Top judge attacks sentencing laws

I welcome this judges opinion, but the problem is that for over 50 years now society and the government have communicated a lack of responsibility for ones actions. No one should be released ever after committing a murder. Life in prison should mean departure is after dead. Now any one who ends up being released should only happen after the criminal is rehabilitated. I recognize that in this day and age the courts are concerned about the prisoner rights, I am more concerned about the victims. Any society that seems to put a greater emphasis on the criminals rights than that of the victims must be in serious trouble.

The problem, he said, was that consequences of the 2003 Criminal Justice Act - which led to longer sentences for murder and other serious crimes - had not been foreseen by ministers and MPs.

"I do not believe that these simple propositions have been fully appreciated by those responsible for formulating criminal policy."

He called for more emphasis on fines and community rehabilitation as well as increased effort to tackle family breakdown.

"If you decide to lock up one man for a minimum term of 30 years, you are investing £1m or more in punishing him," Lord Phillips continued.

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Top judge attacks sentencing laws

Lord Phillips called for more community punishments

The government's sentencing policy has forced overcrowding in jails to critical levels, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales has warned.

Speaking at a Howard League for Penal Reform event, Lord Phillips said UK jails were "full to capacity", adding: "We simply cannot go on like this."

He said legislation introduced in 2003 forcing judges to impose longer sentences had made the situation worse.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw welcomed his "important contribution".

'Not foreseen'

Lord Phillips told the audience that between 200 and 300 prisoners a night were being held in police cells in England and Wales because prisons were full.

f you decide to lock up one man for a minimum term of 30 years, you are investing £1m or more in punishing him Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers Lord Chief Justice Profile: Lord Chief Justice

Jails, he said, were forced to close their doors to new admissions, with cells designed for one prisoner having to accommodate two.

The problem, he said, was that consequences of the 2003 Criminal Justice Act - which led to longer sentences for murder and other serious crimes - had not been foreseen by ministers and MPs.

He added: "Unless parliament is prepared to provide whatever resources are necessary to give effect to the sentences that judges choose, in their discretion, to impose, parliament must re-examine the legislative framework for sentencing.

"I do not believe that these simple propositions have been fully appreciated by those responsible for formulating criminal policy."

He called for more emphasis on fines and community rehabilitation as well as increased effort to tackle family breakdown.

"If you decide to lock up one man for a minimum term of 30 years, you are investing £1m or more in punishing him," Lord Phillips continued.

"That sum could pay for quite a few surgical operations or for a lot of remedial training in some of the schools where the staff are struggling to cope with the problems of trying to teach children who cannot even understand English. "

Justice Secretary Jack Straw, said: "I welcome this significant speech.

"It makes an important contribution to a matter of great public interest."

Nick Herbert, the Conservative justice spokesman, said that the government had not paid attention to prison levels when setting the sentencing framework.

He added: "We are now paying the price with grossly overcrowded prisons that do not rehabilitate offenders, rising reconviction rates and panic early release measures."

Man guilty in jogger murder case

Is senseless violence, murder and other violent crimes on the upswing, I think so. When someone sexually assaults someone and murders them in broad day light. What else do we think.
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man described as a loner has been convicted of murdering a Harrods shop worker found buried in a shallow grave in a park where she went jogging.

Garath Davies, 23, was convicted of killing Egeli Rasta in Mitcham Common, south London, in July 2006.

The 27-year-old Estonian was reported missing a day after finishing work and her body lay undiscovered for 12 days.

Davies, from Mitcham, south London, and originally from Llanelli, denied murder and perverting the course of justice.

The court heard that Miss Rasta, who was "fit, athletic, and quite strong", lived near Mitcham Common and would often jog and sunbathe there.

She disappeared on 4 July - a day after working a shift at the LK Bennett concession at Harrods.

Mark Ellison, prosecuting, said Davies was "something of a loner" who spent quite a lot of time on the common alone or with his black Staffordshire terrier, Tyson.

Precisely what happened to Miss Rasta was unclear because her body was decomposed so badly a pathologist was unable to establish the cause of death.

This horror will never end for me and my family Egeli Rasta's mother Sirje

A knife stained with her blood was found in a sack in Davies' holdall, alongside two homemade sex toys.

This was coupled with the fact that the victim was found naked, "clearly suggesting a sexual motive", Mr Ellison said.

Davies told the court that at the time he was "chain smoking" cannabis and was "very stoned" on the day Miss Rasta was killed.

Davies later told police: "I'm afraid I might have done it. I can't remember."

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Miss Rasta's mother Sirje said: "This horror will never end for me and my family.

"Egeli's nine-year-old sister has asked me a million times: 'Where is she? Is she still far away? Why wouldn't she come home?'

"I have no courage nor the knowledge to explain to her what has happened."

Davies will be sentenced on 14 December.

Body in garden is missing Vicky

Murder should at least result in life incarcerated. My guess he will be out before he breathes his last breath. Assuming he is guilty, little doubt of that.


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Body in garden is missing Vicky
Human remains found in the garden of a house in Kent are those of missing 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton, police say.

The remains of Vicky - last seen in West Lothian in 1991 - were found at the Margate house by police who had been focusing on another missing girl.

Scotsman Peter Tobin, who once lived at the property, was arrested and charged in July over Vicky's disappearance.

Police in England are looking at other murders to determine if there is a link to the discovery of Vicky's remains.

Houses searched

Mr Tobin is currently in custody and is expected to appear before Linlithgow Sheriff Court on Thursday on charges related to the death of Vicky.

Detectives had been looking for missing 18-year-old Dinah McNicol at the Margate house and have said they are continuing to search for any other human remains.

Vicky, who lived in Redding near Falkirk, Stirlingshire, was last seen waiting for a bus in Bathgate on 10 February 1991.

She had been travelling from Livingston to her home and was changing buses when she disappeared.

She was last seen in Bathgate's George Square. Eyewitnesses said she was sitting on a bench eating chips.

Personal items belonging to Vicky, believed to be jewellery and clothing, were also discovered at the house in Kent.

In 1993, Vicky's mother Janette died without knowing what had happened to her daughter.

A review of the case into Vicky's disappearance was launched by Lothian and Borders Police last year.

