Gary Glitter freed “automatically”!!

[Sep200024]

What is this all about, now?

BBC article about Gary Glitter being released from prison today.

It states in the article that he was sentenced to 16 years, but has now been freed “automatically” after serving half that?!?

What on earth is the point of the sentence if it is “automatically” halved?!?!

I don’t understand this, and I’m also wondering how many other child sex offenders this applies to that maybe don’t get the same level of publicity as Gary Glitter.

I can guarantee that every single school in the country has several pedophiles living just around the corner.

The idea that keeping the few men who've been caught away from children makes our children safe, is very very foolish. It gives the impression of control and safety when realistically, proper safeguarding is much more effective.

Trying our best to keep the unknown paedophiles away from our children means that it’s not worth bothering to keep the ones we definitely know to be paedophiles away.

Right.

The best safeguarding for repeat sex offenders is to keep them in prison longer

no one is claiming that keeping repeat sex offenders keeps all children in our society safe but it keeps children safe from these individuals while they are in prison

too often it’s a waiting game until they have been caught breaching their conditions, these men can not be rehabilitated and far too often their sentences are shockingly low

We must live quite near to each other. It's a very nice quiet area yes?
And very very close to the primary school my sons went to.
It's already swarming with press, police and vigilantes 🙄

EXACTLY what I was thinking

Why would anyone say that? I'm not too sure about some of the posters on here.

<sigh> Not what I was saying at all. I'm saying that being shocked that there are known pedophiles near schools ignores the fact that there are definitely unknown pedophiles near the schools anyway.

It's like me ignoring universal precautions and just avoiding people with positive HIV tests.

And yes, as I said earlier, I support longer sentencing for sexual offences. But the vast majority of offenders don't ever get anywhere near a charge.

Not necessarily.

I think they should serve more than half but I do agree with the way we release people, we but don't just wave them goodbye at the gates, the licence restrictions can be quite strict and if the prisoner breaches them they are recalled.

They control where you live, who you can meet, where you can go and put you under curfew.

The police will do random visits and will check any phone / computer.

I don't think there is a perfect solution, I wish there was.

He will be counting the days until he can fly to Thailand and start all over again. Disgusting creep.

MrsTerryPratchett makes a lot of sense. People need to stop taking all this media coverage as gospel. Some of what has been printed is complete rubbish with no bearing in reality. I can pretty much guarantee that everyone on here will have regular contact with a sex offender - they just don’t know it.

He's banned from Thailand and about a dozen other countries.

Obviously I have no idea what his conditions will be but foreign travel is usually banned until the sentence is complete.

After that, well I don't know if he can be banned from leaving the UK.

No lol. I live in not so council estate to the east past asda

I meant

*not so nice council estate

But he is free. He's not free to reoffend or he'll be caged again, but how is that different to anyone else free to walk the streets?

In one way it's actually better. He will be on licence and will have to comply to the terms.

It's also going to be hard for him to fly under the radar and everybody knows what he's done. In prison he's tucked up safely (The Verne is for sex offenders, birds of a feather and all that) outside of prison he's on his own. In his shoes I think I'd probably prefer to be locked up.

He’s on probation. He is ‘not free’ in the sense that he doesn’t have complete freedom of movement, freedom of association etc. He will be monitored and under the threat of recall to prison if he breaks his restrictions. I am “free” because I don’t have all those restrictions, which is how he is different to anyone else free to walk the streets.

I’m not defending him, I’m not saying it’s right, I am just explaining how our system works.

There's so much misinformation on this thread. He didn't have to give notice to travel, he had to get permission, there are set criteria which prohibit this, travel being involved in offending behaviour is one of them. He's not going anywhere. He will be subject to strict licence condition and SHPO (sexual harm prevention order) which is monitored by a police MOSOVO officer as well as his probation officer. He will be subject to MAPPA management. Likely at least at level two due to his notoriety.
Also as an RSO any breach of licence (this could be failing to register on time, being found in possession of an unregistered device, being late for curfew not just major infringements such as contact with a child) he will be subject to standard recall which is usually minimum of a year back inside with release overseen by parole board , so he can easily be detained until the end of sentence (SED) , not the 28 day recall mentioned by a PP. the alternative is there serve the whole sentence in custody and then are released subject to no probation supervision/licence restrictions whilst being interested in the community.

Not sure why that’s the alternative 🤷‍♀️

What about prison for the sentence and licence upon release?

Or, what about no release for child sex crimes? They are not rehabilitated, so where does the appetite for release even come from?

@Sep200024 there is simply not the custody space to imprison everyone convicted of child sex offences (if you include indecent images). People would be far better off focusing their energy on prevention of these crimes, rather than getting wound up about this particular case - which will doubtless be under intense scrutiny.