Judge Says That Victim Statements Make No Difference And Is Overheard On Video Link

[black_cat51]

ooops, that's a bad day at the office. Think sending the worng email to the wrong person x 1000

[wolf63]

I will say thiz nicely (unlike some of my ABers) ~ do you have a link? Please.

[black_cat51]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28644799

[Brancaster]

Typical arrogance of the out-of-touch judiciary. If only they lived in the real world, or perhaps had one of their relatives murdered.

[Prudie]

Completely on the contrary Brancaster, the judge was admitting the futility of one part of their own system. He seemed to be very in touch to me.

[jno]

well, if the main factor in parole judgments is risk of further offending, I don't suppose victims or their families can offer much on the subject. I don't know why they're asked to comment in the first place - but then, that's what the judge was saying too.

[Brancaster]

Judge White is clearly backtracking and seeking to avoid public condemnation for being caught out. He reflects what I fear about all these dwellers in ivory towers and their perception that they have no idea about the feelings of the people who pay them.

[jno]

but he does have feelings about them. He said how sorry he was for them.

[ludwig]

It sounds like he was just being honest.

If these statements are simply a pointless piece of window dressing to give victims the false impression the system cares about them and their views, there's no point in putting people through the pain of doing them.
They're having to relive the crime all over again.

That's the point the family are making and I agree with them.

// The couple have not criticised the judge, and have said they appreciated his honesty.//

No doubt swift action will be taken to prevent further embarrassing leakages of the truth in future.

[Peter Pedant]

The bereaved parents come out of this with dignity

My heart went out to the mother who said that she had to relive the vents and it was hard to learn that it did nothing at all.

I was surprised to hear a judge saying / admitting that ther was part of the parole procedure that everyone ignored.....
so why have it ?

[ that was his point by the way ]

[sandyRoe]

Is a parole hearing about assessing the suitability of a criminal for release? If that's what it is then the victim, of their family in a murder case, should have no part in it.

[hc4361]

The legal process is nothing to do with the victim, callous as that sounds. It is not about getting justice for the victim and certainly nothing to do with fairness.

The defendant is in the dock because he is suspected of committing a crime, or has admitted to committing a crime and for that he must be punished. Criminal cases are always R v Defendant, not Victim v Defendant. The defendant has broken the law of the land, he has committed a crime against the State and he will be punished even if the victim does not want to press charges in some cases. Equally a case may never come to court no matter what the victim wants because the Crown says so, usually it is the CPS who make that decision.

So the victim doesn't matter. The defendant will be sentenced in accordance with sentencing guidelines taking in to account the DEFENDANT'S state of mind and any mitigating circumstances.

This leaves the victim, or the victim's family in the case of murder, feeling somewhat apart from the proceedings and ignored. To appease them it was decided that victims could make impact statements to give them a voice in the court. Does it make a difference? Not to the outcome of the legal proceedings but maybe it does help the victim to have his say and maybe it does help the defendant realise the enormity of his crime.