I'm taking odds

[Gob]

A Somali benefits cheat has been spared jail because the judge sentencing him said the cost of locking him up for a year would be the same as the amount he swindled.

Karmal Mustafa dishonestly claimed £38,856.50 of income support, council tax and housing benefit while working over a seven-year period to support two families.

He told investigators the money he was sending overseas helped support his sick father - but then told his barrister his father and mother had both been killed in front of his eyes in Somalia 14 years ago.

But despite this discrepancy Judge Carol Hagen told Bristol Crown Court that he would not go to prison.

'£39,000 is what it costs to keep one man in prison for a year. Do I wish to burden the state further with another £38,000 to £40,000, much as I think it is deserved?' she said.

Instead the judge handed Mustafa a 24-week suspended sentence, ordered him to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and pay £250 costs.

The court heard 29-year-old Mustafa was using his dual income to support two families - one in his native Somalia and one in Bristol.

Simon Emslie, prosecuting, said Mustafa fraudulently obtained £25,676.20 in income support between 2004 and last year.

He said that over the same time, Mustafa pocketed £10,297.49 in housing benefit and £2.882.81 in council tax benefit.

[dales]

It boggles the mind.

[MajGenl.Meade]

He should have cheated them out of a million pounds.

Then he'd be let off a life sentence.

Meade

[Gob]

[rubato]

A Somali benefits cheat has been spared jail because the judge sentencing him said the cost of locking him up for a year would be the same as the amount he swindled.

Karmal Mustafa dishonestly claimed £38,856.50 of income support, council tax and housing benefit while working over a seven-year period to support two families.

How much is a good kidney worth these days? You could lock him up and put him on a nice healthy diet with a little refreshing exercise for a few weeks and then auction off one of his kidneys to the highest bidder. Be a win-win.


yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

I have to say I agree with rubato.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Only one thing left to do then

[Gob]

Here we go again....

A young farmer who saved his mother from being run over by intruders fears he could be prosecuted for attempted murder.


Bill Edwards, 21, fired his shotgun at a van laden with stolen metal cable after catching thieves red-handed on his family’s property. The former public schoolboy said he acted in desperation as they sped towards his mother, Louisa Smith, 50, who was dialling 999.

But when police finally intercepted two suspects after a high-speed chase Mr Edwards was arrested and told he could be charged with attempted murder. The dramatic confrontation will reignite the controversy over how far householders can go to protect their families and property from criminals.

The latest case took place when Mr Edwards and his mother travelled to outbuildings at woodland they own on the outskirts of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Their property has been plagued by burglars who smash their way into the buildings and steal valuable cable and scrap metal. The pair discovered two men loading a Ford Transit with cable worth £6,000 from farm machinery. As they called police, the suspects jumped into the van, revved the engine and accelerated towards Mrs Smith at least twice, knocking her over.

In the confusion Mr Edwards fired his legally held shotgun, which was loaded with light-weight rabbit shot. The shots shattered the windscreen and damaged the door but the driver was unharmed and drove through a gate to escape. Two men were caught six miles away after Mr Edwards gave chase in his Mercedes estate while his mother gave a running commentary to police on her mobile phone. Mr Edwards’s father Gary, 67, said: ‘The guy got in the van to drive off. They thought he was going to drive out the gate but he diverted to drive straight at them.

‘Maybe he thought Louisa was still trying to get through to the police. Bill got out the way but Louisa went down. ‘Bill started shooting at the vehicle. The first shot destroyed half the window. The second took out the rest and the third took off the driver’s mirror and changed the shape of the door. ‘The guy gave up his attack and drove 140 metres down the farm track. The gate was closed but he went straight through it.
‘Once he stopped his attack, Bill stopped firing. He and Louisa got into his Mercedes and chased them giving a running commentary to the police all the time.’

Mrs Smith was left with cuts and bruises after falling and scrambling up a mound of earth to escape the van in the attack over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Her ex-husband added: ‘She told me the driver had his foot on the floor and was revving his engine as hard as he could. She was so scared she could not remember Bill firing.’ When a police armed response unit arrived 45 minutes later they arrested Mr Edwards and his mother and held them at Scarborough Police Station for almost 24 hours. It is believed they have a recording of the 999 call in which the shots can be heard as Mrs Smith shouts: ‘He is trying to kill us, shoot his tyres.’

Mr Edwards’s father said: ‘They suspect him of being in possession of a firearm with intent. They also suspect him of attempted murder – which is laughable. ‘He is a very good shot. If he had wanted to hit the guy he would have done. He was just trying to stop the attack on his mother. ‘I am immensely proud of Bill. He is only 21 but very, very sensible and is no way predisposed to any kind of violence. Anyone else would have done nothing – or blown the guy’s head off. ‘He was entitled to kill the guy and could easily have done. He had no choice given the slow police response.’

