An actual legal opinion on the Oxford Medical Student and her deferred sentence | The Secret Barrister

famasfilms · 2017-05-20T22:44:16+00:00

and personal mitigation including a promising career. Ms Woodward’s offence is more serious in the statutory hierarchy of violent offences; however she has what appears to be powerful mitigation relating to her reported issues with substance misuse and history as a victim of domestic violence

None of those factors are considered mitigating factors in the sentence guidelines, look at the second page of the first image.

This is not a legal opinion, just a really bad opinion.

user1492 · 2017-05-20T23:00:00+00:00

I don't think anyone seriously believes that the judge doesn't have the authority to sentence her to a suspended sentence.

The question is whether the judge's decision to suspend her sentence is appropriate.

Also, you get a year off your sentence for a "timely guilty plea"? That's pretty messed up.

famasfilms · 2017-05-20T15:05:37+00:00

the court must have regard to the statutory five purposes of sentencing – punishment, reduction of crime (including by deterrence), reform and rehabilitation of offenders; protection of the public; and making reparations – and will need to assess the appropriate emphasis in any given case. While stabbing with a bread knife is plainly serious, if the injury is not particularly grave, and if the court is of the view that more can constructively be achieved by avoiding sending a promising young defendant to prison and shattering their future life prospects, instead offering in the first instance a sentence focussing on rehabilitation to address deep-rooted problems laying behind the offending, then it is arguably in service of those five principles that a suspended sentence of imprisonment, with punitive and rehabilitative requirements attached, might be imposed.

Where a defendant who has never been in trouble is facing a custodial sentence of 2 years or under, and where they have the prospect of employment, education or caring responsibilities, judges will often strive to avoid passing a sentence of immediate imprisonment.

But the suggestion that this exceptional course is only ever reserved for the Prom Queens (or whatever our British equivalent is) is tired and lazy. The reason you don’t hear about the suspended sentences handed down for less photogenic defendants – for the 19 year-old lad starting his apprenticeship, or the 48 year-old mobile hairdresser – is mainly because the media tends not to report on them.

It really is incredible to see this sub frothing at the mouth because you (wrongly) believe that her sentence was deferred because of gender privilege.

At the same time, the SJWs and the BLM crowd are claiming it was because of white privilege.

I have also seen arguments that it is wealth or class privilege.

The TLDR of the above article is that the judge followed the established sentencing guidelines by DEFERRING her sentence.

You have no evidence to support the accusation that he only did that because she is female or that a man in similar circumstances would not get a deferred sentence.

This blog also refers to the case of "MUSTAFA BASHIR" who received a suspended sentence after he assaulted his wife with a cricket bat and made her drink bleach - so a non-white male also received a suspended sentence https://thesecretbarrister.com/2017/03/27/was-the-cricketer-who-forced-his-wife-to-drink-bleach-spared-prison-because-his-wife-was-too-intelligent/

The opinion of this blog is also backed up by other legal experts:

Francis FitzGibbon QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association, dismissed suggestions that the judge’s approach reflected any bias. “I can’t see any evidence that this was doing her a favour because she was a student at Oxford,” he said. “He has given her a chance to get clean.

“The purpose of these guidelines was to introduce consistency in sentencing, to stop a judge taking an unduly favourable view of someone because they come from a particular class or background. I can’t see any evidence of that in this case.”

Paul Mendelle QC, a former chairman of the Criminal Bar Association, commented: “The defendant did not receive preferential treatment but was scrupulously dealt with in accordance with the guidelines. Indeed, she is arguably worse off because she lives in Italy; had she been living here, she could have received a community penalty straight away without a period of deferral.”

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/may/19/oxford-student-lavinia-woodward-who-stabbed-ex-boyfriend-deletes-facebook-page-after-abuse

The reality is that most legal cases similar to this one do not make the news. This one did because the defendant is clever enough to be at Oxford, high potential enough to come top of her class, is white, is attractive and basically "box office.

This is your white/female privilege - having your story plastered all over the news, having a bunch of SJWs and MRAs grabbing pitchforks, having the tabloid press trawl your facebook for photos.

Yup, white/female privilege folks

Title	An actual legal opinion on the Oxford Medical Student and her deferred sentence \| The Secret Barrister
Author	famasfilms
Upvotes	15
Comments	32
Date	May 20, 2017 2:58 PM UTC (9 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/6carde/an_actual_legal_opinion_on_the_oxford_medical/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/an-actual-legal-opinion-on-the-oxford-medical.922265 https://theredarchive.com/post/922265

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