100s of lorries delivering water , chemicals etc … ; locals are going to be delighted .

and yes, the protesters have expressed no remorse for their actions – so why not a suspended sentence?

Same reason you go to prison for wilful refusal to pay the council tax…

(From Burnley.gov.uk)

If other methods of trying to recover the money you owe have been unsuccessful then the Council can apply to the Magistrates’ Court for you to be committed to prison.

You are required to either pay the total sum due in full or attend the Court hearing as you have been summonsed.

At Court you will have to appear before the Magistrates to explain why the Council Tax has not been paid.

Magistrates will conduct an enquiry into your means at the time the debt became due. You will be required to tell the court of your household income and how that income was spent. If the Magistrates find you guilty of wilful refusal to pay or culpable neglect to pay the Council Tax they may commit you to prison for up to 90 days for each Liability Order that you owe.  The Council will also request that the court award costs against you of £305.00 in respect of the committal summons.

That’s a very interesting comparison stevextc, I remember the Poll Tax riots very well. The govt. weren’t particularly interested in the will of the people that time either were they.

(plus a little bump as I’d like to keep this thread active, these are important issues.)

<p>Poll tax isn’t Council Tax.</p>

No, and whilst your pedantry is strong, there is a link and my point still stands 😉

Dodgy judgement?

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/judge-criticised-jailing-fracking-protesters-13396324

Dodgy judgement?

Well two pages in nobody has been able to state exactly why the sentence failed to conform to sentencing guidelines and several people have been able to state why it wasn’t suspended which seems to be the main criticism of the sentence.

Sentences quashed. I wonder if the hang them and flog them brigade will revise their remarks?

Sir Ian Burnett, the lord chief justice, said: “We have concluded that an immediate custodial sentence in the case of these defendants was manifestly excessive.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/17/court-quashes-excessive-sentences-of-fracking-protesters

Since the trio’s convictions, it has emerged that the judge who oversaw their trial has family links to the oil and gas industry.

Dodgy ****.

Looks like sanity has prevailed (eventually).

I’d be amazed if this sentence was incorrect

Well two pages in nobody has been able to state exactly why the sentence failed to conform to sentencing guidelines and several people have been able to state why it wasn’t suspended which seems to be the main criticism of the sentence.

Looks like Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett knows why though:

“Handing down today’s judgment, Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett said: ‘We have concluded that an immediate custodial sentence in the case of these appellants was manifestly excessive.’ Burnett said a community order with a significant requirement of unpaid work would have been an appropriate sentence.

The court will give full reasons for its ruling at a later date.”

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/manifestly-excessive-anti-fracking-jail-sentences-quashed/5067980.article

Outofbreath: “I’d be amazed if this sentence was incorrect ”

Lord Chief Justice: “manifestly excessive”

Good news that, the system apparently works.

I like the idea that protestors delaying traffic is to be punished with the mighty fist of the law but when Cuadrilla do it it’s all great.
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original judge should be sacked for not declaring a conflict of interest.

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Original judge should be subject to an investigation and dealt with. Sacked without a pension would be nice, but then no doubt will end up on the board of a fracking company….

According to this report

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/mp-asks-government-investigate-fracking-13407731

the family company

”supplies ships’ stores, including food, tools, rigging equipment and clothes.”

On the basis it supplies equipment to the Offshore O&G industry that won’t be needed onshore. To be honest that doesn’t sound like too much of a conflict of interest to me Hardly Halliburton is it.

That said I did think the sentences were harsh at the  time.

he family company

”supplies ships’ stores, including food, tools, rigging equipment and clothes.”

On the basis it supplies equipment to the Offshore O&G industry that won’t be needed onshore. To be honest that doesn’t sound like too much of a conflict of interest to me Hardly Halliburton is it.

You could argue that onshore gas extraction is a competitor to offshore energy extraction and therefore he chose to give “manifestly excessive” sentences in order to make martyrs of the defendants and increase people’s objections to onshore gas extraction, which it undoubtedly has.

However, if a judge was *knowingly* giving an excessive sentence you’d think they wouldn’t make it so excessive as to be blatantly obvious, You’d imagine the most they could get away with was ‘a little bit tougher’, unless they’re willing to trade their reputation and/or career to have a minuscule impact on their sister’s business.

We’ll have to wait for Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett’s reasoning, unless anyone on this thread wants to (finally) reveal why the sentence was out of line with the sentencing guidelines.

Do judges go through a review process if they have sentences quashed/significantly changed by the court of appeal? I hope so but I somehow think it’s more likely it’s just a quick chat down the gentleman’s club over cigars and port

Do judges go through a review process if they have sentences quashed/significantly changed by the court of appeal?

What can I complain about?

Seems like somebody has to make a complaint first…

Related?

https://earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/earthquakes/recent_uk_events.html

We’ll have to wait for Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett’s reasoning, unless anyone on this thread wants to (finally) reveal why the sentence was out of line with the sentencing guidelines.

I suggest he has a better handle on it than you.

Related?

Within hours of starting there were at least three earthquakes, one of which was very close to the size required to put a halt on any further works.

Related?

Blackpool FY4 is most of those.