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See the original image at news.bbc.co.uk

Man Banned From Going to The Pub After Killing His Wife

news.bbc.co.uk — A judge has told a Glasgow pensioner that stopping him going to the pub was a "more meaningful" sentence than a prison term for killing his wife. He strangled her with a tie after refusing to give him money to go out drinking.

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  • mscaprikell, on 08/04/2008, -2/+44I'm a bit torn here... I understand that dementia in the prison system requires more "care" than should be provided; but to only limit this man for a YEAR? I guess that's how long they are anticipating the disease to fully set in... at which point, sentences mean nothing. Still seems like an escape of responsibility/accountability.
    • mickstephenson, on 08/05/2008, -0/+12Agreed surely a lifetime pub ban is called for
    • darkstar949, on 08/05/2008, -0/+9The man in question is also 74 years old - I wouldn't be surprised if the judge took the age in to account when coming up with the sentence. Also, he was convicted of culpable homicide which is loosely the US legal systems version of manslaughter which typically carries reduced sentences when compared to homicide.Also, another choice bit from the article - "There is a clear diagnosis of dementia setting in. It is a progressive condition and ultimately he will need 24-hour care."
    • Spuy767, on 08/05/2008, -9/+1Well, it's good to know that muderers all across the UK will be quaking in their boots at the prospect of such punishment. There's a legal system that knows how to protect its citizens.
      • RAGEdemon, on 08/05/2008, -1/+7And what alternative would you suggest? Life imprisonment? Being Strung, drawn and quartered? Electric chair perhaps?

        The man is 74 year old about to lose his mind to dementia. Arguably equivalent to - if not worse than - a death sentence.

        Perhaps we should start killing off cripples and the mentally handicapped while we are at it.
      • worminater, on 08/05/2008, -2/+1if the cripples and mentally handicapped then yes. Who cares if he's lost his mind to dementia if he's violent without his mind.
    • secrity, on 08/05/2008, -0/+4Except that it may be way too short, the punishment seems quite appropriate. It may have been more appropriate to make the house arrest last until he is put into a supervised setting for the dementia.
    • shakebabies, on 08/05/2008, -1/+6He'll be dead before the year is out anyway... probably just wanted to go out with a positive (or even) k/d.
    • salomejones, on 08/05/2008, -3/+3What it is, is humane. I understand that its hard to imagine that humanity can be a consideration in any justice system, since it doesn't exist at all here in the states. But it is still part of many, and its a very good thing. Keep your judgements to yourself.
    • Dante2005, on 08/05/2008, -0/+2But....but....A year without a pub. This is torture, its like the opposite of water boarding.
      Where is the humanity in this!!!!!
  • ericlander, on 08/04/2008, -14/+20When did the US start helping the Scottish run their legal system?
    • charlietuna, on 08/05/2008, -5/+4We have the scotch-Irish to thank for the rise of our GOP, so it would only be a fair trade.
    • BioTeq, on 08/05/2008, -9/+5I think I'd commit suicide if the US legal system was to be introduced in Europe... oh wait... no, I'd probably be captured by the police, while trying to kill myself, tasered 25 times for resisting arrest..and ya know... not dying, then smashed by the media for endangering all the non-present little children in the 150 yard proximity of my suicide-to-be before appearing in court and finally sentenced to 10 years in a privately run prison by 12 rednecks, from which 6 never saw the insides of a college.
      Hell yeah baby, gimme more...


      PS. The sentence in this case is ridiculous, I agree, although I've seen crazier things where people have pleaded temporal insanity... ;)
  • ironeus, on 08/04/2008, -4/+41This is INSTEAD of serving prison time?!? and not even all day just "between 1100 and 2300 BST" oh man, that is getting off EASY. big deal, no pub -- he can get his hops on the outside.
    • AmyVernon, on 08/04/2008, -1/+13yeah, full house arrest would have been better. if this man is truly suffering from dementia, then he needs some sort of help that house arrest ain't gonna provide.
  • casspa, on 08/04/2008, -2/+19One of the most bizarre sentences I've ever heard of.
  • sbcea, on 08/04/2008, -3/+11"The pensioner will be tagged and banned from leaving his home in the city's Drygate area between 1100 and 2300 BST after being found guilty of culpable homicide." ... So in Scotland, one is grounded for murder. What happens if you come in after curfew?
  • Lucas123, on 08/04/2008, -3/+11This is a case of the state relieving itself of responsibility for this man who is likely a raging alcoholic, is becoming senile and is capable of murder when provoked. Let's hope he doesn't kill the next person who refuses him money for a drink.
  • lesleye, on 08/04/2008, -1/+12WTF?!?!?!?!?

