'Joke' sentence will stand
Britain's top judge has attacked a sentence handed down to an armed robber as lenient – but has refused to increase it.
Neil Gordon was given a community order after stabbing and slashing a lone shopkeeper, sparking outrage from his victim, who condemned the punishment as "a joke".
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) appealed for the sentence to be increased and, giving his judgement, Lord Chief Justice Igor Judge said the CPS was right to mount the challenge.
However, he said Gordon had complied with every requirement of the order handed to him and it would be "unfair to impose a sentence that would interfere with his rehabilitation".
Gordon attacked Jitandra Patel in his Melton shop in September, stealing £670 cash.
He wounded the shopkeeper after the 52-year-old tried to stop him taking money from the till.
The 33-year-old, of Longcliffe Hill, Old Dalby, Melton, admitted robbery, having a bladed article and possessing a Class A drug at Leicester Crown Court, in March. He had spent 185 days in custody following his arrest. Gordon was sentenced to an 18-month community order with supervision by Judge Michael Pert QC, and ordered to attend a 12-month drug rehabilitation course and a substance abuse programme.
The CPS had prepared a report for the Attorney General containing reasons why the sentence was, in its opinion, unduly lenient.
Refusing to increase the sentence, Lord Judge said: "The appropriate sentence should have been one of immediate custody.
"The message must be clear – shopkeepers performing valuable services to their communities must be protected."
However, he said Gordon should be given the chance to rid himself of drugs and the community order would remain in place.
"This is a man who looks as though he is starting to become rehabilitated and who is obeying the conditions attached to the community sentence.
"All the evidence suggests there are indications the process of rehabilitation is well under way, although not complete."
The court was told Gordon joined the Army at the age of 18, but left shortly after three of his colleagues were killed by a car bomb in Northern Ireland.
He was left suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and developed a drugs problem.
After the hearing, district crown prosecutor Lawrence English said: "While we appreciated the defendant's mitigating circumstances in that he had post-traumatic stress disorder, we considered the seriousness of the case and the impact of the attack on the victim to outweigh that. We believed the sentence to be insufficient for the severity of the crime.
"Although today's hearing has not resulted in a custodial sentence, we are pleased our decision to refer the case to the court was deemed to be the right one and that we have taken forward every legal avenue open to us to appeal the sentence and safeguard the public."
Mr Patel said while he welcomed the news Gordon was "taking steps to clean up his life", he could never forgive him for what he had done.
He said: "It has changed my life and made me wary of everyone who comes into the shop.
"It's not a very friendly way to live, all because of what one person did. I hope he uses the opportunity to clean himself up."
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by Matt, Leicester
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:52PM
“Pete - Ok, I assumed wrong that you'd moved out there to retire.
Back to your points though -
1. You make the comment about free speech but fail to appreciate the irony that your comments (even those threatening me in a cowardly round about way) have been allowed to stand and while you may point towards some being removed, 90% of the comments of this site are in a similar vain to yours and they also get left alone. It's only when things get extreme to the point of it actually breaking the law that they tend to be taken off. So there you go, talking rubbish there aren't you.
2. You claim that people are afraid to speak out incase do-gooders like me bite back. Well all I did was make a comment, you're the one who went down the route of accusing me of being evil, making various other personal remarks and ridiculous assumptions about what my beliefs are.
3. You can GUARANTEE that people who have serious mental health issues (post-traumatic stress disorder), a serious drug addiction (ok self inflicted, but possibly linked to the mental health problem) just need a good kicking? There may be some criminals where that would do the trick but with others its far, far more complicated. You use the example of the graffiti artist in Spain to prove your point, but the two things are not comparable. A kid with a spray can probably would brick it at the thought of a mob of angry residents chasing him off but this case is a million miles away from that.
In the end i have done no more than consider the possibility that there MIGHT, and I stress MIGHT be some sense in the judges approach on this occasion, offering an alternative viewpoint, not claiming to know everything like you Pete. To parrot you, whatever happened to freedom of speech.
You need to grow up a little, then you can have a proper discussion with the adults.”
by CJ, Leics
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:48PM
“Rest my case, People on here are just so slow and not with it. Race? Rizvan 'We were having a valid discussion before'. You haven't left one comment as of yet? Shame on who me, you everyone. Don't play the old 'Race card' If you read the comment you would understand simple. Read it!”
by Rizvan, Oadby
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:40PM
“CJ please do not spout any racial views on here. We were having a valid discussion before.”
by oh dear, leic
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:39PM
“oh dear oh dear oh dear this just sums up justice in this country.
