Stupid Idiot
So a teenager called Paul Thompson has been called a stupid idiot. Now it’s well known that most teenagers are stupid idiots. I was when I was a teenager because I thought I knew everything when in fact I knew nothing. But this teenager was called a stupid idiot by a judge. So it must be true because judges have a lot of experience of stupid teenagers passing through their courtrooms.
So why was he called a stupid idiot? Because he took a photo on his blackberry whilst in court. He was too stupid not to have seen the many signs, usually in pictorial form so illiteracy can’t be an excuse, in and around the court that ban photos, mobile phones, food, drink, smoking, etc. It is against the law to take photographs in a court. Maybe he got sign blindness from seeing too many signs.
So what does the judge do at such a heinous crime? Judge Barbara Mensah jailed him. Within 75 minutes of the crime, the teenager was tried and convicted and sentenced to two months. Speedy justice, seen to be done. This is what everyone wants – a working and trusted justice system.
But don’t be so quick to cheer the judge in her decision.
Another part of justice is that it should be seen to be fair and proportionate.
Now I’m sure all of you will say that in terms of the level of criminality, taking a photo inside a court room is pretty low down in the grand scheme of things. I mean, everyone knows what they look like so it’s not like it’s top secret. This wasn’t a court where an informer was hiding behind a screen where secrecy is necessary. This was a simple court case where the teenager’s friend had been accused of stealing from an off-duty policeman (I bet you are thinking of the phrase “where is a policeman when you need them” at this point). So even though it might be a crime, the level of punishment should be commiserate with the seriousness of it. So a fine, a slap on the wrist (sorry we can’t do that any more; human rights and all that), or a suspended sentence or even a short community sentence would probably be more appropriate. And usually when you plead guilty, as the teenager did, you get a bit taken off your sentence.
When you have serial criminals going through the court system (just read Inspector Gadget’s blog) and coming out the other side without any punishment at all, not even a slap on the wrist, then the justice system is not seen as fair and proportionate.
A system which a reasonable person sees as corrupt, illogical, unfair, unbalanced, and unreliable (any more un words?) is seen as a joke. A system in disrepute is a system that no one will trust and one that they will not use. What will this lead to? It will lead to people meeting out justice themselves.
Or will it? Was the judge’s hands tied by interfering Labour politicians who set out sentencing guidelines, including the 3000 extra ones they created?
UPDATE: David Allen Green has more details about the case in the New Statesman.
SBML
Photo from Staffordshire University website.
Apologies for the lack of recent postings. Anna is back in hospital and Matt and I have been overwhelmed with real life issues which have kept us busy. Plus I have man flu on top of CFS. If any of you want to help out with some articles please get in touch via the About/Contact link at the top of the page.
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1
September 26, 2011 at 14:14 -
Stupid idiot? Yes, the judge. It’s a slapon wrist thing
I, too, have been beset y “real world”
Best wishes to our ed -
2
September 26, 2011 at 14:30 -
Belgium seems to be getting along much better without a so called ‘government’.
I can’t help thinking that perhaps they and the rest of us might get along just fine without the so called ‘justice system’ as well?
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3
September 26, 2011 at 18:25 -
Barbara Mensah? MENSA? Irony in there somewhere.
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4
September 26, 2011 at 19:26 -
Outrageous! This bitch should be in the nick for sentencing like that. Then kicked off the bench for life. Disgusting!!
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5
September 26, 2011 at 19:53 -
I think its entirely fair…. The rule is ‘idiot’ proof, don’t do it, the judges don’t like it. He did it.
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6
September 27, 2011 at 11:42 -
Agreed! The Howard League For Penal Reform can sod off as well:
“Yesterday, a spokesman for the Howard League for Penal Reform said the court was out of touch with technology.
The spokesman told the Daily Mirror: ‘Young people are so used to using their phones like this and a little understanding by the court would not have resulted in jail.’”
What ‘understanding’? NO PHOTOGRAPHY – it’s perfectly clear.
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7
September 26, 2011 at 20:42 -
The courts must be respected. The judge was right. Its the thin end of the wedge. I know not to disrespect the court. The story is read (or at least spoken about) by the “clients” of the court. Maybe next time the morons will respect the court.
I went to pay a fine at my local court recently. One of those ones that are really just a tax. They have metal detecting equipment at the doors. What has gone wrong here?
