Many of you will remember, in 1993 Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, two young boys of only 10 years old, were found guilty of the torture and murder of one little boy, who had wandered off away from his mum in a shopping centre in Liverpool; Jamie Bulger.
One of those boys, now in his twenties, was released a few years ago. He has now been put back in prison for reasons unknown.
However, it was decided that both Jon Venables and Robert Thompson would be protected. Their identities would not be known to fellow prisoners and images of them as they are now would not be shown to anyone.
After what they did to that poor little boy all those years ago, should they be protected in this way or not? SHould they suffer the consiquences of their actions or not? Should they experience how disgusted the rest of the world is with their actions? Or be sheilded from it?
I'm unsure. My heart says no they shouldn't but my head says that for a child to have done that to another child something serious must have been going on for them and also everyone makes mistakes as a child, huge or small so maybe they do deserve a second chance as an adult. But yeah my heart says a strong no.
'Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.'
['There is only one thing we say to death. Not today'.']
'We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell. Oscar Wilde
Its hard to dance with the devil on your back. Sydney Carter
Yeah I agree with the above really. I am a strong advocater of forgiveness. They were only kids. Yes what they did was utterly utterly disgusting but as children, were they really aware of what they were doing?
Also if their identities were known they would both have been killed by viliganties by now, making someone else a murderer, so surely the police had no choice but to protect them if it was to stop another crime. That is their job after all.
However I do not for one minute agree with them being given new lives and houses and everything. They should have had to work for what they got like anyone else.
And from another point of view I would like to know if my boyfriend/best mate or anything used to be venables or thompson because it would alter my view of them, e.g. would you let them look after your kids? So I feel sorry for those close to them who don't know who/what they really are.
With regards to them being children when it happened, they were stopped by people becuase of how they were treating the young child, but they claimed he was their brother when anyone asked questions. THey also said they were copying something the saw in a movie and that is why they did it.
They were trialled in an adult court, instead of one for young people. When a person of authority stood to question one of the boys, Im not sure which of the two it was, he looked the man and up and down and said "and what the f*ck are you looking at?" Is this really something a 10 year old boy would come out with to a person who could really decide if he was to be imprisoned for the rest of his life or not?
I just don't think that we have anything to gain from knowing the identities of these people.
The family of Jamie Bulger may have the right to be told the nature of the crime and possibly even the identity of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, however I fail to see what the public have to gain from this knowledge.
Surely the idea behind the concealmentof their identities, was to prevent them from falling subject to vigilante justice? They have already been punished for their crimes by recieving and serving a jail sentence.
Children usually know TOTALLY what they are doing to hurt someone. Just being younger and smaller doesn't mean they are not capable of knowingly inflicting pain.
Good point Hannah Montana (never thought id ever say that lmao) however, sometimes I believe vigilate justice works a heck of a lot better than locking someone up for a few years. And really, looking at the crime they committed, have they really had enough punishment?
Should they be protected from vigilante justice or should they be made to live with what they have done and the consequences of that, with no protection what so ever?
I don't think they deserve an easy ride.
But as I said - in this case vigilante justice = murder.
And whilst what they did was wrong we no longer have the death penalty in the UK and police cannot release the identities of these two without effectively killing them.
I think its incredibly sad that these children had it in them to do this, i think it is society that is to blame, i don't believe that anyone is innately evil. I think they must have witnessed that behaviour or have been hurt or something to inflict that much pain and torture upon practically a baby.
As such, i believe in forgiveness and i believe in rehabilitation. I hope that those two boys did not spend their time in prison purely being 'locked up'. I hope they had intensive therapy and that the aim of having them in prison was to fix what had obviously gone wrong in their first 10 years.
Therefore, i hope that they were released /will be released as rehabiliated, remorseful young men who wish to live a good life and give back to society what was taken from them and what they took from that poor little boy.
Like others, i think that there identities should be protected inorder to protect others from murdering. And if there received the right help in prison, then they should be of no risk to society.
Last edited by [Awakening] : 03-03-2010 at 12:07 PM.
Reason: sp
Yes, people would probably murder them, rather than beat the bejeebus out of them, causing more crime, which, as someone has stated before, would be daft.
They deffinately do not deserve an easy ride though. But, the issue is people who look like an older version of the ten year old boys have been attacked as people think they are Venables or Thompson. This makes others vunerable because of their crime. People are bayin for these boys' blood, and personally I believe some of them will stop at nothing.
These boys disregarded the law and therefore why should they be protected from the consequences?
Personally I don't think that it is the responsibilty of you or me to decide whether they have been punished enough. In the eyes of the law they have been.
If we were to allow these people to fall subject to vigilantism then I don't think that we would be much better than them.
Rules are there for a reason and we have to observe basic human rights regardless of the person or crime. Would you advocate vigilante justice in all cases?
As chaotic as it would be, I think vigilante justice would do better than a week in the cells for most law breakers. PLEASE NOTE: This does not mean I want it to happen.
Alot of murderers who commited really public murders get new identies, the problem lies where the media get involved and people identities are now knoen publicly, meaning they are now the target of hate crime, them and thier families. But having a new identily comes with a list of strict rules and conditions, its not as simple as being free.
The commited a crime, served thier time and got realeased, as said if thier identies where knowen then they would have been murdered most likly. I can understand people being angry and sickend by the crime, but why fight fire with fire, it doesnt make us any better than them. The problem really lies with the prison and scentanceing, you would think that getting life would mean life, but life just means 15 years, earlier in most cases.
Im my opinon, regardless of age if you commit a crime you should be severly punished, not with the lame system here, but thats going onto another issue.
"Its not how long a star shines, what is remembered is the brightness of the light"
Channel 4 did a drama on this topic a few years ago, Boy A it was called. All about this sort of scenario. It was very interesting, and actually quite emotional.
I resent the money that is used to provide these people (not just the boys, but similar cases such as Maxine Carr(?)) with new identities, new homes, new lives and then get further money from the state. However, I also see why it is done. Being a vigilante won't help anything or anyone.
The commited a crime, served thier time and got realeased, as said if thier identies where knowen then they would have been murdered most likly. I can understand people being angry and sickend by the crime, but why fight fire with fire, it doesnt make us any better than them.
If they do get new identities etc, they should damn well work for their money and housing, not just have it handed to them on a silver platter. WIth the state of the economy at the moment, i think quite a few people would seriously consider spending 15 years in prison to get a new identity and a house when they get out!
In the eyes of the law, people who rape five year olds only deserve 5-15yrs...
Prison systems are ****ed up. Someone can get life w/o parole for drug use, but can torture and kill a child and get out in 16?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleeding Angel
The commited a crime, served thier time and got realeased,
Did they actually serve their time though?
I don't think the lives of a murder should be protected, when the lives of every day people are being messed with harrassed and killed for something beyond their control, and the law has nearly nothing to protect them.
Yeah, I'm talking about hate crimes.
I'll take "hate crimes against criminals" seriously when the 'justice' system takes hate crimes against law abiding citizens seriouly.
In the eyes of the law, people who rape five year olds only deserve 5-15yrs...
Prison systems are ****ed up. Someone can get life w/o parole for drug use, but can torture and kill a child and get out in 16?
Did they actually serve their time though?
I don't think the lives of a murder should be protected, when the lives of every day people are being messed with harrassed and killed for something beyond their control, and the law has nearly nothing to protect them.
Yeah, I'm talking about hate crimes.
I'll take "hate crimes against criminals" seriously when the 'justice' system takes hate crimes against law abiding citizens seriouly.
I agree pretty much whole hartedly with you here. Especially regarding the time people serve for certain crimes.
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