    "You still go to the pub where you went with your wife. That must annoy her relatives." No, ya think?!
    • gn0stik, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1Is he protecting her family, or him? Scots are.... feisty.
    • lesleye, on 08/08/2008, -0/+1yes we are!!!
  • slickwilly2, on 08/05/2008, -1/+12I work in long term care, specializing in dementia and alzheimers. Take a larger picture look at this issue, because everyone that posts here will have a loved one that will develop dementia or alzheimers in your lifetime. Why is a 74 y.o man with this diagnosis allowed to go to the pub in the first place. And pity for the family members involved??? They allowed this happen by allowing this behavior to continue and not addressing the disease. And banning this gent from the pub for a year??? Is that "Lord" ***** nuts??? I don't know what the scottish system provides for long term care, but this gent needs 24 hour supervision and either namenda, aricept, or both to treat this. And anti-psychotics won't help because this isn't a psych issue. I wish this gent well and hope he doesn't remember what he did to his loved one. And this just points to just how little people know and understand about alzheimers and dementia.
    • darkstar949, on 08/05/2008, -0/+4You might want to go back and read the article again - the man in question doesn't have full blown dementia yet, he is just starting to make the decline into it. Also, the pity is for the family of the victim - not the convict.
      • slickwilly2, on 08/05/2008, -0/+0http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/dementia/a/aa990714 ...
        Here is an explanation for Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, Alcoholic dementia. And dementia isn't like HIV that turns into "full blown" AIDS. Either you have dementia or you don't. And you are correct, the family has suffered the loss of 2 loved ones, not just one.
    • jamesdew, on 08/05/2008, -0/+2Maybe people allowed him to go to the pub because they were afraid he would strangle them if they didn't
  • grneye53, on 08/05/2008, -5/+2Let me guess, the judge & him are old drinking buddies, cause that's the biggest bar room ***** I ever heard , there's no way the judge couldn't impose both items on this guy , speaking from experience, there are many programs in prison for this and trust me they watch you 24/7, the rest of the time your being looked after by your bunk mates,sleep tight !
  • guyro, on 08/05/2008, -4/+1That is seriously screwed up.
  • pauls88, on 08/05/2008, -7/+6bit harsh
  • KostisGR, on 08/05/2008, -2/+17Was his name Andy Capp?
  • Rudegar, on 08/05/2008, -0/+5i first read it as the pub barred him for killing his wife in the pub

    which i would think ok fair
  • stranglethorne, on 08/05/2008, -12/+3Send to him to jail.

    The only things he will be consuming there are cockmeat sandwiches and man-milk.
  • sndream, on 08/05/2008, -1/+1The true meaningful and ironic punishment will be requiring him to drink at least 1 litre of alcohol a day.
    • allancorbett, on 08/05/2008, -0/+32 pints for an alcoholic?

      You crazy Americans...
    • Spuy767, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1That's vague. What proof? Are we going for liver failure, or are we going for misery, a la making him drink a litre of mr boston vodka a day?
  • Physicsmazz, on 08/05/2008, -5/+2Off with his head
  • TheImaginator, on 08/05/2008, -6/+1"A judge has told a Glasgow pensioner that stopping him going to the pub was a "more meaningful" sentence than a prison term for killing his wife."
    Erm, wouldn't putting this man in prison kind of stop him from going to the pub? Kill two birds with one stone?
  • the0ther, on 08/05/2008, -6/+1meh. the soft-left is just getting what it deserves. the left needs an injection of testosterone. at least i don't have to live in knife-loving scotland. ***** tards.
  • poidh, on 08/05/2008, -3/+11Ah go down't pub,
    Ah drink ten pints,
    An' ah get really plastered,
    Then ah go 'ome an' beat the wife,
    'Cause ahm a northern bastard.
  • TheMachine1, on 08/05/2008, -7/+7Now that his wife is dead he does not have 50% of the stress in his life that was sending him to the pub every day.
  • cobophers, on 08/05/2008, -2/+2Ok ma, but you don't like me when I'm angry!! GRRAAAAAA!! (presumably becoming a sagging hulk)
  • localzuk, on 08/05/2008, -0/+2I can understand the idea of banning him from going out, but if he was capable of murder during an off time, he should be under 24/7 supervision. Not simple 11-11 house arrest.
  • ButchersBoy, on 08/05/2008, -3/+3It costs £38,000 to keep a prisoner for a year. If this guy's dementia is already bad enough for him to knock off his wife, and we don't want to put him in prison, shouldn't that money be used to put him into care? What about protecting the public? The judge is clearly a prick.
    • SeanKeevey, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1As far as I know, it actually costs about 3 times that amount.
    • masti1234, on 08/05/2008, -0/+0How exactly did you come to that amount? Please state your sources or explain your calculation?
      • jamesdew, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1amount spent on prison / no of people in prison?
      • ButchersBoy, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1Amount in prison...I saw it in a newspaper a few weeks ago.
    • jellygraph, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1isn't care more expensive?
  • Totz83, on 08/05/2008, -1/+5Quite a sad story =(
  • treedude, on 08/05/2008, -1/+13Totally thought it was going to be an Onion article...
  • sdellboy, on 08/05/2008, -0/+3"A tavern is a place where madness is sold by the bottle." Jonathan Swift
  • martrinex, on 08/05/2008, -0/+0Why doesn't he do a family guy, go to the shops before 11 and buy alcohol to open his own pub in his garage.
  • Naieve, on 08/05/2008, -2/+1I miss the days of eye for an eye.
    • iyatoni, on 08/05/2008, -0/+4When were these, and how old ARE you?
  • auto98, on 08/05/2008, -2/+1she wouldn't give him money for beer.........
  • gilbitron, on 08/05/2008, -3/+1I must say the drinking problem in Scotland is pretty bad. After living in Glasgow for a few years you begin to realize that his kind of thing is pretty normal.
    • FawnDoo, on 08/05/2008, -0/+4"After living in Glasgow for a few years you begin to realize that his kind of thing is pretty normal."

