To be absolutely sick of excuses being made for men's disgusting sexual behaviour? Trigfer warning. Hugh Edwards sentencing.

[UCConfuseMe]

Just read that Hugh Edwards ahs been given a suspended sentence.

And if course it's not his fault. He had a mean Daddy and some mental health issues and some bad things going on in his life, poor lamb.

All that made him say 'amazing' when sent photos of children as young as 7 being molested.

Having a rough time and a strict father doesn't make you a fucking paedophile!!!

Take responsibility for your predatory and vile behaviour!!

I wasn't. Some else pointed that out. I simply commented on your eagerness to share you had likes on your post.

It wasn’t eager in the slightest, it was simply a response to your increasingly desperate posts where you scrape every inch of the proverbial barrel to have a go at me.

I never made the comment about you tagging people though?! You were responding to someone else.

I don't need to scrape any barrel to have a go at you, you're doing that yourself and dragging others into it

@YellowphantGrey, to reflect your earlier post, 👍 ok.

Very much agree. I’d like to see it all overhauled. I have to wonder is the legislation even fit for purpose given the evolving digital nature of these crimes? And then is the sentencing appropriate, both as a deterrent but as suitable punishment for these vile crimes. We need to send a strong message that CSA (and I’d like to see more broadly violence against women and girls) be harshly punished. After all, this isn’t spur of the moment crime. This is men deliberately harming children or seeking out footage of it. That in itself makes the crime very intentional and I think ‘mitigations’ should have to reach a very high bar to be considered in sentencing for CSA crimes.

Our justice system considers other crimes to be more of a danger to the public like committing crimes against property, fraud, low level drug dealing

I always say if the crime involves money (like fraud) you get decades in prison. You can’t help but feel the system is completely skewed to value money and things over people

The sentencing guidelines for this crime need to be amended. I am somewhat perturbed that Starmer hasn't commented on this case, tbh - the public is sending a very clear message - Huw Edwards is perceived to have gotten away with what is arguably the worst crime one can commit against the most vulnerable demographic.

He should be in prison for the rest of his life. Everybody is vulnerable in prison - he is not special in that regard.

I’m not sure politicians should comment. If this is seen to be unduly lenient it will be looked at again. Starmer of all people understands sentencing! Those who know the guidelines believe it’s within them.

Legislation sets out max and minimum sentences and what else MUST be considered but considerable discretion is given to the judges because they are the professionals in this. It’s not for here today, gone tomorrow politicians to dictate everything. Or we start going down a very slippery slope. This is why, although some posters don’t like it, the sentences given must be left to trained people. Sentencing has got more and more tough. Not the opposite.

@SpudleyLass Exceot that in the vast breadth of this crime, he’s not at the top end. So the sentence must reflect this. As it has with similar offenders. All offences have degrees or everything will be “life”.

Plus the public clearly doesn’t set the sentencing rules. They just bay for blood. As they always do. It’s up to trained professionals to look at this. They will if it’s seen as too lenient. How many people are we going to send to prison from our courts? 200,000? More? When do we say other sentences are more appropriate?

Some of us on this thread are a minority in our views. We are allowed to be.

It's the public who have to pay for it all. And live in society with all the offenders that don't go to jail. Who do these so-called "trained professionals" work for, if not the public?

Also have misgivings about politicians grandstanding/interfering/whatever in the judicial process - they tend to be fickle creatures with their own agendas and the welfare of children shouldn't become a political football

Tom Tugenhat seems to have been the only politician 'commenting' yesterday about the leniency of the sentence and appealing it to the Attorney General - he was quickly informed that's not possible because the case was heard in the magistrates court and the right of the public to appeal lenient sentences only covers the high court

So interesting to know that is the case and maybe he could raise extending the public's rights in this in parliament which is a better/correct place to 'comment' - where politicians can actually influence law-making

And yes not the worst crime against children - think about what happened to Sarah Payne and other children suffering at the hands of malignant sadistic predatory paedophiles - and the everything in between those crimes and HE

.

