I'm sorry but what?!!? (when does life not equal life?)

[HibsMax]

Read this story this (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/25/court.rapes/index.html)morning on CNN.

From the story:
The father, who cannot be named for legal reasons banning the identification of his victims and the surviving children, pleaded guilty Tuesday at Sheffield Crown Court, northern England, and was sentenced to serve 25 life sentences to run concurrently.

The judge said the minimum term the 56-year-old rapist should serve in jail should be 19½ years.

WTF?!?! How can 25 life sentences = 19½ years? I know that's the minimum but, c'mon, what a joke!

[BravestHibs]

A life sentence does not necesarily mean a life spent behind bars. What alot of people don't realise, is that if you are sentenced to life and you do end up getting out of jail then you never stop reporting to your parole officer and face many other restrictions to your day to day movements. What I'm saying is that when someone gets a life sentence it doesn't necessarily mean life imprisonment, but that the sentence whatever that may be does not end until you are dead.

I'm not here to say whether that's wrong or right, them's just the rules.

[Calvin]

It should be 25 x 19.5 years.

[MSK]

Absolutely sickening & stomach churning !!!!

Forget all the life sentences etc ..that prick should be locked up & the key thrown away till the day he stops breathing !!!!....:grr:

[Darth Hibbie]

It should be 25 x 19.5 years.

It probably is but they all run at the same time instead of one after the other :bitchy:


Absolutely sickening & stomach churning !!!!

Forget all the life sentences etc ..that prick should be locked up & the key thrown away till the day he stops breathing !!!!....:grr:

Very True.

It was not that long ago the Judges where able to han out a life sentence "without limit of time" ie forever. I think it was Robert Mone that challanged it under human rights legislation and one meaning that he had to be given a minimum time that he was eligable for release. Once that time has passed then he can apply for parole but there is nothing to say it will be granted. Think Mone was eligable about 7 years ago and has still not been released. If they are released then it is on what is known as a life license that can be recalled at any time untill hey day. Basically if they commit other crimes or do not comply with the terms of the release then they go back to jail for the remainder of their sentence.

I have seen some life sentences as litle as eight years :bitchy:

[HibsMax]

Absolutely sickening & stomach churning !!!!

Forget all the life sentences etc ..that prick should be locked up & the key thrown away till the day he stops breathing !!!!....:grr:

That's kinda what I was thinking too. Waste of air.

[Hibby Hippy]

25 life sentences to run concurrently.

Because its concurrently the sentences run at the same time,if it had said consecutive it wold have been one after the other...happens a lot in criminal cases.

[jakki]

IS this the case of the girls telling their Mum about the abuse and she didn't do anything except stood up for her man? If it is, she should have been charged with neglecting her daughters welfare.:grr::grr:

[HibsMax]

Because its concurrently the sentences run at the same time,if it had said consecutive it wold have been one after the other...happens a lot in criminal cases.

I noticed that but serving sentences concurrently really makes no sense since we don't live our lives in multiple, parallel dimensions (so far as I know). :) As you say it happens a lot. They could give the guy 10000 concurrent life sentences and still release him in 19.5 years.

A better sentence would be to let everyone know who he is, force him to wear a pair of 20lb shoes and set him free.

[hibbytam]

I think its fair to assume that he wont ever get out. Despite your headline, life in this case is life, its just unfortunate he hasn't got longer to suffer. He's 56 now. 20 years time he'll be in his mid 70s(if he's still alive), with no chance of actually getting parole.

[Sir David Gray]

I don't agree with the death penalty but if it's ever brought back then it should be used on **** like this.

Absolutely horrific crime, it would have been bad enough if it had been someone unrelated to the two women. But for those two girls to have been treated like this, throughout most of their childhood and a lot of their early adulthood, by their own father is just beyond comprehension by any sane human being. I can't even begin to think how messed up they must be thanks to one of the two people in life that you should be able to rely upon to protect you and keep you safe.

It's impossible to even begin to imagine how they must have felt for all those years.

[chorley_fm]

Give him half and hour with me and he'd be pleading for a life sentence

Sk_um of the highest order

[Phil D. Rolls]

What do we expect to happen when we punish criminals? Is there any punishment that would make people stop and think twice before committing horrible crimes? Or is it the case that they are going to do it anyway?

[MSK]

What do we expect to happen when we punish criminals? Is there any punishment that would make people stop and think twice before committing horrible crimes? Or is it the case that they are going to do it anyway?Not if they get sent to HMP Addiewell !!!! absolutely unbelievable ...en-suite rooms...plasma tv's ..increased visits by family/friends ..sky tv with sports..paid £15/£20 a week with bonuses....:grr:

[Phil D. Rolls]

Not if they get sent to HMP Addiewell !!!! absolutely unbelievable ...en-suite rooms...plasma tv's ..increased visits by family/friends ..sky tv with sports..paid £15/£20 a week with bonuses....:grr:

No way am I going back to chokey!

[HibsMax]

What do we expect to happen when we punish criminals? Is there any punishment that would make people stop and think twice before committing horrible crimes? Or is it the case that they are going to do it anyway?
This is a subjective, but very important question. I personally believe that the death penalty IS a deterrent but I also appreciate that it doesn't deter EVERYONE. There are some people out there that believe that since there are still killers in countries / states that have the death penalty that the death penalty obviously doesn't work. I don't subscribe to that theory. To use an analogy, there are certain medical procedures that carry risks, sometimes grave risks, but they are still used. For example, I read a few years ago that gastric bypass surgery has a 1% mortality rate. Does that mean it should not be used since it does not work in 100% of cases? (I'm not talking about the argument of innocent people being put to death, that's a different argument than whether or not it's an effective deterrent).

So going back to your question. I don't think there is a punishment that will work for every person. It's like we need a Room 101. And who is to say that everyone has a Room 101? Some people may be so hellbent on committing a crime that no punishment will deter them.

As unpopular an opinion as it is, or maybe, I honestly believe there are people walking on this planet who do not deserve to live. If things were the way they are in nature, they would be taken care of. That said, there are some pretty brutal things (unfair even?) that happen in nature so who knows...