Hinds found guilty of murder

Snickers Man

Richard Hinds has been found guilty by a court in Japan of the murder of Irish student Nicola Furlong.

The 19 year old American musician and another American man brought two Irish students, 21 year old Nicola Furlong and an unnamed friend back to their hotel after meeting them in a bar following a rap concert. On the way there in a taxi cab, the two men were recorded in conversation anticipating having sex with the two comatose girls.

CCTV footage in the hotel showed that the girls were so incapacitated they had to be placed in wheelchairs to be taken by elevator to the men's hotel room.

In the course of the evening, Nicola Furlong died in Mr Hinds' room. The court heard forensic evidence that she had been strangled. The prosecution alleged that the most likely explanation was that Mr Hinds was trying, unsuccessfully according to forensic evidence, to have sex with a comatose Ms Furlong and that when she woke up and started to struggle, he strangled her.

Hinds claimed that Ms Furlong demanded "rough sex", a part of which was her insisting that he put his hands on her neck. His defence claimed that a combination of drink and drugs had caused the woman's death.

Last week, Hinds' friend was found guilty of sexual assault on Furlong's friend and, in a separate incident, another woman.

In his ruling, the judge denounced Hinds for his lack of remorse and his attempts to blacken Furlong's reputation.
Hinds has been sentenced to a minimum of five years in jail.

padd b1975

Snickers Man wrote: »

Richard Hinds has been found guilty by a court in Japan of the murder of Irish student Nicola Furlong.

The 19 year old American musician and another American man brought two Irish students, 21 year old Nicola Furlong and an unnamed friend back to their hotel after meeting them in a bar following a rap concert. On the way there in a taxi cab, the two men were recorded in conversation anticipating having sex with the two comatose girls.

CCTV footage in the hotel showed that the girls were so incapacitated they had to be placed in wheelchairs to be taken by elevator to the men's hotel room.

In the course of the evening, Nicola Furlong died in Mr Hinds' room. The court heard forensic evidence that she had been strangled. The prosecution alleged that the most likely explanation was that Mr Hinds was trying, unsuccessfully according to forensic evidence, to have sex with a comatose Ms Furlong and that when she woke up and started to struggle, he strangled her.

Hinds claimed that Ms Furlong demanded "rough sex", a part of which was her insisting that he put his hands on her neck. His defence claimed that a combination of drink and drugs had caused the woman's death.

Last week, Hinds' friend was found guilty of sexual assault on Furlong's friend and, in a separate incident, another woman.

Hinds has been sentenced to a minimum of five years in jail.

WTF???

oldyouth

For the manner in which he attacked her character during the trial, in front of her family, 5 years is not enough.

Hopefully everyone can begin to find some closure now

kev1.3s

Snickers Man wrote: »

Richard Hinds has been found guilty by a court in Japan of the murder of Irish student Nicola Furlong.

The 19 year old American musician and another American man brought two Irish students, 21 year old Nicola Furlong and an unnamed friend back to their hotel after meeting them in a bar following a rap concert. On the way there in a taxi cab, the two men were recorded in conversation anticipating having sex with the two comatose girls.

CCTV footage in the hotel showed that the girls were so incapacitated they had to be placed in wheelchairs to be taken by elevator to the men's hotel room.

In the course of the evening, Nicola Furlong died in Mr Hinds' room. The court heard forensic evidence that she had been strangled. The prosecution alleged that the most likely explanation was that Mr Hinds was trying, unsuccessfully according to forensic evidence, to have sex with a comatose Ms Furlong and that when she woke up and started to struggle, he strangled her.

Hinds claimed that Ms Furlong demanded "rough sex", a part of which was her insisting that he put his hands on her neck. His defence claimed that a combination of drink and drugs had caused the woman's death.

Last week, Hinds' friend was found guilty of sexual assault on Furlong's friend and, in a separate incident, another woman.

In his ruling, the judge denounced Hinds for his lack of remorse and his attempts to blacken Furlong's reputation.
Hinds has been sentenced to a minimum of five years in jail.

A minimum of 5 years? Scumbag should have gotten life! Showed absolutely no remorse during the course of through trial.

seamus

Pity the sentences are so short, but I'm delighted that the judges saw through his blatant lies.

Hopefully the Furlong family now have some kind of closure.

