4 yrs for cutting down tree, no jail time for rape

[Barnbrack]

Why are 2 men being given custodial sentences for cutting down a tree when men convicted of rape regularly get suspended sentences.

Is an important tree more important than a random woman! Justice system seems to think so.

Misogyny. Women are sub humans. Etc. patriarchy is still alive and well sadly. Also where I am in scotland a man who raped a young child multiple times in a park got community service as the court ruled he was "too young" at the time being 23. The young girl who is probably about 15 now is too scared to go about the neighbourhood where he is. The more you read about what happens to women and young girls the more depressing it is.

The minimum sentence for Rape in the UK is 4 years.

I voted yabu because we are looking at 2 very different crimes here.Rape is abhorrent .and completely unacceptable. The problem seems to be we live in a patriarchal society still.Men should 100 per cent be jaied for Rape crimes.Howevet the 2 idiots who felled a landmark tree famous world wide were well out of order.they were rightly jailed .At least to stop others following and doing likewise.they appear to be caught up in some sort of dispute with NT apparently.

It's a tree.

4 years is extremely harsh. These idiots should be punished but not locked up. I actually feel sorry for them.

Source for claiming men convicted of rape regularly receive suspended sentences?

Well1 am back Agree 100 per cent .a dreadful case today .a young woman apparently "worked too hard" so her delightful boyfriend cut her head off! Hopefully a life sentence aesits

YANBU. I was watching a truly awful episode of 24 hours in police custody last week. This man had thousands of images and videos of girls in their late teens/early twenties, video footage of him raping girls obviously not fully conscious. Victims had no idea what he did to them.

10 years he got because he pleaded guilty to one count of rape, one count of voyeurism and one count of public exposure. 10 years for a vile individual who groomed young women, got them to his flat, got them so drunk/drugged they couldn't consent. Footage included him dragging a young woman, unconscious, across a concrete floor. She was naked.

When someone gets 4 years for chopping down a tree, 10 years for all that individual did is doubly insulting, as if it wasn't insulting enough.

Criminal Damage, and Damage to a scheduled ancient monument … zero sympathy

Jesus. It's just relentless and never ending. Another Scottish case that stayed with me was that poor girl who was raped and murdered by her BROTHER who then dumped her body and another man came across it and raped her dead body. With that and Gisele in France I am just done with men. Generally as I actually do have a lovely DH and boys and a dad. But I rant a lot at them now. To make them understand.

It was a tree. Yes, they should be punished. But, leaving aside rape for a moment, many violent crimes against actual human beings don't carry that level of sentence.

It's a ridiculous sentence.

I feel sorry for the poor tree, not this riff-raff.

Yep, our amazing progressive Scottish government where they hate women and men under 25 are deemed exempt from any criminal responsibility.

I welcome the four years, I just think other crimes should be more. The man on 24 Hours should’ve got 20 at least.

Fighting fish it's just a trees doesn't do it justice. It was iconic and famous the world over.mindless violence is a separate issue to Rape.which should be dealt with harshly. However one doesn't preclude the other and both should be punished accordingly. As far as feeling sorry for them Save your tears for the NT and many tree lovers and oxygen fans .we can't live without these wonderful plants!

I think a community service sentence, planting trees for a considerable length of time, would be much more appropriate. Plus they have been widely identified and humiliated.

Men convicted of rape should always be given a long prison sentence.

I agree completely with the OP.

Here you go:

ttps://uk.news.yahoo.com/hundreds-of-convicted-rapists-walk-free-from-court-144846183.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABHPffMiWRn0ebqMZ_CnlyjcXGlOEiyFLZA8NFdIi9UvycwDqMrp6xjIEAj6RBNT9G6vs6NC1FvW4VBT-PSYp6x3T7w_R2MHypGanZ4M90dELu5wR_CNj7-L8IdQnJ7WosrSxLneQxWB0RbM4Cq_7ilzLnQzElS59wXtelZ-CnZM

Also, a great report on how rape has become de-criminalised:

The Decriminalisation of Rape | Rape Crisis England & Wales

The OP has every right to feel angry.

The minimum sentence for rape is 4 years and in order for a sentence to be suspended it has to be 2 years or less. So not possible for a rapist to receive a suspended sentence. Juries are still reluctant to find a man not-guilty of rape (*caveat personal experience).

I don’t think you can compare the two but I agree that from a woman’s point of view, it’s all just so fucking depressing.

And meanwhile there is such a crisis in prison places that they apparently have no choice but to give domestic abusers early release.

I wish there was as much public support for real action on VAWG as for retribution against these tree wankers.

1. Ozhan Ongun (Wales, 2024)

Offence: Rape of a 12-year-old girl (offences occurred 2016–2017).

Outcome: A two-year suspended sentence. Ongun was 12 at the time of the offences, and the court emphasised his young age as a mitigating factor. He was also mandated to complete rehabilitation, unpaid work, and was prohibited from contacting minors for 10 years.

1. Sean Hogg (Scotland, 2023)

Offence: Rape of a 13‑year‑old in Dalkeith Country Park while Hogg was 17.

Outcome: Received 270 hours of unpaid work (community payback), no custodial sentence. The Crown Advocate described the non-prison sentence as “unduly lenient,” prompting an appeal

Horrendous

And the other posts

Although I still think cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree deserved a prison sentence. But rapists should be getting longer.

I’m glad they’ve gone to prison. They deliberately picked something to destroy that would cause a lot of upset to the public. There are loads of other trees to choose from but they chose that one for the laughs. Bet they’re not laughing now.

Rapists should definitely get longer, but I don’t get the sympathy expressed above for those two complete morons. I’m sick of the justice system pussyfooting around people who contribute nothing and make life miserable for other people. It might seem “low level” but it’s not - it’s about time we started coming down on people like a ton of bricks.

I wonder how many years/months that works out at for each victim/offence.