To think 15 months is a poxy sentence

[AnneNonimous]

For molesting 14 underage girls?!

Because that's all BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has been sentenced to after admitting to 14 offences in the past, one of them being a 9 year old girl.

AIBU in thinking this is an absolute joke and wonder what the hell the judge was thinking?

Oh, 'only' 13 is it? Only 13 lives affected by his revolting actions, allowed to get away with it for so long due to his fame. For fucks sake. How utterly insulting to his victims.

It's outrageous.

I wonder if the next MN campaign to follow on from 'we believe you' should be about sentencing for assaults on women and children. At the moment they are disgraceful

Silverbells, yes, the worst bit I think is his barrister pleading for mercy on the grounds that he's only in this situation because of the outrage at Saville. Oh yes, never mind you sexually assaulted children as young as 9, you're only facing justice because of the outrage at someone who, lets face it, assaulted far mare than you.
Herrena, so sorry for what you went through.

miemohrs

Judges, police officers and barristers are also the people working tirelessly to send people who abuse children to prison, often feeling they do so with their hands tied behind their backs.

And strict guidleine are not routinely abused, because if they were the matter would go straight the appeal court.

The sentence is going to be looked into by the Attorney General - as complaints have already been made that it is unduly lenient

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, but I haven't seen exactly what the offences were for.

I recall reading that it was "incorrect touching" (whatever that means), and he forced some to kiss him and visa versa. None of which led to sexual arousal on his part but effectively an abuse of his power. Is there not a question of degree.

I accept assault is assault but..... surely putting a had on a bottom or a breast is far less serious, in terms of criminality not effect on the victim, than the type of abuse that savile and others perpetrated.

I'm not equating it to this except for sentancing comparitive purposes but is is not like theft and robbery (robbery involveds violence, theft does not) which means robbery sentences are higher.

It would be preferable if he was punished with community service or a fine, at his age he's too old to be a danger to anybody and the prisons are overcrowded. What's outrageous is that a violent offender who is a danger to innocents right now will be released to make space for him. That's not justice for whoever will be that victim and they will suffer far more than a rude pat on the arse.

Because the crimes are historical, he can only be sentenced according to the tariffs that were in place at the time the offences were committed. It's a crying shame.

bobbywash I had the same thought myself.
Obviously no one wants men to go round touching up young girls, but there is a big difference between touching and raping, and the sentence should reflect that.
Having said that it did seem a very slight sentence for assaulting 13 girls.

So what are the strict guidelines that he had to follow?

Absolutely disgusted by this verdict.

"It's just so bloody common, it makes me very sad / angry / scared to look at my little girl and think the chances are 1:3 that at some point in her life she will be raped and 2:8 it will be by some one she trusted."

Please HerrenaHarridan, where did those statistics come from?

miemohrs

Sorry but bollocks. If you or someone you know worked in child protection, within the criminal justice system you would appreciate how hard it is and how dedicated they have to be. Personally, I've seen a grown man break down in tears after reading about a particularly awful case of child abuse. There were a few sleepless nights too and the pay you mention, believe me, is not spectacular. If you care to read the threads about the slashing of legal aid you'll get the gist. That person then has to compose themselves so they can do a professional job, in order that some sort of 'justice' can be done. For the victims of sexual assualt, nothing can compensate for the harm done. I get that. I have been a victim at one time in my life. But there are people at the coalface trying to make a decent stab of it, only to be accused of being up to no good themselves

If people on on this thread continue to make allegations against perfectly innocent people, they may themselves be thankful for the services of a damn good lawyer one day.

I may be turning cynical but sentences like this always make me wonder what the judge gets up to in his spare time

Really? Really?
Do all the people commenting in this vein know the sentencing guidelines he had to apply? Can you say for certain he was completely out of line with them?

meimohrs Yes I agree which is why I covered all of that in my post, specifically talking in terms of criminality not effect on the victim and indeed only using robbery and theft for sentancing comparitors, and saying that.

I am not defending Stuart Hall, for what he did he deserves punishment, those people he harmed may never get over it, they certainly still have bad feelings to come forward after so many years and their courage has to be applauded. But, and there is usually a but, in giving the sentence the judge will have considered the historic nature, no recent offending of a similar nature, the effect on the victims, the likelehood of reoffending and then whether (except by way of example) whether a prison sentence is appropriate (it is).

The judge will also have had complete information of what the offences were, and as I said, I haven't seen what that amount to and how far it went, but on a sliding scale of offences, and there has to be one, I understand they were not high.

The statistics I quoted are from a leaflet I was given at the rape crisis centre.

Calling the judges private life into question is not libellous so I'm not sure why you think I would need a lawyer. Specific accusations would be.
All I said is his lenience in this case makes me doubt him.

Judges do have a fair scope inside of the guidelines and the sentence given will reflect their opinion of the severity of the crime committed (hence the name!)

Herrena I should've been more specific. I was thinking of Sally Bercow when I wrote that post. Just remember to you that person may be a faceless judge, but he a real person with a family.

miemohrs

The police have some access to counselling (no doubt somebody will come along to tell me this is wrong) but the services lawyers have are almost non-existent. The fact you have posted they do, with absolute certainty leads me to conclude you have no idea how this world workds. If you ask the BBA (Bar Benevolent Association) about their work they'll tell you stories about tearful phonecalls where barrsiters have confessed to drinking themselves to half to death (sadly in some cases they succeed) and a large amount of this is because of the shit they have to deal with.

His barrister should be struck off.
Shameful comments.

"The statistics I quoted are from a leaflet I was given at the rape crisis centre"
Thanks for replying HerrenaHarridan, but frankly I cannot find any evidence to support these statistics. I have been looking through the Rape Crises website.

I am really not trying to pick a fight, it's just that statistics are tossed into a really serious topic like rapes/sexual abuse with little analysis as to where they came from.

Pretty soon the stats are repeated and soon they are thought to be FACT.

As I said, this is too serious a topic to allow pseudo-stats and urban myths to muddy the waters.