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Child Item

12 weeks in Jail for offensive web posts about poor April Jones

My name is URL

The guy that was arrested for making a joke yesterday has been jailed for three months

Matthew Woods, 19, from Chorley, Lancashire, has admitted making grossly offensive comments about the five year old girl, missing schoolgirl April Jones on his Facebook page after getting the idea from Sickipedia, a website that trades in sick jokes.

Woods also wrote comments of sexually explicit nature which so outraged members of the public that they reported the page to the police.

As word spread of Woods’ actions on Saturday, a vigilante mob of around 50 people descended upon his house. He was arrested for his own safety and taken into custody.

Martina Jay, for the prosecution, told Chorley Magistrates Court that Woods admitted to officers that he was responsible for the postings about April and also about the missing child Madeline McCann.

I wonder if the vigilante mob will also be arrested and jailed for dangerous and threatening behavior :rolleyes:

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LizT

What I don't understand is that the man jailed got the joke from Sickipedia, yet whoever uploaded it there got no punishment?

Now I think it's absolutely ridiculous that someone would be jailed over a joke but equally ridiculous that whoever originally uploaded the joke is not getting any response.

suicide_circus

So he made the comments on the 4th and by today, the 9th, he is already serving a 3 month prison sentence!
Something odd there, if he had actually assaulted someone or committed a robbery or arson he wouldnt be anywhere near a cell yet...mob justice works fast it seems.

[Deleted User]

Madam_X wrote: »

Jail - for any amount of time let alone 12 weeks - is absolutely ridiculous. However, I wish people would quit spewing thick nonsense about "police state herpa nazis derpa." They haven't the faintest clue if they think that's what it is - the guy was not jailed for being anti government; people are free to criticise the jailing. This was more to do with mob policing than actual police policing. I know people think they seem real intelligent saying that Britain is turning into a dictatorship, but they obviously have no accurate conception of what a dictatorship is. And it really belittles the experiences of people living under nightmare regimes to say Britain is along the same lines.

Absolute free speech does not exist and never did. And thankfully. No, people shouldn't be able to broadcast/publish whatever they like - then there would be all kinds of bullying and harassment allowed. But his comments deleted and Facebook account suspended would have sufficed, not jail. Ridiculous cause for imprisonment.

Re thought crime: it's not because of what people think - that's melodramatic IMO. It's social media, which is a new thing and is proving difficult to regulate.

Sure, it's a new thing, but common sense would tell you that punishing someone for voicing an opinion or making a joke on their own Facebook page is ridiculous. It's like demanding a police officer to arrest the person sitting next to you at a cafe because you overheard them saying something offensive.

I had a woman lay into me a while back because she was eavesdropping on my conversation and overheard me use the word 'retard'. When will people learn to mind their own business like they used to and understand that other people have the right to their opinions and comments as long as they're not causing harm to others?

I'm actually embarrassed to be British when it comes to stuff like this. The UK really has turned into a nation of soppy, self-obsessed, weak whingers who can't handle anything. What happened to the stiff upper lip? I hear people saying stuff I consider offensive all the time. I roll my eyes, think they're idiots and move on with my life. I don't call the police and demand that they're arrested for hurting my feelings. :rolleyes:

I think the UK needs to seriously reconsider what constitutes a crime. I'm tired of hearing about people thrown into jail for making an unsavoury, ill-timed joke.

Madam_X

Yeh as I said, I agree jail is way too much, but you said "understand that other people have the right to their opinions and comments as long as they're not causing harm to others." This is the crux of it - the comments in question are being published, not just said in the pub.

[Deleted User]

Madam_X wrote: »

Yeh as I said, I agree jail is way too much, but you said "understand that other people have the right to their opinions and comments as long as they're not causing harm to others. This is the crux of it - the comments in question are being published, not just said in the pub.

And how exactly are they causing harm, except for hurt feelings? Hurting someone's feelings IS NOT A CRIME! You really think someone should be thrown into jail for calling someone a 'fat cow', for example?

The joke this guy made was in bad taste and that's it. He deserved a slap on the wrist, maybe at most a suspended Facebook account. Jail is totally OTT.

_feedback_

Madam_X wrote: »

Yeh as I said, I agree jail is way too much, but you said "understand that other people have the right to their opinions and comments as long as they're not causing harm to others. This is the crux of it - the comments in question are being published, not just said in the pub.

But sure if that's the case, half of after hours here should have been locked up a long time ago.

Seriously do you think that all the fairly graphic suggestions of what should be done to the suspect should be pursued and punished, on the basis of them causing distress to his family?

davet82

I'd love to kick the shyte out of this little bollix but i reluctantly agree that he shouldn't be jailed

the website he posts from should shut him down and then expose his idenity but thats it

ilovesleep

Going by what happened with that poor man facing jail, half of After Hours should be behind fcuking bars, including me.