'Deep search'

Police searched a house in Bathgate where Peter Tobin once lived and in October a house in Southsea, Hampshire, was searched.
Police have said they are still searching the Margate house for the remains of Dinah McNicol, who was from Essex but failed to return after a trip to Hampshire in 1991.

Det Supt Tim Wills, of Essex Police, said: "We came here to search for Dinah McNicol or any physical evidence which might link her disappearance to that house.

"And that's what we will continue to do. I do not intend to leave the house until I'm fully satisfied that there are not any other human remains at that site."

He added that once a ground level search has been completed, a "deep search" would get under way which could take "a number of days".

Man jailed over nail gun fantasy

This is just actually amazing. Self mutalation for attention isn't really new but with a nail gun is!
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David Russell, 38, of Widden Street, Gloucester, told police he had been set upon by three men and shot seven times.

Julian Kesner, prosecuting, said: "He injured himself twice, was operated on twice and, in connection with the first incident received over £4,000 from the criminal compensation board.

"Media freedom dented" or is it freedom abused

Are we free to denigrate anyone we like and call it our freedom. I think not. No one appreciates being slandered or defamed. It is one thing to portray the king as doing nothing, it is another thing to bring a sexual act with his wife and call it "Freedom of the Press". The article is right in comparing it to the cartoons about Muhamed, and those should have been prosecuted as well.
We now live in a permissive society in which everyone wants there rights, without the responsibilities to go with them. Piled on top of that is a society that believes that there is nothing truly right or wrong as there is no arbitrator.

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Was it lese majeste or just a good laugh? Scurrilous libel or a witty commentary on a topical issue for Spanish parents?
Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia
El Jueves poked ribald fun at the royal couple
A court in Spain has convicted Manel Fontdevila, cartoons editor of the popular satirical weekly magazine El Jueves, and cartoonist "Guillermo" of "damaging the prestige of the crown".
Both men received a hefty 3,000-euro (£2,100) fine.
Their offence was to have published a cartoon last July making ribald fun of the heir to the Spanish throne, and of the government's scheme to encourage women to have more babies by giving mothers a special payment for each new birth.
It was a caricature of Prince Filipe having sex with his wife, Princess Letizia, and telling her: "Do you realise that if you get pregnant, it will be the closest thing to work I've done in my life?"

'More censorship'
The cartoon is funny, but the issue raised by its banning is serious. The episode has worrying echoes of last year's frenzied and violent protests against the cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad printed in European newspapers.
 
Spanish law gives special protection to royals
Those cartoonists faced death threats, a number of people died in disturbances around the world, and the end result was a defeat for freedom of expression.

In the Spanish case, censorship of the magazine has already taken place and will not be reversed. Within hours of the cartoon's appearance Spanish judges ordered the seizure of all copies of that edition of the magazine.
This is only one of a growing number of recent cases of media censorship or self-censorship in Europe that have arisen thanks to restrictive laws or monopolistic patterns of media ownership.

Some, like the Spanish case, involve attempts to prosecute journalists for violating laws that give special protection to the most powerful and privileged figures in public life.

In Romania, a law has just been passed which exposes journalists to the risk of seven years in jail if they publish video footage taken secretly of politicians taking bribes. It follows a case in which film of a government minister accepting a secret cash payment was shown on TV, leading to his resignation.

In France, a newspaper expose written during this year's presidential election campaign, revealing that Cecilia Sarkozy - the then wife of winning candidate Nicolas Sarkozy - failed to cast her vote, was removed on orders from the newspaper's owner, a close associate of the new President.

In Turkey, the infamous Article 301 of the criminal code makes it an offence punishable by jail terms to insult the armed forces or those in positions of high office.

Criminal prosecutions

Turkish officials insist that similar laws protecting the holders of high offices of state also exist in France and other Western countries.

But a Turkish legal expert explained the difference: "It's like the laws in some American states that still ban oral sex between married couples", he said. "They exist on paper but are no longer used!"

In Turkey, hundreds of journalists have been prosecuted under Article 301 and similar laws.

Miklos Haraszti is Europe's chief enforcer of media freedom on the governments and courts of the 56 member states of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe).

He says that oppressive laws against the media, intimidation and threats of dismissal, are all being used as weapons to censor the work of journalists in Eastern and Western Europe today.

The latest evidence for that harsh verdict comes from a Survey of Media Freedom in 20 European states presented to the OSCE's Representative for Media Freedom last weekend. The study, entitled Goodbye to Freedom?, was published by the independent Association of European Journalists.

'Unusable' laws
It finds that within the past year alone, journalists in 18 out of 20 European countries - including would-be models of democracy like Germany, the Netherlands and France - have faced criminal prosecution, or been jailed for breaking various laws that impede them from reporting on matters of public interest. (The two exceptions were the Czech Republic and the UK.)

Yet each year dozens of judgements made by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg overturn the convictions of journalists on libel or secrecy charges in national courts.

So is it really time for the media in Europe to say "Goodbye to Freedom"? Miklos Haraszti says simply that European governments must not pass laws, like criminal libel for journalists, which are "unusable".

The prosecution and conviction of the cartoonists who published a funny sketch of a Spanish prince to make their viewers laugh has chipped away a bit more from the fragile pillar of media freedom in Europe.
William Horsley is media freedom representative for the Association of European Journalists.

US House approves gay rights bill

I am not for discrimination in any way. I believe whole heatedly that Homosexuals should be treated with respect after all the desire should be to see them won to Christ and reformed from their destructive lifestyles, the same as any one who is not walking in the light of the Glory of the Lord. The specialized treatment that this minority, based on their actions, is asking for is a true sign of the fall of western world. I wonder if we can set up a peak or starting point, I doubt it but this is surely a big step along the way.

The other aspect of this is that they would then work on getting the special exceptions removed, to force the church and other religious organizations from "discriminating speech"

The interesting thing is that the extreme Muslim groups are always pointing out the sexualization of the west as there key argument for attacking, and these groups are so disenfranchised, that they have a higher per capita income than any other group, so I have been told, continually prove them right.

MP's want to wafle and kill the next generation.

MPs call for abortion law reforms
Merely because people have a social agenda and try to portray it as science means nothing. Science can not indicate morality. I guess these MP's would legislate that if the baby survived an abortion than it was perfectly acceptable to do Scientific Research on the child. No matter what they say the reason for the laws is because no one is certain of the facts of the life of the child in the governement and they are trying to cover their backsides.
But it is a child!


