A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for "doing his duty".
Story here
Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.
The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year's imprisonment for handing in the weapon.
Prosecuting, Brian Stalk, explained to the jury that possession of a firearm was a "strict liability" charge – therefore Mr Clarke's allegedly honest intent was irrelevant.
Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added.
But despite this, Mr Blackman urged members of the jury to consider how they would respond if they found a gun.
He said: "This is a very small case with a very big principle.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Social workers said because I was a soldier, I was more likely to be violent to my own children
Sitting in his mother-in-law's living room, Matthew Dean's eyes widened in shock as he listened to what his social worker was telling him.
Because he was a man and a soldier - accustomed to fighting for Britain in war-torn countries - he was, they said, more likely to be of a violent disposition, and therefore more capable of abusing his baby son, Louie.
'I was furious,' says Matthew. 'To be told that my occupation and gender should have any bearing on my parenting skills and sense of decency was absolutely beyond belief.'
Story here
It was only the latest in a string of traumas social services had subjected Matthew and his wife Katie to since decreeing they were a danger to Louie - and taking him away from them.
Perhaps the most poignant repercussion was the three-month pregnancy Katie later felt forced to terminate - having been told that she would have to hand that child over to social services too.
Carrying Louie proved traumatic. As an insulin-dependent diabetic, Katie found being pregnant depleted her blood sugar levels and she would often collapse from exhaustion. 'It was far more difficult than my two other pregnancies,' she says.
Louie was born five weeks premature by Caesarean section in August 2007 in a nearby civilian hospital. After two weeks in intensive care he was discharged.
'After such a horrendous start he seemed healthy,' says Matt, 34.
Yet at a routine check-up ten weeks later, their paediatrician expressed concern that his head was larger than that of an average baby.
A scan showed he had blood on his brain that needed to be removed by drilling into his skull.
Their case was transferred from Ministry of Defence welfare officers to Hampshire social services who decreed that Katie's mother and father would be Louie's foster parents.
'It felt like we were being interrogated too,' says Christine. 'We had to say where we were schooled from the age of five and even whether our relationship was physical.'
'They told me that because I had an unconventional upbringing I was more likely to abuse my children. I was equally as shocked when they said my job would make me more prone to violence.'
Worse still, at regular meetings at their house and Katie's mother's house, the social workers tried to cause trouble between the couple themselves.
'They said I didn't have to cover for Matt,' says Katie. 'They bullied me more because I seemed more vulnerable.
'They were definitely trying to split us up. They asked us how this had affected our physical relationship. They even said Louie could end up dead if they let him come back and live with us.
'Yet we co-operated throughout and they admitted they couldn't find anything negative about our family life.'
Because he was a man and a soldier - accustomed to fighting for Britain in war-torn countries - he was, they said, more likely to be of a violent disposition, and therefore more capable of abusing his baby son, Louie.
'I was furious,' says Matthew. 'To be told that my occupation and gender should have any bearing on my parenting skills and sense of decency was absolutely beyond belief.'
Story here
It was only the latest in a string of traumas social services had subjected Matthew and his wife Katie to since decreeing they were a danger to Louie - and taking him away from them.
Perhaps the most poignant repercussion was the three-month pregnancy Katie later felt forced to terminate - having been told that she would have to hand that child over to social services too.
Carrying Louie proved traumatic. As an insulin-dependent diabetic, Katie found being pregnant depleted her blood sugar levels and she would often collapse from exhaustion. 'It was far more difficult than my two other pregnancies,' she says.
Louie was born five weeks premature by Caesarean section in August 2007 in a nearby civilian hospital. After two weeks in intensive care he was discharged.
'After such a horrendous start he seemed healthy,' says Matt, 34.
Yet at a routine check-up ten weeks later, their paediatrician expressed concern that his head was larger than that of an average baby.
A scan showed he had blood on his brain that needed to be removed by drilling into his skull.
Their case was transferred from Ministry of Defence welfare officers to Hampshire social services who decreed that Katie's mother and father would be Louie's foster parents.
'It felt like we were being interrogated too,' says Christine. 'We had to say where we were schooled from the age of five and even whether our relationship was physical.'
'They told me that because I had an unconventional upbringing I was more likely to abuse my children. I was equally as shocked when they said my job would make me more prone to violence.'
Worse still, at regular meetings at their house and Katie's mother's house, the social workers tried to cause trouble between the couple themselves.
'They said I didn't have to cover for Matt,' says Katie. 'They bullied me more because I seemed more vulnerable.