      Er, no it isn't - I lived in Glasgow for 10 years (only just moved away from the city) and it isn't normal. We don't have people killing one another over drink left, right and centre. While Glasgow might have it's fair share of problems and there is obviously a criminal/antisocial element in the city (and, I admit, drinking is an issue), I don't think it's quite the murder central you're making it out to be here - it has the same problems that pretty much every major city on the planet is having to deal with.
  • rayjitsu, on 08/05/2008, -1/+1This is worse than the Halifax Gibbet!!!
  • Tr3v, on 08/05/2008, -3/+3Erm... what now? surely if he's in jail he can't go to the pub anyway but at least that should stop him from strangling anyone else who refuses to give him money for a pint!
  • Temo1, on 08/05/2008, -1/+1I'd rather go to prison.
  • arseburger, on 08/05/2008, -1/+3If we threw everyone into prison then we'd be in the situation that America is in with over 2 million prison inmates.

    The guy is 72, according to the court he is in severe mental and physical decline. It's likely he doesn't have that many years left and he's no danger to anyone unless your dumb enough to employ him as a baby sitter. He's a lost hope, rather leave him to die alone and face his own demons.
    • liah, on 08/05/2008, -1/+1"No danger to anyone."

      Tell that to his wife's family.
      • arseburger, on 08/05/2008, -0/+0He's 72 with severe mental and physical problems. We don't know the details of the crime, but he sure as hell didn't plan to kill her and pickup a knife and stab her 500 times. Sounds like he was just a bit crazy and she died unintentionally because of his madness.
    • N3XUS, on 08/05/2008, -0/+5Seriously, he should be put in a hospital or facility for long term care if he's really that sick. He's still a danger because he ***** KILLED A PERSON. If you put everyone who killed someone and was truely guilty in jail I'm going to go out on a limb, but I'm sure you wouldn't have 2 million inmates. If you do then your problems are probably worse than America's...

      "Banned from the pub"... that's like telling a pedophile that he's banned from school areas. Plenty of other places to do his dirty work.
  • hansolo, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1You think he told the wife "That's THREE"
  • PDF84, on 08/05/2008, -2/+3One of these days Ina, One of these days....Pow! Choked with a Tie!!!!
  • ElDiablo6870, on 08/05/2008, -5/+0Eye for an eye... death penalty.
  • Kas70, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1I could maybe see it if he was under house arrest period.
  • RioMo, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1Dugg dimply for this statment: "During the trial the jury heard that Flaherty said he had no recollection of the moment he THROTTLED his wife of 52 years in April last year."

    • Dante2005, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1Had quite a few days like that...oh except the killing part....(wonders).
  • Antimatter85, on 08/05/2008, -0/+2"One of these days, Alice..."
  • N3XUS, on 08/05/2008, -1/+1"It must have been me. There are no ghosts running about the house who would have done that."

    Oh.... So there are ghosts running around the house... But I guess they're all cool with each other. Weird...
  • jellygraph, on 08/05/2008, -2/+2The only honourable thing to do, after having killed your wife with a tie, is to hang yourself with a tie. I don't know how anyone would be able to bear the guilt of harming your own _wife_ without feeling suicidal.

    In any event, this judge should be disbarred. This is a mockery of the judicial system, the morals of our society and the intelligence of every decent human being.
    • csplinter, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1I was with you until you started talking about "disbarring" the judge. What's he supposed to do? Did you skip over the part where the judge explained that he knew sentencing him to prison time would just be token gesture. His hands are tied. Dugg down.
  • ilistenisee, on 08/05/2008, -1/+3i just feel sorry for him...
  • forgottenhope, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1can he drink at home?
  • asnider, on 08/05/2008, -1/+1While this is seriously messed up, I find it kind of funny (sorry, I'm Mr. Dark Humour today). I mean, he killed his wife and now he's not allowed to go to the bar? Lame. Is he still allowed to buy liquor from the liquor store? I didn't notice anything about that in the article, but I admit that I skimmed it pretty quickly, so I might have overlooked it.
  • catcher6250, on 08/05/2008, -1/+1How do they think restricting his freedom is more restriction than just sending him to jail...
  • phyx726, on 08/05/2008, -0/+1mug shot?
  • Portagine, on 08/05/2008, -0/+2There are some fates worse than death.
  • teethandeyes, on 08/05/2008, -1/+1He can do like Peter Griffin and build his own Pub in his basement.
  • noticarus, on 08/05/2008, -3/+1Early 70's? Mild Dementia? Bit of a Temper? Wife won't give him money?

    Sounds like a certain US Presidential candidate...
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