Letters / Is that fair?
Earlier this year there was much public debate over the sentence of 16-year-old Samuel Barlow (Air rifle teenager jailed for three years; SN, 4/02/2015).
Samuel was put to prison for three years for five charges relating to pointing an air rifle at police officers and members of the public.
It is important to remember here, although a very serious offence, not a single round was fired.
This leads me to question how a 22-year-old man was given 120 hour unpaid work for “recklessly discharging the air rifle, shooting at the house and cracking several glass windowpanes” (Air rifle man gets 100 hours’ unpaid work; SN, 11/11/15).
In my opinion firing the air rifle must be more serious that pointing one?
Is it fair that a 16-year-old boy who has special needs is sentenced so brutally in comparison to 22-year-old man?
The two cases are very similar, however with one, the gun was pointed at the police and members of the public and the gun was not shot, and in the other it was pointed and shot at a window at which anyone could of been standing behind.
So what are your opinions?
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