CRIME AND LACK OF PUNISHMENT

Despite the introduction of sentencing guidelines a decade and a half ago it can probably be said that no two cases are the same and certainly not the outcomes.  Indeed within the same courtroom I have in the past had to remind colleagues that each and every case had to be assessed on its individual circumstances and that there is no such thing as a judicial size fitting all.  It is, however, interesting to note the dissimilarities between two matters where assault was committed using footwear as the weapon.  Firstly the charges were of different magnitude; grievous bodily harm or unlawful wounding and common assault.  The former unprovoked attack  resulted in serious injury and after a guilty plea the offender was sentenced in the crown court to 18 months custody suspended. The latter case before High Peak Magistrates resulted in 10 weeks custody suspended for the assault by a man on his pregnant girlfriend who was approaching her due date when the assault took place.  

The second matter reminded me of a case over which I presided when the male in a relationship dragged his heavily pregnant partner by her hair to the top of the stairs in the house they shared and pushed her down those stairs.  We were astonished at the undercharging by the CPS and had no doubt that he deserved and received our maximum sentence of six months immediate custody.  With the cases reported above only those in court know the full extent of mitigation offered but on the surface it does appear that the crown court judge might have been feeling particularly benevolent that day.  The case in the lower court does IMHO raise more awkward questions.  Did the CPS under charge?  Did the bench feel apprehensive about immediate custody owing to "advice" from the legal advisor?  If a man can strike two or three times the back of a woman`s head with presumably a reinforced work shoe and that woman  is near to giving birth  and still not receive immediate custody just where are we going with crime and punishment?

THREE OF A KIND

I am one of the fortunate people who can experience a Christmas New Year period as a time for reflection and relaxation. Having some years ago had quite extensive training in traditional hatha yoga and latterly in transcendental meditation not only can I attempt to control psychological and physiological processes it does not take much effort to allow a certain amount of introspection to enter my consciousness.

Sometime after Christmas after talking with an ex colleague  I was thinking of the significance of a bench split in its decision and its consequences at the close of a trial for sentencing. I would hazard a guess that over the years no more than 10% of the trials on which I  sat led to such a division in the retiring room. That minority was probably equally split between both majority guilty and not guilty. Of course nowhere is it recorded whether the verdict is or is not unanimous. The bench makes a collective decision and that is how it is likely to  remain and that is why we are a bench of three and IMHO a fairer method of judicial fact finding than a single individual however well qualified. However while I was active when it came to the same bench sentencing I noticed that there was and presumably is no set pattern and certainly no guidance from anybody. Some former colleagues who were in the “acquit” minority quite logically, when opining on sentence using the correct structured approach, made clear that their situation led them to a minimum tariff whilst others declined to be involved. There is a third group which in acceptance of the bench decision of guilt undertook the exercise without prejudice and partook in the usual manner.

That period of introspection has led me to the conclusion that there is no right or wrong approach morally, judicially or legally with any of the three situations as outlined above. Others might disagree.

REALITY T.V. COP SHOWS AND THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR

Fictional television shows about police and policing have been a staple part of the home visual entertainment diet since T.V. became the country`s prime means of information and communication. From “Dixon of Dock Green” over half a century ago through “Z Cars” in the 1960s via “The Bill” and “Prime Suspect” our fascination with the genre is unending. Combine that fascination with the techniques of fly on the wall reporting and we have "Forced Marriage Cops". It follows other similar see it as it happens reportage of police involving motorway patrols, city crime cars, police in helicopters, police in boats, police, police, police. One common thread in all these is the supposed control by the programme makers of the final edit. Whether or not payments are made to whom or for what amounts of cash I am not privy but constabularies and their police authorities have sanctioned this warts and all approach and so must believe it is to their advantage that the public has a supposedly unexpurgated picture of what their police forces must put up with in the course of their often dangerous and unpleasant duties. So what happens when some of the uniformed participants act in such a manner that critics, some in their armchairs some more knowledgeable, believe that their officers behaved unprofessionally? Perhaps those who make cheap programmes involving out takes might find the cutting room floors of the involved production companies a source of rich material.  Whether such images would reach our screens is another matter. 

IT`S NOT WHAT YOU SAY; IT`S WHAT YOU MEAN/SOME PERSONAL HUMOUR

How often in general discussion do we ask for a remark to be repeated because although we heard what was being said we hadn`t actually been listening.  Having sat in court for so many years I find that I have subconsciously perhaps trained myself to listen to everything that`s being said. As I was watching a weather forecast on TV the other night the presenter began by saying, "Most of us will have a wet and windy night." Speaking to my wife for both our sakes I remarked, "Not me I hope."