Good news!

[BREWSTERS]

Perhaps they should be. But that is a matter of law, and we do not have the death penalty in this country. Therefore it cannot be considered a victory when our rubbish prisons allow one thug to murder another thug while in supposedly secure custody.

P.

Well, I'm struggling to find any negatives in this story.

What if it was a relative of the child who had killed the sicko - how would you feel about that?

 

[philipp]

Well, I'm struggling to find any negatives in this story.

Okay, well if you haven't understood my point so far then I don't think anything will be gained by repeating it.

P.

 

[BREWSTERS]

From what I think I understand about your point, is that because we don't have capital punishment in this country you cannot condone what has gone on. Yes, no?

I can condone it because sometimes the law is wrong. I'm only guessing here, but I'd say that the majority of British people would vote for the death penalty for scum like that.

Morally, I'm fine with ending the life of someone like that - I can't think of a reason why they should be allowed to live. Every breathe he took was an insult to the child whose life he selfishly took.

Just because something is law, doesn't mean it's right and should be defended. Look at some of the laws in other countries - different place, different laws - can't both be right.

 

[Blossom]

It's the same old story. Death of others is socially acceptable when enough people agree.

Can't be all holier than thou about not having a death penalty but then think that killing people in a war is ok - in my opinion.

 

[philipp]

From what I think I understand about your point, is that because we don't have capital punishment in this country you cannot condone what has gone on. Yes, no?

Correct. We have the law for a reason, although sometimes of course it is an ass. It is a fundamental tenet of our society that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. Therefore we either have a death penalty or we do not, there really shouldn't be special cases (Home Secretaries' personal policies not withstanding).

The majority of people might well vote in the way you suggest, but that is not what happened in this case. Fundamentally, one prisoner murdered another prisoner - which is wrong and should not happen.

The courts already passed judgement on the dead man, it is the prisons' job to make sure that the judgement was fairly carried out. They failed.

P.

 

[Frog]

Was thinking about running a feature on the discountvouchers.org blog were we give free stuff to people who've done something brilliant... could have a first winner here... Doubt they'd let him have an ipad though

 

[BREWSTERS]

Correct. We have the law for a reason, although sometimes of course it is an ass. It is a fundamental tenet of our society that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. Therefore we either have a death penalty or we do not, there really shouldn't be special cases (Home Secretaries' personal policies not withstanding).

The majority of people might well vote in the way you suggest, but that is not what happened in this case. Fundamentally, one prisoner murdered another prisoner - which is wrong and should not happen.

The courts already passed judgement on the dead man, it is the prisons' job to make sure that the judgement was fairly carried out. They failed.

P.

Fair. Was the law fair when it released him previously despite his own lawyer saying he would kill if let out? No. So you can either abide by the word of the law, or you can have fairness, but not necessarily both at the same time.

Which do you want?

 

[philipp]

Fair. Was the law fair when it released him previously despite his own lawyer saying he would kill if let out?

No, but the law is the best we've got. The alternative is anarchy, which is even worse.

P.

 

[aZooZa]

Philippp - I understand your stance. But in the real world this is peer justice. Has your 'government' and 'judicial system' ever let you down? Admittedly this is an isolated case; but it's an adamant knee-jerk - no place in society for these perverted killers. It's not a parking ticket offence. In fact this is cultural and long may it live.

 

[philipp]

I agree there's no place in society for people like that. But that's what prisons are for - to isolate them from society. We have made the choice not to kill them, and in fact we pay a fortune to the prisons service to carry out their duties. That one prisoner was able to murder another is an undeniable failure of the system.

I'm sure there are numerous people serving time for deplorable acts. But to say that it's somehow OK to permit them to murder each other is missing the point about what prison is for. As a country we have elected to use custodial sentences and not capital punishment - let alone the arbitrary taking of one prisoner's life by another.

P.

 

[Frog]

The only saddening part of the article was the realization he never killed Ian Huntley when he tried it. Its a crying shame that now he won't ever get another chance to finish what he started there.

He's totally fucked now - he might as well kill another one when he can as he's never getting out anyway. Hopefully he'll take another couple of them out...

 

[philipp]

The only saddening part of the article was the realization he never killed Ian Huntley

Well, you know - as unpopular as it may be to mention this, Ian Huntley was not condemned to death.

Your location says 'in a pond' - surely that should read 'under a bridge'?

P.

 

[Frog]

Well, you know - as unpopular as it may be to mention this, Ian Huntley was not condemned to death.

He wasn't, but he should have been. This guy nearly righted that wrong...

Thankfully practice makes perfect and he made a far better job of this latest one.

 

[philipp]

He wasn't, but he should have been. This guy nearly righted that wrong...

Thankfully practice makes perfect and he made a far better job of this latest one.

One scumbag arbitrarily killing another is not justice. Personally I despise the death penalty, and am thankful that we are free of it in the U.K. However this is always going to be a contentious issue and it's been debated a million times before. "The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective" available from Amazon is a good if sobering read.

P.

 

[BREWSTERS]

I agree there's no place in society for people like that. But that's what prisons are for - to isolate them from society. We have made the choice not to kill them, and in fact we pay a fortune to the prisons service to carry out their duties. That one prisoner was able to murder another is an undeniable failure of the system.

I'm sure there are numerous people serving time for deplorable acts. But to say that it's somehow OK to permit them to murder each other is missing the point about what prison is for. As a country we have elected to use custodial sentences and not capital punishment - let alone the arbitrary taking of one prisoner's life by another.

P.

Who is this 'we'? I've never been given a choice over capital punishment, have you?

If we had that choice I think you'd find the law would change.

 

[BREWSTERS]

One scumbag arbitrarily killing another is not justice.
P.

The fact he is now deprived of life, is justice.

How can you justify his living after taking the life of an innocent for his own gratification.

Our species are not naturally a civilised one. That's why we have crimes such as these, and likewise they need to be met with similar force. Instead of pretending that a lifetime in prison is sufficient punishment for such a heinous crime.

 

[cm1975]

Just a thought, but if the death penalty was brought back would the dubious hero of this story not also be in line for the chair ... or would you just give him a handshake and tell him to run along?

I'm not sad to see that evil f*cker go, but as Philipp says, it should not be the decision on one man to kill another in this manner.

 

[BREWSTERS]

Just a thought, but if the death penalty was brought back would the dubious hero of this story not also be in line for the chair ... or would you just give him a handshake and tell him to run along?

Hatch would already be dead - no need for Fowkes to do it.