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

HeyThereDeliah · 10-10-2012 09:53AM

tom.padraig wrote: »

Lets see how much of a troll he is when the screws on Cellblock H snigger and let the other inmates know why he is in prison.

He is in prison for posting a comment on the Internet. You think it's ok he gets beaten or what ever in prison ?
He did not harm anybody except the delicate public who went on a moral rampage.

the_truth12 · 10-10-2012 10:09AM

My name is URL wrote: »

And the mob of 50 people that descended on the wrong address are guilty of a more serious crime than making a tasteless joke. Presumably they intended to dish out their own punishment.

Mob is the mother of all tyrants.

dj jarvis · 10-10-2012 10:09AM

Fratton Fred wrote: »

They've been talking about this for the last 20 years and although the technology has been around for at least that amount of time, I have yet to see it used.

There is, of course, the congestion charge cameras and anpr police vehicles (both of which are in use here as well) but other than technology companies talking about what their gadgets can do, those are the only cameras in use of this type.

ANPR technology is used and has been used in the uk for the last 5 years by traffic police

the Garda have started using it here in the last year - i pass a Garda car EVERY morning that sits and lets the traffic go past , as soon as a reg plate with no tax , insurance or a person of note passes by , the ANPR will alert the cop and off he goes

its used everyday - its here - they will spread its use as it saves a fortune on wages for police and Garda alike

its nothing for them to set it up in the cats eyes of motorways and national roads , they dont have to do every one , every 1km would suffice

Fratton Fred · 10-10-2012 10:40AM

dj jarvis wrote: »

ANPR technology is used and has been used in the uk for the last 5 years by traffic police

the Garda have started using it here in the last year - i pass a Garda car EVERY morning that sits and lets the traffic go past , as soon as a reg plate with no tax , insurance or a person of note passes by , the ANPR will alert the cop and off he goes

its used everyday - its here - they will spread its use as it saves a fortune on wages for police and Garda alike

its nothing for them to set it up in the cats eyes of motorways and national roads , they dont have to do every one , every 1km would suffice

erm, isn't that what I said?

fwiw, the blue cameras you see hanging underneath bridges and gantries on UK motorways can also do the same thing. They are there to monitor traffic volumes and congestion, but they read the number plate of a car and track it to the next checkpoint, calculating how fast the traffic is moving.

They only record the first bit of the number plate though and remove records very quickly. There was an uproar when they were introduced because they could do as you say, track a car and then give them a speeding ticket if their average speed went above the speed limit. This resulted in only the first few digits being recorded.

Madam_X · 10-10-2012 11:29AM

I despair when I see those pictures pop up on Facebook (that a friend has liked, usually well-intentioned in fairness) regarding child molesters and what should be done to them, and then reams and reams of THICK ***** babbling incoherently about what they'd do to them, and any person offering a less violent perspective being slated and called a paedo. Bebo closing has caused serious dregs of humanity to frequent Facebook. Yet they're not being sent to prison for their abuse/endorsement of violence.

"Why are we testing on animals when there are paedos sitting in prisons?"

"Like if you hate child abuse, scroll past if you agree with it xxxxxxxx

"

Piss off you braindeads.

Allyall · 10-10-2012 11:30AM

Kennedi Handsome Scabby wrote: »

In fact, it's the people I know who go out of their way to be offended by everything who are actually the worst people in reality. People who live for appearances and wouldn't lift a finger to help you if you had a problem.

I would've thanked that post until the cows came home if i could.

Rant deleted.

Does anybody know if Matthew Woods will be appealing, or if he stands a chance getting out before Christmas?

I think it's disgusting that he is serving any time. Lesson is well and truly learned by now. He broke a law that he didn't know existed. He crossed lines that a lot of people agree he shouldn't have crossed. He told vile jokes.
He will be paying for the rest of his life. Nearly every newspaper has published his photograph. If he ever decides to try and get a job, he has a prison record, to add to the fact his potential employers will probably look him up on FB and Google, and his mistakes will be held in the Internet Archives for all to read for the foreseeable future.
His two biggest mistakes were Timing and Facebook. He could have posted those jokes on Sickipedia, or many other forums out there, and it would go unpunished.

Lingua Franca · 10-10-2012 12:02PM

Madam_X wrote: »

I despair when I see those pictures pop up on Facebook (that a friend has liked, usually well-intentioned in fairness) regarding child molesters and what should be done to them, and then reams and reams of THICK ***** babbling incoherently about what they'd do to them, and any person offering a less violent perspective being slated and called a paedo. Bebo closing has caused serious dregs of humanity to frequent Facebook. Yet they're not being sent to prison for their abuse/endorsement of violence.