Scarborough’s Tory MP Robert Goodwill said the dramatic confrontation had ‘all the echoes’ of the Leicestershire case. He said: ‘I would always defend my constituents protecting their property from thieves. What else could this young man do? They could have killed his mother. I hope that the police will act, as they have in the Leicestershire case, by not bringing charges. ‘Obviously, the police do have to investigate – but if the facts are as we understand I would be incensed if they brought a charge against the son.’

North Yorkshire Police said two suspected thieves, aged 39 and 59, as well as Mr Edwards and Mrs Smith, have been released on bail.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z26aOXDn1t

[Gob]

He is the judge who thinks burglars are ‘courageous’ – an opinion which earned him an official reprimand for damaging public confidence in the courts.

Now Peter Bowers is at the centre of another controversy, this time for letting a convicted paedophile skip jail because he thought he ‘would suffer very badly’ in prison.

In a move which has outraged campaigners for victims of child abuse, the judge allowed 24-year-old child-porn addict Mark Martin to walk free, despite the fact that he is a repeat offender.






Martin was caught for the second time with a catalogue of hardcore indecent images of young boys and girls on his mobile phone – a crime which even he admitted he ‘fully expected’ to go prison for.

But Judge Bowers gave him a suspended sentence – the second Martin has received – because he feared he wouldn’t ‘cope’ with jail.

Judge Bowers told Martin: ‘I have read with some concern about you, and this addiction you have had of looking at pornography of little children. ‘I think you would suffer very badly in prison and I don’t think, at the moment, it is necessary to send you there today.

JUDGE PETER BOWERS NO STRANGER TO CONTROVERSY AND CONTRADICTION IN 20-YR CAREERPeter Bowers, 67, a married father-of-three, has been no stranger to controversy in his 20-year career as a judge.
Three years ago, he allowed a violent thug to walk free from court despite admitting that the public think judges are 'going mad' for passing soft sentences.
In another case, he told a man who led police on a ten-mile car chase after trying to kill himself: 'Next time you want to commit suicide find somewhere quiet to do it.'
More recently, he has made contradictory comments about burglary sentencing.
In May last year, he criticised sentencing guidelines that let first-time burglars escape with a 'slap across the wrist'.
But weeks later, he allowed a man with almost 80 crimes on his record to walk free for a burglary committed four days after his release from prison, telling the court: ‘I must be getting soft in my old age.’

‘I am going to give you another suspended sentence, but you have got to understand it is the very last chance you are ever going to get.’

In September last year, Judge Bowers caused public outrage for praising the ‘courage’ of serial burglar Richard Rochford, 26, and letting him off with a suspended sentence.

He told him: ‘It takes a huge amount of courage, as far as I can see, for somebody to burgle somebody’s house. I wouldn’t have the nerve.’

He was criticised for his choice of words, which were branded a ‘serious error of judgment’.

Following an investigation, the Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling and Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge upheld complaints about the comments and issued Judge Bowers with a reprimand for his remarks which had ‘damaged public confidence in the judicial process’.

In the latest case, he was presented with Martin, from Hartlepool, who had been already let off by a court after being caught with child porn in 2009.

He was handed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, which allowed him to walk free as long as he did not offend again during the supervision period.

He was told to go on a sex offenders’ treatment programme to cure his ‘addiction’ and had to allow police officers access to his computer. Then last week, Teesside Crown Court heard how police visited his home in February last year to check on his internet activity on his computer and mobile phone.

Prosecutor Sue Jacobs told the court that a total of 48 still and moving images of child abuse – some in the worst category – were found on his phone.

Although he was caught for a second time after his first sentence had run its course, police could tell from the image files that some had been downloaded within the two-year time frame of the initial suspended sentence.

Judge Bowers told him: ‘You present quite a problem for me because, in theory, you had breached the suspended sentence.

‘As most people will know, if people do breach a suspended sentence, then it is almost inevitable they go straight away to prison.’

But in a highly unusual move, Judge Bowers then imposed a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, with probation service supervision.

The National Association of People Abused in Childhood last night described the sentence as ‘strange by any standards’.

Dr Jon Bird, from the charity, said: ‘This is remarkably short-sighted, in my opinion. In prison this kind of offender would be segregated for his protection.

‘I imagine he is at home laughing about how he fooled a judge.

‘There has to be a strong deterrent enforced on these criminals who cause so much pain to their victims.’

Yesterday, Martin said outside his flat: ‘Obviously I didn’t want to go to prison but I went to court fully expecting to. ‘He said I couldn’t have coped in prison but this is my definite last chance. I have definitely learned my lesson and won’t do it again.’

[Lord Jim]

Okay, I volunteer to buy the tar....

Who's in for the feathers?



What is it going to take for this clown to finally get himself removed from the bench?

[oldr_n_wsr]

Okay, I volunteer to buy the tar....

Who's in for the feathers?



What is it going to take for this clown to finally get himself removed from the bench?

I'll heat the tar and go in for the feathers.