No respect for anyone or any thing.
The judge was right.
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8
September 26, 2011 at 22:09 -
I’m still wondering if it’s illegal to take photos inside a courtroom, how in the name of all that is holy did they manage to film Crown Court for the TV?
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9
September 26, 2011 at 22:39 -
“Rules are rules”?
Some rules have no basis except “Because I say so.”The State is NOT our Master.
Bad rules do not generate respect. I will not tug my forelock to a state employee.
This is truly a victimless crime.
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10
September 27, 2011 at 01:31 -
“The State is NOT our Master.”
I quite agree.
However, until they arm the citizenry its in all our best interests to maintain the fiction that the courts work for us. And more importantly, that those who offend respect/fear the institution… its not perfect but its all we’ve got.
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11
September 26, 2011 at 23:37 -
Yes the court must be respected but is our current justice system fair? Is justice handed out equally?
Rape & beat someone to within an inch of life 6-10 years. yet Make profit without paying tax, money laundering 10-14 years?
Break into someones home & threaten them & their family – Community Service or upto a year. yet Grow lots of plants of cannabis for your own consumption/friends 5-14 years.
Steal 10s of thousands from public via Parliamentary expenses when you have a sworn duty to up hold law, get 2 months. Yet Take a photo of some court get the same.
Lose legs & arms in military service of your country, get compensation of £20k. Get your phone messages listened too because your too thick to change default pin number £1 Million,
Our system is paid for by ordinary people yet it serves Gov, public sector, celebs, terrorists & PC special interest groups.
That is not equality under the law. It is just a more complex system of special treatment for selective types.
The systems in every country claim to be fair. None are. They never were.
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12
September 27, 2011 at 01:39 -
We need a vastly smaller, more focused penal code.
2000 odd years ago they managed with ten basic commandments. Clearly that’s not enough to cover all of today’s modern crimes but surely we don’t need the stupefyingly complex system we have now? Same with punishments.
And no, its not fair… not even half
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15
September 27, 2011 at 10:52 -
Slight difference between stealing tens of thousands via expenses and taking a photo. In the first case the sentence was a year or so, only serving a few months. In the later, he will be serving only a few weeks at most, probably allowed to go through the “revolving door” because the jails are so full.
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16
September 27, 2011 at 10:06 -
Contempt of Court doncha know. We can’t have any more of that than we have already.
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17
September 27, 2011 at 10:56 -
True it is more contempt of court than that of taking a photo in court. In the later, the punishment is a fine according to CharonQC. So because he was jailed it was the former – but still way too long, as Talwin says below, banging him up for the day would be more appropriate.
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21
September 27, 2011 at 10:46 -
In the ‘old days’ (but not that long ago), where there was deemed to be a contempt of court – defendant/accused, or from the gallery – it would not be unusual for the offender to be banged up below the court for a short while, perhaps during the court’s sitting or until the contempt had subsided.
Much more sensible and probably just as effective.
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22
September 27, 2011 at 16:19 -
This column in the NS sheds a great deal more light on the actual events leading up to the sentence:
What say we now? Too harsh?
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23
September 27, 2011 at 21:36
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24
September 27, 2011 at 23:00 -
I was in the dock a few weeks ago. (More parking tickets, still not guilty).
The magistrate told me to take my hands out of my pockets!
I think I was not supposed to look comfortable? But I’m not guilty! So I have nothing to fear.
Seriously, how can I look worried when I’ve won 25 times in a row? And how can I respect them when they keep trying it on? All the tickets are for the same location.
Hands out of pockets? FFS! It’s a wonder he didn’t call me “Boy”.
They don’t want respect, they want fear. They won’t get fear from me.
And I won’t get an apology from them. Or costs. And they’ll do it again.
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25
September 28, 2011 at 09:14 -
Sounds like you could write a book about it!
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26
September 28, 2011 at 20:13 -
The current batch, of 3 tickets, I’ve attended court five times for. Adjourned each time.
Every time, I make more of a song and dance. If they’re gonna waste my time, I’ll waste some of theirs. I’m treading on the edge of “Contempt of Court”, but I haven’t fallen off yet.
Court is public, but I can’t record it? If I could, they’d have to behave themselves a lot better.
I always sit through the previous cases, rather than in the waiting room. It makes them very uneasy, being observed. Seldom do the public observe trivial cases. We should do it more often.
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