Karl McCarthy was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday following a trial in December.Hmmm…
The 33-year-old was accused of throwing stones at arguing couple Theresa Bottley and Marian Cabraretti before allegedly attacking Bottley with an axe handle.
But jurors cleared McCarthy, of Toot Hill Butts, Headington, of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and unlawful wounding respectively.
He was found guilty of causing actual bodily harm after throwing a container of water at the pair, which struck Mr Cabraretti.Well, the charges are a puzzle, that's for sure. GBH for this small injury? It seems odd to me.
Passing sentence, Recorder John Hardy told McCarthy: “I confess to a degree of surprise at the jury’s verdicts in your case.”
He opened proceedings by saying: “I have been puzzling over this case.
“Juries are the cornerstone of our criminal justice system and they sometimes return verdicts that occasion surprise, indeed astonishment, in some parts of the courts, but it’s the jury’s verdict that counts.”
But, perhaps the defence was brilliant, and had some real mitigation this time?
Comments, however, are rather illuminating and may throw some light on the Recorder’s evident frustration:
Graham Bennett, defending, said his client was a labourer who was working on a casual basis while claiming employment support allowance due to epilepsy.Oh. OK. I guess not…
He said Mr Cabraretti suffered “a scratch to the head” during the incident in Oxford on August 4 last year which required no treatment.
Comments, however, are rather illuminating and may throw some light on the Recorder’s evident frustration:
Dilligaf2010 says...Indeed…
Scales of Justice 17th Jan 2010....
....Karl McCarthy, 31, of no fixed address, admitted possessing a machete in Cromwell Street, Oxford, on October 2. Jailed for six months due to the dangerousness of the weapon and previous conviction for wounding.
Scales of Justice 11th March 2011....
.....Karl McCarthy, 32, of Toot Hill Butts, Headington, Oxford, admitted driving without a licence or insurance in Westgate, Oxford, on January 4. Fined £260, a £15 victims’ surcharge and £85 costs. Given eight penalty points.
I think the jurors should've been given a hint as to his previous good behaviour
:P
"“Juries are the cornerstone of our criminal justice system and they sometimes return verdicts that occasion surprise, indeed astonishment, in some parts of the courts, but it’s the jury’s verdict that counts" ..
ReplyDeleteRecorder Hardy is quite obviously utterly bereft of a sense of irony, given the oft ludicrous and incomprehensible utterings, regularly made by some his allegedly learned colleagues on the bench ..
Heh!
ReplyDelete