Three and a half years for the horrific murder of boy with autism? Seriously? [Warning, distressing content]

[kweggie]

''Yob killed gay teenager by setting him on fire at his 18th birthday party

During the party Steven Simpson was doused in tanning oil before he was set alight by Jordan Sheard
A paramedic who treated the young victim reported seeing the words 'Gay Boy' written on his forehead
Steven suffered 60 per cent burns and died in June last year
Sheard was jailed for three years and six months after pleading guilty to manslaughter
''
as reported in the Mail online....the whole article is deeply shocking.

IMO this boy was TORTURED and it beggars belief that the judge that described it as' horseplay that got out of hand'. Is this acceptable?

[edam]

Good grief, that's appalling - the murder and the lenient sentence (manslaughter may be the legal term but sheesh, actually in normal plain English it's murder).

[Passiveaggressivecakeeater]

I feel sick.

[lotsofdogshere]

I feel sick as well - awful. My grandson is 20 and on the autistic spectrum. He had a statement at school as though very bright, needed support on a number of levels. Reading this just brought home again, how vulnerable people with autism or other forms of "invisible' as well as visible disability are. I am not a hang and flog type, but agree, 3 1/2 years, it just doesn't seem an appropriate sentence at all.

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

Get more for robbery . I'm
Speechless. Unbelievable

[kweggie]

It was my 16 year old dd who found the report and showed it to me.She sobbed and sobbed-'Mum, it would be like doing it to a child'.
If you google 'three and a half year sentence' it brings up things like 'robbery' and 'burglary'.....

IMO the judge is telling the perpetrator what we, Society , think of this crime. And IMO his sentence seems to say,'not that bothered'. How SHOCKING is that.

[AmberLeaf]

It is also being discussed here

It is disgusting, the judge has not given any consideration to the fact that Steven Simpson was a vulnerable young man with disabilities.

Horrifying.

[Melpomene]

What a sad story. Three and a half years is a sick joke. Did the killer have a learning disability too, or mental health problem? Why was it manslaughter rather than murder?

[AmberLeaf]

Nothing to suggest the killer had any learning difficulty.

I think it was deemed manslaughter because of the so called 'horseplay' that led to it, the horseplay that appears to have actually been humiliation and torture.

[kweggie]

Please take a minute to express your misgivings to Dominic Grieve, the attorney general

correspondence(insert the at sign here)attorneygeneral.gsi.gov.uk

[AmberLeaf]

How to complain

Contact the Attorney General?s Office as soon as possible after the sentence is passed. The time limit for making a complaint is 28 days after sentencing.

Provide as much information as you can about the case, eg the:

name of the person who got the sentence Jordan Sheard
date the sentence was given 21st march 2013
court where the case was held sheffield crown court
crime committed Manslaughter

[Icedcakeandflower]

Bump

[twolittlemonkeys]

Bumping this as it's so appalling. I have a 7 y o who is on the Autistic Spectrum and this makes me never want to let him out of my sight. So so :(

[KatieMiddleton]

That's horrific. It's really not much more than Pryce and Huhne got for perverting course of justice.

[Icedcakeandflower]

Bump

[Sunnywithshowers]

Bumping

[Icedcakeandflower]

www.gov.uk/complain-about-low-crown-court-sentence

[Timetoask]

horrific.
This is murder, worst the murder, the poor boy was tortured by being burned. The murderer should be locked up for life. What is clouding the judgement with these so called legal experts. That poor poor boy, I feel sick to my stomach.

My eldest son has special needs, and this type of news really makes me fear for his future.

[Icedcakeandflower]

Bump

[KateSMumsnet]

Hello all,

We've just edited the title of the thread to make it less graphic.

[KatieMiddleton]

But it doesn't mean anything now KateS. I think you could have the word "killing" in the thread title without anyone reaching for the smelling salts.

[AmberLeaf]

Why make it less graphic?

It was an awful things that happened, but it happened, I don't understand editing this title?

Who are you worried about upsetting?

Sorry but the reason 3 and a half years is a disgrace, is because it was for a horrific murder, so of course the title should reflect that!

[AmberLeaf]

Jordan Sheard did 'burn an autistic boy to death'

I have an autistic son, reading such words in a MN thread title won't upset me, I worry about this sort of thing anyway.

Stuff like this being hushed up so as not to offend/upset someone is ridiculous.

I have written to the attorney general requesting a review of the sentence today, I have done that because I was able to read about this horrific crime.

I have done as much as one person can do, please don't start censoring thread titles that may be awful enough to spur posters into action.

[TheNebulousBoojum]

Make it less graphic and an incomplete title and more people may click on it.
People are usually only interested in things that directly affect them. If the title had the word 'autistic' in it, that would be enough to switch some posters off without clicking.
The wider the audience, the better IMO.

[TheNebulousBoojum]

I have an 18 year old boy on the spectrum who has attended several parties this year. Fortunately his friends are exactly that.