Another day, another failure of protective options, another innocent victim:
The legal process, in the form of a legal gateway meeting, began the following day and Ms Ferguson visited the flat at around 3pm to explain options for a residential placement for the family, or for Hurrell and the baby to go in without Saint George. The court heard that Saint George swore at the social worker and refused to co-operate, having earlier blamed Lily-Mai in a text message for not letting her sleep.
'She was unable to contain herself in front of a social worker who was there to judge her competence as a mother, and you may have no doubt that she was unable to contain herself a few hours later,' said the prosecutor.
And yet clearly, our esteemed justice service has more than just doubts:
Mr Justice Spencer found Hurrell had no case to answer for charges of murder and manslaughter and threw out a charge of causing or allowing the death of a child against both parents.
A jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for more than 11 hours to find Saint George, of Enfield in north London, not guilty of murder and manslaughter. However, she was found guilty of a charge of infanticide by a majority of 10 to one.
Ugh! It beggars belief, doesn't it? But there's worse to come...
He told the weeping mother: 'I am ordering there to be a report from the probation service in your regard mainly for the purpose of ascertaining whether there is some assistance they can give you in rebuilding your life after this trial and after everything has happened.
'It is quite clear to me that you were depressed, still suffering from the effects of the birth of Lily-Mai at the time you committed the act which caused her death.
'The verdict of infanticide is one which traditionally has invoked sympathy rather than punishment. He told her that she has 'suffered and continued to suffer' and therefore he has decided against sending her to prison.
'The sentence will be a suspended sentence.'
It's a wonder he didn't raid the poor box to fund her a taxi home, isn't it?
2 comments:
"threw out the charge"?
So, they were/would have been found guilty if not for 'the judge' unanimously deciding they were innocent, right?
I increasingly wonder just where they find all these obviously specially selected people to staff the entirety of the 'justice' system. I mean, is there a single judge or magistrate (anywhere) that has even a vague association with, let alone understanding of, not just 'the law' but basic morality and ethics (or reality for that matter)?
"So, they were/would have been found guilty if not for 'the judge' unanimously deciding they were innocent, right?"
I guess we'll never know...
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