Madam_X

IzzyWizzy I've made it clear I agree jail is ludicrous, so your third sentence is moot.

What would you deem social media comments that are harmful to others?

efb

ilovesleep wrote: »

Going by what happened with that poor man facing jail, half of After Hours should be behind fcuking bars, including me.

I'd that not telling you something?

Einhard

saiint wrote: »

he'll be out ina few days
guarrenteed
but lets hope he gets butt f*cked before he gets out

You want this young man to be anally raped in prison? You're a sorry excuse for a human being, do you know that? Perhaps you too should be imprisoned, because your post is deeply offensive.

Dravokivich

I ask in all seriousness:

If this kid is arrested for his tasteless and insensitive humour, why is Frankie Boyle allowed to walk free?

Bacchus

saiint wrote: »

he'll be out ina few days
guarrenteed
but lets hope he gets butt f*cked before he gets out

No double standards going on here. No sir.

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

[Deleted User]

Feel sorry for the lad.. What exactly is the sentence for in this? To rehabilitate his sense of humour?

Duggy747

Gives out about Facebook privacy and how information on one's own wall shouldn't be used.

Applauds when Facebook user who posts tasteless joke on own wall gets jailed.

Jail is a fùckin' mockery of the system.

4zn76tysfajdxp

Madam_X wrote: »

What would you deem social media comments that are harmful to others?

Harassment such as sending abusive direct/private messages to people or their families and libel.

Intensive Care Bear

Mickeroo wrote: »

He posted it on his own FB page, not on an April Jones site afaik.....

Was it on his wall? I'm sure i read that he created a facebook page dedicated to making jokes about her.

Either way its insane to be jailed for this.

davet82

Dravokivich wrote: »

I ask in all seriousness:

If this kid is arrested for his tasteless and insensitive humour, why is Frankie Boyle allowed to walk free?

because frankie boyle dosen't tweet his jokes he just says them :rolleyes:

4zn76tysfajdxp

davet82 wrote: »

because frankie boyle dosen't tweet his jokes he just says them :rolleyes:

https://twitter.com/frankieboyle

hardCopy

Lollipops23 wrote: »

Jesus, much as I don't usually think Maddie jokes or dead baby jokes are particularly funny, I have laughed many a time at off-colour jokes.

Emotions are running very high in the UK about this case (understandably) but an angry mob rocking up to his door? Bet there were the same types who set up RIP April pages before he'd even been arrested for murder.

As an aside, much as it was a nice gesture to release balloons and lanterns, they're actually awful for the environment. Those lanterns have been banned from a lot of wedding venues due to the hazard they cause.

I wonder how many of the angry mob were arrested?

davet82

Kolton Gray Peephole wrote: »

https://twitter.com/frankieboyle

ffs :pac:

well then its a mystery to me

efb

Sexually explicit post regarding minors- what he said hasn't been revealed but it adjudged to be unlawful.

StephenHendry

Can't believe he got 12weeks when it should not have resulted in a jail sentence at all, surely the police could have told the lad he was out of order, cautioned him etc.

My name is URL

Kolton Gray Peephole wrote: »

https://twitter.com/frankieboyle

:eek:

He used the term 'thinly veiled' in a tweet. This surely is the worst thing he has ever said

4zn76tysfajdxp

My name is URL wrote: »

:eek:

He used the term 'thinly veiled' in a tweet. This surely is the worst thing he has ever said

Call nine one one!

Mad_Dave

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/facebook-man-spared-jail-over-comments-111119484.html

Cliffs: man given community service for offensive comments about dead British soldiers in Afghanistan.

One guy posts jokes (not funny jokes but still) and gets 12 weeks jail, the other posts a hateful rant and get community service ?

steve9859

Many people here saying it is different as it is his own 'private' facebook page.

That's nonsense....when you post on your page, it appears on the news feed of all your 'friends'. So it is just the same as tweeting to your followers on twitter.

Those that tweet abuse get in trouble, so those that post the same comment on their facebook page should be subject to the same sanction

steve9859

Mad_Dave wrote: »

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/facebook-man-spared-jail-over-comments-111119484.html

Cliffs: man given community service for offensive comments about dead British soldiers in Afghanistan.

One guy posts jokes (not funny jokes but still) and gets 12 weeks jail, the other posts a hateful rant and get community service ?

Thats no different to with any other crime....one burglar might get community service, the next gets a suspended sentence, and the next (with a different judge) might get jailed for a few weeks. Thats just the way the system works sometimes

My name is URL

Saw this mentioned elsewhere. It's from a ruling of the European court of human rights back in 1976

The Court's supervisory functions oblige it to pay the utmost attention to the principles characterising a "democratic society". Freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of such a society, one of the basic conditions for its progress and for the development of every man. It is applicable not only to "information" or "ideas" that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population. Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society".

http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-57499