13 August 2008

Penfold sets her bar

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[First filed: March 06, 2008 @ 10:16]

Kenny King, 33, a homeless man with a lengthy criminal history who was jailed for three years in NSW for rape in 1993, was sentenced yesterday [for rape – ED] to two years and 10 months’ jail, with a non-parole period of 20 months. He is due for release in 8 months. Canberra Times story here.

Previous RA story on Penfolds addition to the Supreme Court bench can be found here and here.

The article goes on to say how Kenny is a homeless aboriginal with a troubled upbringing and an alcohol problem – also an extensive history for all sorts of offences including rape in 1993. Poor Kenny he is really a victim of society and it’s not his fault. WTF – is the Supreme Court really that out of touch.

Does the safety of the community come into this sort of thing at any point?

UPDATE: The ABC now reports that the Court of Appeal has found the sentence to be “manifestly inadequate”. It’s been increased to four years with non-parole at two and a half.

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Ah…Uncle Terry.
I always lick my lips & rub my hands when I draw him for a client

Well Higgins was one of the judges that actually increased this sentence.

An olympic reference…. very good!

DJ said :

Will this be the wake up call that the Courts need?

Terry the Tippler used to be religiously reversed by higher courts. It hasn’t stopped his idiocy from the bench.

This guy will do it again, as sure as China will top the medal count but throw up 1 sacrificial lamb to fail a drug test

There is a comment above (possibly hiding depending on moderator availabiltiy), but if you insert the words “inadequate sentence” before the third link it makes more sense.

I went over my link per post quota. 🙁

Will this be the wake up call that the Courts need?

Google (internationally) for Justice Penfold, and you get a very laidback picture of judicial sentencing.

Google (internationally) for the phrase manifestly inadequate, and the first word is Penfold.

Google (Australian searching) for inadequate sentence, and four of the first five hits are ACT reports, but a mix of Higgins and Penfold.

Lets all hide under our desks and hope criminals don’t know how to use Google, and maybe things will work out on their own?

HE is another one that really needs the nuthouse by the sound of things.

I mean they mitigate his sentence cos he is of limited cognitive ability (due to drinking himself senseless every single day). But he still committed the crime, and is probably more likely to do it again if he can’t even fully understand why he shouldn’t have done it.

Bring back the asylums I say.

How in hell does a repeat-rapist not go down for 25-to-life? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. He’ll be out in 2 1/2 yrs after ruining some poor woman’s life, and that is pathetic.

Anyone who forms an opinion on anything – based on a report in the CT – is taking a big risk.

8 months??!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Next time Penfold should just spit in the face of the victim.

Hopefully when (not if) Kenny breaks next into someone’s home (I’m estimating in 8 months and 1 day) to satisfy his horny urgings, someone will bludgeon him relentlessly with a blunt object until he is no longer wasting our precious oxygen.

Castrate rapists.

mdme workalot9:02 am 14 Aug 08

Just wanted to highlight a quotation from the original Canberra Times article:

‘He pleaded guilty in October to the charge of having sexual intercourse and being reckless as to whether there was consent, and to one count of trespassing.’

I think it is worth noting that he was not charged or convicted of rape (which I personally think is abhorrent – he never asked nor had a reasonable expectation that consent was given).

Glad to see the Court of Appeal increased the sentence.

seriously WTF? It has just given validity to the entry on belconnen in: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Canberra

Shauno, I’m gald that Mael was talking about rockets because you are on the right posting sport – you are a true rocket scientist.

The * was to annoy you Mael **************************************

The public prosecutor is appealing the leniency of this sentence. (Today’s CT)

Good thing too.

“What’s the * for ?”

lol yeah cause the whole word is spelt hahaha makes the * redundant

If Justice Penfold finds “Imposing a term of imprisonment is not easy,” (CT) and gives a repeat sexual offender a nominal jail term, what do you have to do to get serious porridge in the ACT?

Beats me why there is such an air of gravitas surrounding judges. Networks and politicking gets them to the bench, not wisdom or the common touch.

They are usually career lawyers, and if a lawyer told me the sky was blue, I’d look up to check.

