As a member of the SDMB and a regular ( ??? ) reader of same, I wonder why your opinion of the restraint of the the England based posters is not in fact true.
"Not going to post criticism of the US weapon laws??? " Bawahahahaha
Total lack of understanding the historic, cultural and philosophy’s of the two countries seems to run rampant over there. Much more so than the reverse in my selected reading of the SDMB. :rolleyes:
Do us a favour and possess some guns, pipe bombs, and make rant on social media about how you intend to attack your old alma mater, in US or Israel (or whereever you currently live).
Do tell us how the authorities react.
:rolleyes:
I have lost count of the number of times US or US based posters have loudly proclaimed that a certain crime or actiuon in one country would “never be an offenc or allowed in the US”, only to be told by legally qualified US dopers, that actually, no, that would be perfectly fine
There is quite a gap between “authorities reacting” and “life in prison”.
He’s not going to spend his life in prison, he’s going to spend 8 years in prison, if he keeps his head down, and he’s going to be on licence for the rest of his life. He gathered an illegal arsenal of weapons and made plans to kill people with them.
ETA, from the link, “Lyburd was warned the psychiatric evidence suggested it might be a “very long time indeed” before he is considered safe enough to be released.”, so it may be longer than 8 years.
Terr, dude, even in the States, you need a Federal license to build and/or possess explosives.
For what reason, other than violent destruction would you need to build 4 pipe bombs right away?
Add on top all the incredibly damning circumstantial and actual evidence, along with an alleged confession, yeh, life in prison sounds about right. Even in the States. Which in some States only means 20 years, not literally the rest of your life.
Please acquaint yourself with England and Wales sentencing policy. The kid has an 8 year tariff on a life licence. That’s a) about right for the offences committed, and b) a sentencing decision by the judge that this chucklefuck might be an ongoing danger to the public. How his life pans out very much depends on his future behaviour.
There was no “alleged confession”. Here is Lyburd at the trial:
"I was a troll. To be a troll is to say something to get a reaction out of people.
It’s childish and immature. I wanted people to panic a little bit, to believe I was going to do something. I wanted them to be tearing their hair out thinking I was going to do something.
…
I was lonely. I just wanted people to talk to me."
If you think that would get him life in prison in the US (and yes, life in prison here doesn’t necessarily mean he is not going to get released either), cite the law under which that is possible.
He might have used that as his defence, clearly the jury didn’t believe him, something must have convinced them otherwise, what do you think that might have been…evidence?
Oh, of course, the US does not use evidence in court and that’s why you are not familiar with the concept, and naturally when a criminal later denies something, well its always going to be true isn’t it?
I’ll bet you are surprised to discover that criminals sometimes lie, yes, even in court, its disappointing I know but these criminals just seem to let their standards slip these days, when I was a kid you always knew who a criminal was, they all loved their mothers too, you could * trust* a criminal back then, these days they seem to have no morals at all.
::::::::::::sigh::::::::: the good old days
You might also be interested to know, that given he is on an 8 year sentence, he will do four, and if he behaves he might get parole and reduce that.
He will be on licence upon release for the remainder of the time not in prison.
Hey Guns I guess I need a sarcasm smiley, you obviously didn’t pick it up.
Me? Criticise US gun laws, what me? would I?
I meant a life sentence in the UK sounds about right.
As for what the prosecution might be for him in the States, that’s harder to pin down (since it depends on which State he was in). Our gun laws are, of course, more lax. Though he’d be charged with possession of a gun without a license. Now, the more meatier offence of building a pipe bomb(s) with intent to use, I found this cite:
Yeh. Not looking good. So, mix in all the fun stuff, like conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism/murder and it makes for a good amount of Federal prison time.
To all the people who are so sympathetic with this poor man, consider this instead - if he had instead been preparing to kill your family, would you want the prosecution to go easy on him? What if he had a grudge against his ex-girlfriend, and that ex-girlfriend happened to be your daughter?
These are real lives, and he’s a real threat. In my eyes his freedom is worth less than the absence of that threat, so remove him from society. And this is certainly more than a thought crime.
So four pipe bombs at US twenty years per and run consecutively is 80 years, and we still haven’t got to the guns yet.
“Attempted murder”. Bah! What is that? Is there a Nobel Prize for Attempted Chemistry?
Terr thinks of it more as performance art.
There is ample proof that he was plotting mass murder. There is a wide legal difference between showing state of mind (thought-crime) and establishing Intent (individual equivalent of “conspiracy”)
The pipe bombs were fully weaponized, with nails taped to the outside for maximum loss of life. There is no other purpose for this modification.
The bullets were hollow point expanding bullets. These bullets are not made to defend, stop, or wound. They are specifically engineered to cause death wherever they enter the body. You could only make them more lethal by adding poison to the load.
Part of a file he had written then deleted, which was recovered from his computer:
You gotta love the winky emoticon. :eek:
Here’s another sterling character reference:
I expect that he will serve his time in prison and then be remanded to a mental institution, which he will never leave. The UK wisely does not return violent sociopaths to the public.
I’m all for it.
ETA: Somebody please fight my ignorance. What would have been the purpose of the CS gas?
The UK system allows, on the basis of being a grave and immediate danger to the public, for indefinite confinement in a secure hospital. This sentence isn’t that, but the possibility is likely there at the back of the judge’s mind in this case.
Well, that’s tear gas, right? Use it on any resistance or crowds for easier targets and maximum carnage, I suppose.
Am I the only person who saw the significance of the final line of the news story linked in the OP?
Sounds like he out-and-out confessed after he was sentenced to me.
There was no “conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism/murder”, by definition. Anyway, here’s an example:
KKK leader, built and detonated multiple pipe bombs, instructed people how to build them, witness tampering, etc. etc. Sentenced on 7 counts to 12 years imprisonment, followed by 3 years of probation. - which is the equivalent of 8 years if reduced because of good behavior.
See, that is a reasonable sentence.
The sentence of “life with a minimum term of eight years” for building some pipe bombs and possession of a weapon, and rants, by someone with such hangups that he could not step outside his apartment for months, with no action at all is ridiculously overblown. But then, it’s UK. IIRC, they sentenced to prison for two years an 88 year old man who was caring for his housebound wife - for having a 124-year-old shotgun (that he had a license for), loaded, in his car.
So you’re saying you’re soft on crime?
Welcome to LiberalLand.
That’s wonderful news! Do you know if he babysits? We’re looking for a good sitter.