I know there is very little love lost between us and Swindon, just heard on the Portuguese news, they are signing Luke McCormac !!!!!!!! after his release from prison in the next few weeks. Also coming from Cornwall, I am fully aware why he was put their, WHY should any sports person, committed for such an offence ever be allowed to continue his life as if nothing has happened, when the families involved , there lives will never ever go back to being normal. I wonder how they feel about this, your thoughts UTG
lenny - just found the link from the Swindon O/S to support your thread...http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10341~2786026,00.html?
This might be a controversial point of view but I honestly can't see a problem here. Yes, he commited a terrible crime but he has served his time, as decreed by the justice system and will be release to persue his career. If he was a cleaner he would get a cleaning job, if he was a gardener he would get a gardening job, he just happens to be a footballer and has got a job with a football club. You are suggesting that he has got away with it scott free but he has served a prison sentance and will have to live with what he has done for the rest of his life. The justice system in this country is based on the assumption that a man can reform, which is part of the job carried out the prison system. He has been through the system and is being release therefore the justice system has decreed he has been punished and reform and can be release. Just becasue he is in the public eye he shouldn't be treated any differently to Joe Bloggs on the street.
I wish him well as he resumes his career! He made a terrible mistake which cost the lives of 2 young children! He has served his time and has had plenty of time to reflect on his errors! He is a decent keeper and now has the chance to move on!
Yeah I have been talking about him on the Plymouth board as I wanted to see what they thought about him and I have to say it is mixed, some say that he should be able to play some not, I am not sure personally but if I was to look at it as if he was signed by us I would say no thanks, he is a good player but I would not want him bringing a bad reputation on the club.
Was going to write my own opinion but this sums it up perfectly. Everybody deserves a second chance, footballers are not except from this.
I'm with you on this one. Couldn't have put it better myself. He's not the first either, Lee Hughes for example, while I feel desperately sorry for the family, friends and loved ones of the people lost by his terrible mistake he has served his time, something many don't.
I spoke to my wife about this! She says he has served his time and should be allowed to gain employment and get on with his life!
Hoadie has seem to have found a different consensus elsewhere http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/147301-Luke-McCormick-to-Join-Swindon?p=2884164#post2884164
Yeah I have a thread on the Plymouth board and also Swindon board because as soon as I heard about this I was wondering what fans of either club would think about it.
at the end of the day the guy has served his time and anyone who thinks hes just gonna waltz back into football like nothing has happened needs to remember how fickle and sometimes horrible football crowds can be. i imagine he wont get away with a few chants and choice words being thrown his way everytime he plays!!
I have been trying to think of a way of responding to the topic without directly aiming at that particular incident. So here goes to any that might cast that first stone...having been a very high mileage user in years gone by, I used to think of the M25 as a legalised killing field. Put a human being behind a wheel and we all have a tendency to be irresponsible in one way or another, some more serious than others but sadly with the same outcome, as our careless/reckless attitude is not brought home to us until we cause a death or serious injury. In 2000 - 2010 in Britain there was 32,955 deaths on our roads and nearly 3 million people injured. Someone in some way would have been responsible for most of those incidents. Looking at a map of my mentioned example of the M25 during that period and you will find the entire length of it covered in death after death. It's never your fault but one day it just might be and yet for some reason it appears perfectly acceptable behaviour if your a unintoxicated person.
As far as the family and friends of the people he killed he will never have served his time, they will have to live with it for life, the people killed will never get a job or carry on with their career, I know if it was my family he had killed what I would like done with the scum bag! Served his time! I don't think so! yes accidents happen but when your drunk enough to serve time it is very different, for anyone with kids watching him on a Saturday playing football it will be difficult. If you have never lost a child you will have no idea how it feels.He will doing something the kids he killed will now never do. Scum bag, for me Swindon are wrong. UTG!!