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There is no reason why women seeking an abortion should need the approval of two doctors, a group of MPs has said.

A report by the Commons science and technology committee found the requirement did not serve a useful purpose and might be causing delays.

MPs also rejected calls to lower the 24-week legal limit for an abortion in England, Wales and Scotland.

They said although survival rates for babies born at 24 weeks had improved, they had not done so below that point.

Not all members of the cross-party committee agreed with the report's findings, however.


We have focused on the science, and have done so rigorously
Phil Willis, committee chairman

Conservative MPs Nadine Dorries and Bob Spink published their own separate report, claiming they had been misled on survival rates and also on the question of whether foetuses could feel pain.

The main report also called for more involvement by nurses in early abortions.

Nurse role

It said nurses and midwives with suitable training and professional guidance should not be prevented from carrying out all stages of early medical abortions, which involves the use of drugs, and early surgical abortions.


HAVE YOUR SAY
One doctor alone should not be allowed to sign away a potentially viable human life
Nicky, London

Send us your comments

There was no evidence such a move would compromise patient safety or quality of care, the committee's report found.

It recommended just one doctor should have to sign a consent form, rather than the two currently required by the Abortion Act - a change proposed by the British Medical Association.

It went on to say there was also no evidence to suggest women, who chose to do so, should not take the second of two pills required for an early abortion at home.


The report should have reflected the differences of opinions which exist and allowed MPs to draw their own conclusions
Minority report submitted by MPs Nadine Dorries and Bob Spink

Committee chairman Phil Willis said: "Abortion is a complex issue. As a science and technology committee, we have focused on the science, and have done so rigorously.

"In our inquiry we have attempted to sift the evidence on scientific and medical developments since the last amendment of the law in 1990 and since the 1967 Act."

MPs 'misled'

He urged all MPs and the public to study the evidence and their conclusions.

The matter will now be debated in the House of Commons.

Pro-choice and anti-abortion MPs are expected to table amendments to the forthcoming Human Tissue and Embryos Bill in light of the committee's findings.


This pragmatic and sensible report provides a valuable reference point for anyone who is thinking seriously about how modern abortion care should be provided.
Ann Furedi
British Pregnancy Advisory Service

Conservative MPs Nadine Dorries and Bob Spink said MPs "have been misled in this report on two major issues: pain and survival. Two areas where experts strongly disagree and there is no clear consensus on either issue.

"The report should have reflected the differences of opinions which exist and allowed MPs to draw their own conclusions."

Labour MP Jim Dobbin, chairman of the all-party Pro-Life group, said the committee had "ignored key scientific developments" and criticised its failure to consider ethical, as well as scientific arguments as "deeply worrying".

"The imbalance of witnesses also skewed the outcome of the evidence presented," he said.

Still controversial

Marie Stopes International welcomed the committee's report as "a victory for science over thinly-veiled ideological hokum".

Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, a major provider of abortions, said: "This pragmatic and sensible report provides a valuable reference point for anyone who is thinking seriously about how modern abortion care should be provided."

But Michaela Aston, a spokeswoman for anti-abortion charity Life, was angry that MPs rejected lowering the 24 week limit.

She accused the committee of "following a predetermined ideological agenda that owes very little to a careful consideration of the facts".

BBC health correspondent Branwen Jeffreys says abortion remains intensely controversial after 40 years and the figures have continued to rise.

In 2006 there were almost 200,000 abortions in England and Wales with a further 13,000 in Scotland.

Our correspondent says the vast majority were early abortions - 89% were carried out before 13 weeks and just 2% after 20 weeks.

Almost all are permitted on the grounds that pregnancy would damage the physical or mental health of the woman. Only 1% of abortions are carried out on the grounds that the child would be born with a serious disability.

Justice or Political Correctness?

Gay couple adoption appeal lost
Now the interesting note to this article is not only about that this man can not practice his beliefs while on the job, its the mere title to the article itself. Clearly the writer of the news piece has a social agenda to push, that this man hates homesexuals and can not abide them.
The article could have said "Mgistrate loses appeal to practice faith while deciding on adoption." It does not. It has Gay as the header of the article with this mans picture right next to it.
And the BBC claims to be unbiased. I hope they lay off more, but I suspect the trully unbiased will be the ones to go.

PS I praise Andrew McClintock for standing up for his beliefs.

Justice?

Can swigging driver killed woman
What is the just penalty of smeone who willfully goes out and drinks and does drugs and then murders a woman and criples her husband. I suspect its more than what this boy got. The article fails to say but it does say that he got a five year driving ban. Is that after or during the time in remand.

Moral absence during Prime Time: A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila

I find this to be an amazing and depressing show. This is not on playboy, though it should be. No really it should not be on. This show was on during prime time for any child to watch. It was clearly meant to be educating that there view of sexuality was the only right one. Trully the view that the rest of the world has of America is true. How can anyone value a show that is a sex choice show, promoting a sexual liaison.
Moral absence: A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila


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Are you ready for the ultimate battle of the sexes? Well, you better be 'cause there's about to be an all-out war over cyber hottie Tila Tequila!

Although Tila has racked up more than 2 million MySpace friends, she still hasn't found "the one," and she's ready to do anything to find him -- or her! This self-proclaimed "bisexual freak" has had her heart broken by men and women, and she's tired of being alone. With our help, she's inviting 16 luscious lesbians and 16 sexy straight guys over to her place for A Shot of Love With Tila Tequila. Yes, it's time for Tila to unfurl her freak flag and find true love.

At first, the guys and girls won't know about each other. But once Tila narrows the field down to a few of her favorites, she's going to tell them all that she's bi. And when the two sides learn they have to vie for her affection, all hell breaks loose. There'll be hair pulling, sucker punching, ball-busting and, er, even some butt waxing. Oh, and let's not forget threesomes. There's bound to be at least a few of those. But all is fair in love and war, right?

Even though Madonna has milked it, Angelina Jolie embraced it and TV shows like The O.C. and One Tree Hill have flirted with it, bisexuality is still the stuff of winks and nudges. But with A Shot at Love, Tila Tequila hopes to thrust the taboo into the spotlight and prove that flaunting your sexuality can be -- and should be -- fun. While Tila is dead serious about finding someone to get serious with, she's just not sure if she wants a relationship with a man or a woman. Who will win her heart?