Grand Moff Tarkin

He should hang.

biko

Disgusting how someone can premeditate rape (yes, that's what it is when she's too drunk to say no) and then pretend she wanted rough sex after having squeezed the life from her body.
Unfortunately date rape seems to be prevalent still, sadly this one ended in murder too.

galwayrush

5 years isn't even enough for attacking her character.
Did they actually take the murder into acount in the sentencing?

efb

He's a minor 10 years in the maximum

michael999999

If he had been convicted over here he would be out in ten to eleven years anyway!

Let's just hope the labour he serves is severe!

Grand Moff Tarkin

The frighting thing is when this scumball gets out he will try and sell more (c)rap music about his time locked up. A disgusting individual who has no guilt and no remorse for his cold and calculating rape and murder of this young lady on top of his desperate attempt to destroy her character just to save his skin.

Oryx

Her family would have known the sentence would be light. Sickening for them having to listen to his lies knowing that at best he would serve ten years.And he only gets five. Disgusting.

Ive always felt the staff at the hotel were culpable too. Did noone think to check who these girls were and whether they needed medical help?

brandon_flowers

Under 20 is considered a minor in Japan, which is disgraceful IMO.

The guy is obviously a sickening beast. The support he got in the States just shows how backward that country really is.

kev1.3s

Imo its fine to get a light sentence for petty crime like theft for minors but this individual committed a very serious crime and should not be treated the same.how long did Jamie bolgers killers serve?

Just Like Heaven

Sickening to hear the sentence is so short, but you're not considered an adult in Japan until the age of 20.

clappyhappy

Let's hope the hard labour is very hard. I'm sure the family had been told of the expected sentence.

Death and Taxes

galwayrush wrote: »

5 years isn't even enough for attacking her character.
Did they actually take the murder into acount in the sentencing?

Yes they did but under Japanese law he was tried as a minor.
The actual sentence was no less than 5 years and no more than 10 years ,with Labour

Dr Strange

It says 5 years with labour. I hope that in some small way the "labour" part makes up the lack of a longer sentence somewhat but that depends on what "labour" means in the Japanese prison system.

gdavis

Biko,she was not too drunk,she was drugged by him.

Franticfrank

Horrendous. Lucky for him that he escaped the death sentence. More than likey he'll reoffend when he gets out.

shanered

Deserves longer sentence especially with the tact he took in court. I wish a tough five years on him and hopefully closure to the furlong family, my sympathies lie with them.

Vizzy

Hope he gets plenty of the rough sex that he was looking for.

Chuck Stone

Japanese prisons are supposed to be very tough. I hope his sentence drags the murdering cunt.

seven_eleven

This has been posted here a few times before, but Ill link again: http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-159095.html

Its a short account of what modern Japanese prisons are like. They're are very tough. And the fact that hinds is a black American will only make it tougher him.
He'll be broken at the end of his 5 years, hopefully. And know the Japanese justice system he will probably serve the 10 years anyway just because.
They have something like a 99% conviction rate in Japan. No time for bullshít.

Also http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/03/19/issues/a-violent-death-some-justice-few-answers-in-furlong-case/#.UUghqVfEpZN

The camera records what would become key prosecution evidence in the trials of both men, a conversation full of leering, predatory braggadocio. “These bitches fell into our lap,” says one. “We can f—k them,” says the younger one. “We gotta keep them f—ked up.” Then Blackston: “We are going to f—k them and leave them in my room.” At one stage the men exchange fist bumps.

Last week, nine months later, the accused minor would dismiss all this as “meaningless talk” in the Tokyo District Court.

suicide_circus

Lets hope he is rehabilitated by his time in prison

the_syco

Japanese hard labour is just that; making car parts and/or mobile phones. If you refuse, you are put in

a little cell with nothing in it, and they forced you to sit rigidly all day at a desk until it was time to eat and sleep.

itac

For some reason, the murder of Nicola hit me really hard. I remember first hearing that an Irish woman had been found in hotel, after travelling to a concert with a friend. I thought of how often I'd gone to gigs, travelling to the venue full of excitement, joking with my friends, singing along together throughout the gig, and then, late in the night, gotten separated (or hooked up with a guy!) and woke up the next day with just a sore head.

To think of what she must have gone through, and what her family have, and will have to go through, has upset me more than I thought. Hearing the news this morning that all he gets is ten years, max, has both horrified, and infuriated me beyond belief this morning.