British Justice stuffing the honest.”
by Raj, Highfields
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:35PM
“CJ why are you bringing race into it. Typical of you. Pete is clearly sticking up for the shopkeeper and you dare to drag race into. Shame on you. You will see he was referring to recently elected party - but it is clear he was referring to them on matters of crime and punishment. It is people like you CJ that people of my community wish would stop banging on about race as that divides the communities - colour or race should never be mentioned and anyone who mentions could be classed as a racist. CJ it was you who first mentioned it here - what does that make you??”
by Pete, Syston
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:31PM
“CJ - you asked what I would do to stop him re-offending - well a spell in the stocks (if you bothered to read my message) would deter him as he would possibly think 'ooops I dont want to stab anyone again otherwise I will suffer those horrible consequencies. Now theres a thought ... lol although a little to technical for you to understand.
Last week in my village a youth attemting to graffiti a house (not his) and the chap in the house gave him a wallop around the head and then the whole street came out - but here is the difference - in the country of CJ's the chap would have been arrested for assault and yobbo would have been given a pat on the back. Whereas here he was chased away by the whole street. Surprise to say CJ he has not been back with his spray can - and why? you may ask as he has not been rehabilitated - but the answer although hard for you to comprehend could be that he has thought 'i aint gonna do that again uderwise i gonna get smacked //// (spelling errors intentional)
Just a little though to leave you with CJ - however I fear it will make no impact on your already set in stone lunatic do gooder thoughts..”
by CJ, Leicester
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:28PM
“'You speak about what people like me are doing to try and change the country'. - but Pete, Mr. Jitandra Patel isn't really an English person by birth or rights, so are you saying he shouldn't be here or that the attacker shouldn't or both?”
by CJ, Leics
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:23PM
“Pete - the country is going under due to bad government decisions dating back well before your and my time, both Left and Right parties have let us down, not just Left, look at Thatcher, I don¿t think she helped us by privatising most things.
Your view ¿what is to rehabilitate - in my opinion it is to ensure the offender does not offend again¿.
A little vague there Pete, what are the processes, the step and measure they use to make sure they do not re-offend or lessen the chance to do so.
For you information I think we have all written comment that have been blacked out by the paper, again if you read what I said before, which again you seem to fail to do I wrote this,
¿I do not back Britain up, again if you ever read what I write or wrote in the pass you will see I am not happy with the countries policies and the way we have gone and are going¿....
Also this isn¿t a British problem did you know there¿re criminals in Spain also Pete? Not all counties just shoot people dead! Yes he need to go to prison serve his time (the man wasn¿t killed after all), and then once he is fit or ready he can receive the right help etc.
We can go on forever, as for the ¿do gooders¿ part, which part of this is that referred to? I am not backing up some of your pints as well as discussing others other points.
So if you were in power you would just shoot and kill people if they haven¿t killed anyone else? People only had the death penalty if there were found guilty of murder not a robber.
Would your idea of the ¿stocks¿ work, well I don¿t think so he would be even more upset and properly go out and kill someone!
End”
by Pete, Syston
Thursday, July 02 2009, 2:03PM
“I am 29 years old Matt and have opened up a diving school here. So not quite on my last legs as you suspected.. I tell you how to rehabilitate him - after all what is to rehabilitate - in my opinion it is to ensure the offender does not offend again. There you go not difficult to understand - so if you put him in the stocks and have an eye for eye - I guarantee you he will not re-offend. You speak about what people like me are doing to try and change the country - you seem to forget one important point - the pc lunatic mentality of the UK does not allow us to have a free speech any more - simple as that. The Leic Mercury are just as bad - over recent weeks many people posted points relating to a valid and recently elected party who are tough on crime - but every comment was then removed and only comments relating to the main stream soft on crime parties were left on - as I said - there is no freedom of speech any longer in the UK - it is run by a dictatorship of lunatic left wing baffoons who stay in power by oppressing the views of the vast majority. Everyone is scared to speak their mind in the UK for fear of being called this and called that. That is the reality of the UK so don't preach about being able to change things as it is people with your mindset that have caused this country to decline so much. I am not looking for an argument with you - just merely stating clear facts and there will be thousands of readers who will agree with me but are too scared to speak up for fear of do gooders like you biting back and called them all sorts. Everyone knows I am right.”
by Matt, Leicester
Thursday, July 02 2009, 12:46PM
“Intelligent POINTS, i meant to say at the end there...
Oh, and while I'm here, Pete why are you making veiled threats to anyone who has a different viewpoint? What have you done personally to change what you see as a failed system, because unless you have actively campaigned on this issue then you're just as culpable as the 'do-gooders' for the state we're supposedly in.
I take it that you're a lot older than me (what with your move to Spain) so in actual fact the country we've got is largely down to YOU, well not you because you are just another cog in the wheel like the rest of us, but your generation. So maybe you should stay in Spain, afterall look at the state you've left our country in.
Now I know that's all pretty ridiculous and over the top, but I thought I'd try and see what it was like operating at your level.
I feel dirty now.”