[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Stu

And tired old phrases are the height of it, you virtuoso?


Because somehting positive could come out of it? Because if it is possible - and stripping hyper emotional vengeance and redemption yearnings out of the way - it's much better to rehabilitate someone into a helpful, remorseful member of society than to just put them in a small enclosed area for the rest of their lives?

This stirct, non compromising eye for an eye attitude when it comes to people views on the justice system never ceases to amaze me.

I'm pretty sure if it was a relative/friend of yours murdered, your kind and helpful attitude towards the person who did it may change a bit. Good for you for being so forgiving, I'm not.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I'm pretty sure if it was a relative/friend of yours murdered, your kind and helpful attitude towards the person who did it may change a bit. Good for you for being so forgiving, I'm not.

What a boring old card to play.

Don't be so assumptive in your quest to demand we all exhibit the same redemptive pattern as you. People can change and as long as a sufficient period of punishment was served then in certain cases I would have no problem with someone attempting to turn their life around.

I'm not saying I would hand a child rapist serial killer his freedom on a silver platter and a lenghty session with a psychiatrist. A relatively ordinary person who made the horrible mistake of killing someone and has since served the time? Sure.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Stu

What a boring old card to play.

Don't be so assumptive in your quest to demand we all exhibit the same redemptive pattern as you. People can change and as long as a sufficient period of punishment was served then in certain cases I would have no problem with someone attempting to turn their life around.

I'm not saying I would hand a child rapist serial killer his freedom on a silver platter and a lenghty session with a psychiatrist. A relatively ordinary person who made the horrible mistake of killing someone and has since served the time? Sure.

I haven't demanded anything Stu, I simply said that you may feel different if you were close to a victim of a murder which I believe is a fair point to make. If you don't think that would make you feel any different fine I take your word for it but I know I wouldn't be happy about hearing my loved ones murderer is walking the streets and rehabilitated, maybe that makes me a bad person but it's the way I feel about it.

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I'm pretty sure if it was a relative/friend of yours murdered, your kind and helpful attitude towards the person who did it may change a bit. Good for you for being so forgiving, I'm not.

My cousin was stabbed to death. Do I want the perpetrator executed? No.

Much of my family do...but they're...dare I say...of the "punish first, ask later" mentality. I hesitate to use the equally predictable "an eye for an eye leaves us all blind" quote, but there's really no use in killing an 11 year old child.

Ask yourself - did you have a firm grasp on right and wrong at that age? I'm not defending him - but this was more than likely not done in cold blood, it was more than likely a heat-of-the-moment thing.

It just seems so prehistoric to go on screaming for the death penalty. I thought we were more civilised than that.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Shaun

My cousin was stabbed to death. Do I want the perpetrator executed? No.

Much of my family do...but they're...dare I say...of the "punish first, ask later" mentality. I hesitate to use the equally predictable "an eye for an eye leaves us all blind" quote, but there's really no use in killing an 11 year old child.

Ask yourself - did you have a firm grasp on right and wrong at that age? I'm not defending him - but this was more than likely not done in cold blood, it was more than likely a heat-of-the-moment thing.

It just seems so prehistoric to go on screaming for the death penalty. I thought we were more civilised than that.

Well first of all I never even mentioned executing anyone and secondly I did say in my first post that I wasn't sure about an 11 year old, I was just talking about rehabilitation in adults, this case is unusual and I really don't know what I think about it tbh cos he's so young.

on a side note, I never knew that about your cousin, that's awful