Monday 26 October 2015

Beware of the Bogeyman

Beware there is Bogeyman on the loose. The Daily Express warns us that there is a predatory rapist on the loose who has escaped deportation by claiming he's a Syrian refugee http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/614714/illegal-immigrant-sexual-assault-woman-London-deportation-Syrian-refugee

Some stories in the press beggar belief. The clear subtext is that we should be fearful of Syrian refugees because if we let them in, bad things will happen. But hang on a second. THINK. This bloke isn't a Syrian refugee. He's a lying toe rag. People tell porkies to the courts and the Police all the time. If our criminal justice system is so poor that lying isn't an aggravating factor in sentencing people, we can't try and blame asylum seeker for it all going wrong.

If it was down to me, I'd automatically impose harsher sentences on people who try and pervert the course of justice by lying. A few years ago, I had to witness the sickening sight of brutal thug of a man lie to the police, his friends, the press and even himself after he assaulted a female friend of mine in Finchley High Road. The man used his status as a councillor to get a light punishment. The cctv footage blew away his tissue of lies. To this day, he taunts his victim, posts Twitter messages claiming he was set up and tells his friends it was a terrible miscarriage of justice. 

I saw my friend five minutes after his attack. She was tearful and shaking like a leaf. She had bruising and was in a state of shock. The lies were simply ignored during sentencing. The last minute change of plea was seen as something positive by the Judge. The six months of lies was conveniently forgotten. But the Daily Express doesn't demonise Barnets Tory Councillors because there was a bad apple in the basket. We would think it unfair if they did. So why do we think it's ok to besmirch the poor victims of circumstance who flee war zones? Especially when the case in point was lying?

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