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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to get a prison sentence for wearing looted goods is totally over the top

79 replies

tralalala · 14/08/2011 21:00

Mum gets 6 months for wearing shorts from her flat mate who looted.

story here

So her kids have no mum for 6 months for wearing stolen goods. Bad idea, big mistake, give her community service...

but after years of working in domestic violence in which men (and women) have got less for beating the shit out of their partners, where repeat burglars don't get sent down etc etc, I think this is mental.

OP posts:
babeinthewood · 14/08/2011 23:31

I agree Mowlem, IMO everyone here (both MP's and rioters) are guilty and should be dealt with as such, if anyone behaved in a private company like the MP's did they would have been prosecuted, no question. Why do they even need second homes anyway, they want the job they commute, everyone else has to! IMO.

I dont agree that its too harsh, the whole lot of em need to be taken down a peg or ten, and the whole legal system needs to be alot more harsh.

clam · 14/08/2011 23:40

Once you start muddying the waters with "yeah, but...." the result is people "getting away with it" and the precedent is then set which gives the green light for more rioting and looting in the future. Yes, this probably is a knee-jerk reaction and yes, some of the sentencing might seem harsh compared with other crimes, but I would say that's a necessary thing in this case. A line has been crossed with the events of this last week, and we have to act firmly to try to deter people from acting this way in future.

Morloth · 14/08/2011 23:42

Last week when people were angry and calling for crazy punishments other posters on here were saying that they felt no sympathy for the rioters etc and they should all be punished to the full extent of the law.

This week I see now that people are being punished to that extent it is somehow too much.

The problem isnt that this sentence is too harsh, the problem is that people have got used to sentences being too lenient.

MadamDeathstare · 14/08/2011 23:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

clam · 14/08/2011 23:50

Good point, madam. She was quite possibly believed guilty of greater crimes but the shorts were the only thing they had sufficient evidence to convict.

Birdsgottafly · 15/08/2011 00:04

On the other thread i posted a list of crimes that the one charge crosses into, there was at least 20. The sentances reflect the true nature of the crime.

Perhaps those defending her would now like to post on a thread by TLE asking how she can get her toddler DS to sleep because he cannot sleep since the riots.

izzywhizzyletsgetbusy · 15/08/2011 01:39

'Steal a little and they throw you in jail
Steal a lot and they make you a king'

LolaRennt · 15/08/2011 02:01

It is illigal YABU, other (violent) crimes should get longer sentances.

izzywhizzyletsgetbusy · 15/08/2011 02:14

It remains to be seen if any perons convicted of the murders of the 3 men in Birmingham, and the gentleman in Ealing, receives a life sentence that means imprisonment for the remainder of their natural life rather than the derisory minimum 7 year term that the majority of other murderers who have been handed down life sentences serve before they are considered for parole.

TotemPole · 15/08/2011 02:15

The time from the crime, to trial and then sentencing seems very short to me. It does seem to be a case of making an example of her. But, as already said, this can't happen again, there has to be a deterrent. Everyone knows that stealing is illegal.

I do wonder if there is more background to this though. Would a judge separate mother and children for such a first offence? The younger child is only 1.

sausagesandmarmelade · 15/08/2011 08:54

I know that in relation to some other crimes these sentences may seem harsh....but they are sending a message out loud and clear that looting, and profitting from looting will not be tolerated.

And that message seems to be reaching home....judging by the calm weekend we've just had.

LtEveDallas · 15/08/2011 09:13

YABU. 6 months for stolen goods seems harsh when you put it up again lesser sentences for more violent crimes...but...it is the judges who gave the lesser sentences that are at fault; their sentences should have been harsher, not hers softer.

and as for the MPs etc not getting jail time - maybe that is because people were not in fear of their lives when their offences were committed. No-one was murdered, no-one had their livelihood torn away from them with the lighting of a match.

To me the crime/cost of the looted goods / fact she is a mother etc is irrelevent - they are being punished for the fear they put people under and for supporting those who did so - and for that I'm glad. By taking those goods and allowing them in her home she supported those who stole them so she should be punished just as harshly.

Claw3 · 15/08/2011 09:15

We have already had a thread about this.

When anyone is sentenced for handling stolen goods, the seriousness of the original crime ie where the goods come from is the determining factor, as to the sentence you get.

Handling a pair of shorts which were shoplifted from Woolworths, earns you a slap on the wrist.

Handling a pair of shorts, which were the proceeds of looting, violence, choas, millions of pounds worth of damage and policing, people injuried and killed, arson, etc, etc, earns you a prison sentence.

sue52 · 15/08/2011 09:19

Too harsh a sentence for theft. I am sure this will fuel deeper resentment and this will have result in even deeper divisions in society. People do resent the soft sentences handed out to politicians and many still haven't been charged (Baroness Udin).

Andrewofgg · 15/08/2011 11:56

The point about these offences is that they are group action, and the action of a destructive and violent group at that, which makes them infinitely worse than the actions of singletons. As for "only wearing them, not actually looting herself" - that is like saying that one of a group of armed bank-robbers was "only the look-out"!

BonnieLassie · 15/08/2011 12:14

The government cracked down on football violence in the 90s, punching someone outside a pub on a friday night got the offender a caution, doing exactly the same thing inside a football ground on a saturday afternoon would get the offender 6 months in prison. Guess what? It worked, and there is hardly any violence at football matches anymore. This will work on the rioters as well.

Ephiny · 15/08/2011 12:30

It is a harsh sentence compared to what you'd normally get for handling stolen clothes, as indeed most of the sentences for looting are much harsher than normal for shoplifting. It's the context of public disorder though, and I can understand the need to crack down hard on that. Everyone who joined in, in any way, is in some small part responsible for the overall sum of what happened.

I have been a bit surprised at some of the sentences. But am short on sympathy. They knew what they were doing was wrong and illegal.

dolldaggabuzzbuzz · 15/08/2011 12:35

At least now we can all sleep soundly in our beds now safe in the knowledge that this stolen shorts wearing mum will be separated from her child for the next 6 months.

Claw3 · 15/08/2011 13:06

Dolldagga - Are you saying that women with children shouldnt have to go prison or just this particular one?

BimboNo5 · 15/08/2011 13:17

Well she did have a choice in receiving the stolen goods, im sure her flatmate didnt spray the shorts onto her. The fact of the matter is even though traditionally crimes like this have quite a lilly livered sentence, you CAN get sent down for it, and by being an accessory to theft this is the chance you take. And for those crowing 'aww but shes got a child' surely she also KNEW this before she took the stolen goods? Why is everyone so eager to deflect personal responsibility these days?

dolldaggabuzzbuzz · 15/08/2011 13:27

I'm saying this mum should not be going to prison

dolldaggabuzzbuzz · 15/08/2011 13:30

She should not be going to prison whether she is a parent or not.

OhdearNigel · 15/08/2011 13:32

what should be happening is that DV offenders (and all other offenders) should be getting harsher sentences, not the other way round. Sentences are pathetic, I know this because I work in a criminal justice environment

Claw3 · 15/08/2011 13:33

The Court followed the guidelines for sentencing her, so you think they should have made an exception for her?

OhdearNigel · 15/08/2011 13:34

"hulababy find me one example where someone has gone to prison for handling stolen goods worth less than £100."

I have just dealt with one. Granted she is a repeat offender but she received 16 weeks custody for handling about £50 of stolen clothing.