Only in England

[Random]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/01/14/victim-too-honest-to-give-yob-a-fair-trial-115875-21039718/



Trial thrown out because victim judged too honest to give fair trial

A judge sparked fury yesterday after allowing a yob accused of robbery to walk free - because his victim was "too believable".
Driving instructor Denise Dawson, 36, was praised by Judge Jamie Tabor QC as "honest, utterly decent and brave".
He even awarded her s250 for her courage in giving evidence against Liam Perks, 20, who she said was part of a gang that ambushed her car and stole a laptop and mobile phone.
The mum-of-two - who was repeatedly punched and left with a broken nose - picked Perks out in an ID parade.
But she was horrified when Judge Tabor halted the trial after ruling her good character might unfairly sway the jury against the defendant.
He decided her identification of Perks was not enough and said he was throwing the case out because it was her word against his - and she was too believable.
Judge Tabor stunned Bristol crown court as he said: "Denise Dawson was a particularly impressive witness because she showed courage, clarity of thought and was undoubtedly honest. The jury may lend more weight to her evidence than her facts allow. You cannot be sure she got it right ... had this been the Archbishop of Canterbury's son, would I have allowed the trial to go on? The answer is no."
Angry Denise later described the ruling as "a kick in the teeth".
She said: "I was absolutely terrified after I heard he had pleaded not guilty and I would have to go to court to testify.
"I felt sick when I was told the trial had collapsed. What more can I do?"
She added: "I feel very let down. I just feel these yobs are laughing in my face because I stood up and told the truth."

Denise, of Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, was attacked during a driving lesson in the city in December 2007.
One gang member smashed her rear window with a brick. She said she saw Perks rifling the glovebox. She told the jury she got "a good look" at him - even bravely grabbing hold of him. She later picked him out as one of her attackers.
Perks, of Henbury, denied being involved. The court heard he was currently awaiting sentence after admitting being part of a gang which stole motorbikes and prestige cars.
Labour MP Dan Norris last night slammed the judge's ruling as "bonkers". He said: "This seems farcical and sets a very dangerous precedent."
Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary, Chris Huhne, added: "Juries should decide the facts - not judges.
But a CPS spokesman said: "We accept the judge's decision and have no plans to appeal against it."
HIS HONOUR HAS FORM
It is not the first time Judge Tabor QC has caused controversy.
Last May he freed a wife who admitted trying to poison her husband saying she "was not a criminal".
A year ago he freed a kinky teacher who got his kicks by spanking a boy of 11 - saying the boy seemed to enjoy it.
And in July 2003 he allowed a car crook to have a break from his curfew - so he could go to a holiday camp.

wtf England


HIS HONOUR HAS FORM
It is not the first time Judge Tabor QC has caused controversy.
Last May he freed a wife who admitted trying to poison her husband saying she "was not a criminal".
A year ago he freed a kinky teacher who got his kicks by spanking a boy of 11 - saying the boy seemed to enjoy it.
And in July 2003 he allowed a car crook to have a break from his curfew - so he could go to a holiday camp.

Don't go blaming this on your chavs, I am generalizing all of you as being equally bad as this judge. >:U

[Sel]

only in america







































OR SO WE THOUGHT :maddowns:

[Dwood]

only in america


OR SO WE THOUGHT :maddowns:


America isn't that Liberal... YET

[Hotrod]

only in america




OR SO WE THOUGHT :maddowns:

Let's change that saying to :

Only humanity...

[rossmum]

America isn't that Liberal... YET
where do you get all this from, really it is beyond me

also england's been ruined by these politically-correct, equal-opportunity shitbags, welp

[Limited]

Your having a fucking laugh...WTF?!

This is ridiculous, glad its made it to the papers, then some one up high will see it and step in. This judge needs the sack.

[SnaFuBAR]

That is absolutely... uh... well I don't have any words for this... this blew my mind.

[Donut]

do they make people take an oath of honesty in england before the court procession goes on?
i mean even if they dont, this is total bullshit.
hi im in court because somebody attacked me, then they caught some people that they believed were responsible, and i picked out the guy that did it. after presenting my story with every fact remaining constant, the judge ruled in the favor of the assailant because my story was honest like it should be.
how the fuck do people like that even BECOME judges?

[Malloy]

Isn't an 'oath', an 'oath' to the 'lord' in which under 20% of England believe in the christian god, or in any god for that matter. England or central London now is a calamity of mixed cultures and the last I heard there are more Muslim's living in the capital then there are pro dominant christians... So to clarify my point, I think the concept of civic oath to religion was scrapped after the travesties of the crusades and greed of the church during the dark ages alongside the general lack of interest as X factor is getting more popular each year :P.

[Dwood]

where do you get all this from, really it is beyond me

also england's been ruined by these politically-correct, equal-opportunity , welp


Yes. I call those people Liberals. The ones who wouldn't allow teachers to say 'merry christmas' in schools across the U.S.

The very ones who Sued over "and under God" in the pledge of allegience.

Sure we could become that Commy liberal all over the U.S. but for now the Liberal Bastions are Northeastern States + California.

