James Bulger killer back in prison.

[creepingfear]

I have to agree with that statement. Harsh but true. Every single person on this forum will at some point in their lives have to deal with a a fair amount of death - brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands ect. Hopefully the circumstances are not the same for Winnie Johnson or James Bulger's parents or anyone else who have been snuffed out, but death is death the world over.

 

Sarah Payne is an example. She could have just thrown in the towel but she didn't.

 

Edit: Spelling.

[Triggerhappychappy]

Harsh, but fair, yes- I think it was the original wording of the sentiment that made me pull a funny face upon reading it. Weird thing is Im quite a callous person myself, yet there are still certain things that certainly make me flail my arms in the air on occasion. Meh, back to working on my batman costume....

[IronWolf]

Thread cleaned - Keep on topic please

[Elias]

10 year olds are not able to live alone, drink, have sex, smoke, drive cars etc. Why? Because they are not yet of an age where they are considered to be responsible for their actions as an adult.

 

I don't think those examples are as simple as "not considered to be responsible for their actions", 10 year olds don't drive cars because at least impart, it's impractical. Drinking and smoking ages are almost certainly based on health impact, not responsibility.

 

It seems to be overlooked here that a 10 year old probably can understand that killing someone is wrong and you shouldn't do it, my friends 8 year old brother could understand that. These two boys should have been found responsible for their actions, as they were, however if they were not, what would you suggest should have been done had it been decided that they were not responsible for their actions? Release two boys who maliciously kidnapped, killed a child and then tried to dispose of his body?

 

J

[Punkypink]

I suppose in the end, the James Bulger case is but a rare example that just divides the opinion of a civilized society, because you rarely have kids committing such horrific and pre-meditated murders, in civilized societies at least.

 

On one hand, you have the fact that they're kids, and they were not brought up properly.

 

On the other hand, you have the fact that they were certainly aware of what they were doing, and the horror of what was done.

 

We can never come to a concensus on exceptional issues like these.

[Chimpy]

Ten years old is the age at which criminal culpability starts anyway and both were tried as adults.

 

Problem with setting firm ages on things like this is different people develop at different rates. The development of different cognitive skills can still be ongoing at that age in some kids yet others will have already entered puberty! However kids do get assessed on this sort of thing to determine how culpable they could have been.

[Stealthbomber]

Problem with setting firm ages on things like this is different people develop at different rates. The development of different cognitive skills can still be ongoing at that age in some kids yet others will have already entered puberty! However kids do get assessed on this sort of thing to determine how culpable they could have been.

Indeed.

 

Goes back to what I said earlier.

 

In cases like this the only rational thing to do is to let the professionals do their job.

Alas, no system is infallible but, unless you want "Judge Dredd" style justice, and have the economy to support it, there's really no other way.