Tia Sharpe Case... Stuart Hazell Has Pleaded Guilty

[knowabit]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22510649

[Gromit]

Should have done it earlier. Wonder if the change of plea will influence his sentence?

[rockyracoon]

I hope not Gromit, I think it's too late for that.

[Kevink]

The earlier discussion about Scunthorpe springs to mind.

[FredPuli43]

At this stage, a change of plea won't change the sentence. He's already put the family through the ordeal of part of a trial. Counsel sometimes run a trial to see whether the witnesses come up to proof and then have a plea of guilty entered when that happens, or run it to establish mitigation which would not otherwise be apparent, but the second is very rare and neither applies to this case.

[LazyGun]

I am being a bit naive here I think - but had he owned up when arrested,does that mean that there would have been no trial, thus sparing the family the distress?

[ummmm]

How incredibly cruel.

[ChillDoubt]

You do often wonder why so many in his situation maintain a charade in the face of overwhelming forensic and documentary evidence.

I was hoping that Mark Bridger may have done the same and thus spared April Jones family the ordeal too. I mean, how do you 'forget' disposing of a body, let alone that of a small child?

[ummmm]

Wasn't he claiming that he didn't mean to kill her but was 'probably' responsible for her death?

[Bbbananas]

That was the guy in Wales wasn't it, with April,whose body never has been found.

[FredPuli43]

Not necessarily when arrested. LG, because sometimes defendants have admitted everything then but still fight the case at trial. But if he pleads guilty at the earliest opportunity when the indictment is put to him in the crown court, that will always count in his favour. It does help more if he confessed everything on arrest or when interviewed, rather than saying nothing or denying it, of course.

[LazyGun]

I am really unclear about the law here - naive, I know - but had he owned up and confessed his guilt, or had that Mark Bridger done the same, would there have then been no trial, thus sparing the families the ordeal of having to go through a court case?

[LazyGun]

Ahh ok Fred, thanks for the clarification...

[FredPuli43]

And, LG, the best answer on arrest I ever came across was "All right guv, it's a fair cop, I did it all and the Lancashire job. Don't bring the old woman into this. This means going away". Guess where that old villain was from !

And the best denial ? "Leave it out , Charlie [meaning the Detective Inspector; good criminals are on first name terms with senior detectives}, kiting's not my game. If I'd tried that I'd have been well sussed" This denial had to be omitted as given because a) it needed translating for the jury [kiting is cheque fraud] and well sussed would not be understood by all and b) knowing the officer and using underworld slang suggested, correctly, that the defendant had a lot of previous convictions and was well at it.