brb I have a vested interest in the subject, so perhaps a little biased. Most road accidents ( and therefore most deaths on the road ) are avoidable - because they generally involve some carelessness or momentary lapse of concentration that any one of us could have - but should have been avoided. This mitigation is too readily accepted in our society - a death is a death - and no less significant for the bereaved. BUT When a death on a road occurs as a result of a drivers intoxication it is considered to be more serious than a mere accident. Having said that each death has ( more or less ) the same impact on those left behind, I can agree with the majority that see a drunken driver as more of a criminal than somebody who made a poor judgement of manoeuvre. I believe that it is general knowledge that any amount of alcohol in your blood slows down reaction time - usually to dramatic proportions. The knock-on effect (no pun intended) as it relates to driver reaction times leads to devastating consequences - and, quite rightly is considered a more serious situation. I have no problem with anyone having a drink - but to choose to drive - when we know the possible effects of slower reaction times and the carnage that does happen is irresponsible and should receive greater punishment. We've all got to die one day - and our loved ones will be sad on that occasion - but human emotion runs deeper if we consider that the timing of a death is too soon - however that death is caused - and thus harder to forgive and forget.
I think the issue here (at least as far as I see it) is that A) he'll only have served half of his prison sentence and B) He's got himself a job lined up before he's even released from prison. It certainly shouldn't be that easy. It seems to make a mockery of all those offenders who try and rehabilitate themselves and go and get a job, but get constantly turned away because of their criminal record (BSG - you say a gardener would get a gardening job etc. I really don't think it's as simple as you're making out.) It seems here that he's got employment so easily JUST because he's a footballer (admittedly he was a pretty quality keeper and had a bright future - I saw him play a fair few times for Argyle - not that that's the point). I wonder if the majority would be taking the same sort of view if John Terry gets found guilty and then finds employment immediately upon release?
Having seen coverage of this on Granada (North West) news where the children who died were from. Their mother said as part of his defence he said he would not play football again, which helped him get a lighter sentence
If John Terry had killed people then I would hope the reaction would be the same. I don't care who they are if they killed my kids I would not want them to see the light of day again let alone play football!! Simple. UTG!!
Superbob, I can see your point of very but the length of the sentence, what he length he served and even the crime he was charged for is not relevent to this argument. The law of this land has passed the judgement that he has served his punishment and is entitled to his freedom once more. I have worked with ex offenders in my role as in the construction industry both before and after release and many of them returned to their original trade, especially if they were good at their profession like he is. What else could he do? Swindon were very brave in this decision but I think it is the right choice as I believe everybody deserves a second chance
Everyone deserves secound chance hey, does that include the two kids that are dead? They have no chance of being any good at any proffession now do they! BSG as you probably can tell I have been the wrong side of a similar incident and in my day job and others in my family spend our time stopping people like this doing similar things to other innocent people, The point is he killed two kids because he decided to drink and drive, the sentence was a joke, he will never serve enough time for the family concerned. To much worrying about the convicted not enough about the innocent family destroyed. Swindon should be ashamed. What else could he do? dont care no more than he did or anyone when he drove drunk.
Because an individual was a well known sportsman, who is within the spotlight of media attention through intoxication. We rightly condone. However, what about some of the overlooked families of those earlier mentioned 32,955 deaths, one of their killers could be in a football ground near you and carrying on life as normal in exactly the same way as this individual wants too. I accept alwaysright earlier point about how obviously drink affects your ability of reaction but just as merely one example, what about all the drivers that are on our road that are practically falling a sleep behind the wheel? Company car drivers, delivery van drivers, illegal mini cab drivers, that are working anything up to 60 hours per week. I can tell you it happens every single day. If one human kills another it makes no difference in the defence, an individual is dead through someone's inconsideration of another persons life, whether that be the driver, their employer or the people that continually turn a blind eye and only judge when in the public eye and through a media publication. Both scenarios are avoidable with the same devastating affects but not everything is illegal, until that dreaded moment of impact. All I am saying is we have to be careful when casting stones, unless the measure is equal and not just subjective.