What’s the * for ?

Who gives a fuc*k about his tragic upbringing? Mr King is exactly the same as a stray dog who bites someone. Shoot him.

Or Yass?

I guess some people are so ugly they have to do it in the dark… How else do you explain Queanbeyan?

I spotted that and thought it was strange too.
But if he’s had a “Do you mind if I climb on and help myself whenever I’m toey?” conversation they’re possibly covered against reckless notions of consent, at least in the eyes of our leftist social fantasy judges.

I note from the news article that the victim apparently awoke to find a bloke having sex with her, and at first she thought it was her boyfriend, but then realised it wasn’t the boyfriend as Kenny had a hairier chest.

Doesn’t say much for her boyfriend if he just climbs on for a ride whenever she’s asleep. 🙁

FYI – all rape is violent. Rape is about power and control. Not sex.

Yep, fair point

I meant 20yr sentence and parole period of 14 years. And yes I think the crime is more serious when they enter some ones house because that is suppose to be a safe haven. She would now feel that she cant even be safe in her own home.

Fair enough shauno, this is the maximum, what is the minimum?
I don’t assume that by mentioning ‘entering her property’ that you think it would be less if this crime occured somewhere else say a park, train, school, church, etc.

I think for entering her property and raping her this being quiet grave and I would have imposed a max 20 year sentence with 14yr minimum.

So Penfold J. the right wing conservative seems to be one of these lefty-bleeding-heart lenient right wing conservative judges who make allowances for the ‘tragic’ life of the homeless Aboriginal criminal.
Just what riot ACTers were saying would happen if they appointed someone without the fine legal experience and traditions of the rest of the fine Judges in the country.

On another note, what is the appropriate sentence given the sentencing guidlines?
The decision to reduce sentence for pleading guilty and not requiring the victim to go to court to fight it out seems sensible.

As Caf rightly points out, if there is a higher end of the spectrum then there has to be a lower end of the spectrum. this is not the same as saying that rape is acceptable.
Interesting that she at first thought it was her boyfriend, who would also have been guilty of rape if she was asleep and so couldn’t consent, although presumably at an even lower point on the spectrum.

A challenge to riot acters – list what you think are the levels of gravity of rape circumstances and what punishments they should draw. Its more gutsy to state your own decisions than just bag someone else’s

He got into her house uninvited and then started having sex with her. Just because he didn’t kill anyone doesn’t mean he should just get a slap on the wrist.

GnT – there is no rape charge in the ACT as such – it is having sexual intercourse without/being reckless to having consent,.

Short answer is he was convicted of rape with a past history of rape. People are commenting on his history of assaults and 2 rapes and putting 2 and 2 together. Maybe next time it will be 4.

For those of you mentioning the victim – sentences are not imposed to satisfy the victim. They take into account the nature of the crime and the defendant’s plea and past record.

As far as I can interpret from the article, he was not convicted of rape, rather “having sexual intercourse and being reckless as to whether there was consent”. There was no violence and he stopped as soon as she realised who he was.

I doubt the next thing he’s going to do is kill someone. Sounds like he made the same kind of mistake some footballers have made.

If the poor lass had have beat the bloke to death I’m sure the courts would have strung her up high for taking justice into her own hands.

This is the point it is getting to, sooner or later somebody is going to be absolutely fed up with this tripe from the socialist justice system, and will dish a bit of their own out.

Mr Evil looks like the women have no idea either.

For the women in bed alone out there sort the ‘poor victim of society’ out yourself then call the police. Make sure that whatever measures you take are reasonable.

So now doubt Ms Penfold would be very happy for some bloke to help himself to a bit of “lower end of the spectrum” uninvited and unprotected sex with her one night when she’s home in bed alone?

These people are effing unbelievable. And to think that many women in rape trials have found male judges to be out of touch with reality.

2Ari:
All the extra information serves a purpose…

It means that we can point this out to people and say “You know, you could learn a thing or two by reading The-RiotACT.” and keep a straight face.

