[Closed] Swimmer Gaoled for six months

Jail

does seem a bit harsh.

PC nonsense gone mad, ridiculous sentence, or did he deserve it? Have we become a police state?

With that sort of trolling, you could take over the lunchtime slot on BBC Radio 2.

[quote=Gweilo ]
And why does this forum try to force me to use an American English spelling of Gaol (Jail)
How so?

prison is too good for him

trial by ordeal would be a fitting way to deal with this
IMHO

[i]trial by ordeal[/i]

well he floated so he's clearly a witch.

[b]Gweilo[/b] Not sure there's any spell checking facility on STW. Probably your web browser.

druidh -maybe we could share the slot and Junkyard involved to make sure we get a balanced view 😀

Gaol and Jail are both acceptable English, both are derived from French, while Jail is the only one recognised in American, both have always been used in English (but spell checking is done by the browser not the forum).

6 months is a stupid overreaction sentence, but oxbridge represents the system, so its no surprise.

If other recent harsh sentencing is anything to go by, he'll probably appeal and get out with 100 hours community service or other far more appropriate sentence. Jailing him at public expense is farcical.

Judge Anne Molyneux said Oldfield had acted dangerously, disproportionately, had not shown what he was actually protesting against, and displayed prejudice in sabotaging the event which he regarded as elitist.

Ironically, tjailing him has given his 'protest' far more media exposure, as well as displaying prejudice by the sentencing judge. Just daft. As for 'dangerous'; only to himself really.

And why does this forum try to force me to use an American English spelling of Gaol (Jail)

It's actually old English - the Americans have continued to use a lot of old English ways of spelling things which we no longer commonly use.

Hooray for the UK justice system!

Say something stupid on TwitFace? JAIL

Get in the way of a rowing boat? JAIL

Beat up a teenager using his crutches? WARNING 😕

I'm just waiting to see what Nick Griffin gets for inciting homophobic crime on twitter.

Another example of "don't mess with upper class establishment"

If he'd ran onto a football/cricket/rugby pitch and stopped the game for a wee while he'd be seen as a bit of an a**e at worst and thrown out with a warning. But because it was the posh boys rowing match he gets jailed.

F*****g disgrace.

Swear at a policeman if you're an MP? Get off scot-free.

taser a blind man carrying a walking stick? Just apologise and it's ok.

Kill an innocent newspaper seller on his way home from work? get away with murder.

sorry last suggestion should have been to cranberry.... i really should use me specs.

Good point Hammerite I'm using Chrome, I must complain bitterly to Google about their poor choice of dictionary lol

Judge Anne Molyneux said Oldfield had acted dangerously, disproportionately, had not shown what he was actually protesting against, and displayed prejudice in sabotaging the event which[b] he regarded as elitist[/b].

Good point Hammerite I'm using Chrome, I must complain bitterly to Google about their poor choice of dictionary lol

Or even install the UK English dictionary?

Say something stupid on TwitFace? JAIL

Get in the way of a rowing boat? JAIL

Beat up a teenager using his crutches? WARNING

You really have to look into both the jury and judges background before claiming "upper class", but for the purposes of STW I'm happy to run with it.

6mths, reduced to 2 for good behaviour..

Writes a book or gets a deal from the Newspapers.. QuidsIn.. 😆

Swear at a policeman if you're an MP? Get off scot-free.

taser a blind man carrying a walking stick? Just apologise and it's ok.

Kill an innocent newspaper seller on his way home from work? get away with murder

Say something stupid on TwitFace? JAIL

Get in the way of a rowing boat? JAIL

Beat up a teenager using his crutches? WARNING

I wonder if the countries judges etc realise how stupid they look in the light of the daft and onconsistent sentencing they collectively dish out?

Did he have any previous convictions?

The swimmer that disrupted The Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race has been gaoled for six months, burglars get community sentences.... though we can shoot them now!

PC nonsense gone mad, ridiculous sentence, or did he deserve it? Have we become a police state? Debate

they should ask for the Arts Council grant he got back as well as that is clearly "elitist"

To be fair to the judges, a lot of the stupid sentencing during the riots was encouraged/pushed for by the politicians, before most of the sentences were overturned for being disproportionate.

I know you've got to look at contributing factors and base each case on it's own but how the hell can interrupting a boat race by just being there (ie not blowing shit up or waving guns around) get you 6months

You really have to look into both the jury and judges background before claiming "upper class", but for the purposes of STW I'm happy to run with it.

