The son of the Pink Floyd guitarist will not be returning to university in the autumn to continue his History degree at Cambridge. Instead he’ll be looking out from behind bars as he has been sentenced to 16 months inside for violent disorder during the student protests last year.
Now I really do not know how I feel about this. Is jail really going to stop him doing anything like this again? No it’s not. He’s not going to be doing anything like this again anyway. So is it a just punishment for the crime? Well that is debatable. Wouldn’t it be better if instead of spending a year or so inside he was forced to work unpaid for a year within a charity or charitable foundation where he could do some good?
Whether it be in the UK or overseas I’m fine either way. I just don’t think prison suits every crime but the boy has already clearly learned his lesson and prison will not do anything but punish him. The public will not be kept safe from him as he’s not a danger to the public.
It is cases like these that make me wish Ken Clarke was allowed to fully take control of the justice department and not have to react to knee-jerk public reactions. I think Ken Clarke could do a fantastic job in changing the culture of crime in this country but until we change the philosophy of how we deal with crime we’ll never get anywhere.
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Interesting post. I’d comment more on principles of custodial sentencing, intentions and objectives, but I doubt Gilmour will suffer much.
On Clarke taking the entire reins of the prison service in his own hands, did you see my post on his closure of Cat D prisons?
http://politicalparry.co.uk/2011/07/prisons-a-news-story-today-you-may-have-missed/
Of course he is getting a heavier sentence because hes famous by association. That isnt just but it is probably right becuse the resulting publicity will put other kids off following his example, thus saving them from unnecesary suffering.
Being posh & famous has all sorts of advantages, this is one of the downsides.
“the boy has already clearly learned his lesson”
Oh yeah?
From the Telegraph’s website reporting the court case on 14 July:
“The judge watched one clip in which he was shouted: “Let them eat cake, let them eat cake, they say. We won’t eat cake, we will eat fire, ice and destruction, because we are angry, very f—— angry.”
As the clip was shown in court on Thursday, Gilmour sat in the dock giggling and covering his face with his hands in embarrassment.”
He sat in the dock giggling – and you claim he has learned his lesson? I don’t think so.
Someone might have been killed. No other option but a spell inside.