Discrimination?

[geoffrey]

I read in the press that a man and a woman, both single and aged 20, were convicted of shoplifting from a department store. It was stated that the man had in his possession gods the value of £323 and the woman had goods to the value of £913. Yet the man was sent to prison and the woman was given a short 'community order'. The magistrates were female. That appears to be a great injustice in an age of equality. I know nothing about them but could the man claim gender discrimination? If the answer is no, surely that is the end of the gender equality law as others can also discriminate against both men and women and boys and girls and get away with it.

Equality should mean just that and not female superiority. I once read that a sex offence against a boy was considered far more serious than the exact same sex offence against a girl. Thankfully we have corrected that injustice against little girls and treat both offences as equally serious, but are we now backsliding if penalties are applied to unequally so that the lesser offender gets the most severe sentence just because he is male? Parliament should have an in-depth investigation if this is actually true as I assume it must be if reported in the press.

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[wales01man]

Re: Discrimination?

What do you know about the Criminal past of either of these this influences the sentence as does their attitude in Court.
Without knowing all the facts hard to claim discrimination

[Amethyst]

Re: Discrimination?

Agree with Wales. The male could have previous offences and there could have been some form of coercion from his side. Without full details it is impossible to claim discrimination.

[des8]

Re: Discrimination?

I'm worried about geoffrey's naivete if he assumes items reported in the press must be true

[leclerc]

Re: Discrimination?

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/t..._offences/#a10

The above might help....

[geoffrey]

Re: Discrimination?

No, I am not naïve but if the press reported that X was given a particular sentence and Y was given another it is probably correct. However, I should have pointed out that the female has seven previous convictions, two for drugs and five for shoplifting, and the male had one conviction for cannabis. The seemingly discriminatory sentencing caused quite a stir locally which is why I mentioned it.

[wales01man]

Re: Discrimination?

What do you think you can do about it?

We are all amazed at some sentences handed down but not a lot we can do really

[leclerc]

Re: Discrimination?

No, I am not naïve but if the press reported that X was given a particular sentence and Y was given another it is probably correct. However, I should have pointed out that the female has seven previous convictions, two for drugs and five for shoplifting, and the male had one conviction for cannabis. The seemingly discriminatory sentencing caused quite a stir locally which is why I mentioned it.

I don't but we need more information about the female and perhaps more information about whether it was the same judge or jurisdiction.
Geoffrey, get us a link to look at and we'll tell you whether it's discrimination but their own mitigating circumstances might hold the key.

If you can't get the link then we won't Daily Mailitise it and say that it's completely unequal, because the law does not work on a simple, you stole this so you get jailed for this regardless of gender and circumstances.

[carterjo]

Re: Discrimination?

I read in the press that a man and a woman, both single and aged 20, were convicted of shoplifting from a department store. It was stated that the man had in his possession gods the value of £323 and the woman had goods to the value of £913. Yet the man was sent to prison and the woman was given a short 'community order'. The magistrates were female. That appears to be a great injustice in an age of equality. I know nothing about them but could the man claim gender discrimination? If the answer is no, surely that is the end of the gender equality law as others can also discriminate against both men and women and boys and girls and get away with it.

Equality should mean just that and not female superiority. I once read that a sex offence against a boy was considered far more serious than the exact same sex offence against a girl. Thankfully we have corrected that injustice against little girls and treat both offences as equally serious, but are we now backsliding if penalties are applied to unequally so that the lesser offender gets the most severe sentence just because he is male? Parliament should have an in-depth investigation if this is actually true as I assume it must be if reported in the press.

.

I have seen lot of incidents in recent past which one can termed as racist or biased because every time if men and woman commits same crime the punishment needs to be same for both the genders but it is not the case. That's a bit sad.

[leclerc]

Re: Discrimination?

I have seen lot of incidents in recent past which one can termed as racist or biased because every time if men and woman commits same crime the punishment needs to be same for both the genders but it is not the case. That's a bit sad.

A aged woman with dementia puts something in her trolley and takes it out of the store and is caught. She faces no charge. A 25 year old male, drug addict with a history of shoplifting is caught stealing from a shop and is sent to prison.

They both have differing circumstances, and the CPS would say that it would not be in the interests of the public to prosecute someone with dementia but it would for a persistent offender.

Circumstances are key as are background and mitigation......

The way sentences are handed down are not based just on gender.