Why the jury?
They surely only have to deliver a verdict of guilty or not guilty on the evidence presented, what input do they have on the sentence in this case?

Completely over the top.

These sentences for seemingly trivial things (swimming in the boat race, cut-and-pasting jokes onto your own facebook page, jokes on twitter) do seem to be getting more ridiculous.

I think Nick Griffin's twitter post is an example of something that *does* warrant prison. Can't see how it can be avoided given previous sentences for facebook/twitter stuff

Stupid sentence.

Can't see how it can be avoided given previous sentences for facebook/twitter stuff

It does make all the political bleating over the Pussy Riot case in Russia look hypocritical.

jota180 - Member

Or even install the UK English dictionary?

Excellent and helpful suggestion. Just a shame that its already installed and Chrome states it can't use it for spell checking when you select it in Settings.....

But thanks anyway 😕

Oh, and some other background. He was initially charged with a section 5 public order offence. This was changed to the common law charge of "public nuisance" under political pressure, as section 5 doesn't carry a custodial sentence.

70% of the cabinet are Oxbridge graduates.

they should ask for the Arts Council grant he got back as well as that is clearly "elitist"

How? I don't think you actually understand what 'elitism' means.

class law in action-- message is dont **** with us !

Good point Hammerite I'm using Chrome, I must [s]complain bitterly to Google about their poor choice of dictionary lol[/s] stop being a pretentious twit and accept the far more common use of the word

Yes, good idea.

Now please excuse me whilst I perambulate to the water closet before quaffing my flagon of ale at the public house. 🙄

I tend to agree with some of the posts above, a violent thug, based on his previous record, employed by the Filth gets away with beating a newspaper seller and Killing him. Another yob in the Filth Tasers a crippled old man and gets away with it, but you go swimming in the Thames and spoil a race off to gaol with you

Somethings very wrong there if you ask me - which of course you didn't 😀

I have no time for the boat race but…

He was Jailed for being a Public Nuisance which is pretty clear cut. The fact the nuisance he was causing impacted a large number of pim’s drinking toffs on the river bank and people watching on TV who really should have something better to do is irrelevant. It is a pretty large scale event and he cocked it up for all concerned. It comes down to proportionality – did his right to protest outweigh the right of everyone else involved and interested to see the event progress uninterrupted. He made a massive misjudgement and I think an appropriate message has been sent out.

did his right to protest outweigh the right of everyone else involved and interested to see the event progress uninterrupted

If we're going to start judging cases on their entertainment value, then what about all the people who massively enjoyed watching a boat race go wrong?

If you used the term prison instead of gaol, would Google try and change it to penitentiary?

He made a massive misjudgement and I think an appropriate message has been sent out.

Yet a serving police officer with a history of violence made a 'massive misjudgment', and walked free after unlawfully killing an innocent man.

If we are to have policing and justice by Consent, then the application of Law must be fair, unprejudiced and proportionate. Otherwise the whole issue of 'Consent' is thrown into querstion, and Justice suffers.

A win win situation would be to stone him to death but substituting the stones for pims drinking toffs and boat race watching grannies. That would lern um – it would also make better TV.

njee20 - Member
stop being a pretentious twit and accept the far more common use of the word

Thanks for the abuse njee did you actually check the correct usage of the word perambulate before you used it? The answer is of course no because you permabulate through something not to something,

e.g. I perambulated the corridors of STW

I suggest you buy a dictionary, and or a thesaurus, to digest with your flagon of ale at the local hostelry. You may be better informed before you dish it out next time.

Gweilo, I'm not a bobby, but I find the use of the term 'filth' both offensive and lazily stereotypical. As well as your emotive use of language.

I don't necessarily disagree with your point, but your clichéd and subjective post weakens your argument.

If I were the sort of person that reports posts, I would have done.

That is all, carry on...

If the same bloke had taken out Bradley as he rolled into Hampton Court for his gold then I daresay we'd look at the sentence as a bit more appropriate.

Just because the Boat Race is, in my view, a boring spectacle enjoyed principally by braying toffs doesn't obscure the fact that the participants had put a year or more of their life and training into preparing for it, and had all that ruined by the pillock.

Sure, there is plenty wrong with criminal justice in general, but this seems about right to me.

If we're going to start judging cases on their entertainment value, then what about all the people who massively enjoyed watching a boat race go wrong?

good point. I, and I susepct millions of others, found the boatrace far more entertaining this year due to the actions of mr Oldfield. Why was this not taken into consideration for sentencing?

