On teletext today - a driver was convicted of:-
Careless driving
No Licence
No insurance
No MOT
His punishment? Fined £50! Three allegedly sane and sensible people thought that appropriate.
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Interesting.
Read on AOL News this morning that apparently sentencing has become much tougher over the last ten years. Apparently:
"Author Prof Hough said: "Ten years ago, people thought that the courts were far too soft on crime. Judges and magistrates have responded by getting progressively tougher. But the public simply haven't realised this, because they haven't been told clearly enough. It is perverse for sentencing policy to be driven by misrepresentation and misunderstanding in this way."
Motoring Link: "The chance of being jailed by a magistrate for driving while disqualified has almost tripled, while the number of offenders being jailed for more than four years has rocketed by 62%"
Bring in Saudi style punishment, I'd like to see them reoffend with no hands...
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One aspect of the sentencing problem is that magistrates can only impose a fine that the guilty party can pay within a realistic period of time. He/she may have a very low income and other fines outstanding. For some people a £50 fine at £10 a month would be quite hard. Confiscate and sell their cars might be the answer but what if they are on finance - it isn't theirs to be confiscated!
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Yep. I know a few people who have had accidents involving unemployed single mothers. No tax/insurance/MOT + in one case drunk/stoned as well. Fine minimal/nothing as no dispoosable income, no jail sentence/community service as this would deprive the child of its mother and the court is under a duty to consider the welfare of the child above all other factors. There are in effect above the law.
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You don't quote the rest of it " the fact that he is a magistrate has no bearing on the outcome of this case".
No, really though, it's unfair to comment on an individual case.
Pedestrian sees man having heart attack, takes over the wheel and drives on emergency to hospital, booked by police etc...
Unlikely?
Want to bet?
What about ambulance driver, delivering transplant organ in emergency vehicle, displaying blue lights, booked by police for speeding?
You couldn't make it up, could you?
The magistrates may know more than we do about this case.
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