Wallis appeared in Snaresbrook Crown Curt in Essex in August and received a 12 month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm.A suspended sentence for GBH..? Are you kidding me?
And just what did this fragrant flower of English womanhood do?
The group ordered burgers and were standing waiting while waiting, when their server Alyssa Wallis began to sarcastically mimic them.Yes. You read that right.
One of Hannah's friends asked when the food would be ready at which point the 21-year-old waitress 'flipped'.
She hurled a burger at the girls and Hannah responded by throwing a small cup of garlic sauce back.
It was at that point that Wallis threw the boiling fat.
And she wasn't planning to stop at one:
Her father leapt from the car and managed to knock a second pot of fat out of Wallis's hands.Surely this sentence must be appealed? How in the hell can that warrant a suspended sentence?
While Sgt Mark Andrews, who is no less of a bastard for this, got six months jail. Doesn't make sense, does it. Six months jail, and many (including me) think he got off lightly, while someone else gets a suspended sentence for launching a load of hot fat into someone's face.
ReplyDeleteAnd inverted kudos for the Mainly Fail living up to your previous post:
The group ordered burgers and were standing waiting while waiting...
Two RAC workers who were standing nearby saw she was in distress and gave her water from her the tanks.
For such a serious story it's a shame the editor left it to someone who sounds like they write in crayon.
WV: stocks. How fucking appropriate.
Andrews was bailed and is on full pay pending an appeal.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-11327248
He has currently served six days.
The penalties are roughly consistent as there is a good chance that Andrews will never serve the penalty and is not suffering any economic hardship. The disciplinary proceedure will now have to wait until after the appeal.
It makes sense but not in a way I'd regard as satisfactory. However, it should be pointed out that Hannah, the victim, definitely did engage in the fight by flinging back a pot of garlic source at the waitress. This is in contrast to Pamela Somerville against whom no charges have been substantiated, or indeed, even brought.
Officer Andrews beat up a 57 year old woman for having the nerve to sulk in her own car and be insufficiently obsequious, when he was duty bound to protect her and her rights. He pleaded not guilty and is appealing his conviction.
The nasty Alyssa Willis got in to a tit-for-tat fight with the customers at a burger van. It is alleged she started this grudge-match, although it is accepted that the others continued it when they would have been wisest to just drive off. She pleaded guilty, for which the court has presumably given her some credit.
As I said, Sgt Andrews is no less of a bastard, and I don't have a problem with him being bailed either. An appeal would take longer than his sentence so obviously he has to be bailed - I'd hope that would apply to anyone or it makes a nonsense of having an appeals process at all, not just for the likes of him but for genuine miscarriages of justice. But I don't buy that the penalties are roughly consistent and I don't give a shit for the economic hardship of someone prepared to tip boiling oil on someone else's face. Or someone who has a duty of care over prisoners assaulting them, for that matter, though I agree that the disciplinary process is needlessly slow. But for that they could sack him right now and reinstate him in the unlikely event that he gets off.
ReplyDelete... Andrews beat up a 57 year old woman for having the nerve to sulk in her own car and be insufficiently obsequious...
To be pedantic that was why she was arrested (sparked off by a plastic plod) by other officers. Andrews' reason for decking weren't even that good.
He pleaded not guilty and is appealing his conviction.
Wish he wasn't but if people like him lose that right then it's gone for everyone else as well. That famous Thomas More quote says it all. As for the appeal, he got the maximum sentence possible from magistrates. He has nothing to lose by appealing.
Incidentally, do you know if he's appealing the just the sentence or the verdict as well? If the former I reckon he's got a better than average chance of a reduction. If the latter I wouldn't put a lot of money on him getting off.
She pleaded guilty, for which the court has presumably given her some credit.
If memory serves GBH has a maximum sentence of life. I'm not saying that she deserved life or anything remotely near it, but to escape jail altogether just for pleading guilty... that's a shitload of credit.
Pussy pass in action. There's no way a man would get a suspended sentence if he had done the same.
ReplyDeleteI've just read that story and I'm appalled. I've seen chip fat burns during my time in pubs. The ones I've seen are very small by comparison but there probably isn't anything that hurts quite that badly. Mrs Bucko had quite a big one one her forearm after a salmon faught back. It's horrible to watch someone go through that kind of pain. I dread to think what the girl in this story went through.
ReplyDeleteHer attacker deserved to go to prison for that regardless of any circumstances.
@AE
ReplyDeleteYou can say it again about the credit for pleading guilty. Mind you, it would help if our court reporters would fill in more details as we can't tell from that report why the bench took that extraordinary view.
It is possible there is something out of line in the sentencing at Snaresbrook. For instance, a schools lab technician in Ilford hid chloroform in a bottle and then tricked a sixth former in to wearing a mask and poured it on. Jared Shreeve got two and a half years for that, which presumably is going to be half that minus any time spent on remand. The commenters have some pungent words for the court.
Some people might have wondered if teacher Keith Ogunsola, 44, who grabbed a 14-year-old in his office and put his tongue in her mouth should have been given a 12 week sentence suspended for 12 months.
I'll be interested to see how Jeremy Barton of 2KBW handles the Andrews appeal. The reception says that at the moment it looks like he has filed intention to appeal both conviction and penalty.
I do not like Barton's techniques of defence which have strayed from legitimately doing everything for his client, to slandering the victim in court while relying on his general immunity from defamation. I don't think the judge liked it either; one or two of his comments were ambiguous.
Looks to me like the justice system is running a series of high profile PR cases to advise the public that they have to sort out their problems amongst themselves in future.
ReplyDeleteOh well, at least the Daily Wail will have more freak stories to report!
"For such a serious story it's a shame the editor left it to someone who sounds like they write in crayon."
ReplyDeleteI'm always in two minds when I snip extracts from stories with those sort of gaffes - do I clean them up or add (sic)?
Usually, I just find another newspaper!
"However, it should be pointed out that Hannah, the victim, definitely did engage in the fight by flinging back a pot of garlic source at the waitress. "
But unless you're a devotee of Malone's Chicago rules, surely assault with a condiment doesn't excuse retaliation with a potentially-lethal weapon?
"Wish he wasn't but if people like him lose that right then it's gone for everyone else as well. That famous Thomas More quote says it all."
Agreed, much as it galls.
"Pussy pass in action. There's no way a man would get a suspended sentence if he had done the same."
I think you may well be right...
"Her attacker deserved to go to prison for that regardless of any circumstances."
No doubt about it.
"It is possible there is something out of line in the sentencing at Snaresbrook."
Snaresbrook deals with mostly Essex cases, doesn't it? So it almost certainly sees more than its fair share of brutality. Perhaps coursts, too, can become hardened and indifferent to it...
"I don't think the judge liked it either; one or two of his comments were ambiguous."
I'm in two minds - hoping he bears in it mind if the appeal fails, and hoping he doesn't!
"Looks to me like the justice system is running a series of high profile PR cases to advise the public that they have to sort out their problems amongst themselves in future."
If they plan to revive the ancient practice of pouring boiling oil on those you view with disfavout, think it'll apply to burglars? ;)