# Is this 56 day sentence for racist remarks considered sane in the UK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 27, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964 "2012-03-27T17:25:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/1 "2012-03-27T17:25:05Z")
[http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100147319/top-banter-liam-stacey-is-an-idiot-thats-punishment-enough-for-his-fabrice-muamba-tweets/](http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100147319/top-banter-liam-stacey-is-an-idiot-thats-punishment-enough-for-his-fabrice-muamba-tweets/) Here’s what this kid said on Twitter: • you are a silly c **t… Your mothers a w_g and your dad is a rapist! Bonjour you scruffy northen c_**! • owwww go suck a n_ **r d** you f**g aids ridden ct • go suck muamba’s dead black d**k then you aids ridden tt! #muambasdead • go rape your dog! #C\*t! • I aint your friend you w_g c\*\*t ….go pick some cotton! More of them [Curate, compile, and create stories](http://chirpstory.com/li/5261) but the above appear to be representative. For the above comments, he was charged with (an pled guilty to) inciting racial hatred. His sentence is 56 days. Is this considered a sane charge and sentence in the UK? Is there something relevant about the story I don’t know? ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/2 "2012-03-27T17:44:34Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Is this considered a sane charge and sentence in the UK? Yes. Inciting racial hatred is a perfectly commonplace charge. Dunno what the sentence tends to be, not having incited racial hatred myself, but a couple of months sounds about right to me. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/3 "2012-03-27T18:09:26Z")
I think it’s entirely consistent with the law as it stands, but I wish the UK had an entrenched consitution with a bill of rights that the judiciary could refer to in order to perform a check on the legislature. That’s one of the reasons I support the EU: despite the lost sovereignty and lack of democratic accountability, at least there’s a higher authority than the government’s fiat (government’s fiat wouldn’t be as bad with proportional representation, but electoral reform likely won’t resurface for decades). ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/4 "2012-03-27T18:17:47Z")
I suspect that the sentence reflects the fact that he plead guilty - I don’t know what the range of sentencing for such a crime might be, but since he plead guilty there might simply be a standard sentencing the court gives out and that’s the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/5 "2012-03-27T18:32:16Z")
I (an Australian) am conflicted. I’m not sure which I despise more, hate speech laws or this brat. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/6 "2012-03-27T19:37:46Z")
Note that c **t and t** t are presumably OK to say. I’m not sure what to make of the fact that one of the tags on the linked article is “eh, lads? eh?” ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/7 "2012-03-27T19:38:58Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > That’s one of the reasons I support the EU: despite the lost sovereignty and lack of democratic accountability, at least there’s a higher authority than the government’s fiat The government is elected. Your “higher authority” isn’t. I’ll stick with elected fiat over non-elected commandments from on-high. 🙂 Unless I’m totally misunderstanding the composition of the ECHR, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/8 "2012-03-27T19:57:44Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Note that c **t and t** t are presumably OK to say. > > I’m not sure what to make of the fact that one of the tags on the linked article is “eh, lads? eh?” I can’t seem to figure out what “t\*\*t” or “w\*g” mean. Anyone care to fill in the blanks for me? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/9 "2012-03-27T19:58:15Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Unless I’m totally misunderstanding the composition of the ECHR, etc. I don’t think the ECHR is any less democratic then the SCOTUS enforcing the Bill of Rights here in the the US. The Convention on Human rights is ratified by member states, and the justices are appointed by an elected parliament. In general complaints about the European gov’t institutions being “non-democratic” seem overblown to me. > [@JJ](#): > > I can’t seem to figure out what “t\*\*t” or “w\*g” mean. Anyone care to fill in the blanks for me? w\*g == “wog”. I can’t figure out the other one. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/10 "2012-03-27T20:03:15Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I can’t seem to figure out what “t\*\*t” or “w\*g” mean. Anyone care to fill in the blanks for me? t\*\*t should probably have a _wa_ in the middle, and w\*g should have _o_ in the middle to make a common derogatory slur used in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/11 "2012-03-27T20:03:50Z")