Going where no dating show has gone before, A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila pits men against women in a number of romantic challenges, all in an effort to win Tila's attention and affection. But just because Tila can't decide which sex suits her best doesn't mean the girl doesn't know what she wants. In fact, she knows exactly what she's looking for in a partner, and she'll keep kicking out potential suitors one by one until she finds Mr. or Ms. Right. May the best sex win!

From girl fights to boy brawls to mad make out sessions, all the best action always follows Tila Tequila. So, bust out the limes, tilt your head back and get ready for A Shot at Love.

US woman guilty of 'womb theft'

Just because she is, clearly mentaly ill, doesn't meen she did not have any knowledge of what she was doing. The problem is that we have removed any viable moral guide, so on what grounds shall we build an arguement that she had no right to do what she did?

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US woman guilty of 'womb theft'

Defence lawyers had argued Montgomery was mentally illJurors in the US state of Missouri have convicted a woman who strangled an expectant mother and cut the baby from her womb with a kitchen knife in 2004.
After four hours of deliberation, they rejected Lisa Montgomery's plea that she had been delusional when she killed Bobbie Jo Stinnett and stole the baby.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Montgomery, convicted of kidnapping resulting in death.
The baby, a girl, survived and was later returned to her father.
'Voodoo science'
Montgomery met the Stinnetts at a rat terrier dog show in Kansas in April 2004.
Having learnt of Bobbie Jo's pregnancy, in December 2004 she used a fake online profile to set up a meeting at the Stinnett family home saying that she wanted to buy a terrier puppy.

Victoria Jo Stinnett is now nearly three years oldOnce in the house she used a rope to strangle the young mother, before hacking the baby from her womb with a kitchen knife.
A doctor testifying in the trial said that Bobbi Jo was probably still alive when Montgomery started removing her child.
Montgomery's lawyers had sought to portray their client as a victim of severe mental illness whose delusion of being pregnant - pseudocyesis - was being threatened, causing her to enter a dreamlike state when the killing took place.
They also argued that she had post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by mental, physical and sexual abuse in her childhood.
Federal prosecutor Roseann Ketchmark called the claim of pseudocyesis "voodoo science".
Healthy child
Instead, the prosecutor argued that Montgomery had feared her ex-husband, Carl Boman, would expose that she was lying about being pregnant and use it against her as he sought custody of two of the couple's four children.
"It's not pseudocyesis or post-traumatic stress disorder," Ms Ketchmark said in closing arguments.

Mrs Stinnett thought her visitor was coming to buy a puppy
"And even if you wrap them up and put delusions around them, it's not insanity."
Mrs Stinnett, 23 and eight months pregnant when she was killed, fought for her life and that of her child, the trial heard.
Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Espey, who was the first law enforcement officer to arrive at the Stinnetts' home in Skidmore, Missouri, said in his testimony:
"You could see swirls in the floor in the blood, showing there was a struggle."
Her killer was arrested the day after the crime having spent the morning showing off the infant as her own in her hometown of Melvern, Kansas.
"The only good thing that comes from this tragedy is that little Victoria is a healthy baby and is reunited with her family," US Attorney John F Wood said.

Bias: Public 'backs easier abortions'

I want to know what they define as the public. If they mean a percentage more than one person that we can find any thing to be supported. I am sure I can find someone to argue that we should all be able to drive any speed we want, or that there child sexual abuse or murder in general should be encouraged. In fact going by the statistics of these events the number might be rather significant. Can you imagine "Public demand ' Amnesty for all Murders."
The Math less you missed it were
35%+17%= 52%(probably some said bot making it more like 50%)
52 percent is is not in any shape the Public. A large percentage of the public but the way it is written is to indicated most 75% - 90%. The theory goes that people don't like to stand out and so want to fit in so buy saying "the public" people will naturally want to join the majority. This article isn't about the news its about swaying peoples opinions, or social engineering. Its about what most reporters decry against the government. But then who said they were not biased.

*** I note with interest that there was no Author.
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Women should not have to gain the permission of two doctors to obtain an abortion in Britain, a slim majority of respondents to a survey have said.
Some 35% said one doctor was enough and 17% said permission should not needed at all, an independent poll carried out for the group Abortion Rights found.
A total of 83% of the 1,000 people polled saw abortion as a woman's right.
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the 1967 Abortion Act.
Under the terms of the law, a woman must obtain the permission of two doctors before she is allowed a termination, which can be carried out up until 24 weeks.
The poll, which was carried out over the telephone by the market research group GfK NOP, is said to be the first to ask the public their thoughts on the "two doctor" rule.
The findings mirror those of a Marie Stopes International poll of GPs published earlier this month.
It is time for a law that trusts women to make the abortion decision
Anne Quesney
Over half of family doctors questioned said they thought the agreement of just one professional should be enough for an abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.
Both surveys follow a resolution at last summer's British Medical Association conference calling for abortions to be approved by just one doctor.
"The public clearly feels that the legislation is now out of date," said Anne Quesney, director of Abortion Rights.
"It is time for a law that trusts women to make the abortion decision and remove the need for two doctors' permission to access the procedure - a process that can lead to delays for women at a difficult time."
'Formality'
Broken down into age groups, the figures suggested that the youngest and the oldest have the most reservations about abortion, with 18% of 16 to 24-year-olds and 16% of the those aged 65 and over rejecting the right to a termination.
If there was more information and more discussion of the issues - a greater engagement with abortion - we would see attitudes change and numbers go down
Josephine Quintavalle
However, the majority in both groups supported abortion access.
Anti-abortion campaigner Josephine Quintavalle said the figures reflected the public's lack of understanding of what an abortion entailed.
"If there was more information and more discussion of the issues - a greater engagement with abortion - we would see attitudes change and numbers go down.
"The two doctors rule is frequently just a rubber-stamping exercise which no-one should support.
"We need to see doctors taking the time to talk through matters with the woman, not just signing off piles of forms before a patient's name is even written on the top."

Keeping the faith

I was not planning on commenting on this but I think it accurately portarays the situation of the decline in the world.
When we evaluate the comments posted that were used to support this article. There is really one that is at all supportive of organized religion. I posted a comment, it wasn't used. Journalism was supposed to be about reporting the facts as accurately as possible, but no longer. Clearly the BBC doesn't blieve in it and so I guess I welcome the loss of Jobs, maybe rather than trying to push a social agenda they will focus on the "news". Now wouldn't that be interesting.

