The child who confessed should get a reduced sentence?

[ElatedShark]

Two young men were killed in Bristol in a case of mistaken identity. 5 killers caught, only one, the youngest child, confessed.

I think he should be given less time than the others due to this and age and the fact prison rarely works to rehabilitate young offenders. It must be terrifying for him.

My heart also goes out to the victims families.
Partner thinks I'm being unreasonable. That's it really.

Here is the story for those wanting more info:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ym7g5dx50o

In the adult court your sentence is reduced by a third if you plead guilty. I imagine similar principles will be applied here.

Thanks, I didn't know that.

Not as terrifying as what those poor young men went through. They were innocent and were stabbed to death when going out to get pizza. They hadn't even left school.
He deserves a harsh sentence without reduction for confession

He went out with a machete with the intention of killing someone so no, he shouldn't get a reduced sentence. This wasn't an accident the intention was very real and it was planned even if the victims were the wrong ones.

They used machetes to murder two teenagers.

The boys they murdered were also only 15 and 16.

I think that admitting guilt can lead to a reduced sentence and if so then they will get that but I'm not really sure how terrified of prison someone involved in hacking people to death is going to be.

I don't feel sorry for them. They are scum.

You think a child capable of that is terrified?

I'd wait for sentencing and see. They're usually quite fair with these things

This.

I'll agree prison rarely works in terms of rehabilitation, but I don't think anyone can suggest "he gets less time in prison because of his age" when he went out, equipped with a machete, intending to hack someone to death.

Clearly, so much has gone wrong with his upbringing already.

Can you rehabilitate someone who did something like that?

I almost always argue for rehabilitation instead of prison, but sexual predator/rapists/pedophiles and cold blooded murderers are the categories I would consider behind rehab. These boys, and the adult male, are all cold blooded murderers. This wasn’t self defence or heat of the moment or accidentally. This was planned, they armed themselves, they hacked those boys to death and then went off for a McDonald’s.

It must be terrifying for him

He wasn't terrified when he went for a McDonald's after murdering those innocent boys.

Did he? Fucking hell

They were mid teen children who were killed, not young men. 15 & 16 iirc.

Yes.
Op called the murdered boys young men and their killer a child.

It feels very manipulative.

Life sentences for murder shouldn't be reduced. The kids he murdered don't get to live their lives, neither should he.

They should all get life sentences. Old enough to take someones life, old enough to face the consequences. He gave not two shits about what he'd done clearly, why the hell should he have a reduced sentence?! What sort of world do you live in?!

He is scum- he wasn’t terrified when he went out to eat after the crime. He went out to kill these boys. He deserves a harsh sentence.

The whole thread feels very manipulative.

They killed someone, the mistaken identity aspect is completely irrelevant as they set out with the intention of killing someone.

They absolutely don't deserve any leniency for their actions just because they admitted to it!

I think he should be given less time than the others due to this and age and the fact prison rarely works to rehabilitate young offenders. It must be terrifying for him.

He'll likely be out in less than 20 years, regardless. By which point he'll only be mid 30s. So a person who thought that a proportionate response to throwing bricks at a house (which the victims hadn't even done anyway) is to chase after them in a gang and machete them to death - that person will be out roaming the streets again as a comparatively young person.

I'm more fearful for his next potential victim(s) than I am for his possible apprehension at spending a few years in the chokey.

I think he should never see the outside world again.

@ElatedShark
Yes OP, why did you call the innocent victims “young men” but the murderer in question, who is the same age as them, a “child”?

Are you related to this juvenile murderer, @ElatedShark?

They should lock them up and throw away the key. Unfortunately, they won't and these boys will be back on the streets in a few years time looking for another victim.

This is a horrific story. I don’t know whether his sentence will be reduced or not - I think it will as a result of pleading guilty but I personally think even though they’re teens the behaviour was still bloodthirsty and unhinged. They should be in jail for the rest of their lives or close to it . It would be different if it was a no-weapons fight and things had got out of hand and someone had got killed accidentally by a punch for example. But this going out with machetes shows they had a real thirst for murder and were hellbent on taking two fellow kids lives. In reality they’ll be out in 5-15 years due to their age.

They were not young men. They were children. Boys. 15 and 16. They had done absolutely nothing to harm these people and died in terrifying circumstances.

That postcode war culture has to stop.