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AIBU?

To think being jailed for eight months is excessive

41 replies

MissionItsPossible · 20/04/2018 06:49

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/barber-who-shaved-boys-head-12394717

I understand it wasn’t a nice thing to do but people walk away without imprisonment for far, far worse crimes including horrifically violent ones. I don’t understand our system sometimes.

OP posts:

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ChasedByBees · 20/04/2018 06:51

Why would you do that to a child though?

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Eatsleepworkrepeat · 20/04/2018 06:53

Given that the man who threatened his ex with revenge porn, saying he was going to ruin her, resulting in her suicide got away without any jail time, I'd agree. It seems its fine to humiliate women

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Mightymucks · 20/04/2018 06:58

They can’t identify the child, but I presume he is not related to him which is why it’s kind of a big deal.

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GibbousMoon · 20/04/2018 07:01

The boy was humiliated - that doesn't warrant 8 months imv. Also hair grows back in, any prison sentence seems harsh to me. Strange.

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LadyWithLapdog · 20/04/2018 07:07

How do you get a 10 year old sit still? I'm thinking bullying, force, fear. The poor kid must have been terrified. Who knows what actually happened but it sounds awful. Not just a slip of the razors.

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Sparklyshoes16 · 20/04/2018 07:08

That is ridiculous 8 months in jail for that...that judge needs to step down!! The most this should have been is a slap on the wrist and community service...something like free hair cuts and shaves for the homeless or teaching young offenders barbering skills 200+ hours worth...Is this the same judge who let a man off with 40,000 serious sexual images of children on his computer because the evidence bag tag was wrongly done so couldn't be submitted in court?

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RJnomore1 · 20/04/2018 07:10

I'd presume the opposite that the child is related to him and this is a piece of nonsense.

I'll google in case there's more of a story out there somewhere

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Pengggwn · 20/04/2018 07:10

He should appeal that. What a ridiculous sentence. You'd get less than that for punching someone in the face.

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MissionItsPossible · 20/04/2018 07:11

Makes me sick that people can get away with sexual crimes, violent crimes and things like aggravated burglaries yet things like this and fraud people get hauled to jail. I thought they were meant to be overcrowded?

OP posts:

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outofmydepth45 · 20/04/2018 07:14

The article doesn't say about the prison time, it may be suspended.

I'd assume the details are awful to warrant it

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catinapoolofsunshine · 20/04/2018 07:14

It was a massive misuse of power by an adult over a child because it was done to punish and humiliate, without any authority and with an audience - the child was 10 and was laughed at by onlookers throughout and made to sweep up his hair afterwards.

If your hairdresser shaved your head with clippers set to number 1, to punish you for cutting it yourself, and forced you to sit in front of a laughing audience to have it done and sweep up afterwards you might also feel violated and call the police.

However I totally agree the sentence is not proportional to those received by sex offenders and killers.

A jail term for a misuse of the adult/ child power imbalance to deliberately and publicly humiliate a child in a fairly ritualistic way, especially a child over whom you have no legal authority, doesn't seem intrinsically wrong to me.

However the jail term seems far too long - it's only needed to make a point that there are consequences. In fact a hefty fine would have been much more appropriate probably, but what he did wasn't ok, especially when you read how he did it.

The issue with the sex offences and killings is that they did not receive appropriate sentences, obviously they are infinitely more serious.

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Pengggwn · 20/04/2018 07:16

Also, it may not be his first offence. It's worth bearing in mind that we don't always know the background.

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UterusUterusGhali · 20/04/2018 07:17

As with most reported CP cases, there are probably lots of details left unreported.

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colditz · 20/04/2018 07:21

It was an incredibly telling act of control, coersion and humiliation

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RJnomore1 · 20/04/2018 07:23

It's reported that it was his first offence abdxthe child called 999.

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Banoffeematernity · 20/04/2018 07:26

8 months if not suspended means he'll be out in 4. I don't think it's too harsh considering the boy was held against his will, whilst suffering humiliation and possible pain. Hair grows back but traumatic experiences, however, amusing to others, have long and lasting effects.

I'm sure prisons appreciate a good barber, so he'll have plenty of business and will probably do quite well for himself inside

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dayinlifeof · 20/04/2018 07:30

If the child is unrelated to him then 8 months is appropriate I think, it was assault after all. If it's his own child then there needs to be some action but I'm not so sure that 8 months is appropriate - urgent SS action would be more suitable but I think that's unlikely to happen given the lack of resources for something that would have to be considered 'minor' given what else I know that they have to deal with.

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KirstenRaymonde · 20/04/2018 07:33

My relative was raped in her own bed at 14 and the perpetrator got 4 months, reduced to nothing at appeal, and this guy gets 8 months for causing a child embarrassment? I’m not saying what he did wasn’t wrong but it’s not exactly proportionate.

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KirstenRaymonde · 20/04/2018 07:34

Sorry - at 13 - still a child

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Zampa · 20/04/2018 07:36

I agree OP. When other offences see the perpetrators walking off with fines or points on a driving licence, this seems ridiculous.

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Tinkobell · 20/04/2018 07:39

It is an assault on a minor. But I'd have said one month.

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catinapoolofsunshine · 20/04/2018 07:43

Kirsten thats shocking. The sentence for the rapist / paedophile was far too low and should clearly have been a life sentence.

What the man did to the ten year old boy wasn't just cause him embarrassment. He was made to sit through a humiliating head shaving against his will in front of an audience, and clean up afterwards. Similar to what the French did to women who'd slept with German men after ww2.

It is highly improbable that he just sat still and let that happen to him unless he was very, very frightened. The power imbalance is what makes the crime pretty serious.

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Collaborate · 20/04/2018 07:44

I thought any jail time would have been excessive. I suspect we'll see a successful appeal against sentence.

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turnipfarmers · 20/04/2018 07:44

When other offences see the perpetrators walking off with fines or points on a driving licence, this seems ridiculous.

it does, a recent celebrity court case should have perhaps ended in jail for 8 months as well.

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MichaelKnightsCar · 20/04/2018 07:47

There's a couple of threads currently running on mumsnet about increasing the sentences for people who leave the scene of a fatal hit and run.

So many heartbreaking stories of people left to die all alone at the side of the road and the driver given a pathetic sentence or a slap on the wrist.

This case is ridiculous - hair grows back!