Gunman on the run in Cumbria

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pastie2

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11 people shot and a number of them are fatalities, this is in west Cumbria but he is heading south.
 
Jemma24 said:
What a terrible thing to happen, thoughts with all the families who have lost a loved one today.
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Yes, thoughts to the families and all those that had to witness such a dreadful scene. Its a small community so most people would have known those killed and injured.
 
Apparently there was a family argument over a will. The first 2 to be killed were his twin brother and his solicitor. He then shot one of his taxi driver friends before just shooting random people. Having spent 9 years in Cumbria its just the most bizarre and shocking thing, its such a lovely peaceful rural place in the Lakes, you've got to wonder what was going on in his head.

RIP to all his victims and wishing a speedy recovery to all those others injured.
 
It is just terrible. How can anyone take away so many totally innocent lives.

In theory I would love to say it's a shame he killed himself - it was an easy way out. However, in reality he would probably have been out of prison within 3 years and given a new identity. So probably for the best that he he shot himself.
 
When has a gunman who has gone on a killing spree been let out of prison in 3 years and given a false identity in the past?
I have visited this area several times and it is so lovely and peaceful, hard to imagine such a terrible thing happening there.
 
HarrietLong said:
Tinypony said:
When has a gunman who has gone on a killing spree been let out of prison in 3 years and given a false identity in the past?
QUOTE]

I was just making the point about the rubbish British Justice System...
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Oh this is such a load of rubbish, people always quote this sort of thing with nothing to back it up. Spree killers and mass murderers get life sentances because that is mandatory. Generally that means serving in excess of 20 years.

There is no precendent for knowing how someone like this would be treated as they generally kill themselves as part of the spree, like at dunblane. But life sentances are mandatory for murder.
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I am quite certain that Mr Bird would never have served a life sentance, he would have been shot by the police if he hadnt shot himself.
 
HarrietLong said:
Katt said:
Do you live in the UK, or have you just not payed much attention to news cases over the past 5-10 years? Life sentence does not mean life!!
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Yes, it does. Just because someone may not be in a prison after 15, 20 or 50 years does not mean they are not serving a life sentence. Do YOU have any idea what a life sentence is? I bet you've never even heard of an indeterminate sentence, and will now be scurrying off to discover something that ISN'T touted as propoganda for the barely literate in the Daily Fail.

Anyway, that is off topic. It's an absolute tragedy, I was almost in tears after hearing about the old lady with her shopping. Thoughts are with the family of all the victims, including the gunman. What a dreadful thing to happen, and in such a beautiful place.

x
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What B&M said, because I just cannot be arsed.

I take it the detractors have never had to call the police due to a crime or have a court case go in their favour - nor would they want to, if the system is so 'rubbish'.
If you don't like the justice system get involved and try to change things, instead of going on about how **** it is.
 
HarrietLong said:
Katt said:
Do you live in the UK, or have you just not payed much attention to news cases over the past 5-10 years? Life sentence does not mean life!!
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Oh for crying out loud! Do you get all your information from the hysterical tabaloid press?

I'm a lawyer, admittedly I don't practice in criminal law, but studying it is compulsory and I take and interest in areas outside my specialism.

A life sentance is mandatory for murder. That is why there are sometimes perverse situations where people think the life sentance handed out is unfair, such as in cases where a terminally ill person has been helped to die or when a battered woman murders her husband. There is absolutely no judicial discretion for murder.

If a person is convicted of murder they get a life sentance. End of.


However a life sentance does not mean that you will remain in prison until you die. That is a common misconception, due mainly to that fact that it used to mean that before we joined the EU and signed up to the european treaty on human rights. Indeterminate sentances are a breach of human rights and something that amnesty have a lot to say about. That is why we now have a system of tarriffs, to give an element of certainty.

Personally I don't like the current system, I think it leads to perverse decisions and creates bad law as judges will try to make a finding of manslaughter in cases where they don't think a life sentance is warrented. I would prefer a return to judicial discretion an abolition of the life sentance and judges being able to hand down sentances of a number of years as they see fit.

Sadly the madatory life sentance for murder is a result of tabaloid hysterics, as the government wanted to look like they were being "tough on crime" but it has just resulted in confusion and misunderstanding.

Law lecture over.

Try not to believe everything the daily mail tells you, it is notoriously unreliable!
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