Tuesday 21 February 2012

Justice - What Justice?


Let's imagine one of your neighbours or acquaintances was a world renowned expert in the oil industry and was one of the few businessmen in the world who has the experience and knowledge to move oil rigs.

I would assume he was a clever man who had a hectic but interesting life.  He would very possibly be respected by those connected with the oil industry and anyone of his acquaintance.

Liam Gibson is a man who fits the above description and I must state that until last night I'd never heard of him. Neither did I know that there were so few people in the oil industry with the knowledge associated with moving rigs. He is a former Merchant Navy sailor who owns Gibson Marine and by all accounts possibly had a seemingly contented family life in his Pathhead home.

Laim Gibson is 56 and has just avoided a prison sentence. Shame on the Scottish justice system. He should have been locked up for a lengthy period.

Why?  Because he pleaded guilty to downloading 49,809 indecent images onto his computer. The images were of children and some seized by the police were at level 5 - the category deemed by authorities to be most serious.

Last Friday he was sentenced to three years' probation and 150 hours' community service at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.  The Sheriff passed the sentence after hearing how Gibson provided full co-operation to detectives who are trying to bring online paedophiles to justice and the other reason for the lenient sentence was that he'd pleaded guilty from his first court appearance.

In other words he 'held his hands up' and decided being 'helpful' would go in his favour - and it did.

Three years' probation for a paedophile who had nearly 50,000 indecent images of children in his possession while a woman, who had her father's WW2 gun in her home (no ammunition was found), had to spend 6 weeks in prison before her sentence was quashed, had to carry out 240 hours community service instead.

As I've grown older I've become more and more cynical about the justice system both here and in England. The judiciaries' rulings seem to lack any punishment value. Fines are imposed on whose they know are financially unable to pay and allowing Gibson to freely walk the streets, on the condition that should he access internet child pornography again he would be imprisoned, shows how out of touch the system is with public opinion.

I despair at the lack of common sense within  those who hold positions of authority at times. This is one of those times.

source

34 comments:

Unknown said...

When you look at the recent jailing of Robert Green for 1 year http://is.gd/dLI9kO for handing out leaflets in Aberdeen highlighting the failure of the police and judiciary to protect Hollie Greig and the failures of Angiolini when she was Aberdeen Procurator Fiscal this a perfect example of the double standards of or Scottish “Justice”

Oldrightie said...

When the establishment successfully buried the scandals and players in the Dunblane massacre, followed by the destruction of operation Ore, you quickly realise how much our upper echelon of movers and shakers are paedophiles.
I suspect their inadequate inability to cope with adult sexual relationships drives their working and career lives more earnestly than those of us desiring of sharing our time on earth with adult, loving and equal relationships.

Nevertheless, this grotesque behaviour, horrendous suffering caused and vile nastiness it engenders in these inadequates remains a sickening stain on all of us.

Subrosa, you are aware I lost a daughter to such a depraved individual for whom control of those weaker than he is his life. So clever, cunning and smart as to make my ability to get justice impossible.

What hope when such dark creatures run the circus of horrors?

WitteringsfromWitney said...

What Peter Adams said!

JRB said...

The theory of justice is fine and noble. It should be a system that protects society from those who would step outside the limits of what that society deems acceptable.

However, those whose duty it is to apply that justice often fall short of what society would expect of them. They would place themselves ‘above’ society believing that for some inexplicable reason, that they know better than society.

This is just one case, of so very many, which clearly displays that ‘the law is an ass’.

Edward Spalton said...

If my memory serves me, it is not that long ago that Patricia Hewitt and Harriet Harman, working for the National Council for Civil Liberties, were campaigning for the "rights" of paedophiles to have consensual sexual relationships with children. There was an organisation called PIE (Paedophile Information Exchange) involved too.
Do I remember aright?

It is also part of the programme of campaigning homosexual groups today to get the age of consent lowered. They are active in schools now doing something called "Queering the curriculum" with official blessing.

P

English Pensioner said...

I just wonder what someone does with 50,000 images (and how much police time has been taken to viewing them all). My calculations suggest that if one spent just a minute looking at each, it would take over a month's continuous viewing to look at them all.
I'm probably getting too old, but I simply can't imagine that number of different indecent images, unless it was a video and they were counting the frames.

Brian said...

A journalist asked a peer why the decriminalisation of homosexuality had been passed by the House of Lords twenty-five years before badger-baiting was made a crime. "Simple, there's no badgers in Parliament."

That pervert's knowledge of moving oilrigs is probably useful for erecting offshore wind turbines. In the eyes of the establishment that is more important than the protection of other people's children.

subrosa said...

Indeed, that case does highlight strange behaviour from the judiciary Peter.

May I say, in this case it's the Scottish justice system in question, but similar cases happen throughout the western world's various systems.

The 'untouchables' are everywhere.

subrosa said...

Yes OR I am aware and can't express my sympathy for you both.

We have little hope when there are such sentences handed down to sickening criminals.

subrosa said...

Indeed WfW.

subrosa said...

The law is an ass JRB and nobody seems to be interested in doing anything about it. The powers that be seem to be more interested in protecting themselves than giving a genuine public service.

subrosa said...

Edward, I have no doubt whatsoever that your memory serves you well.

subrosa said...

EP, there are people who get their perverted kicks from such images. 50,000, in this day and age of technology, could easily be grouped for viewing purposes. It's not as if these individuals are flipping through a pile of photos in a show box.

subrosa said...

