Two-tier justice system favours the social elite.
Convicted paedophile ex-BBC newsreader Huw Edwards gets a six-month suspended sentence for receiving images of child abuse, whereas 53-year-old carer Julie Sweeney gets a 15-month prison sentence for posting an anti-migrant comment on Facebook. Both are first time offenders – but treated very differently in Sir Keir Starmer’s two-tier justice Britain.
The contrast could not be clearer. Judges were encouraged to deliver lengthy prison sentences to anti-migrant rioters – many first time offenders and clearly not a danger to society – and some of them not even involved in the violence, rather commenting on it through social media.
But when paedophiles use the internet to send and receive gut-wrenching images of children being raped, they are not even considered for imprisonment. Yet it is they who pose a continuing threat to our young people.
In theory, Edwards’ crime could lead to a maximum prison incarceration of ten years but sentencing guidelines range between six months and three years in jail.
The presiding chief magistrate in his case began his sentencing calculation with a year then knocked off three months each for Edwards’ claimed mental state and it being his first offence. He then considered whether Edwards had to be jailed to protect the public, concluding now while accepting the ex-TV presenter was responding to therapy.
Mitigating circumstances, apparently, also included a domineering father and a sense of inferiority at the BBC (despite Edwards having soared to dizzying heights with an eye-watering salary to match).
No such soft pedalling for the anti-migrant rioters following the Southport child murders. Twelve-year old rioters were convicted along with protestors sending social media messages to each other. Their actions were certainly reprehensible but why did they deserve such swift and draconian action?
The answer came clearly from Sir Keir Starmer. This was political messaging designed to quash any more protests against illegal migration into this country.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the Government, “will not rest until the job is done”. Such speed and severity did not follow Edward’s arrest in November last year. In fact, the BBC continued to dole out taxpayers’ money to the tune of £200,000, even though they knew the vile nature of the crime he was charged with, and, despite vague calls for the post-arrest money to be returned, will continue to pay his gold-plated pension.
The BBC continues to present mitigating circumstances for their former newsreader in its reporting – including his apparent fragile mental health – yet their naming and shaming of rioters continues with vigour. No mitigation there.
Moreover, the paedophile who supplied the disgusting images of child abuse to Edwards received a leniency which defies belief. The university graduate received just a 12-month suspended sentence. The fact is that less than 20 per cent of perverts caught with images of children being sexually violated go to prison. Jim Gamble, the former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command, wrote in the Express yesterday that it was the result of a “failure to deliver deterrence-based sentencing”,. The soft treatment of Edwards will only confirm in the public mind that people committing such atrocious acts will be able to avoid prison by citing mental health issues or other extenuating circumstances.
The disparity in sentencing leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
The vast majority of rioters convicted so far are working class, while Edwards was a fully paid-up member of the BBC, social and cultural elite. Judges may be following sentencing guidelines and yet, despite protestations to the contrary, that does not remove the very troubling appearance of a two-tier justice system.
The public are no fools and can see when the law is being politicised as it has been during the punishment of anti-migrant rioters. It is time now that the law catches up with public sentiment and treats those who send and receive child sexual abuse images with the full force it can muster. That means sentencing guidelines must be urgently reviewed to stop this vile trade. Huw Edwards receiving a lengthy jail term would have been an example to set.
“How any adult, let alone a parent, can look at these crime scene images without being sick to the stomach is beyond me,” says Gamble. Father-of-five Edwards clearly had no such feelings when he encouraged his receipt of explicit scenes of child rape. That makes him a very dangerous individual who deserves little understanding or mercy.
Fairness is at the heart of our legal system and to treat one criminal more leniently than another only undermines our faith in justice. It also does little to protect us or our families from such vile law-breakers. Express.