If the same bloke had taken out Bradley as he rolled into Hampton Court for his gold then I daresay we'd look at the sentence as a bit more appropriate.

If he'd injured someone as a result of his actions, yes. But Mr Oldfield did not create any genuine risk to anyone but himself. Fenton caused more damage than Trenton.

Did he have any previous convictions?

Yep, he torpedoed a yacht at Cowes in 2005 leaving to the removal of his submarine licence. He spiked a horse at Badminton trials in 2008 leading to an injunction from Princess Anne and in 2011, his highest profile stunt yet, he took a massive dump on centre court in full view of Princess Michael of Kent and Cliff Richard. Cliff fainted at the state of his cleggies. He was held in the tower pillorys for 3 days, during which time members of the All England Club were invited to serve tennis balls at his troublesome face. Only three managed full on strikes...

In his latest misadventure against our once great institutions, I think the judge would have been justified in sentencing him to transportation to Van Diemens Land for the rest of his natural!

in 2011, his highest profile stunt yet, he took a massive dump on centre court in full view of Princess Michael of Kent and Cliff Richard. Cliff fainted at the state of his cleggies

Ha ha! Brilliant! Surely such an act would be deserving of a knighthood no?

v8ninety - apologies if I offended you with my choice of language.

If the same bloke had taken out Bradley as he rolled into Hampton Court for his gold then I daresay we'd look at the sentence as a bit more appropriate.

I find the use of the term 'filth' both offensive and lazily stereotypical

How many pitch invaders get 6months? or doesn't it matter cause it's not the pimms drinkers playing/watching

They couldn't just carry on like in football. They were halfway through the race, with all the expended effort that entails. Game over for both crews. He trashed the whole event, and a year's work for the athletes.

Really? I'm not a rower, but I'd be amazed if there's a sport which is so strenuous that you only get one go to compete in it in a year.

If they'd restarted, they'd both have the same handicap, so no problem.

[quote=martinhutch ]They couldn't just carry on like in football. They were halfway through the race, with all the expended effort that entails. Game over for both crews. He trashed the whole event, and a year's work for the athletes.
It [b]was[/b] restarted and Cambridge won.

He trashed the whole event, and a year's work for the athletes.

Don't be such a drama queen. It merely delayed it for a few minutes is all. And brought more media attention to the boat race than ever before.

Neil horan has caused far more trouble yet not been sentenced to jail:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Horan

(He did spend two months in custody awaiting trial but has never been given a custodial sentence, despite actually endangering life and public safety, unlike Trenton)

He trashed the whole event, and a year's work for the athletes.

😆

Have a word with yourself will you?

Writes a book or gets a deal from the Newspapers..

What's the book going to be about? Once upon a time I went for a little swim? Hardly the stuff of an epic novel.

I still don't think there was any way he was going to beat those boats.

Judge Anne Molyneux said Oldfield had acted dangerously,

disproportionately,

displayed prejudice in sabotaging the event which he regarded as elitist.

Doesn't Oxbridge keep banging on about how inclusive it is? Is this an admission that they're Elitist?

Should have been a civil case really, with the Public order arrest as a way to get him out of the water and give him a stern telling off.

Only Dangerous to hime really... [b]If you can't avoid an object in the river you're not really a top flight rower.[/b]

I cant see what the big deal is with his sentence.. Average sentence for a pitch invasion at footy is four months so six for this event was about right in my opinion.

Only Dangerous to hime really... If you can't avoid an object in the river you're not really a top flight rower.

Lets face it, the boat race would be much more entertaining if they did have to dodge obstacles etc

And sharks. With lasers.

mikeconnor - I think Neil Horran is a better analogy, or perhaps they guy who put tacks on the TdF course this year (or even the Caledonian Etape course a few years ago). Certainly you'll find people on here who would be happy with a custodial sentence for disrupting THEIR sport.

I'm not sure if the 'but football pitch invaders aren't sentenced so severely' is an argument that this sentence is too harsh or that football related ones are too weak. I do agree that the severity of disruption is probably different, and this appears to have been premeditated rather than spur of the moment. However it is not unheard of for pitch invaders to get significant sentences (although perhaps only in countries who are serious about football hooliganism!):

8 months SCOTLAND: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/football-pitch-invader-jailed-2354782.html
6 months NETHERLANDS: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/dutch-pitch-invader-gets-six-months-jail/story-e6frg7mf-1226233450734
4 months CYPRUS: http://www.insideworldfootball.biz/worldfootball/europe/11244-anorthosis-fan-jailed-for-invading-pitch-at-europa-league-tie

Sentencing has multiple purposes, one of which is a deterrent to others (and to the offender from repeating his activities). If the outcome here was 'trivial' it would invite every protestor to consider the same action to support their cause.

