Nice to know the courts take domestic violence so seriously... not.

[McEdam]

man brands his wife with an iron and walks free

Outrageous. Apparently the judge said the husband was too busy working to do a community sentence, and wouldn't offend again because his wife had left him. Good grief.

[divastrop]

my xp was originally looking at being convicted of a section 18 on me,untill medical reports came back and they had to reduce the charge to abh.

but his solicitor told him he was looking at at least 6 months in prison if he got convicted of the section 18,and that was with no previous.

but,as he got the sack as soon as his boss found out what he'd done,he had to get a legal aid solicitor.

maybe not being able to stay in your 90k job counts as a violation of human rights?

women,on the other hand,dont have any rights it seems-they are obviously still considered their husbands' property

[tribpot]

Absolutely staggered by the quote "the judge said it was the circumstances of the marriage that had provoked Read". Provoked? And too busy to do a community sentence, WTF? I didn't realise you were allowed to avoid punishment by being "too busy" to attend. Paris Hilton and Naomi Campbell must be kicking themselves for not having used that excuse to avoid their sentences.

Shocking.

[hippipotami]

Absolutely outrageous, I am so cross at this! This country is going to hell in a handcart because of judges like that!

Is there anything we can do, anyone to contact to express our disgust/anger/worry about this?

[divastrop]

i too am wondering if a petition has been started or to whom we should complain?i wouldnt know where to start with anything like that.

[pipsqueeke]

i'm soryr but 'couldn't remeber' doing it what a load of fucking shit it's a bloody cop out that excuse. FFS it really is this animal should be a bloody man stand up and say yes I did do it and i'm sorry but as he's jsut a little worm obv he won't. god things like this really piss me off.

[ernest]

it is really appalling, and the poor wife will probably be so disillusioned, rightly so, with the "justice" system, that she won't have the strength to follow through with an appeal. It's really cases such as this that really highlight the continued and shocking sexist double standards in society

[TheArmadillo]

I was shocked when I read that.

One thing that really stuck out was that she hadn't wanted to go to court, but had been summonsed and for it all to come down to a fine - not worth what she had to go through


Her quotes were so sad.

"A fine is not really a deterrent," she said. "People might think they can do whatever they want, pay a few pounds and it's all over."

"She added: "I didn't really want to go to court. Now with the sentence the way it was, it doesn't really seem there was much point."


This case is appalling. I hope she appeals and someone sends the bastard to prison. And I hope the judge gets into deep shite over it as well. There is nothing she could have done that deserved that treatment.

ANd what is £2000 to a man who earns £90k a year? Pathetic.

At least there is an uproar over this. The judge may be outdated but the public and the media are outraged.

[pipsqueeke]

don't be daft nothing will happen to the judge - maybe he'll get a ticking off form someone but we'll never know. cases like this are really waht's wrong with the legal ssytem.

how many other women going thru this will be put off of going to court or leaving as they will now feel that the law is on the husbands side and it's right it's ok - it bloody well isn't. is there a petition going as i'll def be signing it.

[SueW]

There's another one here

[tribpot]

I've emailed Women's Aid to see if they are planning a response. Failing that I suspect that emailing the AG as McEdam has done is probably the best way to go?

[TheArmadillo]

that second one is just as bad.

If they did that kinda of thing to a stranger they would be put away, but it's ok to do it to your wife.

[renruta]

I agree the courts are a joke, I was in a nasty violent relationship for longer than I care to remember. Judge gave him community service and told to stay away, I on the other hand have had to change my name, move away, alter my appearance and have limited contact with old friends. All through which I am constantly looking over my shoulder. So which one was punished then???

[Divineretribution]

Let's face it, everyone knows what he looks like now, so how long do you think it will be before he gets his just desserts?
Do you think his management consultancy will keep him on? I wouldn't want him coming into somewhere I worked, that's for sure and would not hesitate to air my grievances with his employers....

I bet someone could generate an email naming and shaming him and sending it round the
country, thus making his life a blardy misery..., I have namechanged, naturally

[paulaplumpbottom]

Thats so absurd. Men who do things like that once almost always do it again.

[lemonaid]

What is the procedure for making a request to the Attorney General to consider referring a sentence?

There is a strict time limit of 28 days from the date of sentence for the Attorney General to apply to the Court of Appeal to refer a sentence. It is therefore imperative that any request to consider referring a sentence is made to this office well within those 28 days, in order for the papers to be obtained and counsel's advice sought where appropriate. There is no power to extend the 28-day period.

The request should be made in writing or by email [email protected] specifying the name of the defendant, date of sentence, Crown Court and offence(s), and the name and contact address for the person seeking the review.

(www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk/sub_statistics_faq.htm)

[HappyDaddy]

I would happily apply for any job that would employ me to meet these cowards outside the court, so that I could show them exactly what big men they are.

[whiskeyandbeer]

scum the lot of them.

[LittleBella]

It really does show the need for judges to be trained on domestic violence issues.

Or just normal life, really.

[donnie]

I note from both reports that the victims were actually lying in bed when their partners attacked them. Oh yes, real provocation there.

What cowardly fuckers.

[binkleandflip]

nice that his mother was by his side as he got away with this - she's probably responsible for instilling in him that women are subservient and should take care of their man - how could she stand by him in the face of his denial of what he had done?

Disgrace and likes someone else said, his face is well known now so I dont doubt someone bigger and harder will be along soon to have a word with him...

[divastrop]

'previous good character'


they are all of good effing character,these men who's insane,nagging wives drive them to violence

and as for those domestic abuse programmes,they should be done away with as all they do is provide a place for wife-beaters to get together and justify each others' behaviour(my xp was ordered to go on one of them and basically it was a load of blokes going through the motions then patting each other on the back saying 'yeah,mate,she deserved it.i shouldnt be here either').

their mothers often dont want to accept theyve spawned a scumbag and make excuses for their behaviour.these men manipulate everyone in their lives,not just their wives/partners.

[Chirpygirl]

This kind of story makes me so

Previous good character.
My arse.

The only reason they have 'previous good character' is that no-one has had the guts to report them before this.
This is why my dad was never suspected of being the reason I was covered in bruises, my pathetic 'please see through me' excuses of falling over were taken at face value as he was such an upstanding citizen. Even my priest told me I was an evil liar when I asked for help.

Something really needs to be done about courts seeing domestic violence for what it really is and not sweeping it aside.

Off to take some deep breaths to calm down.

[poppy34]

this whole story is just astonishing -his ex wifes' comments were so sad but sadly I suspect typical of how many dv victims feel.

I cannot believe he'll stay in that job ( I was so incensed I was thinking about contacting LEK about how they felt -as management consultants- about using someone with this kind of attitude to women to advise others). I simply cannot believe that they would want that kind of negative publicity

[McEdam]

Has anyone else emailed the AG? Only it might have more impact if several people do it, rather than just me.

[Chirpygirl]

I am going to when I have calmed down sufficiently to write a sensible email.