'They were definitely trying to split us up. They asked us how this had affected our physical relationship. They even said Louie could end up dead if they let him come back and live with us.
'Yet we co-operated throughout and they admitted they couldn't find anything negative about our family life.'
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Czech female Fritzl gets lenient sentence
Cannibal cult mother who skinned son and made him eat his own flesh gets 9 years in jail
A cannibal cult mother who tortured her son in a locked cellar while relatives skinned him and forced him to eat his own flesh has been jailed for nine years.
Klara Mauerova, 31 - a member of a sinister religious cult and her sister Katerina led the sickening torture of her eight-year-old son Ondrej and his ten year-old brother Jakub.
A court in Brno in Czech Republic heard how relatives partially skinned Ondrej and forced him to eat his own flesh.
The judge also jailed Katerina, 35, for ten years for her role in the sickening abuse.
The two boys had told judges how their mother and relatives had stubbed cigarettes out on their bare skin, whipped them with belts, and tried to drown them. They were also sexually abused and forced to cut themselves with knives.
The terrified youngsters said they were kept in cages or handcuffed to tables and made to stand in their own urine for days.
The sick abuse was discovered when a neighbour installed a TV baby monitor to keep watch on his new daughter.
But it picked up the signal from an identical monitor next door showing one of the victims beaten, naked and chained in a cellar.
Mauerova had installed it so she could gloat over her victims' suffering from the comfort of her kitchen.
A cannibal cult mother who tortured her son in a locked cellar while relatives skinned him and forced him to eat his own flesh has been jailed for nine years.
Klara Mauerova, 31 - a member of a sinister religious cult and her sister Katerina led the sickening torture of her eight-year-old son Ondrej and his ten year-old brother Jakub.
A court in Brno in Czech Republic heard how relatives partially skinned Ondrej and forced him to eat his own flesh.
The judge also jailed Katerina, 35, for ten years for her role in the sickening abuse.
The two boys had told judges how their mother and relatives had stubbed cigarettes out on their bare skin, whipped them with belts, and tried to drown them. They were also sexually abused and forced to cut themselves with knives.
The terrified youngsters said they were kept in cages or handcuffed to tables and made to stand in their own urine for days.
The sick abuse was discovered when a neighbour installed a TV baby monitor to keep watch on his new daughter.
But it picked up the signal from an identical monitor next door showing one of the victims beaten, naked and chained in a cellar.
Mauerova had installed it so she could gloat over her victims' suffering from the comfort of her kitchen.
Friday, 3 October 2008
Disgraceful Behaviour By Child Doctors
An Ontario man who spent 12 years in jail after being wrongly convicted for the rape and murder of his four-year-old niece launched a lawsuit against six doctors Thursday, including a forensic pathologist excoriated this week by a judicial inquiry.
“To avoid professional embarrassment, for the next 15 years, they did not revise or qualify their initial opinions even though they knew or ought to have known that their opinions were scientifically flawed.”
An Ontario man who spent 12 years in jail after being wrongly convicted for the rape and murder of his four-year-old niece launched a lawsuit against six doctors Thursday, including a forensic pathologist excoriated this week by a judicial inquiry.
“To avoid professional embarrassment, for the next 15 years, they did not revise or qualify their initial opinions even though they knew or ought to have known that their opinions were scientifically flawed.”
Saturday, 20 September 2008
Troy Anthony Davis
America To Execute Innocent Man?
On Monday, March 17, 2008, the Georgia Supreme Court decided 4-3 to deny a new trial for Troy Anthony Davis, despite significant concerns regarding his innocence.
If there is even a possibility that this man is innocent, then what words can one use to describe the American system of justice?
On Monday, March 17, 2008, the Georgia Supreme Court decided 4-3 to deny a new trial for Troy Anthony Davis, despite significant concerns regarding his innocence.
If there is even a possibility that this man is innocent, then what words can one use to describe the American system of justice?
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
Parents Treated Appallingly Following Bogus Therapist Accusation
The couple, who had no criminal history, suddenly faced decades in prison. He was charged with repeatedly raping their 15-year-old, severely autistic daughter, and she was charged with child abuse for failure to stop it.
Julian Wendrow, who spent 80 days in jail without bond before prosecutors dropped the case, is furious.
The couple, who had no criminal history, suddenly faced decades in prison. He was charged with repeatedly raping their 15-year-old, severely autistic daughter, and she was charged with child abuse for failure to stop it.
Julian Wendrow, who spent 80 days in jail without bond before prosecutors dropped the case, is furious.
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)