Judgment Call

The many comments on my piece about the Westminster pie-flinger (and to this time-wearied old JP, it's the comments that make this blog worth doing) point up, as I hoped they would, just what a judicial decision is all about. Guidelines have become more and more prescriptive, but at some point in the justice process a tribunal, be it a trio of JPs, a DJ(MC) or a jury has to decide just how serious something was, or how culpable someone is, or whatever.

The Murdoch case drew opinions from across the whole spectrum; the assault was trivial and over-sentenced, or potentially dangerous and under-sentenced, and so on.

That's the whole point of a court. Mechanistic box-ticking can never deliver justice because only a human being can properly assess all of the myriad motives and pressures that another human being can be subject to. Of course sentences can be inconsistent, but given the variety of human behaviour no other outcome is possible.

If the failed entarteur were to come before, say, six lay benches, or three DJ(MC)s, or a circuit judge or two, you wouldn't get consistent results. What you would get would be a number of assessments of how to deal with the case within the law.

Justice can do different things in different ways, and remain just.

Perception vs. Reality - For Some Of Us

It's a truism that crime figures are by their nature unreliable, because of variations and inconsistencies in the collection of raw data. This report points out what most of us already know, that there is a disconnect between perceived and actual rates of crime. Most crimes go unreported for a whole host of reasons - at best because the loss was minor and the victim can't be bothered, at worst because the victim is terrified of the offender. I saw an instance last week where appalling bullying and intimidation had gone unreported and unpunished because the local community had a well-founded fear of retribution from their oppressors.

Some commentators focus on the feral underclass, and label whole estates with a dismissive nickname. In truth the real victims are the innocent but helpless neighbours of the thieves and bullies, who are at far more risk of crime than those who live in glossier areas. I don't suppose they fill in all that many surveys either.

Silly Season Watch

As top journalists and newsmakers sun themselves in Tuscany or wherever, the desperate search for something to interest the punters until the schools go back goes on.

For anyone interested in the article, there is just one thing to say - It won't happen. Full stop. End of.

To borrow a phrase from the constabulary - it's LOB (with bells on).

Welcome Sanity

Straightstatistics.org provides a welcome dose of sanity and reason to the kind of newsworthy 'statistics' beloved of the tabloids and their saloon-bar devotees.

This link shows how the statistics on drink-driving arrests have been wilfully distorted to provide a silly-season headline. It's well worth signing up to the RSS feed.

Simple Pieman - or Flans For The Memory

The publicity-seeking idiot who assaulted Rupert Murdoch in a Parliamentary hearing has been given a prison sentence by DJ Daphne Wickham (the Deputy Chief Magistrate).

We can all form our own assessment of the seriousness of the offence. On the one hand there was no physical injury, although simply frightening an 80 year-old can have its dangers. The attack took place in Parliament, which is an affront to our democracy, in which Parliament is supposed to be the fount of reasoned and civilised debate. It was premeditated and potentially dangerous items were smuggled past security - mercifully they were harmless. So perhaps the sentence isn't miles out, but of course six weeks means three, which means 21 days. Given current practice an offender who was not in the public eye like this bloke would be home in a couple of weeks or less, on a tag. Some prisons wouldn't even take him in for such a short stretch.

Any bets on when he gets out? Because of his fame, it could be almost three weeks. But if the prison is under a bit of pressure (plenty of officers are on holiday in August) he could be back home this time next week.

By the way - another paper reports that he was ordered to pay a 'victim' surcharge of £15. I have never heard of that being imposed where there was no fine.

Revolving Door

This really seems a step too far.

When you think of the gravity of the case, much too serious for magistrates of course, the pre-sentence reports, the majesty of the Crown Court, the judge's consideration, the solemn pronouncement of sentence, what did he end up with? Four months served, much of it probably on Cat D, and a nasty bit of tagging. It makes a '16 month' sentence look ridiculous, and serves to fuel the public's cynicism about the justice system. The judge wasted his time too, since Devine had more than one either-way offence on his sheet so a humble bench of JPs could have potted him for twelve months, of which he would in theory have been likely to serve half.

Update

I try to keep you all informed about the down-and-dirty end of law enforcement.

Here's a street-vocabulary update:- the fine old English word 'Grass', beloved of many generations of scallywags is on the way out. In comes the American 'Snitch', presumably imported by rappers with their slavish adherence to American ghetto talk.

Here's a sample rap from Shepherd's Bush, where a run-of the-mill family house costs at least half-a-million but where some 'lively' young men stalk the streets:

Shepherd's Bush Rap

Lose-Lose tragedy

I saw my second ever case of Causing Death By Careless Driving the other day. We were easily persuaded to send it to the Crown Court to be dealt with, despite the fact that it was a run-of-the-mill driving error, that had devastating consequences. I can't say too much about it, but it came down to a moment of inattention on the part of a driver that resulted in a collision. Unfortunately the third party was a cyclist, who died a few hours later.

I will try to stay in touch with the eventual outcome of the case. Guidelines have softened the vengeful character of the original 'Sun' - inspired law, about which I have blogged several times, and I suspect that in the absence of aggravation such as mobile-phone use the driver will, as the 'Sun' would say, walk free from court, although he is bound to face a disqualification.

Dignity

The recent atrocities in Norway, a country in which I have several friends, have been met with a quiet dignity and determination that does that small nation great credit.

Rather than ranting about revenge, the Norwegians have taken comfort from reasserting their belief in democracy and justice. That is what makes them, along with most decent British people, so special. It's called civilisation.

I am proud to be British, and I am proud to be a friend and admirer of Norway.

The values that our nations share are the best to be found on this planet.

Keep An Eye Out For This One

As a Times reader I have noticed in the last little while a gentle whiff on the breeze, signifying that an idea is being floated. An article or two, and a number of letters to the editor suggest that someone is opening up the debate as to whether the police should have an officer corps, rather like the armed forces. Now there is a front-page report in today's Sunday Times to the same effect.

It's a big debate, but it is one that needs to take place, as the highest levels of our police forces are not presently held in very high esteem.

Ambitious and bright graduates from the best universities strive to get into medicine, the law, the media, business and the City, and firms put great effort into recruiting the brightest and best, but you rarely hear of highly talented young people who see their future in the police, despite the importance and the potential rewards of the service.

This could be interesting.