How do you think about this case - just or not?
Discussion
stemll said:
He was jailed for perverting the course of justice not for the lockdown breaches.
This. PCoJ is nothing to do with the original crime. In the case of the Labour MP who tried to lie her way out of a motoring offence, her brother was also done with PCoJ and he wasn't even involved in the original offence. He just took part in the lies.
soad said:
Ridiculous. 
Agreed.The guy's behaviour was absolutely ridiculous. Felt he was above the law firstly regarding lockdowns, but laterley when it came to his trial for PoCJ.
Then tries to pull the "woe is me" card and his precious reputation.
There are sometimes sentences that are too lenient, but think this sends the right message about trying to cheat the law.
Ian Geary said:
Agreed.
The guy's behaviour was absolutely ridiculous. Felt he was above the law firstly regarding lockdowns, but latterly when it came to his trial for PCJ.
Then tries to pull the "woe is me" card and his precious reputation.
There are sometimes sentences that are too lenient, but think this sends the right message about trying to cheat the law.
Trial? The guy's behaviour was absolutely ridiculous. Felt he was above the law firstly regarding lockdowns, but latterly when it came to his trial for PCJ.
Then tries to pull the "woe is me" card and his precious reputation.
There are sometimes sentences that are too lenient, but think this sends the right message about trying to cheat the law.
I’ll read more (when I’m not on a bus and can concentrate!).
Knob (or low level mental illness / personality disorder) who dug a hole, pausing only to get hold of a bigger spade.
But, the “destruction of evidence” bit of PCoJ is interesting . . . was the evidence his to destroy, prior to becoming aware of any warrants covering it? Bringing it down to just a breach of licensing conditions if they required CCTV?
Knob (or low level mental illness / personality disorder) who dug a hole, pausing only to get hold of a bigger spade.
But, the “destruction of evidence” bit of PCoJ is interesting . . . was the evidence his to destroy, prior to becoming aware of any warrants covering it? Bringing it down to just a breach of licensing conditions if they required CCTV?
GranpaB said:
The right result IMO.
Why? Because he 'perverted the course of justice' by destroying some mince pies?I've said it before but real criminals do stuff to try to avoid justice all the time, lying to police, running from police, denying everything in court and pleading innocent hoping the witnesses don't turn up. Hardly ever do you see a 'perverting the course of justice' charge added to the others, only when the initial offense is so trivial the justice system wants to punish the original crime more than is usually allowed, and its usually aimed at punishing usually law-abiding people who had the audacity to try to challenge the police and the system.
He attempted to destroy evidence of his initial low level offence. That is why the sentence was as it was.
Why not just suck up the Covid tier fine? No, he thought he could get away with destroying the evidence of that.
Reading between the lines ( which council area he was in versus which one he paid Council Tax to), he thought he could get away with it. Add in the evidence issue.
We see many posts in here that show a similar attitude of trying to weasel out of NIPs, fines, parking etc. Half a story omitting crucial points, inaccurate ( tuned to suit the poster’s narrative) facts/details.
Why not just suck up the Covid tier fine? No, he thought he could get away with destroying the evidence of that.
Reading between the lines ( which council area he was in versus which one he paid Council Tax to), he thought he could get away with it. Add in the evidence issue.
We see many posts in here that show a similar attitude of trying to weasel out of NIPs, fines, parking etc. Half a story omitting crucial points, inaccurate ( tuned to suit the poster’s narrative) facts/details.
MickC said:
GranpaB said:
The right result IMO.
Why? Because he 'perverted the course of justice' by destroying some mince pies?I've said it before but real criminals do stuff to try to avoid justice all the time, lying to police, running from police, denying everything in court and pleading innocent hoping the witnesses don't turn up. Hardly ever do you see a 'perverting the course of justice' charge added to the others, only when the initial offense is so trivial the justice system wants to punish the original crime more than is usually allowed, and its usually aimed at punishing usually law-abiding people who had the audacity to try to challenge the police and the system.
The reason it seems to be low level criminals that get done is because they have escalated what was low level crime with insignificant punishments into a larger crime of PCoJ.
PCoJ is quite a serious offence so it makes that person no longer an ordinary law abiding citizen.
sospan said:
He attempted to destroy evidence of his initial low level offence. That is why the sentence was as it was.
Why not just suck up the Covid tier fine? No, he thought he could get away with destroying the evidence of that.
Reading between the lines ( which council area he was in versus which one he paid Council Tax to), he thought he could get away with it. Add in the evidence issue.
We see many posts in here that show a similar attitude of trying to weasel out of NIPs, fines, parking etc. Half a story omitting crucial points, inaccurate ( tuned to suit the poster’s narrative) facts/details.
OK, and just for the record I think the guy is stupid for trying to get away with paying the fine (presumably a £1000 one for organising rather than just attending), but just double/triple it or something for trying to remove and dispose of the CCTV footage (which is HIS footage btw, he's the one paying those bills, and there's no law saying he MUST have CCTV).Why not just suck up the Covid tier fine? No, he thought he could get away with destroying the evidence of that.
Reading between the lines ( which council area he was in versus which one he paid Council Tax to), he thought he could get away with it. Add in the evidence issue.
We see many posts in here that show a similar attitude of trying to weasel out of NIPs, fines, parking etc. Half a story omitting crucial points, inaccurate ( tuned to suit the poster’s narrative) facts/details.
6 months in prison for a covid rules breach is stupid - and I know you will say it's for trying to pervert the course of justice but really, it's a minor breach of the law (which many, many people disagreed with) and the punishment for that is not 6 months in prison. Totally over the top, while real criminals are let off with warnings, stupidly low fines or suspended sentences, having not co-operated with the police at all and also pleading not guilty.
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