Brianna Ghey

Indeed. If we were all judged by appearances……….you ought to see my passport photo 😱

Yes, they just looked like very ordinary teenagers. What does an 'evil misfit' look like, I wonder? It's a pity they don't have horns and forked tails so we can all avoid them, isn't it?

No one looks good in a mug shot. To me they just looked like to normal teenagers.

How awful if we were all to be judged by what we looked like and God help any teenager with acne. Every one of them must be on drugs and a potential murderer.

These two individuals will, like other child murders named here, Mary Bell, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, be on life licence. If the commit offences, they’ll be returned to prison.
Jon Venables has been unable to benefit from the care in the secure unit he was initially placed in. Robert Thompson did well in his secure unit, responded to staff and engaged in therapy and education. He’s in his early 40’s now and it’s reported he’s in a stable relationship, his partner knows his history. His behaviour hasn’t caused concern to those monitoring the terms of his licence.
As Farzanah says, Norway and other Scandi countries have a much more imo sensible, compassionate approach to offenders, especially young offenders. Their re-offending rates are better than ours. The relative success of Robert Thompson is a positive reflection on the Unit he lived in.

the photographs released of the two of them were horrible, they looked like evil misfits, no one would want their child to make friends with them. The girl looked like a drug addict
I do understand that feelings run high but I say thank goodness the staff in the Secure Units won’t approach these two with hatred in their hearts.

I think the same MOnica reading of children as people saddened me, three families have much grief

Callistemon So would you have been happy for your daughter or granddaughter to have met and married him?

Unless there was anything suspect in his behaviour, why not?

I think many people are irrational and allowing, as Anniebach , feelings of revenge rather than justice to govern them.

It seems to me that there is more forgiveness and compassion for adult killers in their right mind who commit 2 or 3 murders than there is for child or mentally ill perpetrators. I find this frightening and rather unpleasant.

So many replies and I think because Culcheth was my home village it hits harder. Really deeply upset me to read of the outcome and the two families that these murderers came from seemed decent and respectable.

Poor Brianna, her mother Esther shown such compassion and dignity towards her daughters killers.

How earth you can move on from something like this I really don't know. I am almost lost for words and can see from replies mixed feelings like myself regarding the naming of the two who committed such a vile crime.

Esther is very much in my thoughts and her other daughter. And of course Brianna's father.

Poor Brianna she went to meet those two evil people. She innocently believed they wanted to befriend her and wanted her company. Nobody can make remarks about how Brianna wanted to live her life it was her choice and she was harming nobody. It makes no difference that the judge named them as it would have come out anyway the same as Jamie Bulgers killers. The photographs released of the two of them were horrible they looked like evil misfits and no-one would want their child to make friends with them. The girl looked like a drug addict. I hope they are securely locked away for a long time and no early release which is what happened with the Bulger killers only for one of them to eventually be returned to prison and I think he still remains there. My thoughts go to Briannas' mother who will never have her child with her again she must be heartbroken and will have to live with what happened for the rest of her life.

With regard to reoffending rates, the reoffending rates are much lower in the Norwegian prison system, which is more humane than ours. There is more emphasis on rehabilitation, and more opportunities and facilities provided for prisoners.

They are still children now. They will be adults when they are released. We can only hope that during those years they truly regret what they have done. They will be separated from each other so that
influence will be gone.
They will be given new identities and a chance to live a good, decent life. They took that option away from Brianna so hopefully will live forever with regret for that appalling act and will never hurt anyone again.

I can see how knowing might protect future victims in the sense that they might run a mile if they knew their new partner had a criminal record for murder. I don't know if I could cope with that, and I know I wouldn't be keen on either of my children unwittingly being with a killer.

I don't understand how naming could help the reoffending rate though. As I said, if someone can't get a job and people avoid them they are going to be less likely to integrate into society.

It’s fact.

You think they should be given new identities then.

That’s branding them

I'm not suggesting otherwise, but what difference would naming them make to the likelihood that they would reoffend

It may or may not, I'm inclined to think it would help to prevent the re-offending rate.

Knowledge could protect potential future victims.
Violent offenders are more likely to re-offend.

Callistemon21

Re-offending rates are between about 33% - 30%.

Parole boards are not infallible in their decision making as has been proven many times.

I'm not suggesting otherwise, but what difference would naming them make to the likelihood that they would reoffend? If anything, it would make it more difficult for them to get a job and any sort of 'normal life', so they would be pushed to the margins.

Again, I'm not looking to make life easier for these two, just to see the logic of what is being said. To me, the reason children are not usually named is because they are children, which these two are. Naming any child criminal when they reach 18 defeats the point of not naming them when they commit the offence. Naming adults could be deemed to be part of the punishment - fair enough, but why not be upfront about that, instead of saying that the punishment is the loss of liberty? I know nobody on here has said that, but that is supposed to be the case, isn't it?

Whether we (as a society) agree that naming adults is a good thing, do we feel that children should be punished for life for something they did when they were legally deemed to be too young to make fully rational decisions, and when their brains are medically undeveloped until 25 or so? We place restrictions on what under 18s are allowed to do because they are immature, so is it reasonable to treat them as adults when they break the law?

Maybe these two will be deemed psychiatrically unfit to be released when the 20 years are up, in which case naming or not naming them won't matter other than to make life even more difficult for their families. I'm not sure that naming them will do anything more than that anyway.

I don't think that the judge was seeking revenge when she named them. The girl already had harmed a child and giving her a second chance led to this tragedy.

You are against releasing what do you think is the right decision?

I won't be answering goady posts.

What then ? Don’t release them unless branded ?

Apologies - typo.
23% - 30%.

Re-offending rates are between about 33% - 30%.

Parole boards are not infallible in their decision making as has been proven many times.

and wouldn't get past the parole panel unless they behaved differently.

I have to disagree.

Anniebach

So everyone found guilty must be locked up for life?

How did you extrapolate from the question I asked?

As for your next post, it beggars belief.

Do you think so Anniebach? I haven’t seen that.
What do you think should be the punishment for depriving someone of the chance to live their life freely, especially when you add in the deliberate planning and enjoyment of these two, or by Brady and Hindley?
Seems to me that depriving the culprits of the chance to live their lives freely is an appropriate punishment.
I wouldn’t like to be on the parole board that releases them. It might have been my grandchildren who were on their list, or who met up and married them on their release. Would you trust them with your great grandchildren?