Angry about lenient sentence for murder of elderly man in park

[Thomasina79]

7 years for the boy and three for the girl. This country is pathetic sometimes. A man lost his life while innocently walking his dog. Too sad

The kids' behaviour/mannerisms etc will 99% be reflective of their upbringing/parents close family friends etc so it doesn't say much for the rest of the clan. If so they didn't have much of a chance really - sad really.

Thanks…I feel like you have to have it sometimes in these sorts of situations when it’s children. Mary bell, Robert Thompson have managed to keep their noses clean. While it might go the other way for these two there’s no reason they can’t use this chance in custody to clean their lives up. There has to be hope.

I agree - I cannot believe how many people, including youngsters, think absolutely nothing of going out determined/willing to kill anybody for any trivial reason.

There's always been random violence from a certain kind of person who metes it out for somebody just looking at them; but - bad as it is - that involves bruises and pain that can usually last a day or two and then go away. What makes somebody actually quite happy to KILL somebody for a silly arbitrary reason? Mr Kohli appears to have been targeted for being Asian, being old and for berating them with common sense that their parents should have done long ago... and for that, they believed he should actually DIE.

I don't know their parents, but it may not 'just' have been negligence. There are a lot of terrible, criminally and anti-socially-minded parents out there who actively coach their kids to do this kind of stuff. Some of them who have lots of kids will teach the eldest to commit crime and then get them and the next kids to pass it down in a chain to their younger siblings - often conveniently exploiting the window of time between when the child physically and mentally can learn to do it and when they reach the age of criminal responsibility.

What makes you think that it wasn’t?

Judges have to balance both aggravating and mitigating factors. I haven’t read the sentencing remarks, but there’s no way the victim’s age wouldn’t have been taken into account as an aggravating factor here.

Have you read or heard something to show that it wasn’t?

You may think the final sentence arrived at is low, but that’s another matter.

Now we’re getting philosophical. Your utilitarian approach is interesting.

But it’s not an approach the criminal law and sentencing principles follow.

Going for an easy target less able to defend themselves is and to my mind will always be a strong aggravating factor.

Fair enough 👌

True, they might not have killed a younger person, but they may have left them with a permanent brain injury, lifelong disability from injury, PTSD or other lifelong mental health issues. I don’t really agree it would be better to attack a younger person over an older one just because the likelihood of death is lower, again arguably it could be better to end the life of an 80 year old vs leaving a 30 year old with a lifelong of disability, care needs and trauma. After my parent suffered a catastrophic brain injury I admit it was a relief when they passed, had they lived it would have been with 24/7 care needs and significant disability. I don’t believe death is always the worst outcome in a situation like this, although obviously the ideal would be that the assault had never happened. I’m obviously not saying I think that anything about this was okay, just that again I don’t think just because the person was elderly it is worse than if he had been young and I don’t think that death is necessarilly always the worst outcome.

I don’t think we (the general public) know

All we know is that he has not been recalled to prison - yet.

If you think that proves he has been rehabilitated then that answers your question.

Nobody knows for sure if he is truly “fixed” or means his apology he made but as long as he/mary bell have not been recalled to prison (and they do get monitored carefully for obvious reasons) and have now allegedly both moved on with partners/ children then i think we can all agree the young people / children's / teenage justice then I think it can be presumed the system does work to an extent. So hopefully justice can help these two people.

I think a lack of empathy is part of the issue here. How do we get them to learn empathy for victims of violence or human beings in general? I suspect if kids aren't taught to put themselves in other peoples shoes as children it's to late for them to learn it as teenagers.

I'm sure we are seeing this more often because of hate for minorities being incited on social media. racism seems to be increasing.

what on earth was their motive if it was not racially motivated? they just wanted to beat someone to pulp for the fun of it? I wish there was a screening for this kind of personality type at a young age, then they could be sent somewhere to re-programme their brains.

I wonder what the response would have been if a couple of Asian kids had killed a white elderly man? No doubt the Daily Mail et al would have been whipping the Reform lot into a frenzy…

It doesn't take much to whip the Reform lot into a frenzy or the Daily mail for that matter.

Apologies my MS riddled fingers accidentally clicked on YABU. Which was obviously a mistake

They should have got life sentences or close to it. Maybe 50 years.

That was never going to happen for two kids so young. Bear in mind Ian Huntley got min 40 years for a double child murder.

He should have got longer as well. All criminals should get longer sentences.

Yup well the prisons are full.

Build more prisons.

Just as an update, our local MP (also MP for the area where the murder took place) has appealed to the AG for a sentencing review of an unduly lenient sentence due to the judge not deeming this to be a racially motivated attack.

An absolute disgrace. This scum needs putting away for life.

That’s no excuse. Anyone who thinks evil scum should be living amongst everyday people should offer to have this scum living in their own home.

I think it’s dreadful that the sentences are too short.

I don’t care how old the children are. If they are able to murder someone and laugh about filming the attack, they should have got at least 25 years for the lad. If adults did that, he would have got 25 years.

I do hate racism.

they said it wasn’t racially motivated whatever that means, doesn’t make it any better

Here’s hoping the undue leniency of the sentence will be appealed and will be successful.

Please don’t tell me those 2 don’t know right from wrong.
I despair at what’s happening in the world. 🥲

There are so many reasons why they can’t do this, not just funding but most people probably including yourself not wanting to live next to prisons/ worried about safety.