Pc Andrews law - automatically give the killers of hero's 20 years with no early release

[pctmmn]

Seems like a good idea to me, I hope his mum and wife manage to get it pushed through parlement.

Anyone that kills a police/nurse/army worker should get a guaranteed long term as these people put their lives on the risk for society and some of the sentences are a joke

There have been numerous high profile cases in the US recently where an ambulance crew arrived in response to a 911 call over someone having a heart attack or seizure, walking in, seeing that the unconscious patient was black, and refusing treatment, and phoning the police to make a false police report of drugs and drug use. Two of those cases involved paramedics injecting the patient with lethal drugs. Straight up cold blooded murder.

Those people are not heroes.

Britain is not the US but I worry this sets a dangerous precedent.

Thank you. I think you get it 👍

Oh for goodness sake OP. We all 'get it' we just don't all agree with you.

Why is it the kind of people who call for this sort of thing and call people "hero's" can never actually spell heroes?

"No it's recognising that these people risk their lives every day for the public good."

Do they? Since when?

Sentencing should be decided based on the facts of the individual case.

Putting people on pedestals for their career choices rarely ends well.

All nurses? I'm not sure the practice nurse at my GP's surgery puts her life on the line on a daily basis.

So much whataboutery on this thread. How many teachers, office workers, retail workers, etc, risk being stabbed, shot, and assaulted just while they try and do their job?

Anything dangerous in most other careers should be minimised through proper health and safety. Front line emergency workers often don't have that luxury.

I think you get it 👍

So those of us who don’t think battered wives who kill in self-defence should get life sentences “don’t get it”?

Not all police or medical staff put their lives in danger. Does this rule apply to a traffic cop in a rural village who’s never experienced anything more dangerous than a loose sheep? A part-time dental nurse working in a fancy private dental clinic in Knightsbridge? Where do you draw the line, and how do you decide who is a hero?

No life is worth more than another.

If you support this you also support murder victims in the wrong job not being able to access the same level of justice. “Sorry Mr and Mrs Smith, your daughter was a teacher so she her killers don’t have to spend as much time in prison”.

I think this is ridiculous. I hate the new fashion for calling people 'heroes' because of the job they do.

@SimonJT

No life is worth more than another.

If you support this you also support murder victims in the wrong job not being able to access the same level of justice. “Sorry Mr and Mrs Smith, your daughter was a teacher so she her killers don’t have to spend as much time in prison”.

Well said.

Nope. Absolutely no. It would actually mean that some lives are officially worth more than others. We really don't need courts to reinforce that idea...

I am very sorry for what happened to him and his family but this can't happen.

I totally disagree that we should differentiate these groups of people. You could say the same about child killers. Surely everyone's life is of equal value to the next person's?
Discrimination is not acceptable.

My ndn is a nurse and she has never been in any danger during her career.
Many police are confined to desks. How are they putting their lives on the line?
I believe there are very few heroes around. Don't devalue the word, by saying people doing particular jobs they chose to do, are heroes. I think being a hero at least suggests some sort of deliberate choice of activity to put your life on the line rather than passivity.

Yes a police officers life is mor valuable because he was simply doing his job.
The man was skinned as he was dragged by the car, for doing his fucking job.

That's not right and needs addressing.

People make me sick.

*more

A teacher working in a rough inner city comp, or a social worker, has to deal with more abuse and risk of violence than a GP in an upper class village in the Cotswolds.

A better argument would be for the sentences to be increased for the killing of someone in the line of their job.

So e.g. if a police officer/paramedic etc is killed while attending a crime/emergency call then those sentences should be higher.

That shouldn’t apply though to just general killing of anyone in a specific role.

What a ridiculous, ill thought out notion.

So a policeman's life is worth more than say a factory worker, or a retail or office worker?

What do you do op, do you think your life is worth less than someone else's, or your family members?

Yes a police officers life is mor valuable

All lives are equal under the laws of this country. Let’s not undermine the foundational principle of all human rights, eh.

It is a very slippery slope to start judging some people's lives as more valuable than others. By whose criteria? Why? And where does it start and end?

Terrible idea, terrible petition.

Makes me wonder how many posters on this thread would expect a non hero police officer to put their own life on the line to stop a terrorist stabbing their child

I don't agree with this for many reasons but this is one of the key ones "nurse/army worker". So not doctors and paramedics? Not Navy or RAF personnel?

People have their own view of what constitutes a hero and it's usually based on popular stereotypes due to lack of understanding/irresponsible journalism.

You can’t have mandatory sentences because it would be a flagrant breach of human rights. How can anyone have a fair trial based on the individual circumstances of the case if there is a mandatory sentence.

Please do read this before signing the petition.

In summary, whilst the horrendous case in the news generates a lot of emotion, (a) the law already mandates life sentences for anyone who murders a police officer or other emergency workers in the course of their duty (so this wouldn't cover a wife who murders her abusive policeman husband for instance which I think we can agree is different), plus sentencing guidelines for manslaughter take into account the fact the victim was an emergency worker and result in longer sentences (b) laws that mandate blanket sentences without taking into account context/circumstances have potential to be hugely unfair -e.g. are you really saying someone who pushes a police officer in a ruck situation, leading to the officer happening to fall, hit their head on the pavement and die, should really have the same sentence as someone who deliberately takes out a knife with the intention of stabbing several police officers?

That's not right and needs addressing.

Yes but it needs to be addressed as a case individually. The absence of this law doesn’t prevent his killers from receiving life sentences. Take each case as individual. That’s the only way to serve justice.

It would cheapen Andrew Harper’s life and his dedication and sacrifice to apply it arbitrarily to millions of people who are not all heroes, not all in jobs where they place themselves in danger, and apply it to crimes that might have nothing to do with the person’s job.

Because you know if this law passed it would soon start to apply to cases where the person very clearly wasn’t a hero (like my hypothetical wife beater killed in self defence, or drug dealing nurse) and the press would have a field day. PC Andrew’s name would be cheapened and sullied by the association.