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The Magistrate's Blog (2005-2012)

This blog has migrated to www.magistratesblog.blogspot.co.uk This blog is anonymous, and Bystander's views are his and his alone. Where his views differ from the letter of the law, he will enforce the letter of the law because that is what he has sworn to do. If you think that you can identify a particular case from one of the posts you are wrong. Enough facts are changed to preserve the truth of the tale but to disguise its exact source.

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Location: Near London, United Kingdom

The blog is written by a retired JP, with over 30 years' experience on the Bench.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

One Law For The Rich?

This report is a classic tabloid piece, conforming to the 'how dare they?' school of journalism.
The story speaks for itself.
Is it so awful that when imposing a community penalty the bench should strive to avoid putting the defendant out of a job?
It comes as a surprise and a relief when we discover that the wretch before us has a job, and since a job plays such a huge part in preventing reoffending we bend over backwards to ensure that our sentence should not interfere with it.
So on your bike, Mail journo - the bloke's employer may be a toff, but isn't it worth cutting the guy a bit of slack to keep him working, paying tax, and doing his community punishment?
There are worse things than being the butler to a Countess, after all. He could be a Daily Mail hack, and how much respect would that earn him?

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