Mike Crowther5:08 pm 06 Mar 08

“…Imposing a term of imprisonment is not easy…” what a thing for a highly paid judge to admit! Allow me to offer some layman’s advice. If a judge cannot, (or will not) do the job for which they have been appointed, then they should quit. Lots of people do this when they feel they have taken on a job and subsequently find that they do not poses the requisite guts to perform it properly. They should devote themselves to torts, or immigration, or family law…. anything else but please don’t sit on serious criminal cases wailing about how hard it all is while letting the Kenny Kings of this world loose on the rest of us. If you don’t have the bottle to discharge the trust the community placed in you, stop taking the money!

I think the sentence was pretty light on, but I recognize that as distasteful as the fact is, you do have to have a “minor end of the spectrum” simply because if you don’t, you can’t have a “major end of the spectrum”. If you want particularly egregious cases to be treated particularly harshly (and I think we do), then you have to accept less egregious cases being treated less harshly.

It’s all relative though, and I think (on the facts that have been made public) this sentance should have been a bit stiffer.

Whilst I feel sorry for King- DMD you bleeding heart. The offender doesn’t need pitty the victim does.

There are plenty of people in society who had a disadvantaged upbringing yet don’t rape people.

This could happen to someone you know, mother, sister, daughter or friend and yet be assured it will be treated as a minor end of the spectrum case by our judiciary.

barking toad2:08 pm 06 Mar 08

No need to cross the border evil one!

“Years ago States ran mental hospitals that often had people such as King as permanent inmates.

Sadly, there was a line of ideological thinking back in the 70s that felt that people would be much better off by being integrated into society.”

That would explain some of the morons in State politics then, especially in NSW. 🙂

So the judge has suddenly found empathy/sympathy/understanding. Things have certainly changed from previous positions she held but does ‘lower end of the scale crime’ suggest the victim was a lower end of the scale victim. I’m sure she doesn’t think so and I don’t think anyone can argue that point. I hope she gets all the understanding sympathy support etc that she needs.

No ice – he wasn’t violent. Just plain old alcohol abuse and lack of brain cells.

If they wont’ put these type of people in prison, reserving that for violent offenders etc, then there needs to be somewhere else to put them.

Perhaps the Canberra Gaol, which is supposed to only reach capacity in a few decades, could have one wing as a mental health facility in the meantime.

Yes, he must have an ‘illness’.

Can’t do much about genes. Lock him up.

I would also like to lobby publicly for castration of all sex offenders.

Deadmandrinking12:57 pm 06 Mar 08

Completely agree, sepi. Prison is just a kennel that turns people into wild animals.

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if good ol’ Ice had something to do with this.

Hmm – there needs to be an alternative to prison for these type of ‘tragic’ yet re-offending individuals.

If he can’t help himself, then he must have a mental condition, so perhaps he should be assisted/rehabilitated in some sort of mental institution for a very very long time.

barking toad12:53 pm 06 Mar 08

On his release, the revolving door will kick in.

He’ll be back inside within 12 months and hopefully it won’t be because of the loss of someone’s life. Some just can’t be rehabilitated.

Hillary’s been in the elephant tusk tower for too long.

Deadmandrinking12:41 pm 06 Mar 08

Whilst I do feel sorry for King, I think that his crime was a little too harsh to go properly unpunished – it was obviously pre-meditated, what he did to the victim was brutal, not to mention compromising their sense of security and safety at home.

However, I do honestly hope that when Kerry King is released, efforts are made during his parole to rehabilitate him and seriously turn around his life. I’m all for lenient sentences in regards to prison, but only when a decent alternative is provided.

For the record, while I may have rambled a bit while talking about horses and rails and tragedy vs misadventure (Romeo & Juliet is a comedy of misadventure up until they start killing people)…

I think this is a pretty lenient sentence, even for a “So new she still has the labels on” judge appointed by our monumental cockup of an Attorney General.
Lets hope it doesn’t set the standard for the rest of her term, nor that there’s a spate of trespass & rape cases when Kenny King gets released.