"Why are we testing on animals when there are paedos sitting in prisons?"

"Like if you hate child abuse, scroll past if you agree with it xxxxxxxx "

Piss off you braindeads.

My (least) favourite posts are the ones that describe in brutal, gorey detail about what they'd do to the perp if they got their hands on him. Most involve a combination a of blowtorch, electrocution, the scrotum, flaying, anal rape and some sort of live feed for the nation.

Because nothing says loving concern for a missing child like exposing your psychotic desires to the world.

end of the road · 10-10-2012 05:39PM

Latchy wrote: »

Perhaps he will learn about manners and respect while locked up ...god knows he hasn't any .

exactly, shur its only wasting money and resources which could be used on more serious criminals. people over there go out of their way to look for things to be offended over anyway.

end of the road · 10-10-2012 06:04PM

steve9859 wrote: »

I don't really have a problem with it.

most people do, its the start of something more sinister.

steve9859 wrote: »

A few more examples are made,

then you pay for it out of your own money, and stop expecting others to have their money wasted.

steve9859 wrote: »

people might start thinking twice about posting and twittering that kind of stuff.

no they won't, unless their in la la land maybe but not in the real world, people are jailed for murder, doesn't stop people from doing it.

steve9859 wrote: »

It's about time some boundaries of behaviour were set,

not the job of the police or courts.

steve9859 wrote: »

The Internet shouldn't be some place where anything goes.

it all ready isn't, being offensive isn't against the law, and rightly so, once you make it so, next it will be criticising the government, everyone is offended by different things, and some just go out of their way to look for something offensive or be offended, i don't see anyone being offended by racist trash, or go running to the law over them, unless its a celeb.

steve9859 wrote: »

They need to track down some of the people involved in some of the tragic on-line bullying cases recently as well, and throw the book at them

they can't afford it.

hardCopy · 10-10-2012 06:09PM

Fratton Fred wrote: »

erm, isn't that what I said?

fwiw, the blue cameras you see hanging underneath bridges and gantries on UK motorways can also do the same thing. They are there to monitor traffic volumes and congestion, but they read the number plate of a car and track it to the next checkpoint, calculating how fast the traffic is moving.

They only record the first bit of the number plate though and remove records very quickly. There was an uproar when they were introduced because they could do as you say, track a car and then give them a speeding ticket if their average speed went above the speed limit. This resulted in only the first few digits being recorded.

Average Speed Cameras are still used regularly to issue fines, at least they were on the M1(UK) in 2010. I worked for a company that had offices at either end and staff were regularly getting nabbed by them.

Wiring them into every Cat-Eye would be expensive due to the cost of networking them all, I can't see how it would ever pay for itself.

end of the road · 10-10-2012 06:13PM

tan11ie wrote: »

Maybe he is being used as an example for others not to follow

yet they do and they will, deterrents or making an example of someone doesn't work, never has worked, or never will.

tan11ie wrote: »

some people need to realise that it's not acceptable to sit behind a screen and dish out whatever crap you want.

neither is jailing them for it, threatening or insitement you may have a point but not for being offensive.

Francescoli · 10-10-2012 06:34PM

Unbelievable that he was jailed.Yes ,he was an idiot and it was completely ignorant but he should not have got jail.PC gone mad.

end of the road · 10-10-2012 07:40PM

dave1982 wrote: »

Shocked to see the Mods of Boards.ie coming out to defend this clown.

they weren't, their saying like most, that people shouldn't be jailed for saying something offensive.

dave1982 wrote: »

If anyone was to stay impartial I'd think it would be ye.

why should they? and why should you care whether they do or not?

dave1982 wrote: »

A young girls has been abducted and jokes are being made about a sexual nature of a 5 year old and ye think its OK?

nobody thinks its okay, but neither is jailing people for making them, next it will be for criticising the government

dave1982 wrote: »

I'm glad this asshole paid a price excessive but tough tittie for him.

good for you, bet you and those who also agree with this man being jailed wouldn't pay for/fund all of the cost of arrest prosecution and jail time? no shur why would you when you can have everyone including those who don't agree pay tax and have it wasted on paying for it.

dave1982 wrote: »

About time people know hiding behind your keyboard don't work.

yeah and wasting money jailing them is the way to go, maybe we should round up all who criticise the government to?

Allyall · 10-10-2012 07:47PM

I just read this, it's written by a Barrister and Legal Blogger named Adam Wagner, who believes that the law is no longer fit for purpose.

