Justice

[fbg40]

Three people ( I can't print what I want to call them ), have just been found guilty of murdering a 22 year old man and have been sentenced to "LIFE" - yet they will only serve between 13 and 17 years !! When is life going to mean life ??
Angry FBG40

[tell-me-more]

It does mean 'life', in the sense that they were not given the death sentence. That is what it means.

[jno]

17 years is a long time. I doubt I'll even be here in 2024. Better they be let out to earn their keep after that rather than be a drain on the taxpayer for ever.

[brionon]

I'd dearly like to hear from their Parents.

[IggyB]

life will not mean life until the government frees the judiciary to sentence as they see fit rather than to a set of penalty levels - at the moment a conviction for murder means a mandatory life sentence no matter what evidence the court has heard.
The mandatory life sentence must be removed to make our system of punishment make much more sense

[spudqueen]

I do agree with you that life should mean life imprisonment but it doesn't. It does however mean that even when they are let out of jail they are on a life licence, which means that if they ever do anything wrong (it can be a simple driving offence), they can be put back in jail immediately without trial.

[woodfellow]

How many of us have at some time in our lives, driven a car whilst under the influence of drink or drugs.The great majority of us got home safely without killing anybody.
These young persons, carrying knives, and under the influence of drink and drugs didn't, and an innocent person died.Knife or car-it makes no difference.They are sober now, and have seventeen years to reflect on their night of madness.We elect our legislators, so we can't complain when they reflect our wishes in court.

[mightyWBA]

They should be sentenced to the amount of time their victim could have lived.In this case about 60 years,
They will still be relatively young when they are released.
Justice is a one edged sword.

[Ethel]

There is a huge difference between a knife and a car - intention.

A person gets in a car with the intention of going from A to B - if it can be proved the intention was to kill somebody by mowing them down it is murder.

[Ethel]

So if somebody murders me they should get five years or so just because I'm over 70?

[jno]

quite right, Ethel - by murdering only the elderly, Harold Shipman would have been free in a couple of weeks. Sorry, that won't do as a sentencing guide.

[Kleiber]

Reasons to leave the country, number 597.....