Jail Too Good For Bridger

[ChillDoubt]

.. say April's grandparents, who believe he deserves the death penalty.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-22745664

Can't say I disagree.

[BlueToffee]

I am desperately sad for poor little April Jones, and offer my sincerest sympathy to her family. However, legalised murder is not, and never should be, the solution.

[ronnietoon]

i have to disagree with you chilldoubt i hope he lives a good 50 years and everyday is a living hell...........

ohh wait that was my first thought this is GREAT britain where he will be protected like the queen, have a nice 3 meals,£20 a week for sweets etc and a tv.

[sandyRoe]

Because of his crime he'll be under constant threat of attack from the other prisoners. The wardens won't have much sympathy for him. Every day when he wakes up he'll know that it's going to be the same for as long as he lives. He's a relatively young man and could live to serve 30 or 40 years.
Hanging him would be a mercy.

[jim360]

It's hard to disagree. The worst must be the horrible guilt. I don't even want to think what it would be like to be in her mother's situation.

[sherrardk]

I can't find it now, but I read somewhere that he would be in solitary confinement.

[andy-hughes]

ChillDoubt - as a grandfather, i can entirely empathise with these poor people and the loss of their loved one - but the law has to be dispassionate about all cases in order to function, and tarrifs have to be set and adhered to.

I am glad to see that the judge has issued a full-life sentence for this man, who will have a long time to reflect on the dreadful and irreparable harm he has done to this innocent family, and the loss of this poor child.

As a rational person who believes in law and order, I believe justice has been served, as a grandad, I weep for these poor souls.

[Kevink]

I think Andy-hughes said it all.

[mikey4444]

Andy...you have said it all ! Bad cases make bad laws, as it has been said. The death penalty would have provided no protection from this horrible man whatsoever, as has been demonstrated in countries around the world where they still have it.

We should put things in perspective. This sort of abduction occurs very rarely and we should overreact.

[ChillDoubt]

I am glad to see that the judge has issued a full-life sentence for this man, who will have a long time to reflect on the dreadful and irreparable harm he has done to this innocent family, and the loss of this poor child.
-----------------------
Indeed, he's got the rest of his life to 'reflect' on what he's done, to the point where he can't even tell her family what he did with her body. I'm sure he'll be over the worst soon enough though.
He hasn't got a life sentence, the poor girl's family have though.
What a waste of money, keeping vermin like that alive.

[andy-hughes]

ChillDoubt - this debate comes around every time there is another crime like this.

This man is a manipulaitve socoiopath - it ps perfectly possible that he has blocked out the details of his crime - which does not in any way excuse what he has done, but it still may be a factor in his behaviour.

With regard to the 'cost' - by which i assume you mean financial cost - I as a tax payer would far rather money be saved in other areas than by excecuting people for puely ecconomic reasons, that is simply barbaric.

'Not as barbaric as what he has done ...' of course not, but society has to be civilised because its criminals are not.

[Zeuhl]

/He hasn't got a life sentence/

Actually Chill, he has; 'whole life tariff'

/What a waste of money, keeping vermin like that alive./

That's probably a similar regard for human life as Mark Bridger's and other murderers

Thankfully, many of us are further away than that from his values and priorities

[andy-hughes]

Zeuhl - an interesting, and valid point.

If as a society we regard revenge killing - and that is what capital punishment is, because its imagined deterent clearly has no effect whatever - as appropriate, then do we not demean life to the same level as the sociopaths we murder as well?

That cannot be right, and is a cornerstone of my own personal argument against the death penalty.

[ChillDoubt]

I know he's got the life tariff Zeuhl, but it's nothing compared to what he undoubtedly horrifically inflicted on that little girl and now the subsequent damage he has done to her family.
Once he's done the hard yards(couple of years), life inside will get steadily easier for him.

[ummmm]

And you know this how?

[andy-hughes]

ChillDoubt - you should never underestimate the value of personal freedom.

Being able tyo eat what and when you want, go where and when you want, sleep and get up when you want, bathe in private, and the biggest of all - live in slience when you want - are all essential comcepts for a happy life that are removed at a stroke from a prisoner.

Don't ever imagine that he will not suffer - not in the way that poor child has suffered and her family continue to suffer - but divest yourself of the notion of a holiday camp for prisoners, it is simply not like that.

Bridger will also be denied daily contact with other prisoners - the only people he is ever going to see will be people who have a professional approach, but despise him for what he is, and what he as done.

Think about that - for ever - until you die.

Sounds like justice to me.

[viv38]

I think April's parents are the ONLY ONES entitled to say what they think should happen to this vile creep.

[andy-hughes]

viv38 - I take your point, but no-one exists in isolation, and at this point, I am sure April's parents are taking comfort from close family and friends, as well as the rest of the world who are feeling a small degree of their pain.

This inevitably leads to opinions and thoughts being expressed - not all by any means helpful or rational, but this is part of what makes us a society.

[Zeuhl]

/I think April's parents are the ONLY ONES entitled to say what they think should happen to this vile creep. /

Maybe

But the LAST people to have any real say in what happens to him.

Replacing a dispassionate, objective approach to the judicial system with highly emotive, personal involvement is a recipe for anarchy

[FredPuli43]

Well, zeuhl, let's have a system where the convicted it man is at the mercy of the victim's relatives shall we ? I believe that Muslim countries have that system.

[FredPuli43]

(I was agreeing with Zeuhl, btw. The system would be anarchic and extra-judicial)