Jeremy Forrest verdict - aibu to be confused?

[noddyboulder]

Yep, I don't think even his own parents could deny he's a massive, hideous scumbag with no impulse control - but how can he have been found guilty of abduction when the girl he had an affair with said it was her idea to go to France and she went willingly?

Can somebody legal shed some light?

What's this about a third party? Haven't heard that one. If it's true then it becomes even clearer that this man is an abuser.

Josephine, I heard on a news report, I can't remember which but it was after sentencing, that there is possibly a third party involved in manipulating the girl. There is a belief that whilst he was in custody he was passing messages to her via this 3rd party, and that these possible messages where used to manipulate her further. THere was mention that this is possibly going to be investigated.

Link here about the 'third party':

possible collusion

I'm off to watch channel 4 news.

step I read somewhere a list of pointers from the suffragettes. One said "accept that other women will disagree with you" or something. It helps. And also important to feminism actually that we don't all agree. We are not a homogenous group any more than men are z

Tell you what, I reckon that family friend needs a good solid boot up the arse.

Don't read the quote from them unless you have really low blood pressure that needs bumping up a fair bit.

Imagine being the parents of a 30 year old and receiving a letter from his 15 year old "partner".

Yeah..I started off feeling sorry for them but less so as more has come out.

Wondering if JF is a 'golden child' who can do no wrong..you often get those in dysfunctional families. Pure speculation on my part of course.

That's a good point lougle

No one should ever read the DM comments section - it's solely populated by trolls and weirdos

Thanks Binky.

I don't think that there was anything wrong with what the girl's mother said - she too is a victim in this - but she does come across as a bit immature.

It's a difficult situation and DM readers aren't going to ever give an unbiased opinion of anything.

I took mum impact statement to mean Forrest has split mum and daughter
by portraying mum as obstacle to relationship,he's positioned her as bad
he's used classic splitting technique to detach adolescent from her family and aligned to him

I felt sorry for for mum when I heard her statement. Said to me how he'd destroyed their relationship and ended her childhood.

Yes, she was a witness for the defence where she had been coached to support him.

No, she was called to give evidence by the CPS adn was therefore a prosecution witness. However, she was treated as a hostile witness. Her ABE video was played first (the video evidence that people are mentioning) as her evidence in chief and then she was cross examined in court. She was offered the option of videolink for cross examination but she elected to go into the court room.

I personally think the girl's mother was a bit left-field giving a 'victim impact statement' that centred entirely on herself

This is wholly normal when the offences have a wider impact than just the victim. It is also normal where the victims are children that either do not believe that they have changed due to the offences or where the repercussions have had a wider effect on the family unit. I have had several cases where teenage children do not want to admit that they have been upset/affected by the offences committed against them but where parents have given powerful VPSs detailing the effect on their children's behaviour

I agree, but the Mum should be focused on her daughter, who is surely the biggest victim.

"The daughter I know is dead. I'm grieving for her and it upsets me beyond words."

A harsh thing to say by anyone's standards, I think.

?I feel completely useless most of the time. I feel I have failed as a parent as I don't understand how someone can do this to my child and I had no idea.

?I feel like the worst mother in the world. Whatever anyone else says, it does not matter, that is how I feel.

?Someone got to my child and I never saw it coming or realised it was happening.

Fair enough, I'm sure we'd all feel that we should have stopped it.

?I feel like part of (her) childhood has been robbed from me ? her last day at school, dressing her up in a party dress for the school prom ? it's all been taken from us.

Well...her entire childhood has been robbed from her, but you're more concerned about the fact that you can't dress her up in a party dress for a prom??

?My relationship with my daughter will never be the same again.

?She is aiming all her anger at me, that she has to give evidence and attend court, somehow that is all my fault.

?She feels she cannot trust me and she has gone to live elsewhere.?

The woman said her other children had suffered and had been forced to move home which had caused ?further difficulties?.

Where is the focus on her DD, the victim??

She elected to go in the courtroom so she could see him, I imagine.

Actually I think it describes how the victim changed after her relationship with Forrest. Her mother can only see things from her point of view, after all and you are picking out a few lines from a document that was several pages in length.

Do you have a link to the full document?

I think picking over the mother impact statement is unnecessary,bit cruel
maybe the mum isn't most erudite but she's trying to describe her pain
Forrest chose a vulnerable with difficult family dynamics he maximised that,to isolate girl from family

I'm not picking over it. I'm saying that it doesn't sound like (from the few lines that have been published, and I'd be willing to revise my opinion if I saw a more balanced complete impact statement) anyone is thinking of the girl herself in this. Which is a sad, sad, situation.

of course you're picking mother statement over.your emphasis,bolding and commentary
I think it's well established the family dynamics were strained,and Forrest saw that
the mums points are legitimate,Forrest has split and alienated mother and daughter