Rapist of a child gets community sentence

It will be interesting to see how the Scottish courts deal with this latest incident of child sexual offences.

"A 53-year-old butcher who maintained a chilling “female” persona on social media has now been charged with rape and other sexual crimes in relation to his alleged abduction of an 11-year-old girl.

Andrew Miller, also known as Amy George, appeared in Selkirk Sheriff Court today and was charged with alleged abduction, rape and sexual assault including sexual exposure to a young child, the Mirror reported.

Miller was also charged with offenses relating to the possession of an indecent photograph of a child, behaving in a threatening and/or abusive manner, and forcing a child to look at a sexual image. Upon hearing the charges, Miller made no plea and was remanded in custody and will be tried at a later date.

These new accusations provide a darker insight into the girl’s ordeal after she was held away from her family for nearly 27 hours. Miller had initially been taken in on charges of abduction, as well as for threatening or abusive behavior under the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 during his first court appearance on February 9. No sexual component to the crimes had been formally asserted until today."

I agree whole heartedly that the sentence is too lenient, but I think many posters are misinterpreting the legislation regarding young offenders. Nowhere does it say that people under 25 are not old enough to know right from wrong, or that they are never to receive a custodial sentence.

The introduction begins "The exercise of sentencing a young person is different from that of sentencing an older person, in particular because a young person will generally have a lower level of maturity, and a greater capacity for change and rehabilitation, than an older person."

A young person doing time in prison comes into contact with older, more experienced criminals, some of them recidivists whose lifestyle ignores the moral and legal rules that should be guiding a youngster. Most young offenders lack a good male role model to follow, so they are likely to copy these apparently strong characters and graduate to worse crimes. They may make friends with other young offenders, continue the friendship after their release, and be drawn into gang crime, ending up with worse personalities than they began.

In theory, prison should include rehabilitation and an improvement in their attitude to the rights of other people. In practice, the prison service is hard pressed coping with inmates, and keeping them out of circulation for the extent of their sentence is a more achievable goal than reforming them. A suitable sentence of some other kind of recompense for the crime of which they have been found guilty may bring them into contact with probation officers and others who can set them on a better path before they become hardened criminals

"18. The court should consider whether an appropriate sentence:
- can be structured in such a way as to enable the young person to comply with it;
- will reduce the likelihood of further offending;
- will give the young person the opportunity to understand the consequences of their offending behaviour;
- will address the underlying causes of that behaviour;
- will reduce the likelihood of the young person being stigmatised; and
- will assist in developing or maintaining positive relationships.
- This list is not intended to be exhaustive and is not in any order of priority.
This is a more positive and sensible policy than just saying "They didn't know they were doing wrong, diddums den, don't punish them" which some posters seem to think is behind the legislation.

"20. The full range of sentencing options remains open to the court. However, the nature and duration of a sentence imposed on a young person should be different from that which might be imposed on an older person being sentenced for the same, or a similar, offence.

www.scottishsentencingcouncil.org.uk/media/2171/sentencing-young-people-guideline-for-publication.pdf

I don’t understand judges who do not have moral clarity!!!

There has to be accountability commensurate to the crime - regardless of age.

I hope they review the case and verdict, find help for the teen plus a sentence worthy of a lesson learned.
USA Gundy

There are two stories today of road traffic deaths in Scotland caused by under-25’s, which have starkly differing results. One person was sentenced to community service, the other to more than three years imprisonment. It’s hard to understand why there is such a difference.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65188127

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-65187899

If brains are not fully developed till 25 why are 16 year olds allowed to vote in Scotland?
Why can under 25 s get married, change gender, join the forces,join the police, practice medicine to name a few?

At 13 the girl was three years below the age of consent. There were apparently repeated occasions when she was raped. Someone on here mentioned she was threatened by him. This all amounts to a very serious abuse of this girl. The sentence seems excessively lenient. The offender is a paedophile.

Check out the judge,very inappropriate sentence——I find it maddening to say young peoples brains are not developed,we all know right from wrong.

missdeke

Rape is a terrible crime, whatever the age, but do we have all the relative information. To play devil's advocate, was it rape or statuary rape because she was under age? Was she known to him, did they go out together? Was she a willing partner? Obviously it is still against the law and there is a price to pay for breaking the law. I think I would have had to hear the case and all the relative details before I made a judgement on what was an appropriate sentence.

Rape is rape. She was 13 - therefore the law says that she cannot consent to sex.

I'm meant to write locked up sorry to have upset you by my poor spelling

Rape is a terrible crime, whatever the age, but do we have all the relative information. To play devil's advocate, was it rape or statuary rape because she was under age? Was she known to him, did they go out together? Was she a willing partner? Obviously it is still against the law and there is a price to pay for breaking the law. I think I would have had to hear the case and all the relative details before I made a judgement on what was an appropriate sentence.

I get sick of people who can't actually assimilate complex information but like to have a go at folk that stand up for themselves in the face of lies misinformation.

My Mum used to say Let the mothers have him and maybe she was right.

Or maybe truthful-you have the expertise about Scotland.
Bless

nanna8

I get sick of the plant who comes in to ‘liven things up’ by bombastically disagreeing wth everyone ,especially when it is totally inappropriate. Those of us who have children , and those of us with an ounce of empathy feel horrified at the leniency of this sentence and implied disrespect shown to the victim’s suffering.

Agree 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

No I think you’re being rude about Scotland.

Do you think you're being clever?

Bless.

17:51 V3
But we're right into it, aren't we? The SNP are misogynists and the whole world is out to get us girlies and Scotland is drowning in its own ordure. Somebody should take us in hand.
Not very nice things to say about Scotland, but I’m sure you’ll be offended, even report me if I say you’re lying.

Oh I'm sorry.

Is it inappropriate to disagree with people who lie about a country's legal system?

Well you learn something new every day.

We're all horrified at the leniency of this sentence. Do pay attention.

I get sick of the plant who comes in to ‘liven things up’ by bombastically disagreeing wth everyone ,especially when it is totally inappropriate. Those of us who have children , and those of us with an ounce of empathy feel horrified at the leniency of this sentence and implied disrespect shown to the victim’s suffering.

Imagine if this girl was your daughter/granddaughter??

ordinarygirl

What was the gender of the judge?

Male. It was Lord Lake who presided over the case. And court papers do say that Hogg threatened his victim on a number of occasions, which may go some way to explaining why the girl went with him. And statutory rape is still rape.

Aye, I'm sad.

But calling for the locking up of an entire political party because one doesn't agree with an independent judge?

What's the word for that?

volver3

katy1950

The snp and these judges need looking up

I don't think "looking up" people is allowed any more.

"Upskirting" they call it these days.

Scraping the barrel now when your comeback when the use of a wrong/ similar word is used. Bit sad really.

as apparently the law now clearly states that offenders under 25 should not be given custodial sentences.

No it doesn't Grandetante . Look again and try not to spread falsehoods.

Sturgeon wanted to give 16 year olds the vote!

16-year olds in Scotland already have the vote, have had for years.

A plea.

There is a lot of declaration on here by people who sound as though they know what they are talking about. These 2 things are great examples. Before taking anything you see on these pages as gospel, just ask yourself.... is this true?

What was the gender of the judge?