Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Sound judgement from judges please.

To jail the Hussain brothers, whose beating meted out to burglar Walid Salem left him with permanent brain damage, is money well spent how? These men have no reported previous criminal convictions. One is the chairman of the Asian Business Council. They do not appear to be a menace to society, unlike the intruder who held their family at knifepoint and then suffered a brutal beating as a consequence.

What the Hussain brothers did was wrong. Instant violent punishment inflicted by victims is a path down which no sane society would tread. But the law already makes provisions to punish them for their actions. No need for additional legislation. Convictions for assault with suspended sentences, surely?

The Hussain's prison sentences serve to cement the impression that one is more likely to receive custodial punishment at the hands of the judiciary for choosing to take (and then own up to) a spur-of-the-moment stance against crime, than for choosing to make a living from it.

1 comment:

Jeremy said...

It would appear Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge and I are on the same wavelength. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/8469850.stm