This is really grim. I don’t see the benefit to anyone of jailing her for two years. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-65882169
Back to haunt you At 32-34 weeks, this woman took abortion pills intended to be taken only up to 10 weeks. She lied to get the pills by post. Children can be born and survive at 30 weeks. This woman is fortunate not to get a life sentence imo The judge said that had she pleaded guilty from the start, she would have been given a suspended sentence.
Welcome back. We were all worried. I’m not saying she’s done nothing wrong but I don’t see the benefit to anyone of a custodial sentence here either morally or in the context of the punishments dished out for other crimes. The only people this will hurt are her after going through a horrific ordeal (of her own making) and unfortunately her three other kids
Still 48 too many, but long gone are the days of Scotland being the murder capital of Europe...Partly down to the work of the VRUs and eliminating some of the knife crime associated with the gang culture in the cities Number of murders and killings in Scotland hits record low The number of murders and other killings in Scotland is at the lowest level since modern crime recording began, according to Police Scotland. The latest statistics show there were 48 recorded victims of homicide in the country last year. This was five less than figures from the previous year, which was also a new low. Police Scotland said the figures showed that "Scotland is a safe place to live and work". Last year there were 47 murders and one case of culpable homicide. This figure is the lowest number in any year since the introduction of modern crime recording standards in the 1970s. Murder and killings drop to lowest level on record Since the inception of the Police Scotland force, there have been 605 homicides in Scotland. Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: "The performance report underlines that Scotland is a safe place to live and work and, when criticality does arise, Police Scotland responds with high levels of operational competence. "Each one [murder] is an individual tragedy with unique circumstances and investigative challenges. Securing justice for families and loved ones is a core duty for Police Scotland and important for police legitimacy." The killing of 33-year-old Anthony Fearns in 2019 is the only murder since Police Scotland was formed in 2013 that remains unsolved, an achievement the force have deemed a continuation of their "extremely high detection rate,". The case remains under investigation.
We have liberal abortion laws in the UK, but there are some that would kill the unborn right up to the moment of birth and taking pills to do it is frighteningly simple. I would not want to see an increase from the current 24 weeks. If this woman had held her hand up at the start of prosecution, she'd be with her kids now.
I have no issue with abortion, but I tend to agree with you on this. If the baby had been born and murdered, the woman would be (rightly) labelled as a monster and got life. There's not much difference here. Obviously I don't know the facts, but surely adoption would have been the answer here.
Okay. I do not condone what she did in the slightest This woman was desperate. She was in lock down, locked in with her estranged partner, carrying another man's child...trying to look after 3 sons too . There is no point giving her a custodial sentence, the main people who are affected are her 3 children... I understand why... A non custodial sentence is the right sentence here
For me too Goldie.. They were unique circumstances and very rare..This would not have happened if it hadn't been for lockdown rules But those 3 children are without their mother, and probably father too ( from reading the reports)...for 7 to 14 months. What is that going to do to them.
I'm sure they'll be placed with caring foster parents, Beth,in the absence of any relatives like grandparents stepping in. It's for little more than a year. They may learn not to be dumb like their mother, who compounded a terrible issue by pleading not guilty early on, leaving the court with little choice under the rules but to jail her.
Lovely jubbly foster care, that will set them up for life....give them quite a few emotional scars no doubt. Look I am far from saying it wasn't wrong.I am trying to get you to at least understand the emotions and desperation here ...and also perhaps that a custodial sentence was not the right option.
John Sopel, commenting on the latest charges against Trump, reckons that there are only two possible outcomes - in two years time, he will either be in the White House or in jail. The suggestion being that the only way he avoids jail is to win the election and pardon himself. Democracy.
Beth, the judge said she would not have received a custodial sentence if she had pleaded guilty from the start. She'd already admitted what she'd done to the midwife, so what emotion and desperation was there in then pleading not guilty (only to change to guilty later)? She would have received legal advice on the risk she was taking by not accepting responsibility from the start of the prosecution. If you make unconditional excuses for mothers like this, why not fathers? In the name of equality. In fact, why not rule out all custodial sentences for anyone with a young family?