[Limited]

We do an oath, not sure if it has any reference to God. They were planning in 2001 to remove the God part of it because not everyone believes in God.

And yeah London is full of Muslim people.

[Dwood]

We do an oath, not sure if it has any reference to God. They were planning in 2001 to remove the God part of it because not everyone believes in God.


If you don't believe in God then Don't say it.

[DarkHalo003]

Wow, I'm really starting to hate the Judicial system. >_>

They removed the patriotic song from my school every Friday in elementary school because the county was afraid some kids would get made if they aren't from the U.S. That's ridiculous on its own. This country is becoming far too sensitive to everything. If they remove the God part from the Pledge, then that offends me as a Christian. People may not believe in God, but that's no reason to remove it from the Pledge. That's like someone saying "Let's take away 'I Pledge Allegiance' because some kids don't like America. It's just being too liberal IMO.

[legionaire45]

Lol, that's pathetic. Nice of the judge to completely ignore the facts of the case simply because he determined that someone was apparently too honest to have their message heard. What a lovely precident; Don't be too honest now, you may just convince the jury that you are an honest person!

This judge diserves to have his power taken away.

Off Topic:

If you don't believe in God then Don't say it.
...so if you don't believe in god, you shouldn't take part in any kind of civic duty that requires you to take an oath in His name?

That sounds an awful lot like intolerance of one's (lack) of religion.

I would prefer 100% complete separation of church and state simply because religious institutions inherently add instability to a government. I'm not talking about "Islamic Extremism" style religion only; our government is one of the most religious in the world. President Bush has stated numerous times that he has let his faith affect his public policy.

At the same time, someone inevitably gets offended because their religion isn't the "official" religion of that government. How do you cater to everyone? Make the government completely neutral by removing all policies with some kind of link to religion.

I'm not saying to remove the word "God" from the oath; in the case of the Pledge of Allegiance, it has historical context in that this nation was founded by theists and lead by theists for hundreds of years. Having that theism affect the public policy of the nation is what I have a problem with.

Other arguments here (http://www.atheistnation.net/video/?video/02542/atheist/religulous-full-movie/). I have homework to do =P. Don't mind the link, the video is from a different source than that website (which I imagine would be fairly biased). It's actually quite amusing in some spots =P.

[Bodzilla]

Lol, that's pathetic. Nice of the judge to completely ignore the facts of the case simply because he determined that someone was apparently too honest to have their message heard. What a lovely precident; Don't be too honest now, you may just convince the jury that you are an honest person!

This judge diserves to have his power taken away.

Off Topic:

...so if you don't believe in god, you shouldn't take part in any kind of civic duty that requires you to take an oath in His name?

That sounds an awful lot like intolerance of one's (lack) of religion.

I would prefer 100% complete separation of church and state simply because religious institutions inherently add instability to a government. I'm not talking about "Islamic Extremism" style religion only; our government is one of the most religious in the world. President Bush has stated numerous times that he has let his faith affect his public policy.

At the same time, someone inevitably gets offended because their religion isn't the "official" religion of that government. How do you cater to everyone? Make the government completely neutral by removing all policies with some kind of link to religion.

I'm not saying to remove the word "God" from the oath; in the case of the Pledge of Allegiance, it has historical context in that this nation was founded by theists and lead by theists for hundreds of years. Having that theism affect the public policy of the nation is what I have a problem with.

Other arguments here (http://www.atheistnation.net/video/?video/02542/atheist/religulous-full-movie/). I have homework to do =P. Don't mind the link, the video is from a different source than that website (which I imagine would be fairly biased). It's actually quite amusing in some spots =P.

go watch the movie Religulous you'd be surprised exactly how weary of religion the foundling farthers actually where.

it's a common misconception.

[rossmum]

Commy liberal
you really are a rare gem aren't you

[legionaire45]

go watch the movie Religulous you'd be surprised exactly how weary of religion the foundling farthers actually where.

it's a common misconception.
That's the movie I linked to xD.

I made a bad example, so my bad there.

However, I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say that from this country's founding, religion has had an huge effect on this country.

With that, I'm going to exit this thread =P

[Donut]

We do an oath, not sure if it has any reference to God. They were planning in 2001 to remove the God part of it because not everyone believes in God.

And yeah London is full of Muslim people.
regardless of the religious aspect, it i still an oath, no? somebody losing a case because they live up to the oath they made.... i cannot wrap my mind around this.

[jngrow]

Wow.. this is just.... :(.

[Mr Buckshot]

Maybe that judge is secretly in an alliance with the criminals involved? Corruption in the court happens everywhere, not just in the UK.

[rossmum]

We do an oath, not sure if it has any reference to God. They were planning in 2001 to remove the God part of it because not everyone believes in God.

And yeah London is full of Muslim people.
England is a Christian country just the same as Australia has been since 1788. While they may call God by a different name (the major 'western' religions actually share a common basis and corroborate each other in various points, so honestly I don't get how anyone could see them as some terribly different thing), it's a matter of respecting the country's history. If I was asked to swear an oath by another religion's deity, I might not personally share that belief but I would do it out of respect.

