- ‘Vicious’ French men walk away with on-the-spot fines while Englishman is sent to prison
- Police deny nationality or ability to speak English was behind their decision
By
James Tozer
07:27 EST, 27 July 2012
|
19:24 EST, 27 July 2012
A judge has criticised police for not prosecuting four thugs involved in a ‘vicious’ assault – allegedly because none of them speaks English.
The French teenagers who descended on a man ‘like a pack of wolves’ were instead given fixed penalties and released.
By contrast, a local man who was less heavily involved in the altercation was hauled to court and jailed.
Jailed: Anthony Hilton has been sentenced to a sixteen week prison term while Frenchmen were given on the spot fines
The decision was criticised by the judge who accused the police of
‘clearing their books with the minimum of effort’.
District Judge John
Foster said: ‘It is extraordinary that the police decided to deal with
the others whose behaviour was more serious by issuing fixed penalty
tickets because, apparently, four of them did not speak English.
‘I cannot begin to understand how the police reached their conclusion.’
The allegation – denied by police – was made as Anthony Hilton, 22,
appeared in court over the incident in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
His
solicitor told the hearing he was ‘concerned as a council taxpayer’ over
the disparity in how those involved had been treated.
District Judge John Foster who has slammed police for not prosecuting four French youths
District Judge Foster spoke out yesterday after being shown CCTV of the
incident showing the Frenchmen he described as ‘vicious cowards’ joining
in the attack.
However, while Hilton was charged, the Frenchmen were given £80 fixed
penalty notices, along with a local woman.
John Jones, representing
Hilton, said his client had retaliated after the unnamed victim hit him.
‘At no time did Mr Hilton expect the incident to develop in the way that it did,’ Mr Jones told Barnsley magistrates.
‘The others acted more seriously than Mr Hilton.’
Rose Carr, prosecuting, had described how Hilton, of Barnsley, had
punched the victim on the head and spun him on to the floor during the
incident in May.
Hilton admitted threatening behaviour and failing to
surrender to bail and was jailed for 16 weeks.
Tough punishment: Hilton, pictured with his girlfriend Gemm Kier, was the only one involved who was bought to court
After the case his mother, Gale, said: ‘He was not expecting to go to
prison. If the others have got off then it is harsh. Does the crime fit
the punishment?’
His girlfriend Gemma Keer, 23, claimed they had been leaving a nightclub
together when someone punched him for no reason.
She said: ‘He knocked
him down and these French lads, who we didn’t know, came up.’
She claims that the Frenchmen said in broken English, ‘we saw what
happened before’, then waded in.
She added: ‘Tony only threw one punch
but the French lads were really giving the guy on the ground a kicking.’
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police denied language had been a factor
in the decision and said Crown Prosecution Service guidelines had been
followed.
The Frenchmen, two aged 18, one 17 and one 16, had no previous convictions and were therefore fined, he insisted.
The same applied to a 23-year-old woman arrested over the attack,
whereas Hilton had ‘extensive’ previous offences and was ‘heavily
involved’.
The spokesman added: ‘Fixed penalty notices were not issued because of nationality or their ability to speak English.’
Hilton plans to appeal against his sentence.
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Rip up the HRA and grow a pair of mens kit Cameron and May
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British so-called justice – the laughing -stock of the civilised world.
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However, it was the Frenchmen’s first offence whilst Hilton has many previous. I expect this is what counted against him, not the language barrier.
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How nice to hear the old dodge….me no speaka da english , still works !!!!!
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scully, Exeter, 27/7/2012 17:10 Thug? Did you read the bit about where he “had retaliated after being hit by the man who was later given the kicking”? It was the victim who actually initiated the violence. Why wasn’t the ‘victim’ charged with the initial assault?
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The spokesman added: ‘The fixed penalty notices were not issued because of nationality or their ability to speak English, the incident was dealt with as deemed appropriate by the officer and as per the national CPS charging standards.’ ===== you can always tell when a Police Spokesman is lying – his mouth moves……..
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This guy started the fight and he is quite notorious in these parts. Never met him but heard an awful lot about him. That said the others should be joining him in the slammer also.
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And we all know what a waste of money the cLown prosecution service is !
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Another joke in society lol
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But police say nationality did not affect their decision and they consulted guidelines to hand out an appropriate punishment. ==================================== Then they wonder why the Police have lost the respect of the English
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