At last - a judge with some sense of justice
Discussion
Jailing him, Justice Stephen Irwin ordered that the video clips be preserved so the parole board could watch them before he is eventually considered for release.
three cheers for a judge who 'gets it'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-11...
three cheers for a judge who 'gets it'http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-11...
bbc story said:
A man who murdered his girlfriend's 15-month-old son after months of filming himself abusing the little boy has been jailed for life.
Darren Newton, of Earby in Lancashire, had denied killing Charlie Hunt but admitted 12 counts of cruelty. The baby died of head injuries in November 2009.
Darren Newton, of Earby in Lancashire, had denied killing Charlie Hunt but admitted 12 counts of cruelty. The baby died of head injuries in November 2009.
I used to be the crown court liaison officer in my force. There were two resident judges I had to work with, Gower and Wrintmore, both very impressive but they differed from one another considerably. I felt proud to work with them.
Gower was honourable in the literal meaning and set himself high standards of justice. This included considering all the facts of the case and the circumstances surrounding both the victim and the perpetuator. If you had genuine mitigation then he was the one to come up before. He would listen and consider it. If you didn’t then you really wanted someone else in charge.
There was a case of a bloke in his 20s, privileged background, expensively educated, who during the wake for his uncle had decided to get drunk. He was disqualified from driving for DD but still decided to take his mother’s car for a drive with his cousin in the passenger seat.
There was a single vehicle accident in which the cousin died and our hero decided to run away to hide. It was carefully not mentioned whether, had he stayed and helped, his cousin would have had a chance of living.
He pleaded guilty to disqualified driving and the other concomitant offences at crown court – hence they would not be mentioned at his trial – and then went to crown court for causing death by reckless driving.
There were a number of stated cases which, in most people’s eyes, meant that he had little defence to the charge as he recklessly decided to drive. But things turned out differently. Still justice was served, although the servant was a very expensive legal team, and he was found not guilty.
It is fair to say that at no time did he display any remorse for his actions. Until, that is, going back to Gower for sentence for diqual driving.
I was advised to come to court by one of my crown court PCs as there was a possibility of a disturbance. The chap’s father was a prominent lawyer (I’d never heard of him) and, according to my PC, one of the most objectionable people he’d ever come across in court. I never ascertained whether this included offenders as well.
So remember this was just for sentence. His brief was not, perhaps, the most impressive one I had ever seen in action as if you wanted to keep the judge on your side he was not the one who would come high up my list of probables.
Mitigation amounted to the hurt the poor lad had suffered as his best friend, viewed more of a brother than mere cousin, had been so cruelly taken from him, and that was punishment enough. I’m not sure if this is good mitigation for disqualified driving but there you are.
The brief then asked for the sister of the dead cousin to give mitigation from the box. Gower, ever the gentleman, said he would not want to put such pressure on a woman who had suffered such a loss and that whatever she was going to say he would consider it just as if she had given it in person.
The brief was of another mind. So the sister, around 23, got into the box, obviously under a great deal of emotional strain. Gower said to her than he admired her resolve and thought her most impressive. He thanked her and then said that in years to come she might come to regret her actions (he’d obviously come to appreciate the full shallowness of the defendant) but that she should not. She, out of all those present, was the one with real character. She should never doubt her actions.
By this time the whole court was against the defendant. Well, almost. A local law school had brought a number of hopefuls to the court to witness Gower in action knowing that he would do something which went against modern teaching.
The sister stood down. There was then the agony of the defence’s summing up and then everyone expected Gower to adjourn but he didn’t. Leaving the brief standing he said that he had considered all the evidence and the defendant’s attitude and believed that there was only one sentence possible. He gave him three months imprisonment.
Gower then got up and left the court.
Gower stood at the door, just out of sight of the brief.
There were ructions. The father of the offender stood and swore. I sent one of my PCs to stand near him. The brief, bless him, called out to the father than Gower was totally out of order and wrong in law and that he would sort him out. He then went into tirade mode against Gower. I looked to his clerk, ex old bill, to see if he wanted me to react but he just shook his head.
The brief then directed Gower’s clerk to get the judge back in court. The clerk put it on his to do list, you could tell that by the look he gave the brief. Then Gower walked back into the court and sat at the bench. My PC just pointed to the father, indicating that he should sit and eventually he did.
The brief said to Gower that he demanded that his client be released pending appeal as he believed the sentence would be thrown over. No other argument was put. Gower said that he was not minded to. The brief said that the offender had a brother in the USA and that the kid would not be let in to see him. Further, if the appeal was successful then, with good behaviour and such, he would have already been released. Gower shrugged and said he was aware of this. He got up and left the court.
The class in front of me were getting so excited that I thought they might have wet themselves. The instructor was telling the class how outrageous the sentence was and that Gower was known as a hang ‘em and flog ‘em judge.
I couldn’t let this go and interrupted. You could see from the instructor’s look at me that my timing was probably not of the best.
I said that I knew Gower and he’d only hang and flog people who deserved it and if they didn’t he was likely to give the mildest of punishments. I also asked if she felt the punishment had been just.
