started. It appears unclear how much each of the aggressors contributed to the eventual death of the victim.

Assault with reckless disregard for life can be murder. It would meet the test of the lesser offense of manslaughter.

There's just not enough information in the article to know whether justice has actually been done.

 

[Metullus]

I am halfway expecting someone to come in and say that the sentence is unfair because Akoteu is only guilty of "attempted assault" and had no reason to think that his victim would die as a result...