More likely it's the do-gooders who want to remove it - who typically have no association whatsoever with the people they supposedly speak on behalf of.

[DaneO'Roo]

^ and bingo was his name-o

[Malloy]

England is a Christian country

Trust me, Christianity is perishing in England.. well Religion in general.

My Secondary school (High) had populace of 1400 pupils, onyl 22 went to an all year 'bible group'.

My current college has a pupil range of 4000-5000 and only 36! people goto it, the only reason i know this is because my friend is religious although admits questioning her faith on numerous occasions.

The only dominant way Religion is still alive in the UK is Irish Catholics, Muslims all over the UK, Mosque and Synagogue centres and these are only being used by those who have only been in the country about 5 years. I goto college with alot of 2nd generation Muslims from the ones that moved here and they're all more interested in going 'clubbing' and fighting than anything.

[rossmum]

Sounds a lot like here, very few people I know could legitimately be called religious. Most are either atheist or like me (vaguely Christian), out of my entire group of about 30 close friends at school I only know of 3-5 who went to church at all let alone regularly.

[Limited]

England is a Christian country just the same as Australia has been since 1788. While they may call God by a different name (the major 'western' religions actually share a common basis and corroborate each other in various points, so honestly I don't get how anyone could see them as some terribly different thing), it's a matter of respecting the country's history. If I was asked to swear an oath by another religion's deity, I might not personally share that belief but I would do it out of respect.

More likely it's the do-gooders who want to remove it - who typically have no association whatsoever with the people they supposedly speak on behalf of.
Your right, England is predominately Christian, and I full agree that people who come here should accept our way of life and put up with it.

The problem is, they dont, they bitch and moan that we're to blame. That WE should change our ways.

[Malloy]

Aswell as hate our government yet will happily accept benefit money and property which is hard enough for people who have lived in the UK all of their life to aquire.

^ that statement is not a racist stereotypically fed point of view, it is from experience, not all immagrants are like that.

imo from living an athiest but accepting attitude toward religion, its really prohibiting progression of the human race as... Muslims are extreme with their rules/laws i.e cut hands off a theif, kill a women if she does not respect you neither want to marry you. Not exactly fair neither helping eradicate differences between sexes.

Christians obviously are alot more mellow, but from history you can see that its virtues have been corrupted i.e sin repentance for money in the dark ages. I also believe it has also been used by the corrupt in sort for power, i.e G.W Bush, saying he had a dream and a talk with God, that he had to invade Iraq or some shit. Playing the christians of America, which G.W knew was a massive percentage to back his decision, is embarissing.

overall the 'do good' messages of religion are probably out dated and not needed if people are brought up correctly by morally good parents to set examples and without religion science can continue to prosper as certain topics like 'cloning!', 'Abortion!' and 'GM babies' have all been interfered with by religious majorities. All of which have positive prospective outcomes, but 'have' to be thwarted as we dont have 'gods' divine right to tamper with genetics.

Religion doesnt help any logical situation.

[NullZero]

One of the "stupider" things to happen in England :|

[Donut]

Trust me, Christianity is perishing in England.. well Religion in general.

My Secondary school (High) had populace of 1400 pupils, onyl 22 went to an all year 'bible group'.
you dont have to go to a bible study group to be religious. the only times i have gone to church are when my grandma has dragged me there.


My current college has a pupil range of 4000-5000 and only 36! people goto it, the only reason i know this is because my friend is religious although admits questioning her faith on numerous occasions.
i think anybody worth talking that is religious has questioned their faith. you would have to be afflicted with the numbness of the skull to automatically believe everything you hear, in religion especially

also isnt this thread supposed to be about bitching about intellectually challenged, high ranking judicial figures?

[Bodzilla]

Christians obviously are alot more mellow, but from history you can see that its virtues have been corrupted

not exactly true. I'm reading the God Delusion by Dawkings at the moment and things like the Death sentence for adultery are all in the bible.

only difference is it's not as preached.

[Dwood]

not exactly true. I'm reading the God Delusion by Dawkings at the moment and things like the Death sentence for adultery are all in the bible.

only difference is it's not as preached.

Dawkings... He's the most atheist guy out there in the world today...

Not one I would go to for facts in 'religion' if you know what i mean.

[Bodzilla]

El oh el.

[Hunter]

Enlang laws suck. Some anyway. The health and safty laws are pathetic.

[JunkfoodMan]

Dawkins*

Great book.
Read "A letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris. Only 90 or so pages, but a brilliant book/essay nonetheless. Plus, it's pretty cheap nowadays.
Anyway, I saw a great picture of what the situation here is like.
Trying not to offend anybody, but it basically had a picture of some islam protesters here with the caption "WE'RE GOING TO MOVE TO YOUR COUNTRY AND TELL YOU HOW TO RUN IT"
Which, thanks to our overly insecure and "politically correct" government, is now the case.
Political Correctness is out of control here.
Also, that judge should be sacked. Would nobody higher than him ever look at his record and think "Hmm, this guy doesn't seem fit to make decisions that could change lives..."