17 September 2010

Owen Patrick Creighton pleads guilty

| johnboy
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The crash in march last year on Clift Crescent was a horrific thing.

Megan Minney and Steven Rial died and the grieving process of their friends was a rocky road for the wider community.

The ABC reports that yesterday the speeding driver Owen Patrick Creighton plead guilty yesterday to culpable driving charges.

The sentence will be handed down next month.

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Driving too fast when young and silly is something many many people have been guilty of. I feel sorry for him. He has lost his friends and will live with the guilt. I’m glad I’m not the judge on this one.

Well, we could write the pre-sentence report now.

This poor, misunderstood child has ADHD, was abused by his priest/teacher/scout leader and is a paragon of moral virtue.

This may well be right, of course.

dvaey said :

So, the offence happened 18 months ago, the offender has pled guilty, why do the courts want to wait another month to sentence him?

Arent there enough delays in the court system, without dragging out a case where the facts are already known and the defendant has pled guilty? From the article it seems the only purpose the ‘trial’ served, was to give the family a chance to stand up in court and talk about how sorry they were. If an offender wants to plead guilty to an offence, it should speed the justice process up, isnt that the whole idea of entering an early plea, to reduce the courts workload and provide a speedier system in exchange for a better sentence?

The court will be waiting for a presentence report. It is a report made up by members of probations and parole that gives a history of the offender, how he was brought up and all that kind of thing. Apparently they take from 4 to 6 weeks to complete.

Monster of the Deep9:21 pm 17 Sep 10

Most likely they’re waiting another month to get an updated pre-sentence report to find out about the offender’s current situation – precisely BECAUSE the offence happened 18 months ago.

georgesgenitals7:56 pm 17 Sep 10

They are working out if they can apply the new charge ‘Responsible for the building of bogan roadside memorial’.

So, the offence happened 18 months ago, the offender has pled guilty, why do the courts want to wait another month to sentence him?

Arent there enough delays in the court system, without dragging out a case where the facts are already known and the defendant has pled guilty? From the article it seems the only purpose the ‘trial’ served, was to give the family a chance to stand up in court and talk about how sorry they were. If an offender wants to plead guilty to an offence, it should speed the justice process up, isnt that the whole idea of entering an early plea, to reduce the courts workload and provide a speedier system in exchange for a better sentence?

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