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The US may be one of the most religious countries in the West but is it undergoing a period of doubt.
A few days ago, I attended a memorial service for a friend who died far too young, of throat cancer. The service was held at a history museum, and it was packed - standing room only.
What was curious, initially, was the lack of any reference to religion. My friend had left a final set of instructions: he wanted to be remembered first as a husband to his wife of more than 20 years, and second as a citizen of his city, and third as a lover of history.
During the tributes, there were many references to how the past can inform our decisions in the present. There were nods to reason and friendship and love.
The closest anyone came to mentioning God or spirituality was when someone told the widow, as an aside, that you often visit the deceased through dreams - when they can appear at no particular prompting.
America seems to be experiencing an atheist moment
Hear Radio 4's A Point of View Even if the formal religion was absent, the habit of expressing a hope for spiritual optimism remains. The secular funeral is still somewhat of a novelty, at least to me.
But it may be something that we see more and more of in the future - particularly on the West Coast, the most unchurched part of the United States.
It may be daring to say it but America seems to be experiencing an atheist moment. Although "In God We Trust" was declared the national motto by an act of Congress more than 50 years ago and has been stamped on the currency for longer than that, some considerable doubt has developed of late.
If you look at the bestseller list over the last year, you'll find a number of books on atheism - to the surprise of the publishing industry.
God has always moved in not-so-mysterious ways when it comes to the literary world. He can sell books, especially ones that foretell an apocalyptic ending just around the corner.
The so-called Left Behind books, a series of novels envisioning the Rapture, when the good are separated from the evil in a fiery judgment day, sell in the millions. They are not for the faint of faith.
Another genre, self-help books that invoke God for the sake of making money, losing weight or finding a date, have a permanent home on the bestseller list. God is kept very busy with this segment of the market.
But until this year, there was thought to be little support - or audience - for tomes by the anti-religious. Several books changed that.
Full-bore polemics
On the academic side, we have God: The Failed Hypothesis by Victor Stenger and Nothing: Something to Believe In by Nica Lalli.
The three most popular books are God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by the newly-Americanized Christopher Hitchens, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris.

Hitchens, the pied piper of non-believersThese bestsellers are not cursory academic surveys; they are full-bore polemics against religion, challenging the very idea of God.
Hitchens, with his quick wit and his quiver of quotes from long-dead British luminaries which he carries over from his schoolboy days in England, seems to be having the most fun and the most effect.
You could call him the Pied Piper of non-believers. He makes it a point to debate with a cleric in every city he visits, and is a frequent guest on conservative and religious radio stations.
The premise of his book is that while religion may have served people well in the age of ignorance, now that science can explain the world there is no reason to attribute the sun, the moon and forces like gravity to higher beings.
As he says, the nine-year-old knows more about the natural world now than the leading scholars of a thousand years ago. What has rankled his critics most is his suggestion that religion is usually a force for bad.
More than anything, people without faith hate the description of them as empty or soulless Believers point out that people of faith have been at the forefront of significant improvements in human rights and in caring for fellow humans over centuries - everything from abolition of slavery to the civil rights movement in this country, to church-led efforts to reduce starvation and disease in less-developed countries.
I ran into Hitchens not long ago at a book festival where he was jousting away and getting rich in the process. He looked just as the New York Times Book Review had described him: "A village atheist standing in the square trying to pick arguments with the good citizens on their way to church."
I asked Hitchens why he thought his book had such a sudden rise to the top of the bestseller charts when polls show that - at most - barely one-half-of-one-percent of Americans call themselves atheists.
He said that the polls were misleading. There is a large and fast-growing segment of the population that is lapsed or well onto its way to atheism but is afraid to admit it.
"If you're a lapsed Catholic," Hitchens told me. "You're part of a very large and fast-growing group."
Many of those people, of course, might be agnostic rather than atheist?
Revulsion at zealots
More than anything, people without faith hate the description of them as empty or soulless. They have long been singled out for a special kind of hell.
The constitution of the state of Texas, for example, allows discrimination against atheists in employment or jury duty - provisions that have been nullified by federal laws.
And even my mother used to lower her voice in the kind of whisper reserved for people with terminal brain cancer when she described a neighbour as.... an atheist.
Non-believers say they have also been aided by the revulsion of fair-minded Americans to the religious zealotry behind the September 11 attacks and the subsequent violence on behalf of radical Islam.
The latest round of atheism books point to countless wars, slaughters and massacres done in the name of My God is Better than Your God. The 9/11 attacks got people thinking about what sort of God could be summoned for such awfulness.

