An Eye for an Eye?

I understand what you are saying Taffy, I would probably feel the same initially in anger, but I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I had a say in the punishment where it is so barbaric.
I do however think the prisons need to be tougher, and punishments fit the crime.

I agree that the punishment should fit the crime and devising a proportionate response to serious crime is not easy.

But harsh punishment is not necessarily Justice: remember that we had centuries of draconian punishments and our crime rate soared sufficiently for us to end up transporting people in sufficient numbers to populate a continent – not viable in the 21st century. Some of those transported went for crimes like stealing table linen, stealing food as the most serious crimes were punishable by death. Horrific crimes still took place so there was scant deterrent to that type of criminal.

If it’s true that Sutcliffe et al are having prison guards make trips to the sweet shop for them, then I would complain loudly that this is wrong.

The test of a ‘justice’ rather than a ‘punishment’ system is what it provides for society as a whole.

The HRA allows us as citizens to hold the Government to account in a British court if it deprives us of basic rights. That’s why both Cameron and Blair are against it.

Let those who rail against Human Rights write a letter to the Government promising not to complain if the State unjustly deprives them of their lifes, their private life, their family life, their liberty etc all without a fair trial or any possibility of appeal if they are wrongly convicted; that even if they do, they will bypass the British justice system and embroil themselves in the process of taking their case to Strasbourg or wherever the European Court sits these days. That’s what people had to do before the HRA.

The same for the term “political correctness”: don’t just moan about it, declare to the world that you are happy to forego any courtesies or consideration for your feelings and will not strop, sulk, get into arguments or complain about the rudeness of society ever again.

Or course criminals and more likely their lawyers are over-familiar with ways to abuse the Human Rights Act like they do any other measure for their own ends. However, don’t sign away your own rights because you share them with someone you detest.

I think a bereaved mother has enough to deal with.

@Wordsworth50 wrote:

I think a bereaved mother has enough to deal with.

I agree words then comes the anger , who better to take it out on then
the person who could have done something so evil as that …..

I dont feel an eye for an eye is the right thing to do, but where a child is
comcerned i feel its so very , very different …..

This is a difficult subject to judge and we obviously all hold different opinion.

I can only say that had it been my daughter he disfigured i would, without hesitation or regret, have flung the acid at him. However, it would have been over his ba lls and not his face.