by TheJusticeofthePeace @ 14.
Nov. 2010. – 12:01:40
High profile cases at
magistrates` courts usually make some sort of news; at a local level in the
printed, electronic or T.V. media if not in national news outlets. And these
cases are usually presided over by a single District Judge and not a bench of
three local J.P.s. This is no accident. It`s as if court managers have no
confidence that we can provide high quality justice for those “personalities”
whose drink, drugs or driving habits are somehow different from those self same
drink, drugs or driving habits of the common man [or woman].
Truly a victim of his own success Paul Gascoigne a footballer in the mould of that late great drunk Georgie Best was bailed to appear for sentencing on Thursday this week having previously pleaded guilty to his umpteenth charge of drink driving at Newcastle Magistrates` Court in front of District Judge Stephan Earl. There is no need here to list the previous criminal history of Gascoigne except to say it is substantial and is much related to his substance abuse. Instead of keeping to an arranged appointment to be interviewed by local probation officers he breached his bail by voluntarily admitting himself [not for the first time] to a private clinic for addicts. The good judge said that the defendant Gascoigne did not deserve to be treated differently from anyone else facing punishment for the same offence and then promptly treated him differently. Instead of having a warrant issued for his arrest and having him brought to Newcastle ASAP he instructed the probation service local to the clinic to interview him for a pre sentence report; an action that Newcastle probation officers were unable to do because the offender had absconded.
In my opinion justice was not served. When high profile individuals are given preferential treatment and preferential treatment was what Gascoigne received notwithstanding denials, further evidence of declining standards in public officialdom is revealed. One well known commentator remarking on the recent decision that the three former M.P.s accused of theft must face trial at Crown Court and not in Parliament was that the public wouldn`t stand for any other decision. It should not require fear of public comment to ensure that everyone in this country is equal before the law.
Truly a victim of his own success Paul Gascoigne a footballer in the mould of that late great drunk Georgie Best was bailed to appear for sentencing on Thursday this week having previously pleaded guilty to his umpteenth charge of drink driving at Newcastle Magistrates` Court in front of District Judge Stephan Earl. There is no need here to list the previous criminal history of Gascoigne except to say it is substantial and is much related to his substance abuse. Instead of keeping to an arranged appointment to be interviewed by local probation officers he breached his bail by voluntarily admitting himself [not for the first time] to a private clinic for addicts. The good judge said that the defendant Gascoigne did not deserve to be treated differently from anyone else facing punishment for the same offence and then promptly treated him differently. Instead of having a warrant issued for his arrest and having him brought to Newcastle ASAP he instructed the probation service local to the clinic to interview him for a pre sentence report; an action that Newcastle probation officers were unable to do because the offender had absconded.
In my opinion justice was not served. When high profile individuals are given preferential treatment and preferential treatment was what Gascoigne received notwithstanding denials, further evidence of declining standards in public officialdom is revealed. One well known commentator remarking on the recent decision that the three former M.P.s accused of theft must face trial at Crown Court and not in Parliament was that the public wouldn`t stand for any other decision. It should not require fear of public comment to ensure that everyone in this country is equal before the law.
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