Seems dodgy to me. Consider the scenario where someone is erroneously convicted of murder. They have no way to tell anyone where the body is and gets accused of hiding it, and continually incarcerated. This petition seems to fall at the first hurdle.
The OP tells us nothing except it's 'change.org' who last time I signed something of theirs bombarded me with rubbish emails for months afterwards, so, no.
If it were to become law, would the sentence not be concurrent with the sentence for murder so there would be no effect. Also, legislation is rarely retrospective and I do not believe he could be charged with an offence which was not illegal at the time it was carried out.
Baldric - it is indeed Change and they have indeed bombarded me too
Thank you for those that voted - I get them all the time but this one struck a cord
Imagine someone who has buried a troublesome spouse or parent in the back garden.
That applies as well innit ?
what about the other Helen- Helen Smith who was killed in Saudi and her father refused to bury the body but kept it in a freezer for ten years as he fought for justice ? Arnotts involved that case
I thought it was this Helen - he was prosecuted for failing to bury a body but I think was acquitted on a technicality I think
and what about that rich drug addict who kept his drug addicted wife in bed for three months - she was dead - because he was so out of it he didnt notice ....
and anyway there are laws enough already for those who fail to foillow the rules we all have to obey in the event of someone's death
yipping things like - failing to dispose of a body and obstructing a coroner in his duties
There's absolutely no chance whatsoever of me signing that. The absolute MAXIMUM sentence for ANY offence should be no more than two year's imprisonment.
I'm sorry I'm with Baldric. I signed one that another ABer put up once and I too was bombarded with e-mails from change.org ever after so I won't sign either.
What's to stop a murderer saying a body was dumped at sea? The body would never be found. What if he said it was buried in the Highlands somewhere, it was foggy when he did it and it was that long ago he can't mind on where it was? The proposal that a refusal to disclose the location of a body deserves the same sentence as that for murder is ridiculous and the plan is full of holes anyway. It will never get off the ground.
I agree with OG. Innocent people end up spending longer in jail than guilty because they won't confess or show remorse for something they didn't do. That can't be right.
Well-intentioned but flawed. As Corbyloon posted, the crim just states a place either impossible to access or accurately define. Anyone bad enough to murder wouldn't hesitate to lie like this to reduce their sentence.