suspended sentences

newballsplease

it really annoys me to hear, someone punching someone or beating them up....then being brough through the legal system, in front of a judge and getting a slap on the wrist and a 'suspended sentence'.


what does it mean? they must keep the peace for that long???
its bull.
they get away with what they did. whats the point in going through with it(the gardai+trauma+statements etc), when it kinda ends up looking as if they won, by getting off with a warning.

grumpytrousers

it *does* mean that if they step out of line at all and come before the court again that they'll be punished for the second offence AND the first offence sentence will be activated.

Suspended sentences tend to be handed down to people who would be, er, newcomers to the judicial system;in other words, habitual offenders don't tend to get them. The thinking tends to be, in a general sense, you might have a person who got into a fight or whatever and their behaviour was 'out of character' (or so the judge is told)

The judge will tend to trade two things off each other - if you put this person into prison, are they more likely to hang out with the assorted bad eggs in there and be *more* of a risk to re-offend when they come out, or is it more likely that the person will behave themselves more with a suspended sentence hanging over them and the constant threat of going 'inside' if they commit the most minor of subsequent offences.

I'm not saying you have to like it. I'm not saying it's perfect, but as you'll have gathered if you read around here, for better or worse, the criminal justice system in this country (or most others for that matter) isn't run for the benefit of the victim. Loads of victims feel shortchanged that their attacker gets a 'slap on the wrist' and they want blood, etc, but it don't work like that. The case is taken by the State and a sentence imposed by the judge on the basis of what's best for the state in general

nuac

A suspended is a long way from a slap on the wrist. Anybody who receives a suspended sentence needs to be very careful and law abiding.