Monday 14 January 2013

If It's 'Within Guidelines', We're Golden!

So what if the people who pay our wages are upset?
A Humberside Police spokesman said: "When reviewing the evidence into this incident a caution was given in accordance with guidelines, which are followed when making a decision in connection with any criminal offence."
So...you were handed a thief caught red-handed with £500 of charity money by a public-spirited member of the public, practically gift-wrapped for you, and you let her off with a caution?

And you'll no doubt wonder why the public are starting to consider that you aren't worth the money? 

Meanwhile, in another part of the bleak North, guidelines can be safely ignored:
In allowing the appeal, Recorder Miller stressed that there was no criticism of the magistrates and said their original 12-week prison sentence was "within the guidelines".
But he said that he and his colleagues took account of Elshaw's previous good character and that her financial affairs had been "complicated" through no fault of her own.
I give up!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bunny

I would take issue with your comment about the 'bleak North' but then again anybody who wants to argue for wealth 'distribution' and 'how hard life is' in these areas needs to bang on about how bloody awful it is there. The fact is that Hull is surrounded by some fantastic countryside, the standards of living are high compared to large parts of the rest of the planet.
The only parts of the North that are 'bleak' are those where people have bought into the propaganda that life is hard with no enjoyment other than TV, drugs or drinking hard. If you live in Hull and are unemployed get a bicycle, which provides cheap transport as well as leisure and an allotment if you don't have a garden then watch your quality of life soar, good proper food and exercise in beautiful scenery. (With the caveat for Julia's benefit that the bicycle is ridden considerately within the requirements of the Highway Code and laws of the land).

Lynne at Counting Cats said...

Given the proposed demolition of prisons BEFORE any replacements are built, the situation can only get worse.

It also explains why the prison population is lower than anticipated - they simply aren't locking the buyggers up.

Sigh...

Woman on a Raft said...

I find it difficult to get the steam up about benefits cases such as Elshaw's. Why are we penalizing people who make up and try to stay married? Why is that less worthy of subsidy than being alone?

Of course, I would prefer to subsidize neither but I if we are going to subsidize her at all, I don't see why it has to be on the condition that they get divorced. This is actually worse for my wallet in the long term as she will only become more dependent on outside help, not less.

P.S. David Laws still isn't in prison either, but I suppose it is different if you are an MP.

Rob said...

Aww, her affairs. Scams complicated through no fault of her own? How exactly? What Act of God struck her so hard she committed a huge fraud of taxpayer's money?

Many people suffer hardship through no fault of their own. Go back two generations and you'll probably find that covered most of the population. Mysteriously, the vast majority of these people were not criminals.

JuliaM said...

" (With the caveat for Julia's benefit that the bicycle is ridden considerately within the requirements of the Highway Code and laws of the land)"

:D

"Given the proposed demolition of prisons BEFORE any replacements are built, the situation can only get worse."

Good (if depressing!) point.

"Why are we penalizing people who make up and try to stay married? Why is that less worthy of subsidy than being alone? "

Because the assumption is that with two incomes, you need it less?