Only in the UK!

[Gob]

A young thief who whinged that he could not go to prison because he is a ‘fussy eater’ today had his sentence slashed by appeal judges.


Unemployed dad-of-one Patrick Fairley, 20, burst into tears when told he might be jailed, saying it was impossible because he would not like the food.

But Fairley, from North Shields, was locked up for six months at Newcastle Crown Court in March after pleading guilty to theft. Today, he appealed and had the sentence cut to 16 weeks by top judges, Lord Justice Davis, Mr Justice Treacy and Judge Peter Collier QC. His barrister, Nicholas Peacock, told the Court of Appeal that ‘incredibly naive’ Fairley had immediately become very upset when told he might go down.

‘When I spoke to Mr Fairley and informed him of the possibility of a custodial sentence, he burst into tears and told me he could not possibly go to prison, because he is a fussy eater,’ he said. Fairley was up before the crown court with pal, Aaron Cervantes, after a 37-year-old woman was robbed of her handbag as she crossed a pedestrian bridge in the Tennyson Terrace area of North Shields last October.

He admitted theft on the basis he had agreed with his friend to identify a potential victim and direct Cervantes to an area where he could steal from her.

The Crown accepted that Fairley did not anticipate that force or the threat of force might be used by Cervantes in snatching the woman’s bag. Cervantes got a year for robbery. Mr Peacock argued that the six-month sentence was too tough. Allowing the appeal, Mr Justice Treacy said: ‘We have come to the conclusion that the nature of this crime, albeit lacking from the appellant’s perspective the use of force required for robbery, was of such a nature as to justify an immediate sentence of custody.

‘However, a sentence of six months’ custody implies in this case a term of nine months after a trial.

‘We have come to the conclusion that this is too long and that, with full credit for a plea, a sentence for this young man of 16 weeks is the appropriate term.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1tl6JwxJU

[Scooter]

So in spite of the lead, the fact that he was a fussy eater played absolutely no role in the sentence reduction.

[Gob]

Was it taken into consideration? We don't know....

[Scooter]

Allowing the appeal, Mr Justice Treacy said: ‘We have come to the conclusion that the nature of this crime, albeit lacking from the appellant’s perspective the use of force required for robbery, was of such a nature as to justify an immediate sentence of custody.

Sounds pretty clear that the nature of the crime was what was taken into account in deciding the sentence on appeal. Unless the argument is that he should not have had his sentence reduced because he whined about the prospect of eating prison food...