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 Now online (1)dariusgriffin ...and 332 guests Last 5 registered Oplandisks nothingstar N_loop yipe foxtrotromeo Browse members... |
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So much for caring sharing New Labour, eh? "ROBERT Brown was just a 19-year-old from Glasgow when he was jailed for life for murdering a woman called Annie Walsh in Manchester in 1977. He served 25 years before he was finally freed in 2002, when the courts ruled him innocent of the crime. He is now facing a bill of around £80,000 for the living expenses he cost the state. For Brown, it is the final straw. An interim payment he was given pending his full compensation offer is exhausted; his mother recently died; his relationship with his girlfriend has fallen apart and he is facing eviction from his home following a mix-up over benefits. “I feel like ending my life,” he says. “I’ve tried to maintain my dignity, but the state has treated me with nothing but contempt – now they are asking me for money for my bed and board in jail." . |
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thats just dark. its pretty worrying really - the more we're engineered to live in a climate of fear + mistrust, the less anyone does anything to help anyone.. and the state can therefore get away with more or less whatever they want. plenty of people dont seem to mind this. i guess they think that if its not their problem they neednt worry. but what if its you on the receiving end? who's going to stick up for you when youre getting fucked over? i think we need to decide whether or not we're actually a society or just a population of individualists. and if we ARE a society - we need to start acting like one. |
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Even if we are individualists (which I admit I probably lean more towards), it's not in our interests to screw people over to these extremes, especially when it's something we could all be on the recieving end of. £80,000 to the country's coffers is nothing. To an individual it's crippling. |
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It's people like you that restore my faith in humanity. I give, I know the good it brings into this world and I also agree with everything you say. |
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thanks spikee. glad we agree. thanks again for that cd by the way. ceri | thats very true. i cant imagine starting out owing that much after having 25 years of my life stolen from me. |
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Send em all to Island is the answer. Then it'll cost the state nothing. Prison is only a luxury school and breeding ground for more criminal activity anyways. Lol. |
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Tough on innocence, tough on the causes of innocence. *bang* Didn't see that coming, did you. Cunt. |
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irony is wasted... |
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You weren't being nasty to me were you? :-( I think on the other hand that the justice system needs dramatically improving because there's a lot of weaknesses in it. Relying on testiment and people's memory is aweful and out of date in my mind. Forensic evidence and the like is the future. |
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No, to mister blunket. Cheap shot cos he really couldn't see it coming :D I agree that many areas of the justice system are unreliable, but placing too much faith on DNA evidence and the like (which remember, is still just based on - albeit high - probabilities) is a little unwise. Mind you, blunkett seems to have his mind set on abolishing trial by jury in certain cases, so that's probably the least of our worries. |
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Yes, the state's argument is that the money should be subtracted from the compensation. Even if that is what they are going to do (which is still wrong IMO), it should be just that; taken out of the compensation and not before hand. Frankly, if I had 25 years of my life stolen by the state I'd expect to live the life of Riley on the compensation for the rest of my days. Giving people money that isn't much more than they could of earned in that time is a disgrace. Thankfully with improved forensic science there are fewer miscarriages of justice nowadays, but there are still large numbers of people still inside from "the old days". If you don't have relatives/friends outside prison, who is going to fight for a re-examination of the evidence? |
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Almost everyone I know in the legal profession; (both defense and prosecution lawyers), police, law lecturers, bar students, and of both (generally speaking) left and right leanings, all agree Blunkett is an utter dunce when it comes to law and his policies suck. |
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Agreed. When the right to a trial by your peers gets thrown out of the window, i believe the phrase is UP SHIT CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE. |
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Bump for the day folk. |
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how the fuck can they charge 80000 for 25 years in a prison? that's probably up around the price-range of some 5-6 star hotels... |
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btw: who is david blunkett? |
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He is the government minister (our current Home Secretary) fighting the courts' decision (who I gather have pretty much put an end to this). He is also trying to (drastically) lessen the amount of evidence needed to convict people for terrorism. As well as introduce USA-style definitions of what exactly constitutes "terrorism" (so it includes things like hacking, writing political graffiti, etc.) |
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oh.. isn't assasination a bit drastic? repeated electric shocks to the temples (spelling? those soft areas on each side of the head...) should fix that. lobotomy would also be acceptable. |
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blunkett's take on dealing with suspected terrorists is similar to the p.a.t.r.i.o.t. act as introduced in the states. suspected individuals can be taken in + held indefintely without the option of bail. they are held solely on suspicion. the authorites have right to keep any evidence they might actually have against the individual secret. blunkett is pushing to hold non-public trials where none of the events/evidence are published for the wider public.. there will also be no public jury.. and the government get to vet the judge that will preside over the trial. smacks a little of weighted dice to me. if our intelligence is as good as they would have us believe, then surely they shouldnt have to bypass the legal process like this. a lot of people will be quite happy to let this go as we're led to believe that we're living under constant terrorist threat. but im not sure that the ends do justify the means in all cases.. |
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Have you ever wondered why "riot" is scrampled into patriot? |
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i think it would be a lot more fun to use blunkett as a human pinata. i like the thought of stringing up a blind man from the ceiling + allowing people with a grudge to take it in turns hitting him with sticks. |
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scrampled = scrambled |
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When you're working for IT security can I forward a link of this topic to your employers? |
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Sure! |
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you work in IT security? |
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He was going to before he called for tha assassination of a Home Secretary; a blind one at that! |
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well.. it's better than blowing up a wheelchair-using sheik with a helicopter when he's leaving the moské (don't know if that's the english word as well, but... you know the case). |
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i loved the pic of the charred wheel that was broadcast in every news broadcast - as if to make the whole thing more poignant. |
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* unintentional repetition of 'broadcast' - i think i could have found a better word. |
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