What message does this send out to his poor victims? This happens to you and Huw just gets a little ticking off and sent on his merry way.
It makes me sick, I feel so enraged. There is no justice for the children in this m, I would lock Huw in a cell for a long time and be wearing his dingly danglies for earrings if I had my way.

So what are you advocating? Life sentences for every offence? Otherwise there is no way of avoiding the fact that there are thousands of people living in society who have been convicted of offences.

Think about it - if you are going to prison for a long time even for offences at the lower end of the scale, what incentive is there to limit your offending? Why wouldn't you threaten and kill potential witnesses if you get no more for murder than you do for theft? Why would you hesitate to assault prison staff if it isn't going to increase your sentence? The thought of locking everyone up indefinitely may sound great, but it just doesn't work.

It's not just a little ticking off, though, is it? This is someone who was once massively respected who has lost all that and is now despised, he's lost his career and his family. I doubt that many potential paedophiles are looking at him thinking "He got away with it, I'll carry right on".

And now allegedly lives with his elderly mum in deepest Wales

Some people didn’t look at consequences of the death penalty when offending! Sentences often don’t stop anything. Changing offending behaviour has more success.

I know we mothers are supposed to forgive anything (unconditional love) but I truly think I could not forgive this.

No disrespect to his mother though, it's not her fault.

It's standard stuff.

Every defence team has to present some kind of defence, if not for the crimes themselves as they are indefensible, but what may have contributed to it or what may be happening in their life now.

It made no difference to his sentencing or to the public perception of him.

TBH we don't know what his mother thinks/feels - he may be unwelcome, there under duress - cant imagine that she's not suffering some kind of distress/conflict

My point was that he's no longer leading his glamorous lifestyle in his lovely house in Dulwich

Exactly, DancingLions, and while fines are only supposed to be for a minor breach of conditions, there's always a risk of that definition being watered down in the context of pressure on prison places

Again it's the infrastructure and guidelines which are at fault and as always I come back to the issue of public confidence in the system. It hasn't been there for years and is getting worse now we're seeing politically motivated jailings, and for me it needs changing - urgently

They are guidelines judges/magistrates have the power to use their discretion when sentencing

HE was treated with leniency, again seven years on the sex offenders register is an inconvenience nothing more. His sentence could have been harsher it has been for others

HE has been very lucky to have had rather sympathetic magistrate who stated in court he could be rehabilitated (on evidence given, that is quite a statement I cant think of one professional who would make such a statement and I work in rehabilitation), stated he was no longer a risk to children (have worked with many sex offenders never have I seen this stated in professional reports) and was concerned over HE safety if he went to prison (this is a concern for all child sex offenders)

There is absolutely no excuse for such leniency

Its very concerning we have professionals that have powers to sentence, set conditions that have such sympathetic attitudes towards sex offenders

Do you think a pedophile can ever, truly, be rehabilitated?

Starmer should absolutely comment on this. He was present when the sentencing guidelines for this offence were changed.

He is disgusting.

As for it not being the worst crime against children, words fucking fail me. SO he didn't physically touch a child? perhaps not but he fed the fucking market for it - so some child will be physically harmed as a result of his actions.

I truly hope that pig Edwards dies soon.

If we don't send paedos to prison, nobody else should be in prison.

Not as an adult.

I absolutely agree. I've tried to use blunt language on this thread that has felt uncomfortable typing but I think it's necessary. It's no use just saying 'child abuse' because it doesn't adequately describe what those children are enduring and what this country considers a crime not worthy of a lengthy prison sentence.

If the prisons are full then release the ones that are drug related, theft related, fraud related and lock up the ones who (here comes that blunt language again) insert their penis into children including new born babies, along with the ones who ejaculate while looking at the pictures of it.

I don't give a fuck about rehabilitating these monsters, they don't deserve the opportunity, stop safeguarding them, they had no issue with assaulting children so who gives a fuck if they get battered by one of the 'bigger boys'.

I appreciate that there are sentencing guidelines. But they don't fit the crime, so, here's a novel idea, change the fucking guidelines.

Don't come at people with 'I want to live in a civil society' when you're comfortable with that society containing convicted pedophiles roaming free.

No