vinyl Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I just heard that David Chater, the first of the Labour MP's up on fraud chages has been jailed for 18 months and could have £50K to pay towards legal costs. As he could have gone down for anywhere between 18 months and 7 years it looks like the old boy network is working fine and he escaped with the minimum available tariff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wednesday1 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Jonathan Aitken got the same (18 months) for perjury and perverting the course of justice. Anyway Ken Clarke says prison doesn't work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 He'll probably be in a dispersal prison over the weekend, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to find he's in a (comparatively) luxurious D-Cat (open prison) before the end of next week. One with his own room and his own key. Given 18 months. Will serve 9. Probably be eligible for early release (on a tag) by March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donuticus Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I'm not convinced that prison in this cse really is a worthy punishment. Yes he was wrong to defraud the public but is prison really a suitable punishment? He should without doubt be punished making him repay significantly more than he stole (ie return money plus large fine and maybe forfeiture of his parliamentary pension). Surely seeing as he is not a danger to the public there should be someway of using his previous experience as a teacher and college lecturer for some good rather than spending a fortune locking him up till the end of May? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 There's plenty of non-politicians who lose their jobs and go to prison for theft/fraud/embezzlement involving smaller amounts, why shouldn't MP's get the same? I doubt the MP's will lose their jobs over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donuticus Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 There's plenty of non-politicians who lose their jobs and go to prison for theft/fraud/embezzlement involving smaller amounts, why shouldn't MP's get the same? I doubt the MP's will lose their jobs over it. I accept that. I'm not convinced that prison is a worthwhile process for anyone who commits an offence such as this. If someone stole this amount of money and it caused a business to be bankrupted costing people their jobs then fair enough prison as a punishment would be fair as the theft had far reaching consequences. I'm just not convinced that a first offence, a guilty plea, and essentially no one else being adversely affected by the crime, that prison is the right idea. No doubt I have opened myself up to dogs abuse but hey ho. Opinions and all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinyl Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Jonathan Aitken got the same (18 months) for perjury and perverting the course of justice. Anyway Ken Clarke says prison doesn't work! So no comment about the bent bar steward who has been screwing the public purse then?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wednesday1 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 So no comment about the bent bar steward who has been screwing the public purse then?. Goes without saying that he deserves the appropriate punishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I accept that. I'm not convinced that prison is a worthwhile process for anyone who commits an offence such as this. If someone stole this amount of money and it caused a business to be bankrupted costing people their jobs then fair enough prison as a punishment would be fair as the theft had far reaching consequences. I'm just not convinced that a first offence, a guilty plea, and essentially no one else being adversely affected by the crime, that prison is the right idea. No doubt I have opened myself up to dogs abuse but hey ho. Opinions and all that. I think you have a point. Maybe prison should be for the violent and the recidivists only and more imaginative punishments could be arranged for others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donuticus Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I think you have a point. Maybe prison should be for the violent and the recidivists only and more imaginative punishments could be arranged for others. Not necessarily. If someone is a repeat offender even if their crimes are not violent then a loss of liberty would be necessary. It's more the fact that this is a first conviction for an offence and he entered a guilty plea. Not convinced that locking up an undoubtedly intelligent man with a history of working hard for people throughout his adult life is a particularly worthwhile punishment. Surely putting his skills to work for free would be a better use of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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