Page 2 | To be horrified at this sentence: 5 years! For a non violent crime

LakeTiticaca · 05/05/2023 08:04

A fine community service, suspended sentence would have been more appropriate IMHO. Some of these judges need to give their head a wobble. There are far too many violent thugs roaming the streets because the judge was taken in by their "struggles with mental health"

Theluggage15 · 05/05/2023 08:04

A huge fine! So rich criminals can buy their way out of prison with money from their crimes.

SomePosters · 05/05/2023 08:04

I was once reading the metro and discovered that someone got double the jail time for installing knock off sky boxes than the man in his 60s who raped my 14yo self in my school uniform.

Twice the sentence.

That’s where I rank in society, significantly less important than knock off sky boxes

Quveas · 05/05/2023 08:04

There are separate issues here. What sentences attach to violent or sexual crimes is an entirely different issue - discuss that elsewhere. It shouldn't be a competition as to what crime is better or worse, because it's all crime.

On a separate basis, I suspect the judge knows more about the actual full details of the case, the history of the men and the severity of the crime than the DM or people on here. But I don't think a couple of years (which is the most they'll serve) is excessive for people who knew the law and intended to break it.

User85398653 · 05/05/2023 08:05

Or they could do something that volunteers do like clearing litter, loads of stuff is done by volunteers nowadays

Gtsr443 · 05/05/2023 08:08

User85398653 · 05/05/2023 07:54

A large fine and a lot of community service would have been more appropriate and much cheaper for the taxpayer

Yup. This. Ban them from detecting or handling valuable artefacts for x number of years. These men are no threat to society st all.

Gtsr443 · 05/05/2023 08:09

@SomePosters That's appalling. I'm so sorry.

SpringCherryPie · 05/05/2023 08:17

SomePosters · 05/05/2023 08:04

I was once reading the metro and discovered that someone got double the jail time for installing knock off sky boxes than the man in his 60s who raped my 14yo self in my school uniform.

Twice the sentence.

That’s where I rank in society, significantly less important than knock off sky boxes

This.

I’m sorry for what you experienced, and I do think we as a society allocate value partly by how we punish crimes. So of course this is not a separate issue to violent crimes.

Naunet · 05/05/2023 08:17

SomePosters · 05/05/2023 08:04

I was once reading the metro and discovered that someone got double the jail time for installing knock off sky boxes than the man in his 60s who raped my 14yo self in my school uniform.

Twice the sentence.

That’s where I rank in society, significantly less important than knock off sky boxes

I’m so sorry. Society really doesn’t value women and girls.

QuickGuide · 05/05/2023 08:17

User85398653 · 05/05/2023 08:05

Or they could do something that volunteers do like clearing litter, loads of stuff is done by volunteers nowadays

And that's another reason community service is problematic. It brands serving the community as a punishment, something unpleasant to be avoided or looked down on and takes "status" away from the work volunteers do.

Bitteraftertaste · 05/05/2023 08:20

@Naunet You have written exactly how I feel. Even though any human can be a victim of violence.

Reugny · 05/05/2023 08:21

SomePosters · 05/05/2023 08:04

I was once reading the metro and discovered that someone got double the jail time for installing knock off sky boxes than the man in his 60s who raped my 14yo self in my school uniform.

Twice the sentence.

That’s where I rank in society, significantly less important than knock off sky boxes

One issue is that those who commit sex assault and rape are given the sentence of the period they commited the crime. So if they did it in the 70s they would get a few months rather than a couple of years.

SpringCherryPie · 05/05/2023 08:22

I don’t think community service is problematic in the slightest. If it is a punishment you have to do it, if you volunteer then it is your choice.

But the underlying premise in the same. We all belong to our community, we all depend on each other and need to respect each other. If as these people have done, is take away something of the communities that they should not, then community service is a way of forcibly making them put something back into our society and community.

Reugny · 05/05/2023 08:24

Gtsr443 · 05/05/2023 08:08

Yup. This. Ban them from detecting or handling valuable artefacts for x number of years. These men are no threat to society st all.

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How would you do that in practice?

People put their tags on their pets and go out.

Dibbydoos · 05/05/2023 08:25

I suspect the sentence is because it's potentially theft from the crown or landowner or both. These coins are seen as of great heritage value.

I don't agree with imprisonment, yes, a custodial term, but with probation so they can be supervised to make sure they learned their lesson. Our courts and sentencing are a mess!

