Blue ribbons worn in Becky’s memory

Some three months ago we all got the well expected, but completely unwelcome news that killers Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare had lodged appeals against their convictions and sentences for doing to death innocent young Becky Watts. She was only a 16 years old schoolgirl when she was brutally murdered a year ago by her step-brother, aided by his girlfriend, in a sexually-motivated plot, and her dismembered remains hidden in a garden shed.

The application was always on the cards though, because even the most evil here are legally allowed such appeals (why?). They appeal you see, since they have nothing whatsoever to lose have they? No, there is no comeback at all, however spurious or without merit their case, and it costs them not a penny nor extra jail time, nor any other ‘penalty, ’but of course we pay the price certainly, so it costs us a fortune,. It is a bit like the bookies giving punters a free £5 bet on the 3.30 at Kempton – they cannot lose anything, but sometimes surprisingly the outsider does come in at unbelievable odds, doesn’t it? Furthermore, if nothing else, the jailbirds get out of their cell a lot more to have extensive consultation meetings with their expensive legal teams (again at our cost naturally).

Again, as well predicted, this vile pair has been told to get stuffed, and have been informed that their applications to go to the Court of Appeal are denied, so consequently that permission is refused. It may have been a frustratingly long wait for the concerned public since last December, but that latest news is certainly a great relief to all observers, as these things are never as cut & dried as they might seem, are they? The very fact that these killers appealed could only prolong the dark-cloud hanging over those affected by Becky’s murder, and has added further unbearable torment & hurt to Becky’s loved ones, hasn’t it? But the convicted duo wouldn’t have given a dam though, would they?

Yesterday the court confirmed that while a formal judgment hadn’t been formally released, nevertheless based on the defence’s written applications, a single High Court judge has thrown out the killers’ legal bids to have their cases heard in full in front of a panel of three appeal judges. Despite the fact that it has been refused, as it has been decided that there is no prospect of an appeal succeeding, unbelievably the pair still has the legal right and due process opportunity to renew that application. This surely is some kind of sheer madness, for which we pay, and the criminals will certainly proceed on it with nothing to lose as they are never made to pay costs, eh?

This all comes on top of the belief from many legal views, that they both got off lightly anyway – Matthews could have been given ‘whole life’ for murder instead of 33 years, and was given no additional sentence whatsoever for the four other associated major convictions at the trial [kidnap, perverting justice, preventing a burial, and prohibited weapon possession], while Hoare was given sentences for these additional equal convictions [10yrs, 2 yrs, 3 yrs, 3 yrs, and 2 yrs respectively], but to run concurrently with her 17yrs sentence for manslaughter, so she doesn’t serve any extra time at all.

The effect of all this further pain on Becky’s poor traumatised parents is imaginable, isn’t it? That is our lax, indulgent, and ineffective criminal justice system for you, which has been driven into a devastatingly blind cul-de-sac by the do-gooders and the likes of the penal reform brigades.

[There will never be any remorse from this grotesque pair of killers so they need to be locked-up and the key thrown-away, don’t you think?]