General Chat

Lets hope this stops the " why do people bother to report assaults years later" brigade.

Predators, will continue to abuse if anyone thinks that because it happened years ago it doesn't matter, it does.

Am I the only one who is now more interested in "stars" of 50 years ago who didn't abuse anyone :-0 :-(

Wow...so this lovely man(so called) who said he did'nt do it, has actually admitted it!!
Lets hope his sentence is good long one, but no doubt because of his age and how poorly he feels (poor man), it won't be what he deserves!!

Yes it does matter!!
Sadly our family perpetrator is dead and can't be taken to court.
jude

Lynda, I'm not one of the " why do people bother to report assaults years later" brigade but would like to ask a question about our criminal justice system in general which can apply in all cases from shoplifting to serious assault of any kind and murder

Are all those who plead guilty actualy guilty? OR are they just following advice from their legal team which is often given when your solicitor thinks he/she cannot defend you due to lack of evidence for the defence,

I ask because i was once in that situation when i was arrested and charged with a serious offence and was advised by my solicitor to plead guilty in order to get a lighter sentence,
Actually it was more like i was being told/pressured and told if i didn't plead guilty my sentence would probably be the maximum allowed under the law for that offence, I refused and although i had to employ another solicitor and a barrister once the cps/police new i was serious about my defence all charges where dropped.

I have as a result of that experiance never had any confidence in the criminal justice system in this country

Roy

Abhorrent crime against young children .not just him its digusting all the reports now coming out of the woodwork ,how many more ? Barbra !!

Roy, I have worked within the police system, as someone who looked after the welfare and interest of those accused, I can honestly say I have never seen anyone told to plead guilty, when they were entirely innocent.
Obviously there are times when the accused doesn't think they are guilty of anything at all, yet clearly are guilty of something, the solicitor will advise them on what they think is the best plea, but it up to the accused to plead however they wish.

Overall I have confidence in the legal system, but I look at every case individually, so have seen some I don't agree with, but most I have.

It is also worth mentioning, that when people who only read or hear what went on in court, really only hear a very small fraction of what was sad, likewise I have read in the papers what I have heard in a police interview, which was nothing like what actually happened.

Lynda, My solicitors advice to me was It boils down to your word against theirs I suggest we put a plea of guilty in because then you will probably receive a 6 months "possibly" suspended sentence but if you plead not guilty then you could be looking at a sentence of 10 years imprisonment and went on to say we have no evidence to dispute the allegations against you to which I said I thought the law stated you are "innocent until proved guilty" why do I need to prove im innocent to which the reply was the system is not perfect and a lot depends on how many of the jury believe you rather then the accuser that was in 1989 My accuser was a police officer acting on information received, I found out months later the info came from someone who had a grudge against me and who new the police officer personally but that's another story.

I could go on to tell you about my BIL who was found guilty of a minor offence in the magistrates court even after it was disclosed in court that he had been charged with the wrong offence but they still found him guilty of that "the wrong offence"

No wonder people question the system

Roy

Just heard more about this man on radio...he has addmitted a number of counts of sexual assault on girls from the age OF 9 YEARS OLD to 17 YEARS OLD....and he's sorry!!! YEH right......!!!!
He won't be charged for the rape of the 15 yr old because she did'nt want to be in the witness box, poor girl, such a shame.
l hope he perishes in prison!!

jude

PS...PP...sorry to read about your situation, but in this case he is guilty!!

I have heard it said that the victims of rape are reluctant to enter the witness box because it is like being raped all over again plus suffering the ordeal of the defence counsel trying to prove his client 'not guilty'.

Jude, My question was as I said a general question regarding people who plead guilty,

"Are all those who plead guilty actualy guilty?"

As for Stuart Hall I have no idea If hes guilty or not and to be honest I will leave that to the courts because its their job and its the only system we have,

Your certainty as to the "truth" I can only praise you in having had access to all the evidence plus other inside information and discussions between him, the police, his alleged victims, and his legal team not to mention your ability to decide on a verdict without direction from a judge

Roy

Roy, Stuart Hall is guilty, he answered guilty to 14 offences, he is going back to court in June to be sentenced, not for trial, to be sentenced. I very much doubt anyone would plead guilty to such offences if they were innocent.

rape victims and victims of any sexual assault do not have to go into the witness box - they can give their evidence via video link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judge-h-lee-sarokin/innocent-people-guilty-pleas_b_1553239.html

and

http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/When_the_Innocent_Plead_Guilty.php

Roy

If you plead guilty to a crime you have not committed then the person who did commit it is wlking about Scott free. Nice one!

Doesn't sexual assault on a child under twelve attract a life sentence? Oops!

To be honest Roy, at the moment I'm not interested in those who plead guilty, then say they were made to, this isn't the thread to to do it on.

I'm more interested in spreading the word to say that, if you've been abused in any way, and you haven't told anyone, even though it happened years ago, it's never to late to do so, and if you do you're not met with "why bother now, let it go, it doesn't matter" yes it does.

Those who abuse don't want anyone to speak about it, because that means they can carry on.

The American legal system is very different from ours and bargains are made, as fans of US cop shows realise.

Very glad that he has, at least, had the guts to plead guilty to spare his victims the ordeal of testifying.

Lynda, I have no sympathy for anyone who is guilty of any crime less so for crimes of this nature. If Stuart Hall is in fact guilty I would be in first in the queue to string him up.

My problem with all this which started with Jimmy Saville is that it appears to be the case that all these victims have now had the courage to speak out,

So in that case why are all those speaking out only naming high profile celebs? are we supposed to believe that only celebs committed these crimes? where and who are all the other none celebs "Jo blogs" who surly abused in that way

Roy

plea bargaining exist in this country also not just the US

We only know what the news media choose to report.

Stuart Hall sells newspapers.

Probably the victims of abuse now feel that they can now speak out Roy, and they will be believed, don't forget victims, in the past DID speak out, but were told t forget it.

I don't care who it started out with, I'm just elated that those wh have been abused, can now tell there story.

the Saville thing empowered victims to come forward