the difference though is that they were children who were made to face the consequences as adults, not because we thought that this was the right thing to do, but because only treating them as adults would satisfy the mob's lust for revenge. The motivation was wrong, and the outcome satisfied no-one.
Yes, jb's life ended because of their actions, but their lives changed through their own actions regardless of how they had been treated. They were never going to be absolved of the murder of JB, but the way in which society reacted to them says a lot about the way we think about revenge rather than rehabilitation.
We have posters on here asking whether their ten year old should be allowed to stay in the house for an hour and who are told no they're too young. Whether it's ok to take a ten yo to a twelve cert film and again, no, it's too violent. Yet as soon as the ten year old does something horrific the fact they're ten year olds seems to be forgotten and suddenly those children who shouldn't be left alone or taken to age-rated films should be treated as the adults they will become...... in eight years time....... and be punished as adults for the rest of their miserable childhoods at which point they can then be locked up for the rest of their adult lives.
Does anyone really want to be a part of a society which would condemn ten year olds for the rest of their lives? where should that end? It's very easy to apply that when the crime is beyond all reason but what about lesser crimes? If a ten year old is caught shoplifting should they receive a criminal record which goes against them for the rest of their lives? affects their future career prospects? and if not, why not? If a ten year old gets into trouble at school should that be held against them when going into secondary? be labelled a troubled child even if they haven't been in trouble since? If ten year olds are responsible enough to be tried as adults for murder why are they still living at home? why have we not all sent our ten year olds out to live as adults in society and be responsible as adults for their conduct?
We see plenty of posts on here about things people did and regretted in their youth and early/mid twenties, and we excuse those things on the basis those people were young and foolish. It's only when it's a crime that it should stay with them for ever regardless of whether rehabilitation was possible.
no-one has ever said that jv and rt shouldn't have been held accountable for what they did to jb. and as an adult jv needs to be held separately accountable for his subsequent conduct. but it is possible to see the murder of a toddler as the horrific event that it was while at the same time wondering how the hell it was possible for a ten year old to have been capable of committing such a crime.
Read the article flight linked to above. it is incredibly interesting reading...