Twelve weeks in prison for sick jokes on Facebook? Really?

But my worry is that this law was not designed for the purpose it is now being used for. In 2003, only perhaps Mark Zuckerberg knew that within the next few years literally billions of people would become mini-publishers on a public communications network. Now, the accidental combination of an old (in technology terms) law, designed it would seem primarily to stop harassment over the telephone line, with revolutionary new media may be making criminals of many of us, and that cannot be a good thing.
People post sick, offensive, horrible and stupid things on social media all of the time. People are sick, offensive, horrible and stupid. Anyone who has been to school knows that teenagers can also be sick, offensive, horrible and stupid. As a society, we should try to make people nicer, cleverer and less offensive. But is sending people to prison, along with rapists and violent thugs, the right way to do it?
Sending people to prison for being “grossly offensive” has the whiff of mob justice about it. Anyone who uses Twitter regularly will have seen the mob at work, whether attacking an individual for saying something offensive and stupid, or harassing a celebrity for crimes against taste or their political views. Sometimes this is a bit of fun, sometimes a little more sinister. There are real problems involving malicious harassment of individuals as well as abhorrent views.
But, as anyone who has used Twitter or Facebook will also know, there is a strong sense of community in that social space which is, to a very significant extent, self regulating. People are exposed, ridiculed, embarrassed, ostracised. Many of the rules of large human social spaces apply there too. Like other large social spaces, this can degenerate into mob justice. But should the criminal justice system be in the hands of that mob?

end of the road · 10-10-2012 08:00PM

efb wrote: »

People need to understand they don't have a carte blanche to write whatever they want on the Internet.

people also need to realise they don't have carte blanche to report everything they find offensive to the police and then to expect the police to waste their time and money dealing with such offense when their are serious criminals running around the streets, the same with the courts and the prisons which are overcrowded enough i'm sure.

Red Pepper · 10-10-2012 08:03PM

Lingua Franca wrote: »

Because nothing says loving concern for a missing child like exposing your psychotic desires to the world.

I am going to use this line - thanks!

10-10-2012 09:01PM

Madam_X wrote: »

I despair when I see those pictures pop up on Facebook (that a friend has liked, usually well-intentioned in fairness) regarding child molesters and what should be done to them, and then reams and reams of THICK ***** babbling incoherently about what they'd do to them, and any person offering a less violent perspective being slated and called a paedo. Bebo closing has caused serious dregs of humanity to frequent Facebook. Yet they're not being sent to prison for their abuse/endorsement of violence.

Exactly, I don't understand why people liking such pages aren't done for inciting hatred or whatever **** laws they have on the books now. Surely the people signing the petition on the UK government website calling for capital punishment are all guilty of incitement to violence or whatever?

Allyall · 10-10-2012 09:06PM

I'm curious now, Can someone add a poll as to whether or not people agree or disagree if he should have been given Jail?

Probably a bit late, as most will have moved on. But i would still like to know..

end of the road · 10-10-2012 09:17PM

Mad_Dave wrote: »

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

i thought it was just soldiers in general? they were talking about this on LBC last night, the host read the comment but their was no mention of "british" or "afghanistan" in the comment, so he could be talking about the cerian army for all we know. unless that particular comment was part of a post mentioning "british" or "afghanistan"?

Mad_Dave wrote: »

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

i thought the man who commented on soldiers would have got a harsher sentence, as the british people have so much love and respect for their army, so much that a lot of them don't help those who are injoured, probably don't give 1 cent to the charitys helping them, and probably couldn't care a less but the minute their on camera or are asked questions in relation to the army they have so much respect for their (heroes) its a funny old country over there isn't it.

end of the road · 10-10-2012 10:10PM

steve9859 wrote: »

IMO that doesnt mean that you dont try

absolutely it does, its impossible and a waste of time and resources.

steve9859 wrote: »

just wash your hands of it.

may as well, its a waste of time trying and it will fail anyway.

steve9859 wrote: »

Personally I think the UK authorities are doing a decent job of sending a message about what is acceptable.

really? obviously their not as this keeps happening again and again, and will keep happening until sometime a high-court judge may end up saying enough is enough when people are being sent to jail for less offensive comments. just accept it, deterrents, sending messages, making examples of people, never work, never will work, always fail.

steve9859 wrote: »

When explaining to your kids what they shouldn't be posting on-line, it's a hell of a lot easier when you're able to point to someone who is in a prison cell for what they did

no, you could apply the same logic to murder, guess what people still commit murder, so your point doesn't hold up, its just the police trying to justify their jobs as the british government plan to cut (i think 20 %) of officers, this might be a way of bringing down that number a bit. .

end of the road · 10-10-2012 10:41PM

TheStook wrote: »

examples have to be made.

no they don't, their pointless and fail in the majority of cases.