Obama has talked about his faithSocial critics, dating to at least de Tocqueville and Dickens, have always marvelled at the pure number of passionately religious people in this country. Indeed, no Western democracy has so many devout churchgoers, by percentage, as the US.
On the face of it, the numbers do seem to indicate that the United States is a Christian nation, as politicians often say.
The latest surveys by the Pew Centre show that 76% of the population - upwards of 230 million people - call themselves Christians. Jews make up 1.3% and Muslims are under one per cent - though fast-growing.
Atheists are near the bottom. There are seven times as many atheists in Europe as the United States, by percentage. But the second largest group, categorized by belief, are those who call themselves secular or non-religious. They make up 13 percent of the population.
It is this group that has perhaps been afraid to call themselves atheists, for fear of shunning or other censure. They could be largely undecided or they could be searching or they could believe, as some friends say with a wink, in the Church of the Outdoors, or the Church of Baseball. They are also the people buying these books.
But while atheism may have made its way into the public discourse, it remains strictly verboten in our politics. Even though a majority of people say in surveys that a person can still be a good American without Christian values, to be an atheist and run for high office is to wear the scarlet A.
Among the presidential aspirants, half the Republican candidates do not believe in evolution, a view bounded in their religious faith and the imperatives of running in a primary heavily dominated by evangelicals.
Democrats 'more open'
One contender, Senator John McCain of Arizona, made headlines this month when he said the American founders meant to establish the United States as a Christian nation.
In truth, the constitution expressly prohibits establishment of a state religion. The founders were trying to avoid the entanglements of church with state. And perhaps the best known founder, Thomas Jefferson himself, may have been an atheist, in the view of many scholars.
No matter. The Democrats, scorned by a huge sector of the electorate for their perceived secularism, have become more open about faith this time around. Both Hillary Clinton, and Senator Barack Obama frequently mention God on the campaign trail.
But they also put some distance between themselves and the religious. Senator Clinton said last week that if she were president she would shield science and research into such things as stem cells from religion and politics.
The United States may never be as secular as Europe. If you sample even a small share of the reaction, on blogs or Christian talk radio, to these new atheist books, you sense how strongly people feel about their faith. It's not passive or abstract.
But, perhaps we have arrived at a moment where doubt is having its day - and for a time, atheists are coming out of hiding.
Below is a selection of your comments:
Hopefully this is the beginning of a world-wide movement where if a person has a religion he sees it as a personal approach to God/Goddess/Gods as opposed to a philosophy which much be imposed upon others. Paolo, St Albans
I have long admired Europeans for their relaxed approach to religion, which sometimes ranges from the laid-back to the completely apathetic. While I myself am a devout Episcopalian, I've always thought that faith has played far too important and unnecessary of a role in public American life. I would be grateful of a societal movement that casts faith aside as such a major criterion for determining whether someone is 'a good person' or not.Eric Campbell, Greensboro, NC, USA
Speaking as a lifelong (American) agnostic I find Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins the equivalent to how many Christians must view the likes of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell - they may be nominally on my side but their rhetoric is so patronising and repellent I often wish they weren't.John R, London
I resent having to be pigeonholed into any kind of belief system - why should I have to choose between Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Atheism? I'm just me, I don't have a part of my being that needs to have a label to announce what I believe in, even if it's nothing. Come on you 'atheists', preaching to the faithful about how much better atheism is, is just making you as bad as them. Ignore the poor medieval moon woofers and get on with your own lives free from guilt, greedy evangelicals, suicidal fundamentalists, and then a bit more guilt.Richard, Staffordshire, England
Watch any BBC programme about geology or natural history, from Coast to The Living Planet, and sooner rather than later the presenter will mention events of millions of years ago, or even the last Ice Age of 10,000 years ago, as a given fact. There is no debate in the minds of presenters or viewers. Do they have such programmes in the US, or do they gloss over the timescale of geological events (it all happened in 4004BC)? I fondly imagine the average Republican politician or supporter watching (to UK eyes, completely uncontroversial) presenters like Nicholas Crane or Alan Titchmarsh and going "Lies!" "Untrue!" every couple of minutes.Ken Strong, Hornchurch, Essex
As always, "your mileage may vary..." I suppose it's just possible to have a look around America at the moment and at least suggest that this is a "period of doubt." But only in a very relative, hair-splitting, sense. Even in making this suggestion, the author can't get away from the fact that fervent and frequent references to faith in god abound in American politics as much now as ever. I'm pretty certain that most Americans would sooner vote for a Catholic, Muslim, Scientologist, Witch Doctor or even a Satanist than for an atheist. When (and if) that ever changes, then we can talk about a "moment of doubt."MJ Kuhns, Elyria, Ohio, U.S.A.
In a world where religion causes more hurt, division and war than any other cause, this gives me hope.Steve, London, UK
The vast majority of my friends that claim to be atheist, in my opinion, are not "true" atheists. As soon as we talk religion and they make their "view" known, they go into a discussion on why they don't believe in God or Jesus. Nine times out of ten the reasons are because of people who call themselves Christians. Basically their opinion on God is based upon his ambassadors. Therefore they say if God was real, "his" people would be representing God better. Therefore since Christians are not behaving in the manner their religious beliefs require them to, God does not exist. However very seldom do my non-religious friends ever explore, in an honest fashion, if God truly does exist. Their atheism is a surface religion. They haven't explored their belief in depth. Just like many of my religious friends. Paul, Peachtree City, Georgia USA

Proper Understanding of Evolution

I give credit to Dr. Watson for his integrity. He allows his faith in evolution to guide his thoughts. Now these other people are at least dishonest with themselves for if evolution is true than there can be not be anything that is driving a moral compass.

So when he is holding true to evolution when he says a women should have a right to Abbott a baby who will be homosexual, as that would naturally decrease the Gene pool. Like wise he is honest to evolution when he says that Africans are a lower inteligence, because they are earlier on the evolutionary scale, than northern Europeans.

Of course he is also wrong because evolution is wrong, but he at least has more integrity than those who criticise him for his stance on evolution.

The real question is why do they care, as there is no meaning to life if there is nothing beyond this life.

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Museum drops race row scientist

Dr Watson was due to arrive in Britain to promote his new bookThe Science Museum has cancelled a talk by American DNA pioneer Dr James Watson after he claimed black people were less intelligent than white people.

Dr Watson, who won a Nobel Prize in 1962 for his part in discovering the structure of DNA, was due to speak at the venue on Friday. But the museum has cancelled the event, saying his views went "beyond the point of acceptable debate".

Skills Minister David Lammy said Dr Watson's views "were deeply offensive". He added: "They will succeed only in providing oxygen for the BNP. "It is a shame that a man with a record of scientific distinction should see his work overshadowed by his own irrational prejudices." We feel Dr Watson has gone beyond the point of acceptable debate.

Dr Watson, currently director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in New York, has arrived in Britain to promote his latest book.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, the 79-year-old said he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really".

He went on to say he hoped everyone was equal but that "people
who have to deal with black employees find this is not true".
A spokesman for the Science Museum said: "We know that eminent scientists can sometimes say things that cause controversy and the Science Museum does not shy away from debating controversial topics.
"However, we feel Dr Watson has gone beyond the point of acceptable debate and we are, as a result, cancelling his talk."
'Robust questioning'

The scientist has courted controversy in the past,
saying that a woman should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests could determine it would be homosexual.
Dr Watson is also due to speak in Bristol at the annual Festival of Ideas which will be hosted by Eric Thomas, Bristol University's vice-chancellor.
A spokesman for the university said it respected "freedom of speech and the right of people to express their views".
But it expected "some robust questioning of Dr Watson on his ideas".

Austria holds first divorce fair

Austria is to host the world's first "divorce fair" this month, aimed at helping couples untie the knot as painlessly as possible.
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So once addressing the issue rather than trying to resolve the issue they just cut and run. The problem is that for over a hundred years European philosophers have said its all about the individual. Even though Divorce can destroy children that is secondary to the happiness of the parent or parents.

