Philpott Sentence

I suppose it was the maximum possible sentence - but most people will be hoping it really means he will never be out.

These minimums are ridiculous - is this guy ever going to be safe? He just needs locking up! He has already served a previous term for violence. He is a serious danger; his thoughts are derranged.

I think he would have to be adjudged to be safe to be freed at the end of the minimum term - if he survives. Give the attacks on other foul murderers it may not be likely. I don't approve of violence, but I could make an exception in his case.

There have been numerous occasions where a person has been freed after serving the minimum sentence who has gone on to reoffend. One would hope that when his minimum term is finished the people on the board deciding whether he is to be freed take into account the vileness of his crime and his violent past and not just whether he appears to be contrite.

Why has she got 2 years more than him?

Her 17 years isn't a minimum term. She'll probably be out in 6 or 7 with good behaviour.

He's got life with a minimum tariff that he'll have to complete - her's is a fixed sentence that she'll do half of before she is considered for parole. Theoretically, she'll serve less time in prison, if she is of good behaviour.

I wondered that movedalot.

Life should be just that for the lot of 'em.

Yes j08 I don't understand why prisoners are given a sentence which they generally only serve about half of. Seems daft to me! Why not give them a sentence which can be extended under whatever circumstances are opposite to the ones which let them out early?

Lets hope all the old lags give him the treatment he deserves. That man is despicable and the sentence is pathetic when you consider not just what he did, but how he behaved afterwards. And the taxpayer has paid not just for his living but for his trial and conviction - it can't be right. Justice? Nothing could atone for his behaviour.

I totally agree specki4eyes.

He will have to be kept in solitary confinement, who would share a cell with THAT and not want to throttle him.

I can't agree that he should be subjected to violence, even if it is what he understands, although I do have to admit that my first thought yesterday was to give him a 2 week sentence then let him out and publish his address! I got over that though.

At present, our justice system sentences are constructed in a way that allows for remorse, rehabilitation and evidence of consistent good behaviour. Partly to motivate prisoners to make progress and partly because our prisons are crammed full and we occasionally need to find ways to reduce numbers. Long term prisoners do not necessarily benefit from this, but the incentive to spend less time in prison at the end of their sentence applies across the board. Some prisoners will never earn such privileges, but many are rehabilitated and able to demonstrate their remaining sentence can be served in the community after they complete the required length. Serious offenders will usually go from prison to probation hostels, where they participate in a structured regime of further rehabilitation and education, as well as finding work.

Thanks when. Do you have any figures on what percentage leave half way through their sentence and how many stay for the full term? It feels as if most serve less than half so it would be good to know the facts.

speckie

I disagree very strongly with any condoning of other prisoners exacting what they would consider to be retribution.

It is completely illogical even given the violence Philpott has perpetrated to not prevent others exacting more violence in return.

That is "choosing" that one sort of violence is permissable and other types are not. Mr Philpott would probably have argued that his abused partners "deserved it!"

Agree Nellie.Not a good moral code.

Can't find any good moral feeling in me whatsoever for these people. I hope they get what they deserve.

If that makes me a bad person, so be it.

Nelliemoser how can burning six children to death, or at the very least causing them to be smoke asphixiated, be compared with any kind of violence these people might encounter in prison?

"'twere better for them that a stone be hung round their neck and they be cast into the sea........."

Oh, dear - I thought it was obvious that I don't really condone violence in any shape or form! Should have remembered the emoticon.

I am not saying don't lock the evil B*** up and throw away the key. I think he should have life with no chance of being let out. Particularly as he has previously been inside for violence.

Violence is violence though. I do not see how one sort can be condoned and another not, given that half the other prisoners are probably inside for similar crimes of violence but did not happen to kill six people in one go.

I do not see that anything else makes sense. The idea of being beaten up in prison will not deter anyone else, as I suspect it does not even occur to the likes of this sort of persitantly violent person to even consider that he might be caught. Even if he did stop to think that it might be wrong.

Some violent people are incapable of thinking first and will never change or be safely released.

He may well be admired in prison for his ability to live off two very stupid women and to get the system to support his lifestyle. His history of violence will be a plus to other inmates. He is a class act when it comes to manipulation. Whether the fact that six children died will unbalance the scales of justice on the inside I don't know. I pity the warders if he kills himself in prison. Hope they don't send him up here.

I don't share this pessimistic view of most prisoners - I believe most are in for non-violent crime and they do hate child murderers and rapists.

I would have thought the prison Philpott will be sent to won't be housing many non-violent criminals.