Twat, probably. Also, the government of the UK consists of a coalition between the majority party and a minority party, so presumably cannot accurately represent the interests of the population. That said, according to the referendum on electoral reform, the population is uninterested in having their interests expressed in Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/12 "2012-03-27T20:04:14Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I can’t seem to figure out what “t\*\*t” or “w\*g” mean. Anyone care to fill in the blanks for me? Twat. Wog. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/13 "2012-03-27T20:08:51Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Is this considered a sane charge and sentence in the UK? Folks in the UK can get in trouble for much more mild things than that. For example, there’s the famous [“your horse is gay” case](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/4606022.stm). An college student named Sam Brown was arrested for saying those words, though the criminal charges against him were eventually dropped. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/14 "2012-03-27T20:24:44Z")
I hadn’t heard of wog before. I did know twat…several actually. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/15 "2012-03-27T20:39:32Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I hadn’t heard of wog before. I did know twat…several actually. 😃 I always thought it was an Americanism referring to Italians. You learn something new every day! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/16 "2012-03-27T20:45:25Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I always thought it was an Americanism referring to Italians. You learn something new every day! You’re thinking of “wop”. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/17 "2012-03-27T21:02:33Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > You’re thinking of “wop”. Ah. Yes, I am. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/18 "2012-03-27T21:03:27Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Twat. Wog. Geez, he was just asking a question! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Cornholio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Cornholio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Cornholio)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/19 "2012-03-27T21:07:02Z")
No, it’s not sane, it’s the polar opposite. The judge is obviously a media whore, he told Stacey that: “It was racist abuse via a social networking site instigated as a result of a vile and abhorrent comment about a young footballer who was fighting for his life. At the moment not just the footballer’s family, not just the footballing world but the whole world were literally praying for his life, your comments aggravated this situation. I have no choice but to impose an immediate custodial sentence to reflect the public outrage at what you have done.” For starters, I wasn’t praying for the footballer, I couldn’t give a toss, nor could any of my friends or immediate family, so he was wrong there. Secondly, he said that this lad’s insults “aggravated this situation”. Really? Did the doctors working on the footballer find the comments affected their work? Were the footballer’s family, sitting at his bedside, affected by his Tweets? Of course not. They may have found them unpleasant, but then life’s like that, not everyone loves everyone else, and sometimes you will come across people who positively revel in your misfortune. As for calling someone a wog etc, is that “racist”? I don’t think so. Not nice, not clever if theres any coloureds, sorry “blacks” about, but it’s a word you don’t hear much these days. I had to explain it to my niece the other day, sheeeesh, the youth of today! Try gettin’ down with your friendly neighbourhood black men by asking them “How’s it going niggers?” and see what happens. Again, not the cleverest thing to say, but it doesn’t incite anyone to HATE another racial group. Bad words, that’s all, but apart from getting your own head stoved in, certainly won’t incite “hatred”. Some people hate blacks/whites/Asians/Gingers, whatever you call them… If he’d said " Go and kill all wogs", then that would possibly count as incitement to racial hatred in my book, but name-calling…fucking hell, we are on a slippery slope to hell here. I sincerely hope that Twitter will be reporting to the police anyone, black or white, who uses the term “nigger/nigga”, or honky, cracker, snowflake etc etc. In fact, they shouldn’t let anyone mention their race, because that might encourage others to hate them - “Incitement to racial hatred”. In this country, there are so many right-on people who are terrified of offending any minority, they have started to infect twats like the judge in this case. We need some sanity. Hopefully an Appeal court will restore some, and give this ex-student (he’s been kicked off his course, so he can’t return once his debt to society has been paid) a slap on the wrist and make him do some gardening at weekends. Maybe they’d like to take one or two of the scrote burglars who are currently enjoying Community Service and bang them up instead - like the vast majority of the public have been demanding here for many years (yet ignored by the judiciary). ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964/20 "2012-03-27T21:13:36Z")
> [@](#): > > As for calling someone a wog etc, is that “racist”? I don’t think so. What would you class “I aint your friend you wog cunt… go pick some cotton” as? > [@](#): > > In fact, they shouldn’t let anyone mention their race, because that might encourage others to hate them … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-56-day-sentence-for-racist-remarks-considered-sane-in-the-uk/616964.md?page=2)