A life of abuse, rape and murder

Angus Robertson Sinclair, the man at the centre of the collapsed World's End murders case, has a string of convictions.
His first brush with the law was at the age of 13 when he stole an offertory box from a Glasgow church.
The 12 months' probation he received for that petty crime, committed in 1959, did not, however, jolt him into a life of good behaviour.
Later that year, the youngest son of Angus and Mary Sinclair appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on a housebreaking charge, for which he was later admonished.
However, it was in 1961 that Sinclair's life of crime took a sinister new twist when he was found guilty of lewd and libidinous practices against an eight-year-old girl.
For that offence he was given three years' probation.
It was seven months into that probationary period that he murdered for the first time.
Catherine Reehill was just eight when Sinclair sexually assaulted and strangled her in his family home.

He threw her body down a stairwell and told the little girl's mother that the death had been a terrible accident.

After being questioned by detectives the then 16-year-old Sinclair confessed to culpable homicide and was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Pointedly, the judge Lord Mackintosh described Sinclair as "callous, cunning and wicked" and said that the perpetrator was so obsessed with sex that he was capable of taking a life to satisfy his lust.
There was nothing in Sinclair's unremarkable upbringing which might have hinted at what he would become.
He was brought up in the St George's Cross area of Glasgow and attended Lovell Street Primary, followed by St George's Junior Secondary School.
While in Edinburgh's Saughton Prison serving his sentence for Catherine's murder, he trained as a painter and decorator.
In 1970 he married trainee nurse Sarah McCulloch in Edinburgh and two years later they had a son Gary whom they brought up in Glasgow.

Throat cut
To all who knew him, Sinclair was apparently living a stable family life between 1970 and 1979.
However, the convicted killer was never too far from being on the wrong side of the law. In 1980 he had a short spell in prison for illegally possessing a .22 calibre revolver and ammunition.
Further police investigations found he had committed a string of indecent assaults and rapes against boys and girls aged between eight and 11.
His method was predatory - waiting in flats and closes before grabbing his victims at knifepoint.
In 1982 he pleaded guilty to 11 of 13 charges and was sentenced to life in prison.

SINCLAIR'S CONVICTIONS
1959 - stole an offertory box from a Glasgow church
1959 - housebreaking charge
1961 - committed lewd and libidinous practices on an eight-year-old girl
1961 - convicted of murdering Catherine Reehill, aged eight
1980 - illegal possession of a .22 calibre revolver
1982 - pleaded guilty to 11 charges of rape and assault on children aged eight to 11
2001 - convicted of the 1978 murder of Mary Gallagher, aged 17

__________________________________________

You have to wonder how many lives were effected by letting a person out who raped and murdered a little girl after athe judge described him as

Pointedly, the judge Lord Mackintosh described Sinclair as "callous, cunning and
wicked" and said that the perpetrator was so obsessed with sex that he was
capable of taking a life to satisfy his lust.

While he might be a model prisoner, he should stay as a resident, and not have any possibility of builiding on his record.

Daylight sexual assault on woman.

Police in Plymouth are appealing for witnesses after a woman was seriously sexually assaulted by two men in Devon.

Faith schools set for expansion

The government has pledged its support for the principle of faith schools - with the prospect of many more Muslim schools within the state sector.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls and faith group leaders have formed a partnership - endorsing faith schools as a force to improve social cohesion in England.
Mr Balls says faith groups could raise standards in poorer areas, which may be through multi-faith academies.
But a teachers' union warns that faith schools can separate communities.
At a conference in London, Mr Balls presented a joint policy statement with Church of England, Roman Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Greek Orthodox and Sikh representatives.

Show of unity
Mr Balls committed the government to opening more faith schools where there was parental demand and the faith groups pledged their support for social cohesion and the principle of fair admissions.

The schools secretary rejected claims that this show of unity was an attempt to repair the damage from a short-lived attempt by the government to require faith schools to admit a quota of pupils from outside this faith group.
Instead he said it was a reflection of the importance of working in partnership with such a large, successful part of the school system.
"I fully recognise that faith schools are popular with many parents," he said.
"One thing we've learnt as a government is that having a distinct ethos, strong leadership, a commitment to promoting opportunity for all, those are the kind of schools where parents want to send their children.
"And there are many faith schools which pass that test with flying colours," said Mr Balls.
He told the conference that faith schools were a longstanding partner in the drive to raise standards, particularly in more deprived areas.
"Faith schools take very seriously their historic mission to reach out to support children from lower income or disadvantaged backgrounds," said Mr Balls.
As an example, he said that in Oldham there were plans for a joint Church of England and Muslim academy.
There could be new faith academies - in addition to those replacing existing schools - in which half of the places would be for children from faith groups and the remainder from the wider community.

Backdoor selection
Mr Balls also stressed that faith schools must not use any form of covert selection - such as expensive uniforms, complicated admissions forms or expensive school trips.
In support of the Faith in the System joint statement, the Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols, said it was a myth that faith schools had fewer children from ethnic minorities or from less well off backgrounds.
The schools secretary said any expansion in the faith school sector would depend on demand from the local community - but that the school building programme could help to meet the demand for more Muslim schools.
While there were 376,000 Muslim children aged between five and 15 at the last census, there are only 1,770 pupils in the seven state-funded Muslim schools in England.
However Dr Mohamed Mukadam of the Association of Muslim Schools said that public suspicion about extremism remained a barrier to the setting up of more Muslim schools.
There are over 100 independent Muslim schools which could transfer into the state sector.

Division
Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb said that faith schools played an admirable role in providing choice for parents within the state education system.
"Their position needs to be strengthened and modernised in our increasingly multicultural society."
But the support was challenged by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
General secretary Mary Bousted asked "why schools, in which the majority of funding comes from the state, should, as the government proposes, nurture young people in a particular faith?"
Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society said it was "a sure-fire recipe for separation, and future conflict to encourage children to think of themselves primarily as being of a particular religion, rather than encouraging them to concentrate on what we all have in common".

Students in death insurance scam

(l to r) James Gargett, John Gilbert and Chris SmithThree students have admitted faking the deaths of two women in a £125,000 insurance scam.

Parents' plea to missing daughter

The parents of a "popular" 15-year-old girl who has been missing for six days have begged their daughter to return to the family's Hampshire home.