TheStook wrote: »

it has to be done.

no it doesn't.

TheStook wrote: »

I remember I got thrown out of the Gaeltacht because I spoke English a few times, it was harsh but an example had to be made out of me.

it worked for you, for more and probably most it won't as the same thing probably happened the next year after you went.

TheStook wrote: »

Otherwise there'd be so much more of it going on.

and how do you know that it isn't going on?

TheStook wrote: »

Anybody who hears about this is going to think twice about doing vile **** like this.

bull, anyone living in a state in america which has the death penalty who hears about someone being executed won't commit murder, oh wait they do.

Bipolar Joe · 10-10-2012 11:04PM

Can I ask everyone who agrees with this result, what did you think about the blasphemy law?

end of the road · 10-10-2012 11:05PM

TommyKnocker wrote: »

As the saying goes, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime

well then those who reported him should carry the cost for arrest prosecution and jail time and not the british tax payer.

TommyKnocker wrote: »

I don't think a fine is a big enough deterrent

neither is jail. theirs no such thing as a deterrent for this or any crime

TommyKnocker wrote: »

so jail it is.

yeah, at a cost when resources could be put to better use.

TommyKnocker wrote: »

if it makes him (and others) engage his/their brain(s) before posting such crap in the future

it won't. their will be someone before the courts in a few weeks for something similar, the death penalty is supposed to be a deterrent for murder yet it doesn't work.

TommyKnocker wrote: »

job done IMHO.

no it isn't a job done at all, it is pointless, a waste of time and resources and will fail to achieve anything.

FrogMarch · 10-10-2012 11:06PM

The dark cloud of utter stupidity has drifted over this thread.

end of the road · 10-10-2012 11:58PM

Lingua Franca wrote: »

My (least) favourite posts are the ones that describe in brutal, gorey detail about what they'd do to the perp if they got their hands on him. Most involve a combination a of blowtorch, electrocution, the scrotum, flaying, anal rape and some sort of live feed for the nation.

Because nothing says loving concern for a missing child like exposing your psychotic desires to the world.

and such people are eliterate/use text speak as well

Happyman42 · 11-10-2012 12:10AM

end of the road wrote: »

and such people are eliterate/use text speak as well

:D:D CLASSIC!

(I quoted it before you changed the spelling.

MagicSean · 11-10-2012 12:25AM

end of the road wrote: »

tan11ie wrote: »

Maybe he is being used as an example for others not to follow

yet they do and they will, deterrents or making an example of someone doesn't work, never has worked, or never will.

tan11ie wrote: »

some people need to realise that it's not acceptable to sit behind a screen and dish out whatever crap you want.

neither is jailing them for it, threatening or insitement you may have a point but not for being offensive.

I think you're wrong there. Its been shown that legal deterrents do have an effect. The penalty point system and drink driving laws in Ireland are evidence of that. They have a much lower effect on serious crime or emotionally motivated crime.

Infini · 11-10-2012 01:22AM

Problem I've noticed is Britain is goin way overboard with the whole internet police thing nowadays. If someone makes a bad taste post you report it to the website owners and have it removed. Only time police should be involved is in cases of persistent cyberbullying or persistant harrasment. Throwing someone in the clink for 3 months for one lousy comment is excessive and disproportionate.

As for those people throwing abuse at him IRL they should Sit down and STFU because what theyre doin is MANY TIMES WORSE and completely HYPOCRITICAL. They got time to throw abuse they should put their energy into something constructive.

Then again some brits just seem to be unable to resist feeding the trolls as well....

1ZRed · 11-10-2012 01:34AM

One of the reasons why I'm growing to loath social media and the bullshit reasons why people find themselves in trouble over something that's on their personal page to do as they please.

So as well as an ever more restricted Internet, freedom of speech is also taking yet another knock. Brilliant world.

[-0-] · 11-10-2012 02:56AM

Should Holocaust deniers be locked up as well? Certainly not, right? I would assert that Holocaust deniers cause more harm than Woods did copying a joke from Sickipedia and posting it on his page about two young girls who were, we assume, we murdered. Thousands, if not millions more children were killed during the Holocaust. This is just madness. The correct answer is of course, no, they should not be locked up. It's a serious waste of resources.

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

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