Drink drive killer, please help!!
Discussion
Well we've just got back from court and as some of you have already posted the case was considered and then thrown out! Two folders with a print of every single signature on the petition were submitted though the Judge did state at the start that it was inadmissible as evidence when considering the case (only the impact statement was formally considered on the prosecution side). She will now serve her sentence with no further grounds for appeal so I guess that will mean parole in 2-3 years or so.
Thank you to all who signed, the groundswell of support helped everyone through what has been an extremely difficult time and the petition itself certainly helped gain some further media coverage. There should be a report on both South Today & South West TV this evening....
Thank you to all who signed, the groundswell of support helped everyone through what has been an extremely difficult time and the petition itself certainly helped gain some further media coverage. There should be a report on both South Today & South West TV this evening....
10 Pence Short said:
Seeing what's been said today and in regards to the thrust of the thread, this is more simple a thing than was first described.
I'm assuming the woman was convicted and sentenced six months or so ago, and she decided at the time to appeal against sentence. In the case where the sentence is reasonably long and a successful appeal would not reduce the sentence down to being very short (as in shorter than time already spent in prison), it would be normal for it to take this sort of time to reach the Appeal Court.
On the one hand, it sounds as if this woman has got what she's deserved in terms of the sentence being just, examined by the Appeal Court and left as it is (note it was not increased by the look of it, either). On the other, people may have been mislead into signing a petition on the basis the woman was seeking an extraordinary release when in fact it's possible it was just a standard run of the mill sentence appeal which everybody is entitled to do if they have reasonable grounds to do so.
10 Pence, you are correct in saying that it was a lot more straightforward than initially thought. The first post and petition were started when not all of the facts were yet known, which was pointed out several times in the thread. The sentence reduction she was appealing for was from a starting point of 10 years to a starting point of 7 years, before the reductions are taken into account (early guilty plea, mitigating circumstances etc). I believe this would have meant her being able to apply for parole in just over a years time. Anyway the case was reviewed and the appeal rejected. There was no option to increase the sentence which we knew before we went in.I'm assuming the woman was convicted and sentenced six months or so ago, and she decided at the time to appeal against sentence. In the case where the sentence is reasonably long and a successful appeal would not reduce the sentence down to being very short (as in shorter than time already spent in prison), it would be normal for it to take this sort of time to reach the Appeal Court.
On the one hand, it sounds as if this woman has got what she's deserved in terms of the sentence being just, examined by the Appeal Court and left as it is (note it was not increased by the look of it, either). On the other, people may have been mislead into signing a petition on the basis the woman was seeking an extraordinary release when in fact it's possible it was just a standard run of the mill sentence appeal which everybody is entitled to do if they have reasonable grounds to do so.
As far as the petition was concerned, my friend wrote it that way and once she had it up and running that was what we had to use! I don't believe it to be particularly misleading but it was certainly more of a reflection of what was known and felt at the time. Unfortunately waiting for the hearing to take place before starting it was not an option!
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