You take a life, you do life-it should be as simple as that. He'll eventually get out, go home, and he will be back out there, going to gigs with friends and enjoying life. Nicola's family are the ones serving the life sentence here, they will be suffering til the end. My heart goes out to them, her friends, and to her friend who was with her, who suffered so much out there too.

MugMugs

gdavis wrote: »

Biko,she was not too drunk,she was drugged by him.

She was drugged yes but she was also full of booze so she was drunk.

Seaneh

seven_eleven wrote: »

They have something like a 99% conviction rate in Japan. No time for bullshít.

Actually, the high conviction rate in Japan is more to do with rampant corruption within the police and prosecution services than anything else. They only bring a tiny amount of cases to trial because they (the police and prosecution services) have to keep an insane percentage pf successful cases.

Only about 11% of all unnatural deaths ever result in an autopsy as police have the power to declare a cause of death at the scene.

Despite the doe eyed view of people in the west of Japan being a society where honour is all important, this same "honour system" causes a massice amount of crimes to be ignored as failure of the police to get convictions would mean they were failing in their jobs and thus failing society so instead of opening investigations into murders/fraud/whatever they ignore the ones that look too messy to convict easily to maintain their high conviction rates. So you end up with a society where you have statistically low numbers of "murders" and an insanely high number of unexplained deaths being attributed to "natural causes" and organisations like the Yakuza being left to do as they wish with little or no interference from the Police.

Swampy

michael999999 wrote: »

If he had been convicted over here he would be out in ten to eleven years anyway!

Let's just hope the labour he serves is severe!

It's not hard labour. They make shoes, furniture etc. it's a damn pity that he is considered a minor there. Deserves life at the minimum.

seven_eleven

Swampy wrote: »

It's not hard labour. They make shoes, furniture etc. it's a damn pity that he is considered a minor there. Deserves life at the minimum.

You underestimate the Japanese prison system. Psychological torture and ostracization are large factors. Hard labour making shoes is not some 9-5 casual production line job inside there.

smurgen

suicide_circus wrote: »

Lets hope he is rehabilitated by his time in prison

I'd prefer if he was killed in there to be honest.He disgusts me.

juice1304

Although i think the sentence time wise is short any time in a Japanese prison would be something i would really really really not want to do you can't do anything without asking you can't speak without permission and one toe out of line and it is a serious beatdown.:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0BQyS1u8uk

:D:D:cool::P

Snickers Man

gdavis wrote: »

Biko,she was not too drunk,she was drugged by him.

I'm not sure that's true. There were traces of a drug in her system but it had been prescribed for her by her doctor in Ireland. I don't remember reading of any forensic evidence that she had taken, or been given, other drugs.

And to be honest, if it were Ireland he would probably not have been charged with murder. I'm no lawyer but it seems apparent that the two lads (he was just a horny 19 year old) had no intention of killing the girls, just having sex with them and dumping them.

He would probably also have been charged with attempted premeditated rape. There was plenty of evidence for that. In which case his sentence over here may not have been that much more than he received in Japan.

Salutary lesson for all you horny 19 year old men out there. Stupor does not confer consent.

bootybouncer

Snickers Man wrote: »

I'm not sure that's true. There were traces of a drug in her system but it had been prescribed for her by her doctor in Ireland. I don't remember reading of any forensic evidence that she had taken, or been given, other drugs.

And to be honest, if it were Ireland he would probably not have been charged with murder. I'm no lawyer but it seems apparent that the two lads (he was just a horny 19 year old) had no intention of killing the girls, just having sex with them and dumping them.

He would probably also have been charged with attempted premeditated rape. There was plenty of evidence for that. In which case his sentence over here may not have been that much more than he received in Japan.

Salutary lesson for all you horny 19 year old men out there. Stupor does not confer consent.

You insensitive moron.......................you sound like the honky spawn that was on trial

Duggy747

Cocky piece of shìt not once showed remorse throughout the court procedures, that alone should have bumped up his sentencing.

5 years is too good for him, even for a Japanese prison where they work you like a dog.

Seaneh

bootybouncer wrote: »

You insensitive moron.......................you sound like the honky spawn that was on trial

You do realise "honky" = white person and Hinds wad Black?

Lelantos

Oryx wrote: »

Her family would have known the sentence would be light. Sickening for them having to listen to his lies knowing that at best he would serve ten years.And he only gets five. Disgusting.