If we're going to start judging cases on their entertainment value, then what about all the people who massively enjoyed watching a boat race go wrong?

The sentence hopefully wiped that smug look off his Chevy Chase.

STW inverted snobbery shocker!

Lets face it, the boat race would be much more entertaining if they did have to dodge obstacles etc

Like "We are the champions" only with better grades. Get me the phone number for university challenge - they're missing a round.

I've never been in a rowing boat and have about as much chance of being accepted into Oxford/Cambridge as I have of being chosen as the next Victoria's Secret 'Angel'. But, I just cannot understand the chippy mentality of those pathetic oxygen thieves who appear to revel in the disruption to this sporting occasion.

Do you know the background of each and every one of the rowers? Most of them aren't even Brits. Have you met them and conducted extensive questionnaires to determine the nature of their character? If you drop your instinctive hatred for those who come from (or whom you imagine to come from) a different socio-economic bracket to you, you may find that you start to enjoy your lives more.

I think a custodial sentence is disproportionate, but then I don't think people should be jailed for being dicks on the internet either, if they did they'd have to build a SuperMax just for this forum.

Look at it objectively. Did her break the law? Yes.

Whether you look at the boat race as top flite athletes competing in a traditional and prestigious competition or as a bunch of Ruperts splashing around spending father's money; a crime was still committed and should be treated as such.

The disruption was huge and whilst he has apparently been awarded 6 months, I am sure that this will translate into a far shorter sentence.

For info...

Judge Anne Molyneux said Oldfield had acted dangerously, disproportionately, had not shown what he was actually protesting against, and displayed prejudice in sabotaging the event which he regarded as elitist.

She said: "You did nothing to address inequality by giving yourself the right to spoil the enjoyment of others.

"In doing so, you acted without regard for equality and contrary to the meaning of it.

"You made your decision to sabotage the race based on the membership or perceived membership of its participants of a group to which you took exception.

"That is prejudice."

Put it this way, if a crowd of fellows in red hunting jackets and horsewhips ran into the middle of the FA cup final halfway through and caused so much disruption that the game had to be restarted...

.......... What would happen ?

What would happen ?

I dunno, what do you think would happen? I can hazard that there'd be some inverted responses here though. 🙂

6 months in gaol seems lean.

If he had disrupted a football match he would get a football banning order and never be allowed back in a ground, have passport arrested when ever there's a football tournament on etc etc.

At least he only has to worry about dropping the soap for 3 months before being released for good behavior and then can happily go back to swimming in the Thames if he so wishes.

8 months SCOTLAND: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/football-pitch-invader-jailed-2354782.html
6 months NETHERLANDS: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/dutch-pitch-invader-gets-six-months-jail/story-e6frg7mf-1226233450734
4 months CYPRUS: http://www.insideworldfootball.biz/worldfootball/europe/11244-anorthosis-fan-jailed-for-invading-pitch-at-europa-league-tie

8 months for invading the pitch and assaulting the manager
6 months for invading the pitch and assaulting the goalkeeper
4 months for invading the pitch as part of a larger outbreak of violence.

So hardly comparable situations, and a pretty poor attempt to justify the excessive sentence in this case.

MSP - 8 months for invading the pitch and assaulting the manager
6 months for invading the pitch and assaulting the goalkeeper
4 months for invading the pitch as part of a larger outbreak of violence.

So hardly comparable situations, and a pretty poor attempt to justify the excessive sentence in this case.

those were 3 examples that popped out of google. I'm sure someone with more time could find others. The first one is 8 months for the pitch invasion only, the jury acquitted him of assault. The second was an attempted assault (actually the keeper ended up kicking him) and the last link was as you say one of a group - not sure that makes it any more serious, indeed if anything it could have been a mitigation that he was caught up in peer pressure or dragged along?

However I wasn't trying to justify this sentence (I think the Judge did a pretty good job of that in her sentencing remarks http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgments/sentencing-remarks-r-v-oldfield.pdf). I was merely pointing out that pitch invasions can carry prison sentences contrary to earlier claims, and that since I considered this to be at least as serious it should too.

In similar news, i used to see the Cradle Of Filth "Jesus Is A Count"(minis o) T-Shirt everywhere.

If recent events are 'owt to go by, that would be jail time.