That confused her. It was obviously something that she hadn’t considered. She blustered a bit and said: ‘That’s not the point.’
I said: ‘That’s where you and I differ. And, I would guess, Gower does as well.’
Despite rumours to the contrary Gower did not favour the police in court. He once said to me that brief and police were the professionals and he was not minded to give them the same degree of slack (or any I reckon) he gave the occasional visitors.
I really admired the man but, it seems, his desire for justice put him at odds with the establishment.
Gower was honourable in the literal meaning and set himself high standards of justice. This included considering all the facts of the case and the circumstances surrounding both the victim and the perpetuator. If you had genuine mitigation then he was the one to come up before. He would listen and consider it. If you didn’t then you really wanted someone else in charge.
There was a case of a bloke in his 20s, privileged background, expensively educated, who during the wake for his uncle had decided to get drunk. He was disqualified from driving for DD but still decided to take his mother’s car for a drive with his cousin in the passenger seat.
There was a single vehicle accident in which the cousin died and our hero decided to run away to hide. It was carefully not mentioned whether, had he stayed and helped, his cousin would have had a chance of living.
He pleaded guilty to disqualified driving and the other concomitant offences at crown court – hence they would not be mentioned at his trial – and then went to crown court for causing death by reckless driving.
There were a number of stated cases which, in most people’s eyes, meant that he had little defence to the charge as he recklessly decided to drive. But things turned out differently. Still justice was served, although the servant was a very expensive legal team, and he was found not guilty.
It is fair to say that at no time did he display any remorse for his actions. Until, that is, going back to Gower for sentence for diqual driving.
I was advised to come to court by one of my crown court PCs as there was a possibility of a disturbance. The chap’s father was a prominent lawyer (I’d never heard of him) and, according to my PC, one of the most objectionable people he’d ever come across in court. I never ascertained whether this included offenders as well.
So remember this was just for sentence. His brief was not, perhaps, the most impressive one I had ever seen in action as if you wanted to keep the judge on your side he was not the one who would come high up my list of probables.
Mitigation amounted to the hurt the poor lad had suffered as his best friend, viewed more of a brother than mere cousin, had been so cruelly taken from him, and that was punishment enough. I’m not sure if this is good mitigation for disqualified driving but there you are.
The brief then asked for the sister of the dead cousin to give mitigation from the box. Gower, ever the gentleman, said he would not want to put such pressure on a woman who had suffered such a loss and that whatever she was going to say he would consider it just as if she had given it in person.
The brief was of another mind. So the sister, around 23, got into the box, obviously under a great deal of emotional strain. Gower said to her than he admired her resolve and thought her most impressive. He thanked her and then said that in years to come she might come to regret her actions (he’d obviously come to appreciate the full shallowness of the defendant) but that she should not. She, out of all those present, was the one with real character. She should never doubt her actions.
By this time the whole court was against the defendant. Well, almost. A local law school had brought a number of hopefuls to the court to witness Gower in action knowing that he would do something which went against modern teaching.
The sister stood down. There was then the agony of the defence’s summing up and then everyone expected Gower to adjourn but he didn’t. Leaving the brief standing he said that he had considered all the evidence and the defendant’s attitude and believed that there was only one sentence possible. He gave him three months imprisonment.
Gower then got up and left the court.
Gower stood at the door, just out of sight of the brief.
There were ructions. The father of the offender stood and swore. I sent one of my PCs to stand near him. The brief, bless him, called out to the father than Gower was totally out of order and wrong in law and that he would sort him out. He then went into tirade mode against Gower. I looked to his clerk, ex old bill, to see if he wanted me to react but he just shook his head.
The brief then directed Gower’s clerk to get the judge back in court. The clerk put it on his to do list, you could tell that by the look he gave the brief. Then Gower walked back into the court and sat at the bench. My PC just pointed to the father, indicating that he should sit and eventually he did.
The brief said to Gower that he demanded that his client be released pending appeal as he believed the sentence would be thrown over. No other argument was put. Gower said that he was not minded to. The brief said that the offender had a brother in the USA and that the kid would not be let in to see him. Further, if the appeal was successful then, with good behaviour and such, he would have already been released. Gower shrugged and said he was aware of this. He got up and left the court.
The class in front of me were getting so excited that I thought they might have wet themselves. The instructor was telling the class how outrageous the sentence was and that Gower was known as a hang ‘em and flog ‘em judge.
I couldn’t let this go and interrupted. You could see from the instructor’s look at me that my timing was probably not of the best.
I said that I knew Gower and he’d only hang and flog people who deserved it and if they didn’t he was likely to give the mildest of punishments. I also asked if she felt the punishment had been just.
That confused her. It was obviously something that she hadn’t considered. She blustered a bit and said: ‘That’s not the point.’
I said: ‘That’s where you and I differ. And, I would guess, Gower does as well.’
Despite rumours to the contrary Gower did not favour the police in court. He once said to me that brief and police were the professionals and he was not minded to give them the same degree of slack (or any I reckon) he gave the occasional visitors.
I really admired the man but, it seems, his desire for justice put him at odds with the establishment.
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