I Thought We Were Short Of Jail Space…?

A West Midlands sandwich bar worker who was prosecuted after footage of him stuffing lettuce up his nose appeared on YouTube has avoided a jail term.

I’d think so too.

Yes, what he did was disgusting, and there’s no doubt he should have been sacked for gross misconduct, but a public prosecution…?

Walsall magistrates said he had avoided a jail term due to his "early guilty plea" and because he had shown remorse.

You mean, if he hadn’t done either, he’d have been allocated a costly jail cell? Give me a break!

If Subway wants to sue him for harming their brand, that’s their prerogative. But wasting public funds on such a trivial matter is utter lunacy.

Shannon, who was prosecuted under the miscellaneous provisions in the Public Order Act, could have been jailed for up to six months.

Who thought prosecuting him was a good use of public money? As Bystander points out, the magistrates court service is facing cuts in hours that are going to lead to increased use of out of court disposals in future.

So throwing the book at a silly fool who did no real harm to public order, and bringing the law even further into disrepute, is the icing on the increasingly bitter and unpalatable cake of illiberal justice New Labour are cooking up:

Magistrates' chairman Elizabeth Baugh, who viewed the video footage, said his actions could have merited a custodial sentence.

She told him: "Your actions caused great distress, not only to the public who consume this food, but also to the company.

"I think you have learnt a very, very serious lesson."

Yes, indeed.

That the law is an ass!