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AIBU?

to ask you should he be allowed to keep the 1 million pound

55 replies

AuntiePickleBottom · 06/09/2011 14:30

ITV is under pressure after it emerged that the first £1 million winner of Simon Cowell's gameshow Red Or Black? was jailed for beating up a woman.

Bricklayer Nathan Hageman was previously reported to have been jailed for attacking his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend.

It has now been reported that the 31-year-old, from Reading, attacked a woman, thought to be his former partner

ITV is holding talks following the revelations, with pressure on the broadcaster to strip Mr Hageman of his win.

An ITV spokesman said: "In light of recent developments, ITV and Syco (Cowell's production company) are making inquiries to establish the facts."

A Reading Crown Court spokesman reportedly told The Sun and the Daily Mirror that the victim of the 2006 assault was a woman.

It is reported that ITV knew about Mr Hageman's five-year jail sentence, of which he served two-and-a-half years, but it is thought that they did not know that the victim was a woman.

Mr Hageman previously told journalists that he attacked a man after he started getting threatening calls from a man in Reading.

"I tried to brush it off but he kept saying he was going to harm me. One night he told me my address and said he was going to come round and batter me in front of my mum and niece Mya, who was only about two," he told The Sun.

When the show was launched in May, presenter Ant McPartlin said: "All the checks will be in place so they're not going to be criminals but when you randomly select people, who knows? And I love the idea that someone from any background could win £1 million."

OP posts:

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AuntiePickleBottom · 06/09/2011 14:32

sorry if this has been done, did looke but couldn't find another thread.

i am unsure

OP posts:

RedHelenB · 06/09/2011 14:32

If you enter the lottery they could be criminals, what's the difference?

CogitoErgoSometimes · 06/09/2011 14:34

It depends on the t's and c's of the competition. If they don't allow contestants with a criminal record and this man has somehow slipped through the net, he'll have to forfeit the prize. If there's no stipulation, he'll keep the money. Think there have been a few criminal lottery winners in the past.... thus proving there is no such thing as natural justice.

Tillyscoutsmum · 06/09/2011 14:34

Ooooh - I really don't know. I'm firmly on the fence.

Part of me thinks that scum someone who is a criminal doesn't deserve to win a million. Another part thinks that he's served his sentence and is free to live his life and if that includes entering a quiz show and winning, then so be it. I'm not entirely sure whether the victim being a woman makes it any different tbh.

Mario11 · 06/09/2011 14:35

Biscuit the unicorn wouldnt tolerate this.

parkgate · 06/09/2011 14:35

Er. if someone has served their time then who is Simon Cowell to take away money that is won fairly? That is ludicrous.

RebelFromTheWaistDown · 06/09/2011 14:35

Yes he should be allowed to keep the winnings.

I don't see what his past has got to do with him winning this prize. He has been punished for his crimes. Leave it be.

RealityVonCrapp · 06/09/2011 14:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wikolite · 06/09/2011 14:37

Yes he should be allowed to keep it, he's served his time and shouldn't be punished twice

Birdsgottafly · 06/09/2011 14:37

He should be allowed to keep it, he has served his time in prison and been punished according to the law.

Perhaps from now on an attachment could be made to future income, so that compensation can be paid, when someone is found guilty of an offence against a person.

If you receive criminal injuries and you have ever been charged with an offence, you only get half, which can be unfair.

There was a case of a lottery winner paying out compensation to a former victim.

GypsyMoth · 06/09/2011 14:37

Totally irrelevant wether he attacked a man or a woman surely!

meditrina · 06/09/2011 14:38

It seems ITV knew about the conviction and still let him compete, so I think they have to pay the prize.

If they were concerned about how this would look, they should have disbarred him from competing. Anything that attracts a five year sentence is unlikely to be trivial (and it doesn't matter who the victim was) - they had enough information, it seems, and should have acted on it at the appropriate time.

Cynically - all publicity is "good" publicity. We've all heard of the damned show now, haven't we?

MinimallyNarkyPuffin · 06/09/2011 14:38

2006? 5 years ago or possibly just under? Yes he should be allowed to keep it so she can sue him.

MmeLindor. · 06/09/2011 14:38

What does one have to do with the other?

He had 2 1/2 years of jail time, he has been found guilty of a crime and punished.

Simon Cowell is not God, sitting at the Pearly Gates of Game Shows, judging the contestants on their morals and personal history.

AuntiePickleBottom · 06/09/2011 14:40

tilly thats how i feel, they have served his time so he should be allowed to live his life.

also why does it matter if it was a women or a man he assulted

OP posts:

MinimallyNarkyPuffin · 06/09/2011 14:40

The only way that they could avoid paying out would be if he lied or deliberately withheld information on the forms he had to fill in.

picnicbasketcase · 06/09/2011 14:40

I don't think they should. He won it. Whatever he did before that, regardless of how vile, is completely unconnected. You can't start looking into a person's past every time they enter a raffle just in case it turns out that they don't deserve their box of All Gold.

frasersmummy · 06/09/2011 14:42

They cant take the money back.

he has won the money fair and square and itv were aware he had a criminal past so he is entitled to keep it

There are politicians now shouting for it to be taken back but there is no rule afaik that says you cant take part in telly shows when you get out of prison

DoMeDon · 06/09/2011 14:43

Yes he should.

I'm sure some would rather all contestants had been properly vetted so he wasn't in the running but does that mean no past act is forgiven? Many criminals are not convicted, many convicts are not criminals. He may be a completely changed man or a vicious psycho.

I've done things I'm not proud of - does that mean I should stop playing lotto!?!

StewieGriffinsMom · 06/09/2011 14:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Fo0ffyShmoofer · 06/09/2011 14:45

Just lost a huge post but

what Meditrina said.

upahill · 06/09/2011 14:47

Yes he should be allowed to keep it unless there was a clause saying no one with a criminal conviction could take part.

I think he had done a disgusting crime. He was punished.
He entered a competition and won, he keeps the prize.
Don't see how he can't tbh.

KAZAMM · 06/09/2011 14:47

Well he's done his time and no matter how distasteful it seems he should be allowed to keep his winnings.

Feel sorry for his victims though that must be really galling to see him with no financial worries for the rest of his life.

coccyx · 06/09/2011 14:52

Why should he not get the winnings. he won it far and square. he has been to prison.

parkgate · 06/09/2011 14:55

It just goes to show that sometimes good things happen to bad people - as KAZAMM said, I feel sorry for the victim seeing his ugly mug all over the newspapers.

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