Man spared jail after beating up his girlfriend

[KateShrub]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2293284/Toby-Hayden-spared-jail-beating-Loretta-Butterworth-card-declined-cash-machine.html

Absolutely shocking!
Some people are jailed for not paying their TV licences and people like him don't go to jail.

Instead of mimimum alcohol pricing, couldn't they make consistent guidelines about sentencing people guilty of violent assault?

'He punched me repeatedly, he didn't stop - but that wasn't enough for him so he kicked me in the back of the head as I lay on the floor unable to defend myself.
'He then stamped on my face before walking home to his parents. There was no remorse, there was no concern.'

Chairman of the bench Ms D Slater said: 'We are going to take the hard line by not activating the suspension order.
'Horfield [Bristol prison] would be the easy option, you could get this over with in four weeks .
'But this way you're going to spend the next year and a half addressing your behaviour.
'The suspended sentence will continue. If you breach it again, the next breach is undoubtedly going to activate that suspension order.'

Four weeks?
Vicky Pryce got 4 months. Go figure.

NO ONE is jailed for not paying a TV licence. that is a pile of shit

the reasoning is that the only sentence available to them with guilty plea would be maybe 2 months ( and you serve half)
when he comes out there is NO probation input - thats it , $ weeks inside easy

a YEAR probation is harder, is the theory.

I am not sure where they sentencing starting point is though.
He was assault but not ABH or GBH.

Think that the womans comments about " it should have been Crown Court" were ill informed - she had a choice in the venue herself, or her lawyers did

aha - I wonder if he had done almost all of his sentence that is suspended - hence they couldnt give him a long term

Its tricky, sentencing.

'NO ONE is jailed for not paying a TV licence. that is a pile of shit'

The Independent says 845, but I take it you know your shit.

www.independent.co.uk/news/courts-jail-845-for-not-paying-tv-licence-fines-1428836.html

That poor woman must have been frightened to death. This story has actually upset me. He should have done a few years for what he inflicted upon her, and the Police Officers.

To quote a cliche, this country is a fucking joke.

Sorry for language

'MPs and prison governors said it was 'absolutely crazy' to lock up licence fee dodgers in overcrowded jails.'

Maybe if they stopped doing that, they could find rooms for scumbags who commit violent acts and maybe they could give them sentences that woould be harder and longer and not an easy option

thats for not paying the fine!

'this country is a fucking joke'

agree, maidmarian2012

Instead of spending time on peripheral issues, why don't the MPs have a sense of urgency about sorting sentencing policy out where violence is involved in order to protect members of the public?

If you don't pay your TV licence you can only be fined, not jailed. However non-payment of fines carries the threat of imprisonment, which why why some people end up in prison as the eventual consequence of not having a licence but not as a direct result. [removes anorak]

With regard to this case he was only convicted of assault. I wonder if the CPS went for a lesser charge as they guessed he'd plead guilty rather than go to the bother of having a trial for a more serious offence such as ABH or GBH. Very unfair on the victim if so.

What is the difference NinaNannar?

I know technically there is, but there isn't really. You get the fine for not paying the licence fee.

'It has been revealed that thousands of people in Northern Ireland have been imprisoned for failing to pay fines for minor crimes.

These include non-payment of fines for not having a light on a bicycle, dropping litter, overtaking on the inside and fishing without a licence.'

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-16217228

Pathetic. And we see documentaries of thugs throwing bricks through people's windows on tough estates and the people are too scared to complain for fear of retribution and then we read of people like the one in that article.

Re the case in the OP, ridiculous really. So he gets the chance to beat someone else before he faces jail.

Suspended sentence/probation may be thought of as harder, but someone who is convicted of a crime but walks away with that instead of jail is laughing

A fine is a court punishment. They need to pay it. Often Theresa thousands of pounds outstanding.
If you said "oh never mind," what would this tell us?

There's. Not Theresa

That some people can't afford to pay thousands of pounds in fines?

But yes, send them to prison, which costs what? thousands?

there has to be a degree of sanction. SO punishments have to get harsher if people dont obey them.

This is why an overly harsh Community sentence doesn't work - people just refuse to do it and then they have to go to prison in lieu.

Every time the government say those doing unpaid work should be in chain gangs they just emphasise how little they know about sentencing.

If Common Assault, tis summary only which means has to be dealt with at mags ct. Max sentence mags can impose is 6m imp, or 12m for more than one offence

More detail here:

www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/10288780.Thug_beat_up_his_girlfriend_because_ATM_wouldn_t_give_him_any_money/

Basically violence is very common Britain's streets and in Britain's homes, and the law doesn't take it seriously at all.

If someone punches you, unless you die, then they are not likely to face any serious punishment.

On TV lincense you can be jailed if you dont pay the fine. Its usually single women who cannot afford to pay

It's an entirely fair point that violent criminals often get lighter sentences than non-violent, especially non-payment of fines. Clearly the courts do need some way of dealing with non-payment, but it is madness that someone who owes a few hundred pounds, or even less, can be sent to prison when someone who punches and stamps on a woman lying on the floor is out and about and free to do it again. And imprisoning someone for debt is hugely expensive - the monetary cost far outweighs the original offence.

Oh this gets even worse. So the violent abusive thug was already on a suspended jail sentence for another crime, and has still not been sent down?! Good grief.

Right , All I will say about this is how the hell can someone do that to someone else and not get a prison sentance, even worse is the fact the courts and the CPS seem more worried about getting the offender off and all his problem are addressed and not the fact he tried to kill her and did that to her face. I have personal experience of this and anyone who goes to court as a defence laywer should be ashamed of themselves trying to get these people off. My ex served 6 mths in prison for what he did to me. He broke my nose, I couldn't go outside for 3 weeks due what he did to me . This justice system should be ashamed of themselves letting a man that does that off... seriously big time. Put in prison and see what the other men think of him. Im sure he would get beaten and moved to a cell on a segregration wing for his own protection.

Cases in courts are lokked at in an individual way. Not judged in a blanket way. Thats why we have trials.