Ive always felt the staff at the hotel were culpable too. Did noone think to check who these girls were and whether they needed medical help?

From her sisters reaction to the verdict & sentence, it looks like they were completely shocked at the leniency

Grand Moff Tarkin

If it was my daughter i would be waiting outside the prison the day he got out.

seamus

Lelantos wrote: »

From her sisters reaction to the verdict & sentence, it looks like they were completely shocked at the leniency

They were calling for the death sentence, so they may have been a bit shocked that it wasn't entertained. It also sounds like they were somewhat ambushed and asked for a reaction.
Nicola's father gave a later statement saying they understand it was the harshest punishment possible under Japanese law, so they had no choice but to be satisfied by that.

From reading about it, while Japan will sentence 18 and 19 year olds to death, it is usually reserved for exceptionally vicious murders, such as one kid who raped and murdered a mother and then murdered her baby.

While Hinds's conduct during the trial was the height of scumbaggery, you can't really say that the murder was exceptionally vicious or violent.

SEPT 23 1989

Grand Moff Tarkin wrote: »

If it was my daughter i would be waiting outside the prison the day he got out.

Or have a chat with the Yakuza about giving him a nice welcome to the Japanese prison system

Seaneh

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Or have a chat with the Yakuza about giving him a nice welcome to the Japanese prison system

Yes, because approaching an organisation like the Yakuza and asking them for a favour is a great idea...

fran oconnor

f*cking disgraceful sentence, them two dirty scumbags should hang. i thought the laws in this country are bad.

Lelantos

seamus wrote: »

They were calling for the death sentence, so they may have been a bit shocked that it wasn't entertained. It also sounds like they were somewhat ambushed and asked for a reaction.
Nicola's father gave a later statement saying they understand it was the harshest punishment possible under Japanese law, so they had no choice but to be satisfied by that.

From reading about it, while Japan will sentence 18 and 19 year olds to death, it is usually reserved for exceptionally vicious murders, such as one kid who raped and murdered a mother and then murdered her baby.

While Hinds's conduct during the trial was the height of scumbaggery, you can't really say that the murder was exceptionally vicious or violent.

You are taking the p1ss? Drugged, raped, strangled to death, that isn't a lovely way to go. Its not like pulling a trigger, or detonating a few kilos of semtex, that can be disconnected from by the perpetrator. But to strangle someone, up close & personal, to watch their life ebb away as you squeeze tightly. That takes a special type of barsteward & make no mistake.
Edit: the judge is quoted as saying the attack was both atrocious & vicious.

seamus

Not saying he wasn't a scumbag, but it seems clear that it was a spur of the moment murder and in the scale of things you can't say it was a frenzied or vicious attack.

There is no kind of murder which is a "lovely way to go", but you would hardly deny that some ways are lot worse than others.

herisson

A minimum of 5 years for killing her? That's ridiculous. A man got 6 years for importing garlic ffs ans this guy gets 5 years minimum....how does that make sense? He took someone's life.

ArmaniJeanss

Pixie-Fairy wrote: »

A minimum of 5 years for killing her? That's ridiculous. A man got 6 years for importing garlic ffs ans this guy gets 5 years minimum....how does that make sense? He took someone's life.

For the millionth time, no-one has ever been jailed for importing garlic, its not a criminal offence.

Lelantos

seamus wrote: »

Not saying he wasn't a scumbag, but it seems clear that it was a spur of the moment murder and in the scale of things you can't say it was a frenzied or vicious attack.

There is no kind of murder which is a "lovely way to go", but you would hardly deny that some ways are lot worse than others.

I suggest you listen to Nicola's sister on Ray D'arcy now, will leave you in no doubt whatsoever their feelings on the matter

Chucky the tree

Pixie-Fairy wrote: »

A minimum of 5 years for killing her? That's ridiculous. A man got 6 years for importing garlic ffs ans this guy gets 5 years minimum....how does that make sense? He took someone's life.

He's considered a minor, his sentence would be no different over hear most likely.

emo72

Is there some new drug out there that doesn't show in blood tests? The bar staff testified that they Didn't drink that much. How were they able to get them into that state?

Grand Moff Tarkin

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Or have a chat with the Yakuza about giving him a nice welcome to the Japanese prison system

Nice idea but if it was me i would want to look into his eyes as his windpipe was crushed to see how he liked it.