Legal system gone mad?

[Dunenewt]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/8543537.stm

Old man with no previous convictions, carried a shotgun on his boat gets...a year in prison??  That's disgraceful.  A waste of HMRC time and effort as well.

[Khan]

No it's not. It's the legal system doing it's job. You can't carry unlicensed weapons around because you might want to defend yourself. 1 Year is actually quite lenient, I bet a young black male wanting to defend himself in Brixton, where one is probably more likely to encounter danger, would have gotten a far longer sentence.

[athanasios]

No! The legal system is NOT doing its job. This poor fellow will spend a year in prison, whereas criminals have a private army protecting them and are considered to be respected members of the society. But you won't hear about them in the news: either the journalist will be fired and won't find job anymore or fill a ditch. Actually both won't happen, but the journalist will fill his pockets with black money (=bribed).

[Khan]

The law in the UK says you cannot own a weapon like this without a licence. That's the general consensus and there is no large movement for the law to change. He has broken that law and he has to pay for it. All that private army stuff I'm ignoring as it is really just gobble-de-gook.

[athanasios]

Only that you cannot get that license, whereas others don't even need to ask for it...

Don't isolate things. They are interconnected.

[Dante]

We've got a shotgun licence. Not impossible to get.

[athanasios]

Not easy either (for the common people-at least here in Greece).

[Dante]

But this wasn't Greece, it was Brixton. And our licence was issued in Scotland.

[athanasios]

Will he have to serve that year in prison finally? Because here he would pay and get out.

[Dunenewt]

But this wasn't Greece, it was Brixton. And our licence was issued in Scotland.

No, it was Brixham.  Sleepy seaside town.  The guy's got no previous convictions, and has now been locked up for a year.  Absolute madness.

[Dante]

What, you think people with no previous convictions should be forgiven when they break the law in sleepy seaside towns? I think I spot a flaw in your reasoning.

Edit: Brixham, Brixton, all the same to me. :P

[Dunenewt]

What, you think people with no previous convictions should be forgiven when they break the law in sleepy seaside towns? I think I spot a flaw in your reasoning.

Edit: Brixham, Brixton, all the same to me. :P

The man's 56 years old, and has no previous convictions, yet he gets 1 year in prison.  People carry guns round London all the time, and most of them get suspended sentences at most!

[Dante]

Statistics from a reputable source, please.

[Dunenewt]

How about this?

[Dante]

No