Monday 7 September 2009

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

That word being 'vulnerable':
Douglas's lawyer Nichola Poe admitted her client was “no stranger to the courts” but said he did not deserve prison as he was a “vulnerable” man with mental health issues.

She said: “Mr Douglas had an unhappy childhood and an uncaring one. That's further caused him problems when he was diagnosed with dyslexia at 15. There was very little support for that. He had a number of jobs and was in full-time work until he became a heroin addict. That was an addiction that took over his life. The last two years he's come off the methadone project and he's now completely drug-free.

“When you have a class A addiction it doesn't go away. He suffers from depression and anxiety and is on medication. There's been mental health intervention with Mr Douglas and he recently had a psychiatric assessment. You have a man in court who is quite vulnerable.”
Boy, if this man had a dog, it'd probably only have three legs. And be called 'Lucky'...

What had he done to find himself in court (this time).

Ah, well:
Harlow Magistrates Court heard that Douglas has been at his mother's house in Parvills, Waltham Abbey, when he saw Mr Redgwell reversing his car out from the drive of his nearby house.

He stuck up two fingers to Mr Redgwell, who he had already been found guilty of harassing at an earlier trial, causing the neighbour to get out of his car and ask him what he was doing.

Douglas then kicked Mr Redgwell in the middle of his face, grabbed him by the throat, and placed him in a headlock, repeatedly punching him while the victim's ten-year-old daughter looked on from the back seat of the car.
Which rather begs the question, if Douglas is 'vulnerable', what the hell do we call Mr Redgwell?

You are, of course, now thinking 'Well, at least the magistrates won't fall for this pointless flannel', aren't you?

Heh!
Magistrates chair Russell Pearson said the offence was so severe as to merit a custodial sentence but it would be suspended.

He said: “You seem committed to leading a drug-free life and we hope this continues. We feel that given the nature of your mental health issues a Think First course might prove effective.”

Douglas was handed a 24-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months, a supervision order for 18 months and ordered to complete the Think First program.

He was also given an exclusion order banning him from visiting Parvills for six months, and ordered to pay £455 in costs to the court and £300 in compensation to Mr Redgwell. The money will be taken from his benefits.
Yes, indeed.

He won't be paying Mr Redgwell compensation. WE will.

Because he doesn't have any money, other than that the State gives him. Because he's an unemployed former drug abuser with impulse control issues and a criminal record. So, he's unlikely to ever be in gainful employment, and you and I will be paying for him for the rest of his life.

But it's ok. He's 'vulnerable'...

9 comments:

Unknown said...

What a sad, sad world we live in today when the only victim is the accused!

Oldrightie said...

Ain't socialism grand?

subrosa said...

That's part of the result of labour's social engineering in the past 12 years.

Mark said...

'Vulnerable' has its everyday meaning, and the meaning ascribed to it by the gatekeepers to the nation's stock of 'social housing'.

In the first sense, anyone unfortunate enough to live cheek by jowl with the offender, like Mr Redgwell, falls into the vulnerable category, as this case shows.

In the second sense, an offenders drink or drug addictions, or mental disorders, can put him into the 'vulnerable' category when it comes to obtaining social housing. Such 'vulnerabilities' can tip the balance of probabilities over whether 'priority need' applies to him (or her).

And such are the absurdities that transpire when housing policy is driven by manipulative agit prop ('Cathy Come Home')- as has been the case in the UK for over 30 years.

Mark Wadsworth said...

There's not much point in me saying that this is a bloody outrage, as I think you already made that point ...

Mike said...

Another villain walked free today. Remember me mentioning:

http://www.harrogateadvertiser.net/harrogatenews/Woman-faces-charges-after-false.5616507.jp

I went to York Crown Court to sit in the public gallery out of interest to see how our justice system operates. She pleaded guilty to all three charges and walked free. More than that I got the train back to Harrogate and she got on and sat opposite me. I didn't say a word and listened to her as she laughed and joked with a friend about her plans for Christmas that she had put on hold expecting to go to prison. I also overheard her mention a Christmas present she now wanted to buy for her children. I felt sorry for them.

The judge said to her before freeing her that he gave credit for her early guilty plea and accepted she had problems. He added that if she went to see a doctor and promised not to contact the victim of her false allegations then she could go. Fancy that.

JuliaM said...

"What a sad, sad world we live in today when the only victim is the accused!"

As Oldrightie & Subrosa point out, it's the world NuLabour have built...

"...such are the absurdities that transpire when housing policy is driven by manipulative agit prop ('Cathy Come Home')- as has been the case in the UK for over 30 years."

That programme did raise a lot of questions, but I think the answers weren't quite what we expected...

"She pleaded guilty to all three charges and walked free."

Good grief! Never mind her problems, what about the ones she caused?

And the knock on effects it will have for those women who are genuinely assaulted?

Mike said...

Julia, thank you I agree. I am trying not to fall apart right now. Can't believe I sat and listened to it.
Real rape victims, her children, the accused, her next victim. There are and probably will be sooooooo many victims in this.
And for a false accusers threat to life of the accused reported by her doctor we wait to see what 'punishment' that attracts.
You will be able to read about this in the coming editions of the Harrogate Advertiser or The York Press if they bother to report it!
Remember a year ago I sat falsely accused for six days in the same court room in York facing a life in prison for crimes I could not and would not commit. As the said after I was told I was not guilty, Tell me something I don't know btw. I could claim for six days lunch @£.50 and travel upto £10 a day for witness expenses. Also to put it behind me. I have been raped and robbed.

Von Spreuth. said...

subrosa said...

That's part of the result of labour's social engineering in the past 12 years.


Longer. I was at school in the 70s, and the 5th and 6th form common rooms were full of little 16 year old idiot members pf the young labour and young communi9st parties (Although I could never see the difference between the two) proposing all this kind of thing.

Now we know what happened to them when they left. They became the "labour" party, and or it's lackeys.