I Think Early Retirement For The Legal Profession May Be A Good Idea After All

Senior solicitor and defence lawyer James Baird Murray says unnecessary new laws do nothing to deter criminals or prevent them reoffending in the future.

Well, there’s no doubt a lot of the new laws have indeed been unnecessary. He’s right there.

But he’s clearly wrong when he tells the Gazette this load of woolly-minded bunk:

“We do see, unfortunately, because of the guidelines, people being set up to fail.

“There are a few judges around who will use their discretion. They are seen as mavericks, but I don’t think they are.

“They are able to see from their experience how it is that you can set someone up to fail.

“Asbos, or sentences like that, are a way of getting people locked up.”

Well, yes. They are.

But they are not ‘a way of setting people up to fail’ because action to prevent failure is in people’s own hands, isn’t it? Barring ASBOs passed on people who clearly have some sort of mental disorder, that is.

And this is just bonkers:

He claimed police targeted known offenders in Colchester to the extent of “prodding“ them into reoffending.

Mr Baird Murray said: “I can understand the police need to target certain people and I don’t see anything the matter with recognising that does happen.

“I’m afraid it’s just a fact of life. However, I think the police could be guilty of prodding people in a way that’s inevitably going to lead to them doing something silly, which they would not have done had they not been so prodded.”

Yes, crime is the fault of the police. That mugger over there, see him? He’s be a fine, upstanding citizen if not for that police officer following him, whispering in his ear…

Mr Baird Murray, said he felt the Government needed to do more to reform sentencing.

He said: “It’s difficult. How can a Government stand up and say we are now going to spend a large amount of money on making people better behaved by giving them the support they need – can you imagine the reaction?”

Well, chum, there are uncounted millions of law-abiding people who behave well without the ‘support’ of the government and other taxpayers.

How about we consider that the norm, instead?

Mr Baird Murray, who has practised in north-east Essex for most of his working life, said he believed more also needed to be done to tackle Colchester’s late night drinking culture.

He continued: “It has been, until very recently, a pleasant town to live in. It has in recent years suffered the same fate as many towns of similar size.

“We all know why – it’s just horrid at night. If you take a stroll up the High Street in the evening at this time of year, you have to step over puddles of vomit and blood. It can be absolutely dreadful.

“I see it not in the flesh, but looking at the CCTV in court.

“It’s partly to do with a burgeoning population who were not born and brought up here and sadly know no better. ”

Oh, really? Are you sure about that?

A court has heard a wedding ended in a mass brawl with up to 25 people fighting.

Lee Gramtham and Jodie Hamilton, both 23, attended Hamilton’s sister’s wedding at the Marks Tey Hotel on June 12.

Sharon Hall, prosecuting, told Colchester Magistrates’ Court: “Mr Gramtham was at the bar for most of the evening and he was talking to the bar staff there for a long time and became drunk.

“He became very abusive to other people attending the wedding and was told to calm down.

“Miss Hamilton approached him and told him that he was embarrassing her and ruining her sister’s wedding.”

The bar staff threatened to remove Gramtham from the hotel and Hamilton became abusive, threatening to “smack the waitress in the mouth”, and saying she would “cut her up” and take her outside to “slit her throat”.

Lee Gramtham and Jodie Hamilton, eh? They seem like regular Essex names to me.

And yet, strangely, despite not being born and brought up elsewhere, it seems they don’t know any better either…

Naturally, the drink was at fault, not the people. Oh, no, far too judgemental to blame them:

Paul Baker, mitigating, said: “There were no issues or problems during the early part of the evening, but Mr Gramtham was in the bar area and was consuming a large amount of alcohol.

“The couple do not usually drink alcohol and haven’t done in a considerable amount of time.

“He is very remorseful and very sorry.”

Oh, well, if he’s sorry…

Magistrates adjourned the sentencing for probation to make reports on the unemployed couple, from Demesne Road, in Wallington, Surrey.

Gramtham pleaded guilty to assault and his partner, Hamilton, admitted threatening behaviour.

Chairman of the bench, David Druitt, said the bench were considering a community order of unpaid work.

Unemployed, yet able to drink themselves into oblivion. Something doesn’t add up…