Bodenesque · 05/05/2023 08:27

GrumpyPanda · 05/05/2023 08:02

That's incredibly naive, same as all the other posters droning on about "money." The real crime these people have done is to irretrievably destroy a rare historical heritage. Any monetary value of the coins is completely secondary. They needed to be examined in situ, for all of the countless information around them that can only be found through proper archeological excavation. The actual coins themselves are the smallest part of that.

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Exactly this

QuickGuide · 05/05/2023 08:28

SpringCherryPie · 05/05/2023 08:22

I don’t think community service is problematic in the slightest. If it is a punishment you have to do it, if you volunteer then it is your choice.

But the underlying premise in the same. We all belong to our community, we all depend on each other and need to respect each other. If as these people have done, is take away something of the communities that they should not, then community service is a way of forcibly making them put something back into our society and community.

You might not think so, but the experience of those in the system and research of the societal impact shows that it is. Volunteers don't want to do the same work the criminals are doing for punishment.

Also, communities aren't actually that keen on having van loads of criminals shipped in to work amongst them, hence why it's really hard to find work for them to do.

DonnaBanana · 05/05/2023 08:28

It’s because technically treasure belongs to the crown. So finding some coins and not declaring them is morally seen as on a par with breaking into the Tower of London and stealing some of the Crown Jewels. Silly but there you go. Once upon a time in history it was a capital offense!

SchoolQuestionnaire · 05/05/2023 08:29

GrumpyPanda · 05/05/2023 08:02

That's incredibly naive, same as all the other posters droning on about "money." The real crime these people have done is to irretrievably destroy a rare historical heritage. Any monetary value of the coins is completely secondary. They needed to be examined in situ, for all of the countless information around them that can only be found through proper archeological excavation. The actual coins themselves are the smallest part of that.

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Even so, surely historical items are not more precious than our dc and a paedophile would undoubtedly have received a shorter sentence (if they actually received a sentence at all) for a first time offence.

The priorities of our Justice System are fucked.

SchoolQuestionnaire · 05/05/2023 08:32

SomePosters · 05/05/2023 08:04

I was once reading the metro and discovered that someone got double the jail time for installing knock off sky boxes than the man in his 60s who raped my 14yo self in my school uniform.

Twice the sentence.

That’s where I rank in society, significantly less important than knock off sky boxes

I’m so sorry this happened to you. This is so very wrong.

TooOldForThisNonsense · 05/05/2023 08:35

YABU

It’s hardly like this was a couple of amateur detectorists and a couple of gold coins. They knew exactly what they were doing, planned to profit hugely, and that they were breaking the law. If they just get a slap on the wrist where is the deterrent element?

I agree rapists should get more jail time but I have no sympathy for this pair.

Lockheart · 05/05/2023 08:47

This isn't a crime "just" to do with money. It's theft, fencing, and smuggling (and trespass?). Theft of national heritage no less, some of which has not been recovered - presumably they refuse to reveal its whereabouts.

Are some posters seriously suggesting if a serial thief lifted £20k from your bank account that you wouldn't want them to go to prison, because it was non-violent?

This is in stark contrast to most other threads about justice on MN - people positively revel about other criminals being tortured in prison.

Kendodd · 05/05/2023 08:52

TheAudie · 05/05/2023 07:57

It’s ridiculous that a rapist gets less time.

it’s a very high sentence for a non violent crime

Actually, let's be honest.
A rapist would get zero time in prison because they wouldn't be convicted in the first place.

NorthernLights5 · 05/05/2023 08:57

It makes me angry for how little value is placed on children's lives when it comes to prison sentences versus crimes like this. The teacher at my school was found guilty of sexual assault of children for not only what he did to us students but also his own daughters. His sentence? Two years suspended. Fucking joke this country.

dottiedodah · 05/05/2023 08:57

It does seem overly harsh at first .However £766.000 is an awful lot of money which when given to the Govt ,is safely kept for our Museums and galleries to exhibit to the public .By keeping this they are effectively stealing from our fellow countrymen,and depriving all of us of an invaluable look into our history .This is infinite ,as future generations would be denied a glimpse of the past too.Just imagine if Edith Pretty( The landowner whose employee ,Basil Brown found Sutton Hoo) had kept the find (which she was entitled to apparently) She did the right thing and gave it to the Govt .Now proudly displayed in British Museum for all to see as well as visitors from abroad .A huge glimpse into 7th and 8th C life .