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

He admitted to setting out to kill someone with a machete, not to accidentally spilling coffee over someone's laptop. And he probably confessed with the knowledge it would likely get him a reduced sentence, not out of the goodness of his heart. He may well be terrified but his victims were also terrified. The victim's families are going to spend the rest of their lives without them.

I’m very liberal. I can see the societal causes of crimes like these, the problems with deprivation and poor parenting, rife drug use and lack of aspirations. I’m aware many of these kids are essentially groomed by older criminals.

None of that means I want a 14 year old capable of hacking another child to death with a machete loose on the streets. He needs to be locked up until we are very confident he won’t do it again, which is likely to be his mid 30s at absolute minimum.

sorry to hear that 😣💐 it must be awful for everyone especially their family and friends of course. I can only imagine just how many people are affected by this brutal act of violent cowardice.

What happened to kids having a punch up one on one, to settle disagreements?

Not saying I’m for any kind of fighting/violence of course but at least that was better than gangs bringing machetes to attack people.

If that was your child, would you still think the same just because one of them confessed?!

Some people are born without a moral conscience- They just don't care for other's lives.

Also, I'm interested to know why it took the jury nearly 19 hours to reach a verdict. Either they were being held up by one or more very obtuse jurors, or the evidence wasn't as clear as we think. If the second, then it's even more crucial that they had the confession of one of the murderers to support the prosecution. As I said upthread, a reduced sentence in return for giving evidence against your co-defendants is just a way to secure a conviction, not to reward a guilty plea for its own sake.

One of the hold ups was the way the perpetrators had confessed to only one killing or the other.

it took 19 hours to agree they should all, rightly, be charged with both murders.

He's a scum bag.
Are you his mum or something?

I was in the jury pool the day trial started. You have no idea how palpable it was that something horrendous is waiting for a dozen of us. No one wanted to be in that panel.I hope the jury doesn't have to sit for any trial ever in this life.there is no aftercare,sitting through evidence must be horrendous. Can't even imagine what the families of the two innocent victims had to go through. So no I dont care about so called poor child being terrified of prison.It will forever be a shame for Bristol ,no one in this city thinks like you OP.

The were 2 innocent children who hadn’t done anything wrong and I’m sorry but anyone that callous regardless of age should be locked up for a long time- it is a very violent way to murder someone. Maybe if they kept these kind of criminals locked up for life as it should be less people would die.

Also, imagine if those poor boys families saw this post 😞

What a ridiculous post by OP! Are you related to the scum bags?

they were two young children not men…horrific beyond words hope the perpetrators never get out of prison and get their just deserts inside …and some.

Deluded to post this….

How anyone in their right mind can even think to post this 😞shameful and despicable OP…

Where is the deterrent to other children if he isn't severely punished for the murder he committed.

We need tougher sentences across the board for knife crime no matter what the age.

Knife crime in this country is a plague and we need tougher sentences for even for just possession.

I appreciate that jail must be terrifying but it won't be as terrifying as being hacked to death with a machete. Whatever the sentence, he will get off lightly in comparison.

It really is deeply shocking.

They look like such nice boys.

Their poor mothers, the grief they are suffering must be unendurable.

What is so appalling is the 45 year old man.

Someone so so much older, should have pulled rank and calmed the situation down.

It definitely does affect communities when dreadful crimes takes place.

Becky Watts and Jo Yeates are still in people's memories.

These two innocent boys will be, too.

Max and Mason.

This is a really weird thread. I feel like the OP may know more than she’s letting on.

I disagree. I think the OP is pontificating from a place of having zero emotional connection to this horrendous event.

Ask yourself this OP. How do you think reading your post might make the loved ones of the victims feel?

Your empathy is with the wrong people and YABVU indeed!

I think they are. OP got excited when a previous poster said about reduced sentences in adult courts and hasn't been back since. No one else would think the sentence should be reduced after what they did. They've shown no remorse. Who hacks someone to death then goes for a MacDonalds?! Only a sick individual who needs locking away for a very long time!!!

Don’t worry he won’t be inside long OP and will likely have a lovely time.
Unlike the terrifying time the two boys he callously murdered.
I know what I’d like to do with the murdering little shit.

Do we know who the 45 yo man was in relation to the murderers? That might explain a lot.

I'm a big believer into thinking about children's vulnerabilities and what may lead them to make poor choices but in this situation no op, he shouldn't. Have you seen the knives used? They weren't even bothered going for McDonald's afterwards. I hope neither of the families are on heed seeing this.

They were kids op, innocent kids, 15 and 16. I couldn't give a fuck how terrified one of their killers might be

Two young men? They were CHILDREN! The killers are low life feral scum and should be locked away forever. Hope that helps. Save your sympathy for the actual victims and their families.

Nobody should get a reduced sentence just because they plead guilty.
They have still done the crime and ruined the victims families lives.

What we should be starting to do now if punish parents if their children are under 18 when they kill.people.
People who have children and can't control them and don't care what they are up too or where they are helping to contribute to this horrible problem we have got where Young people are taking life's often other young people's lives.
They are part of the problem.

Nothing we are doing at the moment is making the world a nicer place to live.

I think it should be ten years minimum (so 20 if they are going to halve it) for carrying a knife or other offensive weapon (ie. Acid). Let alone doing anything with it.

We seriously need to come down on this hard.

They went out intending to kill someone and did kill someone. The fact it wasn't who they were actually after is neither here nor there in my opinion - as is the fact one confessed.