Joe Canberran12:20 pm 06 Mar 08

However, it still leaves the burning question …
which is a better trilogy … Lord of the Rings or Star Wars? 😉

Comment by Ari

Well has anyone released a Saul Bass version on the LotR intro? I think not. SW on the other hand… oh and the remastered version is a cack as well 😉

Wow …

Thus we have the answer to the original point. The United States Space Shuttle program is limited Imperial Roman army war chariots.

… and then …

Early English trains from Stephenson’s design use 4ft 8in gauge as it was the standard gauge used by the horse-drawn rail-mounted wagons used in Liverpool and Manchester coal mines.
The 0.5in extra was added because it reduces binding friction on curves.

… all this extra info in a posting about a rape trial.

However, it still leaves the burning question …
which is a better trilogy … Lord of the Rings or Star Wars? 😉

I’m sure the victim was comforted to know that her experience was “at the lower end of spectrum”. I guess it is all OK then. Remind me to triple-check I’ve locked all my windows and doors at night, especially in 8 months.

@Maelinar:
Your logic should end at cart-targetted roads, both ancient and modern, having two horses attached to horsedrawn cart axles in common (Two horses in harness for distance travel are roughly 1.4m (4ft 8in) wide, as any closer and the horses risk contact with eachother at speed or on curves), not further extend on to Romans.

Non-Roman traders did not have to buy completely new carts on entering Roman-road territories, where had horses sized similarly to much of the known world.

Early English trains from Stephenson’s design use 4ft 8in gauge as it was the standard gauge used by the horse-drawn rail-mounted wagons used in Liverpool and Manchester coal mines.
The 0.5in extra was added because it reduces binding friction on curves.

4ft 8.5in became the English standard over other wider gauges (like the even 5ft and 7ft 0.5in gauges) simply because Stephenson had successfully campaigned and managed to get eight times more track laid at 4ft 8.5in than the nearest competitor.

Re original posting:

A stranger with a lengthy history and previous similar offences, enters your house while you are alone, they rape you while you sleep, you wake up and don’t _immediately_ stop them because you think they are posing as someone else but start to make enquiries, the offender seems to know at the time they have done something wrong, and this is a ‘lower end of the scale’ because they have a bad origin?

Also, point for the literary part of a judge, describing something as ‘tragic’ doesn’t make it so.
If the circumstances are brought about by an external factor instead of a character’s flaws (or more precisely a character’s mistake through which they bring about their own downfall) is should be termed misadventure in any dramatic or literary context.

Astonishingly, the online Canberra Times stars a typo, asserting that the Judge said the man should serve several consecutive life sentences for the crime.

Otherwise, she said, a sentence of 312 years with a minimum of two years would have been imposed.

Yay, stupidity strikes again!

He is clearly a danger to society and has shown that he cannot be rehabilited. Psycopathy is usually genetic.

The only solution for these sorts of people is to incacerate them for a long time.

apologies for the format – cut and paste not workah too good meesah.

Now let’s consider this by looking at the design of a Space Shuttle.
You may have noticed there are two huge ancillary rockets on the sides of the main fuel tank. These are known as ‘reusable solid rocket boosters’ and are made in Utah. The assembly plant for these boosters is located on western side of the Rocky Mountains and to transport them to the Kennedy Space Center, rail is the cheapest and quickest method. The line from the factory runs through a tunnel so the booster rockets have to be made smaller than the tunnel. This tunnel is only a bit wider than the track, and therefore the rocket design had to take this into consideration.
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 ft 8 1/2 in (1.44 m). That’s an exceedingly odd number.
Why is that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English ex patriots.
Why did the English build ’em like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.
Why did *they* use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools as they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
OK! Why did the wagons use that wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing the wagons would break on some of the old, long distance roads, because that’s the spacing of the ruts.
So who built these old rutted roads? The first long distance roads in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions. The roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts? The initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of breaking their wagons, were first made by Roman war chariots. Since the chariots were made by or for Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing (ruts again).
Thus we have the answer to the original point. The United States Space Shuttle program is limited Imperial Roman army war chariots.
Do you think the Supreme Court feel that prison is really going to work for this gentleman, or have they looked at the historic method of jail usage, and have found the obligatory 25 year life term is a little bit out of spec ?

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