starting a prison sentence..

[sara3]

someone I know has committed a large scale fraud. he has entered a guilty plea at magistrate's court and the hearing will be in a few weeks at crown court. he is expecting a prison sentence. so far he has had unconditional bail (his passport was taken away a while back). my question is, on the first hearing at crown court would you expect him to be remanded in custody, or would you expect an adjournment with further bail for pre-sentence reports? his wife doesn't know what to tell the kids to expect.

thanks in advance.

[sara3]

so keep your opinions to yourself unless asked for, of course.

are you one of those "last word" men? I'm thinking.. yes! well go ahead as I'm done with you.

[sara3]

nk, bless your little heart ♥

[carrust]

The fun starts when you go on a visit. 2 forms of ID, fingerprints & photo taken, then a body search, then waiting for ages in the reception area, then in the holding area where your prints are taken again. Be prepared also to meet the dregs & underclass of society...the fellow visitors!

[sara3]

do they do all that to kids, too?

[carrust]

Yes.

[sara3]

bl00dy hell. I kinda hope my friend doesn't take the kids but he will be in for a long stretch..

thanks for the warning!

[sara3]

I've heard about scrags who smuggle stuff in on their kids or in buggies.

[carrust]

I forgot to mention that you not allowed to take anything into the prison. You are provided with a locker. And before you are searched you have to take your shoes & belt off..they're x rayed,as are any buggies etc. You are also sniffed by a drugs dog. A lot of trouble for 45mins visiting time!

[carrust]

noknol. It aint a fantasy. I went to visit him last week.

[obNOXious]

Well no offence carrust but where the hell are you visiting, as it's normal to require ID and to check details against the visiting order and yeah sniffer dogs might be about but as for fingerprints and weirding little kids out that's really not normal, nor would I imagine legal. Granted it's been a while since I was on my holidays but I have visited people recently. What catagory were you visiting?

[carrust]

Cat C. Which is also a remand prison. It also holds some Cat A's & B's

[Abdulmajid]

Depending on the age of the children, tetjam's first post actually seems reasonable, albeit tongue-in-cheek.

If he does a 7 stretch (maximum for fraud) the kids will no doubt visit sometime. To convey to them that daddy has been naughty and hence his incarceration may actually be a good learning curve for them.

That is bad people are punished.

[sara3]

well for those who moralise, perhaps the kids will take after their mother, who is the most honest, nicest woman you would ever hope to meet.

they're not a bunch of scrags.

[Abdulmajid]

So are you dismissing the fathers influence over children, even though he will be imprisioned??

Kids idolise their father, and if in contact will naturally look upon them as role models.

And as for moralising, is that not a good thing? It is not the same as being (pre)judgemental. It is the essence of being a good citizen surely?

[sara3]

well go ahead and moralise, but I think the kids will be serving their own sentence in losing their father, and all the knock on effects that go with it.. trouble at school, losing their home etc etc. they will learn plenty about crime and punishment.

I think they will know right from wrong.

[Peeler]

If he has attended all the dates set for the hearings then it is very unlikely that he will be remanded in custody. The Judges are under strict instructions to try and reduce the prison population. I would expect bail for pre-sentence reports, but if you get a strict Judge or he has been very naughty.............

[sara3]

thanks Peeler. I think he's been very naughty.

corporate fraud, shed loads of money.

[Peeler]

The most important crimes these days are violent and the focus is on criminals that may harm the community if they are allowed in it. The amount of money isn't necessarily a factor, corporate is also not a main factor. I'm not trying to sow the seeds of false hope as I don't know the details but it may not end up as bad as your friend fears.