Huntley and comeuppance

I agree with Monica. People are sent to prison as punishment not for punishment.

rafichagran

It pains me to say it but on balance I agree with Monica.
When I first heard my reaction was, who cares good. However I thought about it and wanting people hurt, even vile murderers like Huntley, makes me no better than the knitters at the guillotine in the Frech revolution.

Totally agree. Similar thoughts myself when I saw the news but then life imprisonment is surely harsh enough.

MOnica, I share your views on this, as do some others posting

I was surprised by Momac55 telling you to get off your high horse. Those of us who don’t share vindictuve attitudes have as much right to contribute.

Prison staff have tough jobs. Prisons function because inmates generally comply with routines and expectations.

Grandmotherto8

It was reported in the article I read that last year Huntley bought a Manchester United red football shirt with the No 10 printed on it, just like the two beautiful girls he killed. When you think he has sunk to his lowest he does something like that. I never agreed with the short sentence his accomplice received. She has been out of prison for years, has a husband and child, after costing us thousands for cosmetic and dental surgery to change her appearance. Shameful

Hear, hear. I don't see why the tax payer has to foot the bill for her to adopt a secret identity. She wasn't able to stop him murdering those 2 girls but by giving him a false alibi he walked around freely, even joining the search parties when all the time he knew the 2 girls were rotting in a ditch. Vile, cruel man.

ViceVersa

However, M0nica, many of us have also been at pains to stress that we do appreciate the difference between that visceral response to want someone who has committed the most heinous of crimes to suffer in the way their victims did, while at the same time knowing on a more logical, even intellectual level, that we cannot act on those impulses and must allow the rule of law to take it course.

Yes ViceVersa, I think that this is it.
Under these circumstances I would want to punish / even kill these perpetrators myself.
I expect the State to stop/prevent me.
RIP the two Soham girls.

That's it in a nutshell, Labradora. We can be honest and admit that it's a very natural human reaction to want to wreak vengeance on those perpetrators, but at the same time, we know - and as you say expect - the state to prevent us from doing so and for justice to be done through the proper channels.

M0nica I think you are in the minority with those views.

Peaseblossom

M0nica I think you are in the minority with those views.

How depressing. Do you really think most people approve of that level of violence.

MT62 I am in total agreement with you. It must be costing the British taxpayer an absolute fortune keeping all these evil people in prison, like the evil people who killed Lee Rigby. They should have a lethal injection once they have been found guilty, when there is no doubt of their guilt.

Impossible to feel any sympathy for the man. What he did was so horrific.

However, in a civilised society we should expect prisons to be able to protect a prisoner, no matter how evil, from harm.

But I doubt there will be much sadness if he passes which is looking likely

I have read his chance of survival is just 5%, but even if he does pull through I can't imagine he won't be left seriously brain damaged

What he did was so bad I have no words. However I don't believe or condone lynch mob mentality. His life hangs in the balance but it cannot alter what he did or how this families feel.

I agree with Monica. It was a ghastly crime, and whilst I would understand completely if the parents of the girls and their close relatives wished Huntley dead, I don't take any comfort in an attempted revenge killing by another inmate, who is also a total scumbag. Too many incidents of that nature we'll have a country akin to Mexico where so called justice is meted out by psychopaths who are probably no better than their victim.

Peaseblossom

M0nica I think you are in the minority with those views.

I am absolutely horrified by your comment. It means that at heart there is little to choose between each of us and our families and the people who revel in torture in Syrian, Russian prisons, or the drug bandits of Mexico and Columbia.

mrsgreenfingers56

No sympathy for him at all, my thoughts went to the parents of Holly and Jessica again.

Yes, their names brought up again.

Cat A prisons are full of "life without parole" prisoners and it must be difficult to manage if they have not much to lose.

He was transferred to Frankland after a previous attack.

I often think that on many subjects Monica actually speaks for many people.

He murdered 2 little girls, he's a monster and life in prison isn't close to enough punishment for him. And it's irrelevant who else is in that prison because he's the topic not them. He deserves everything he gets, I was glad when he had his throat slashed, when he was beaten up and now he's had his head bashed in... If he dies the world won't have lost anything and tax payers won't be keeping him warm and fed.

I don't celebrate violence and, like Tulip, I don't agree with mob rule. Huntley has been confined to prison and has been attacked before so I suppose he has been living in fear throughout his time there. There has to be some sort of justice but no amount of violence and hatred will bring those poor girls back.

Well said Monica, Tuliptree and others that have argued for the rule of law rather than that of the mob.

I’m sorry you’ve received such nasty responses from some posters in their attempts to appear the most outraged.

No one is on Huntley’s side but he has already received a lawful punishment; two life sentences and very little possibility of ever being released. In a civilised society that has to be enough.

I don't want a man who rapes and murders to be the one who is in charge of those decisions, surely people can see the horror of that.

Tuliptree

Petra - should men convicted of rape be sodomised? Preferably with a broken bottle? Thieves have their hands cut off?

Yes from me

Then who do you think is in charge then? Those men who want to do those terrible acts. How well do you think that will work out for women for example.

I feel for the families of those little girls. Their beautiful faces in the paper again. Their siblings suffers so much as they try to have a normal life. If Huntley could just pass away of natural causes, and true crime programmes go out of fashion, maybe they could move on.

Momac55 - I’m relieved you have no influence or involvement in our CJS.
Prison staff have a huge job in maintaining order and safety for themselves and prisoners. Frankland holds murderers, rapists, terrorists. They do so in as humane way as possible. They have to balance the pressures in their work with going home to families and friends without becoming ‘monsters ‘ themselves, and while protecting their own mental health.

Momac55

Tuliptree

Petra - should men convicted of rape be sodomised? Preferably with a broken bottle? Thieves have their hands cut off?

Yes from me

Disgusting. just because there is a drunk in the gutter you do not have to get in the gutter with them.