You lose your temper, kick in a shop window and the court urderstands that it was out of character. You made a fool of yourself this once. You never did it before. Fair enough. We should all get a break for doing something stupid and out of character.

The rule was never meant to cover a serial rapist who avoided being caught. There was nothing out of character about the actions of this pervert.

Fuck him.

No. I mean it literally. Fuck him, somebody. Please.

"If an offender has previous convictions, particularly if they are for similar offences, then this reduces the extent to which he or she can put forward mitigation. The offender cannot claim to have a 'clean record ' or[...] to have made a genuine mistake or to have failed to comprehend the significance of his or her actions."

(From a pretty decent magistrates' handbook.)

In other words, if he'd been caught before, he might have then realized what he'd been doing was wrong. As he'd not been caught, he could claim that he thought his actions were reasonable.

And I've used the same reasoning many times. Well, not for, er…raping people per se. More the 'urinating in the shower' type of offence.

Ah, shag it I agree with you anyway. Bottom line, Keane is now doing porridge. Out in seven? Five??

That's it in a nutshell, Bock. I remember reading a few years ago about a custodial sentence handed down by Judge Mary Martin (who is notorious for nearly always handing down the maximum possible) to a homeless man who had stolen an anorak from a shop to keep himself warm. He hanged himself in prison a few days later.

I was on the jury for a rape trial once – a girl who had been raped from the age of seven by a trusted family friend. We found him guilty and were told by a policeman after the verdict that other victims had come forward. He got 8 years, and it pains me to think that he's now probably out, free to live his life while that girl's childhood was robbed from her.