Caught on camera, these are the last moments of a frail pensioner who was brutally beaten to death at home with his own walking stick.Oh, but CCTV keeps us all safe, doesn’t it?
Reginald Baker's horrific murder was captured on CCTV he had installed only weeks earlier after being targeted by thieves.
No, it just makes things easier to clear up the crime after the fact…
His killers, at least one of whom was high on crack cocaine, also partially severed Mr Baker's finger with a knife before fleeing, leaving him for dead in his lounge.Well, of course they did! This wasn’t their first offence, after all, and they’d been quite happily continuing their career of being drug-addicted work-shirking wastes of skin untroubled by any consequences.
They then went out for an evening's drinking 'without a care in the world'.
Why should they have a care in the world, after all? Who had ever taught then that they had to?
Barney, 25, and James, 19, were yesterday found guilty of murder at Winchester Crown Court. Two men in a getaway car - Trevor Gray, 19, and Daniel Coker, 23 - admitted manslaughter and conspiring to burgle Mr Baker.And, having supported them throughout their short lives of idle pointlessness, why should the taxpayer now continue to stump up the money to clothe, feed and cage them?
Barney, who was deemed to have played a greater part in the attack, was told he would serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars. James was told he will serve at least 28 years.
After all, even the bleeding hearts can’t object that there’s that ‘shadow of doubt’ here over whether the death penalty is warranted.
Certainly, none over whether the right men are in the dock…
9 comments:
A shocking piece of news. And the government just will not accept that our society is broken.
The thing is, we seem to be getting more and more of these types of offences, not less.
Bleeding heart treatment isn't working, obviously. Time to bring back real punishment.
JuliaM, I have to disagree on one point. I wouldn't shed a tear if I heard that they all carked it inside, and might even open a bottle of the better stuff and raise a small glass. Even if I heard that they caught Ebola and died writhing in agony over a week or so. But I'm very uncomfortable with the state killing prisoners on our behalf. It might be solid in this particular case but they've fucked it up in the past and executed people that really shouldn't have been, and bringing back capital punishment would virtually guarantee that it would happen again. And that's just wrongful executions through ineptitude. With the fuckwits in Westminster as an example of the political class would you trust them to have the death penalty back and not abuse it in the future? There's some worry about the potential for abuse with the Civil Contingencies Act and the Legislative And Regulatory Reform Act, and the bastards have already begun by misusing RIPA and the Proceeds Of Crime Act. I don't argue that those scum sucking sick excuses for human beings deserve to die, but would you really want the power of life and death to be put back in the hands of government? I wouldn't, and that means if I want to be sure I'm not legally murdered by the state in the future I have to support protecting the even most vile criminals from the noose now.
That doesn't mean I'm a bleeding heart. I don't give a fuck about their oomin rights, I wouldn't lose sleep over rock breaking or making rego plates, I'd object to taxpayers funding help to get off their drug of choice and would rather they went cold turkey, I don't want them to have games or toys or fun distractions, I'd give them 5 minutes of personal/social phone calls per month (net of incoming and outgoing) and not a picosecond longer, I'd allow them just one regular size photo to put on the wall of the cell, and I'd have the food sufficient to sustain life but otherwise without much to say for it. In fact the only "nice" thing I think should be on offer is the opportunity to reform themselves, which should be the only alternative to three decades of mind numbing and dreary routine. I'm all for real punishment and treating this shitebags like the animals they are, but I'd be really worried if the state began wasting them for my convenience and safety.
First they came for the crackheads and street thugs, etc, etc.
Good point, JuliaM. I did a rough google on the theme of 'pensioner killed cctv' and there was an unpleasant bunch of cases where the ccctv was on, but the assailants were not bothered about it.
That's only the ones where CCTV was present - I haven't done the wider search on 'pensioner killed in own home'.
Yes, they are being systematically targetted by people who enjoy inflicting violent pain while they go about the burglary. The wolves are definitely getting bolder. The pre-crime deterrents are not working.
I'm not sure if that is because the penalties are ineffective or because they feel the chances of escaping detection are so high as to make this a low-risk way of extorting money. They seem somehow to feel 'entitled' to it.
Trouble is, if they switch on the telly and find nothing but our MPs dipping their fingers in the till and threatening people who expose them, I don't see how the police or anyone else is supposed to enforce what is only natural justice.
It's very alarming; the underlying concept of natural justice itself seems to be breaking down.
"With the fuckwits in Westminster as an example of the political class would you trust them to have the death penalty back and not abuse it in the future?"
I take your point about the possibility of wrongful executions (though with strict safeguards on the cases applicable, and the increasing use of DNA, I think that could be massively improved), but it would be the judiciary, and more importantly, the jury, that would have the say, not the government.
I quite like the 'penalty phase' idea they use in the States, where the sentence is 'seperate' from the capital aspect. I think this would be a useful safeguard, rather than applying the previous 'blanket sentence'.
Of course, it's all moot anyway, since we are in the EU!
"Yes, they are being systematically targetted by people who enjoy inflicting violent pain while they go about the burglary."
This is becoming common enough that I begin to wonder if it's 'burglars on drugs' or 'sadists looking for an excuse'...
"It's very alarming; the underlying concept of natural justice itself seems to be breaking down."
Look at the rising number of people who think it's ok to pad out their expenses (not just politicians!), make false insurance claims and pay tradesmen in cash. Mostly middle class people.
Something's very wrong with our society.
I take your point about the possibility of wrongful executions (though with strict safeguards on the cases applicable, and the increasing use of DNA, I think that could be massively improved), but it would be the judiciary, and more importantly, the jury, that would have the say, not the government.
Wrongful convictions are a worry, but I think I failed to make it clear that they're the smallest worry. As you say DNA makes a bad conviction far less likely. No, I'm more concerned about people who were caught bang to rights being executed, but who should not have been. The Ruth Ellises and Derek Bentleys if you like. And with any government I'd worry about the possibility of gradual extension of what is considered to be a capital offence. Safeguards can be changed if a government wants providing they've got a decent majority and plenty of mindless lobby fodder MPs, and with the legislation ZanuLabour have brought in such safeguards could probably be removed in the UK at the whim of any minister anyway.
For various reasons I don't think US style penalty phase trials before another jury are an entirely satisfactory answer (I think I'll blog about it rather than reply at length here), and since we're talking about the state killing someone on our behalf, someone who is entirely within the power of the state and helpless to resist incidentally, I think an entirely satisfactory solution is a reasonable thing to ask.
They should be turned off a ladder and given 20 minutes suspension. It's usually enough time to dance the Tyburn jig to the end.
Okay, I'm wearing my saber toothed marsupial proof padded jacket, my steel capped boots, and a cricket box. Feel free to take a shot. ;-)
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