So Sgt Mark Andrews has been released on bail pending an appeal. This story is boiling my piss for a number of reasons.
He is clearly guilty of an offence that clearly warranted the prison term he was given. We've all seen the CCTV. The only purpose of an appeal would be to get him off on a technicality.
I always thought that once you had been found guilty and sentenced, you were sent to prison. If you appealed it was done from there.
You are obviously innocent until proven guilty, however, I thought that once you had been found guilty, any appeal process was your chance to prove that an error had been made, and that you would still be considered guilty until you proved otherwise. Hence, you would do it from in prison via your lawyer.
I must be wrong (there can't possibly be one rule for us and one for them?), so please correct me if I am. If I am not wrong then why has this man been released after he has been found guilty of a crime and sentenced to prison?
I really hope this appeal still finds him guilty and his ultimate fate is to serve his term. As I said, we've all seen the CCTV. There is no excuse for that, even less so from a police officer.
Public respect for the police must be at an all time low and they are doing nothing to help themselves. My contempt for them is already complete, however there must be people who still harbour respect for the police. I wonder how many will lose what they have left if this man gets off on a technicality.
The police will not be able to rule by consent of the people if this is how they treat them. They will have to rule by force instead. Pretty much like Sgt Mark Andrews.
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Oh well, the long and short was that I reckon he's just appealing the sentence because he got the maximum jail term magistrates can give, so he's got nothing lose by trying. And he's been bailed because he's probably not considered a risk to the public or of doing a runner abroad, and because it'll take a lot more than 6 months to get his appeal heard. It's actually fair to bail him and anyone else in the same situation - good job, no previous record (yes, he'd been a bit dodgy before but if it's not brought up in court it never happened as far as they're concerned), jail term shorter than likely appeal date and so on - they'd probably be bailed as well. The point is to treat him just the same, no better and no worse, than any other citizen. By and large they're probably doing that, though I do wish the mags had kicked it upstairs so it could have been heard by a jury and - maybe - a judge who could and would have given him longer than six months.
I always thought you had to appeal your conviction from inside, as you had be found guilty. Guess I watch too much CSI and not enough Discovery channel.
Yes, they are armed, but it takes their trained marksmen 19 shots to destroy a 'dangerous' runaway horse 'because it was moving'...
Perhaps they should have arrested it and taken it to a cell. It could then have fallen down the cell steps instead.
Thing is , when you think about it - it's professional suicide - CCTV on every wall- I mean he didn't plead diminished responsibility, momentary madness or 'owt so one must assume he had his marbles more or less in place.
A very logical step is that he assumed his treatment of this woman was OK and wouldn't attract any sanction or comment. There have been some lines in the local rag about "a climate of fear" at the station on his watch - one can only assume that these emanate from some of the colleagues who didn't perjure themselves two years later and 60 miles away...
I think if the CPS and senior Wiltshire plod could have managed a delay of 10 years and a court in Shetland this arse would have been retired for 5 years...
I hope his wriggling digs a deeper hole - if it's an appeal - surely that means a higher court with the ability to impose a higher sentence - unlike trying to sneak him through a distant magistrates court where 6 months is the max.
We haven't heard the last of this - I wonder if disgruntled colleagues are going to turn on him? There's obviously some who aren't intimidated at the moment - I wonder... given his rep if he's been warned off contacting the WPC who shopped him?
Like "The Bill" it is - with a bit of ooh-arr and the whiff of cow shit...
Ahh. Are you my first spam? Aw, how sweet.
Now fuck off!
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