To feel sorry for (and think the punishment is too long) for the 18 year old who threw the fire extinguisher in the protests

[LaurieFairyonthetreeEatsCake]

2 years, 8 months in jail

here

That's a looooong time. Is the reasoning supposed to be that it's a deterrent?

There are people with asbo's who cause no end of trouble and don't get sentences like this.

I don't need to post anymore, I am just going to sit and nod and agree with Expat.

He is a bloody idiot who doesn't deserve a place at Uni .Serves him right.

It's shitty that a moment of madness will mark him for life, but that really is all it takes to kill or horribly injure someone. It's terrible for him and his family but that doesn't mean it's wrong to send him to prison.

i want to know what salizchap did when he was a teenager. i did stupid things. never stupid that could harm others though just myself!

my ds(17) wouldn't either

I think that there should be a certain sentence for people who engage in activities that are likely to harm or kill someone (even if they don't) i.e. the idiotic youths who throw bricks off motorway bridges.

However, comparative to sentences that are handed out for worse offences, this seems steep. The aforementioned idiots often don't get prison sentences and certainly there are many instances of drivers killing people when driving recklessly who don't get anywhere near a 2 year sentence.

This has gone through court very quickly too.

It does seem like the sentencing has been swift and harsh to act as a deterent.

'This has gone through court very quickly too.'

It's because he pleaded guilty

I love the word 'hooligan'.

Ooh. Hobbledehoy.

Word of the day

do i feel sorry for him .... do i hell

it is the mother I feel sorry for most

The point is true that he has received a long sentence when you compare it to some of the stupid sentences given for other types of crime.That is an ongoing problem with our justice system and i also believe that if he had been fresh from Jezzer Kyle he would probably have been given a supervision order or something equally cushy and for that i feel very sorry for him,however that is a chance you take when you break the law.
What is this research that says under 25,s are not respomsible for their actions,i have worked with teenagers all my life and i have never heard of that.Genuine question.
I had 3 kids by then.

I completely agree with NancyDrewHasaClue. I wonder what sort of sentence he would have received had the case not been so high profile. There is no question that what he did was incredibly stupid and thoughtless, but unless actual harm is caused or intent to cause harm is proved beyond doubt then how can this length of custodial sentence be justified?

The judge said the public needed to be protected. Is this young man really a danger to the general public to the extent that he needs locking away or just a silly student who behaved totally irresponsibly in the heat of the moment, but was lucky enough not to seriously hurt somebody? He certainly deserves punishing, but surely prison should be reserved for real criminals.

mayorquimby my comment was directed at everyone who was saying "weeeell he could have killed someone". The fact is he didn't. Maybe that was luck, maybe not but the fact remains. Suggesting that he should have received a particular sentence because he could have caused something to happen is, IMO, inherently wrong.

Interestingly had he killed someone then sentencing guidelines would suggest that he probably wouldn't have received much more. There are plenty of adult men out there who have been involved in fights, punched someone once causing their death who are serving less than this boy.

I'd be very suprosed if the sentence isn't reduced on appeal.

'but surely prison should be reserved for real criminals.'

Which he is.

An MP went to prison, too, last week, for the crime of fraud.

Break out the violins!

Utterleybonkers.

The case was 'high profile' beacause it was such a terrible thing to do. It's his own fault. As I said earlier, do the crime, do the time.

My gut feeling is to agree with OP, because prison places are a scarce resource, and most punishments reflect consequences not just intent.

6-12 months with a lot of community service hours would have been better, imho.

I think this is a fair sentence for a violent and aggressive act against police officers. There is supposed to be a deterrant element in sentencing as well as retribution!

other criminals don't often get punished for what MIGHT have happened as a consequence of their crime. You stole a purse, the owner COULD have been hit by a bus walking home because she couldn't afford a taxi....you wouldn't neccessarily get 2 years in prison!
I do think he has become a bit of a scapegoat.
What he did was wrong and stupid and irresponsible and idotic and pointless. I don't know wheher he has similar offences etc but if he had a previously good record, it does seem like a terribly hard way for a young person to learn his lesson. :(

I really feel for his parents.

I don't really see how you can argue that there was a lack of criminal intent and I am sure he will have admitted that he was aware of the damage he could have caused.

If you commit a crime - for instance throwing a heavy object down from a height onto a crowd of people, you are a criminal. This is not just high jinx unfortunately such as drunkenly swinging about from a lamp post.

I am sure they will appeal and yes, I do think that effectively this prison sentence would take his life very much off track. He may well have the opportunity to continue his education in prison, but he will not be the same person he would have been without the prison experience. He will have to toughen up considerably I would imagine.

With a conviction and a prison sentence on his record, life will not be easy for him

Can't believe the stupidity of the comments along the lines of "but he didn't hurt anyone"

I am now going to drive along the a1 at 100mph, blindfolded, and I fully expect all you idiots to defend my actions, providing I - miraculously - don't kill anyone.

I have raised suffered 3 teenage boys and aggree they can be stupid and reckless but they would all have had the basic knowledge that if they threw a heavy object from a height at some people they may have seriously hurt someone.I am hoping that most teenagers would assume the same!!
If he had got caught in the moment and was too young to be responsible for his actions how come he remembered to thro it at the policeand not his friends or maybe throw hinself off the building? Everyone has a degree of self control.

Other sentences should be more, not his less. I've been on protests and didn't feel the need to recklessly endanger life to get my point across. 18 is old enough to know what he was risking.

Yes exactly - if you throw a heavy item from a height on to a CROWD of people the expectation is that it will hit somebody not that it won't. Has anybody here been hit by something from a height btw? I have - adoor keys thrown from two storeys up by a very silly and lazy woman. It hurt like you wouldn't believe and I was very lucky not to be seriously harmed.