Police said Rosemary left home after a family argument

Bullets soldier given three years

A British soldier who agreed to sell army ammunition to an undercover police officer for £50 has been jailed for three years.

Man killed during park shooting

A man was shot dead in a London park in the early hours of Saturday, Scotland Yard has said.

Lorry appeal over road death man

Police say a 25-year-old man who was found dead by the side of a road near Llanelli may have been hit by a lorry

Seven bailed over stabbing attack

Seven people arrested after a stabbing in Bristol have been released on bail while further inquiries are made

Girl, 17, held after man's murder

A 17-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was stabbed to death.

Boys reported after factory blast

Three boys have been reported to the Children's Panel after an explosion and major fire at a chemical plant in Ayrshire, police have said.

Youth charged after street attack

A youth has been charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent after an attack on a 30-year-old man, who remains in a critical condition

Man died from stab wound to leg

A 36-year-old man who died following an attack at his home died as a result of a stab wound to his leg, a Home Office pathologist has confirmed.

Shot girl's mother owned pistol

A mother of a schoolgirl shot dead in her own home has admitted possessing the gun that killed her daughter.

Four in court over fatal stabbing

Four men have appeared in court charged with the murder of a 44-year-old man found stabbed to death at his home.

Weapons seized after army tip-off

Police seized a haul of military weapons, including grenade launchers and an SA 80 rifle, in a raid on a house in County Durham.

Man jailed for child abuse photos

A paedophile who photographed himself abusing a toddler and sent the pictures to another man who had asked for them has been jailed for six years.

Addict jailed over mother murder

Wright had a £400 a day crack cocaine habit, the court heardA crack cocaine addict who admitted killing his mother and using her money to buy drugs has been jailed for life

--------------------------------\

How long is that?

Most say UK is in 'moral decline'

32% of people said they would try to stop teenagers spraying graffitiMore than four in five people believe that Britain is in moral decline, a survey has indicated.

Woman arrested in care home death

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing a disabled teenager who died of burns in a care home

Boys on litter row murder charge

Two boys have been charged with the murder of a man who died after being attacked in an alleged row over litter

Evren Anil fell into a coma after hitting his head on the pavement in Crystal Palace, south London, when he confronted a gang of youths.
The 23-year-old from Upper Norwood, south London, died eight days later.
A 17-year-old boy from Tottenham, north London, and a 16-year-old boy from Croydon, south London

Doctors' manager stole £100,000

The manager of a Carmarthenshire doctors' practice altered cheques to steal £100,000 and lived an extravagant lifestyle, Swansea Crown Court heard

Singing tutor admits porn charges

One of Northern Ireland's best known singing tutors has been given a 12 month suspended sentence for accessing indecent images of children.

Human foetus discovered in toilet

A human foetus has been found in a toilet at London Bridge train station, police have said.

===========================

I find it inteesting that no one is concerned about the child that has died, but concernened about a mother who would leave her child in such a state.

Couple jailed over baby torture

A couple have been jailed for nine years for abusing a 17-month-old boy who was sliced with a knife and burned with cigarettes.


Sumairia Parveen abused stepson Tahla Ikram before his death in September 2006, Southwark Crown Court heard

Teen rape accused was out on bail

A 14-year-old boy accused of raping a German student in a north Belfast park was out on bail at the time, the High Court has been told.

Wrestler jailed for choke murder

A self-styled wrestling expert has been jailed for life for choking a disabled man to death.

Shop manager jailed for baby porn

The judge had considered treating Boswell as a dangerous offenderA bookshop manager who distributed pornographic images of babies, on his computer has been jailed for two-and-a-half years

===============================

A bookshop manager who distributed pornographic images of babies, on his computer has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Mold Crown Court heard that police found up to 4,000 images on Glen Boswell's computer at his shop flat in Llanidloes, Powys.
Judge Philip Hughes said he had a" perverted sexual appetite".
Boswell, 50, now living in Surrey, admitted 22 charges of downloading, possessing and distributing child porn.
Some of the worst categories of child porn were found by police who raided Boswell's flat after a tip off from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency, the court heard.
Andrew Jebb, prosecuting, said Boswell had told police that providing the children appeared to be enjoying what was happening, then it was all right by him.
Your offending shows a dark, sinister and rather worrying side to your personality,
Judge Philip Hughes
But Mr Jebb said it was clear that some of the children were particularly distressed.
One video showed a baby suffering serious sexual assault by an adult man and another was handcuffed while sex acts took place.
Judge Hughes told Boswell that the case was aggravated by the fact the offences had continued for four years, the number of images involved and that many were distributed to others.
"As far as the children were concerned, you did not yourself directly abuse them but the very fact of what you were doing was in itself an abuse of these children," he told him.
"You have a depraved and perverted sexual appetite.
"Your offending shows a dark, sinister and rather worrying side to your personality."

More pornography
He said he had considered treating Boswell as a dangerous offender, but decided against it after a probation sexual assessment showed that his risk of re-offending was "low".
As well as direct distribution, the court heard Boswell used a file share system allowing others to automatically download his images.
'Abhorrent and horrific'
He had also written fantasy stories, fiction about adults abusing children, including a baby.
Andrew Green, defending, said it was accepted that Boswell's offences were "abhorrent and horrific" and that the material was sickening.
"It is clear that for quite some time, he has harboured a deeply distorted pattern of thinking," he said.
Boswell, was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
He was also banned from working with children and from accessing the internet to download or distribute indecent images.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Given that this man wrote illicite material and distributed it the chance of his reoffending is about 100% there should be no doubt, but thats our court system thinking the best of people or hoping any way.

Jail for pregnant woman stabbing

Elson was jailed in LondonA man who stabbed his pregnant ex-girlfriend has been jailed indefinitely

Shops damaged in 'suspect' blaze

A fire which badly damaged part of a shopping centre in Downpatrick, County Down, is thought to have been started deliberately. It took three hours to tackle the blaze

Man is injured in city gun attack

A man has been injured in a shooting in the Galliagh area of Londonderry, police have said.

Daft burglar writes name on wall

An 18-year-old burglar who vandalised a children's campsite building was caught because he wrote his name on a wall at the scene, a court has heard.

Student jailed for £1m drug haul

The cocaine had a maximum street value of about £1m. A student who was caught with cocaine worth about £1m in his bag at Aberdeen Airport has been jailed for six years.