The article said he'd lost his career Brian, but I'm afraid I don't believe that. It's possible he resurrects it by some means or another.

Elby the Beserk said...

Unless you are found guilty of actual child sex abuse, you will not get done, however much and however hard, child porn you have on your hard drive.

A lad of my acquaintance, a bit of a scally, often in trouble with the law, came across a laptop owned by a top drug dealer in Cardiff. Stuffed to the gills with child porn. Because said scally, despite his past, is in fact a really good lad with a real sense of right and wrong, and despite his total lack of faith in the system, he handed in the laptop.

The bloke got off. As above. Said scally beside himself with rage, more or less planning to head off to Cardiff and do the bastard in himself.

One thing it did prove to him. As he had always believed, the system is fucked. Excuse my language, but there it is. Scally won't bother to do the right thing next time. He'll clean the laptop up and sell it on.

Elby the Beserk said...

Edward S.

Correct. Further reason to expel the Left into the outer darkness for ever. I gather this approach is gaining some foothold on the Continong - i.e. that sexual activity between adults and children is in fact OK.

What can one say? We live in dark times.

Crinkly & Ragged Arsed Philosophers said...

You live and learn and sometimes in cases such as these, you wish you didn't.

pa_broon74 said...

Pretty disgusting stuff and yes, the law is an arse in many instances. Its a bone of contention I have with the SNP, they do like a tabloid-driven law and tend to fall over themselves to get it on the books.

I would just say one thing though, conflating homosexual age of consent and 'queering the curriculum' is not correct.

The age of consent is now the same, whats going on in the curriculum is an acknowledgement (finally) that you're born with your gender preference preprogrammed, its now science fact. You'd probably have to be homosexual to understand this but growing up where all the sexual social cues and preferences seem wrong causes huge problems. Not to mention the bullying that goes on if you're a wee bit different.

As far as I know, no straight child or young adult has killed themselves due to 'queering the curriculum', where-as dozens of young lifes might be saved if homosexuality was somewhat normalised or atleast better understood amongst young people.

(Not wishing to hijack this blog posting, apologies but its about the only thing I feel strongly about or take seriously.)

Brian said...

Here's another sentence apparently bereft of reason:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2104287/Child-rapists-jailed-just-40-months--judge-said-11-year-old-victim-willing.html

And Clarkey and the Do-Gooders want to cut the length of time before convictions are spent:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/02/kenneth-clarke-wipe-slate-clean-exoffenders

Apparently, ex-convicts find it difficult to find jobs and need help. So do people who've not broken the law, but they can be safely ignored as they won't cause trouble.

opit said...

I'll just mention that it is my understanding that if I do not keep a list and identification of each and every lass in a state of posed indecorum proving they are adults at the time of posing...nothing to do with sexual acts at all...then I may be charged with keeping pornography.

In Australia there are stories of teen lovers receiving nude shots by cellphone which may be seen by friends - which is likely deliberate - and may then be charged as adults re: laws 'protecting minors.'

Snuff films are one thing. The law is so overbroad as to be ludicrous.

Unknown said...

As a follow up to my earlier post on Robert Green this is the latest update. Have a look at the Judge's comments when he refused Rob the chance to say anything before being imprisoned.
http://holliedemandsjustice.org/content/contact-with-robert-21feb/

Sheila said...

According to Scottish law reporter there is a lot more to this...

http://scottishlaw.blogspot.com/2012/02/scots-child-porn-oil-executive-turned.html

"it was claimed some of the evidence gathered in the investigation into his online file sharing activities has revealed a string of contacts including members of the legal profession, possibly a judge or two, and other paedophiles inside the UK and abroad who have yet to be arrested for their crimes."

Too many familiar themes with other recent cases for my liking. Doubt the truth (whatever it is) will be allowed to surface.

We'll know this case and others are "big" if they slap a 100 year ban on the information Dunblane style

subrosa said...

Elby, Edward has been digging out information so I'll do a wee post with the links when I've time.

subrosa said...

This type of behaviour has gone on for centuries Crinkly, although obviously the coming of the WWW has made it more available. Should we be grateful more are being found or not?

subrosa said...

You're not hijacking anything pa_broon. However I don't agree everyone is born with their gender preprogrammed. I know people who have changed to same sex partners not just for sexual reasons, but as you say it's a complex matter.

subrosa said...

Saw that earlier Brian and thought the same as you. Where will it end?

Don't get me started about ex-offenders help.

subrosa said...

I'm not sure where the law stands on that opit. It would appear the 'guidelines' are suitably broad enough to cover anything it wishes to.

subrosa said...

Thank you Peter.

subrosa said...

Sheila, that link didn't appear when I did a search about it. However, like you I find the whole thing sordid and it doesn't show any real punishment which is the loss of normal freedoms.

Then again, prisoners are so well looked after in some jails, I wonder if loss of normal freedoms matter.

Captain Ranty said...

I know many of you feel that 1 year for handing out leaflets is an absolute disgrace so I thought you might want to see how Robert is faring in Craiginches prison in Aberdeen:

http://holliedemandsjustice.org/content/contact-with-robert-21feb/

CR.

pa_broon74 said...

SR.

Just a quick point of order (so to speak.) I said gender 'preference' is preprogrammed.

The preference may be for either.

Elby the Beserk said...

Subrosa

Thanks, will keep checking in for further on this matter.

subrosa said...

Thanks for the link Ranty. I read it yesterday but perhaps other readers weren't aware of it.

It really is a disgrace.

subrosa said...

Point of order accepted pa_broon.:)

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