https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-59643479

How does this not end up in a prison sentence? Curious whether Andy could say if this is actually a normal sentence for this kind of thing. Lost her license multiple times, drove whilst on coke, alcohol and uninsured, owes the court several thousand pounds already from previous. I don't mind Katie Price tbh but after this I can't give her any benefit of doubt anymore. Utterly shameful.

I heard on the R2 news that the judge said his/her hands were tied re sentencing due to an earlier judgement. Don't know what the technicalities are. Judge said she deserves to spend Christmas in prison.

But maybe a kindly intervention to take away the car keys, eh?

@DrewMerson.....I'm of the same belief as you re prison. Locking up people really should be reserved for the minority of those who remain a genuine danger.

But a short incarceration, perhaps while the actual punishment is decided might be one way for certain crimes. Price's would be one case where I'd back that, particularly given the track record. She seems to be a basketcase and that would need to be taken into consideration though.

Hey uh, Katy Price probably wasn't sent to jail for BEING A VERY NAUGHTY LADY WHO DISRESPECTED THE FINE LAWS OF THE LAND because she is (likely) the primary carer for her son.

It's not break whatever laws you want is it? Even without the existing conditions of the mandated rehab, I'm assuming the judge would have to consider the implications of sending her to jail on the care of her kid. 

However, if Katie Price killed someone while driving, she's going to go to jail, since the severity of the crime outweighs any other external conditions surrounding the sentencing. 

Should Katie Price be in jail right now - as far as I am concerned, no, Katie Price should be permanently banned from driving (assuming she wasn't already on a permanent ban) and she should be being prescribed whatever help she needs that she isn't getting that's making her do this shit.

Does that mean I don't think what Katie Price wasn't extremely dangerous? No, it was super dangerous, she should receive some punishment from the state be that a fine, be that a fuck ton of public service, whatever, but it should also come with the help to get her to a place where she wouldn't do that again. 

IMHO to the max, if you are not a violent risk to the public there is no need for you to be locked up while you are being punished. The shit costs too much money and it just doesn't work. It provides a wafer thin veneer of the appearance of justice being done to people who want to see some authority being flexed by the state, but that's it. 

But I'm a big baby who thinks jail on it's own without rehabilitation is dumb and the concept of a "short, sharp shock" or a "reality check" or whatever else people want to call it is some stupid shit from the mediaevil period because people who are okay, do not normally go around repeatedly breaking laws or committing serious crime. I'm well aware I'm in the minority of people who think like this and I'm okay with anyone itt calling me a fucking babybrain moron for it.

With you on all of that, Rouj, but there is something else mixed up in this particular case.

I mean, it’s probably not really. Price is clearly a bit off-kilter. But she’s also wealthy, famous and influential. Which leads to lots of people thinking that it’s one rule for her and another for ‘normal’ people. And that understandably rankles.

It’s worth talking about because there absolutely are people who commit crime because the consequences don’t apply to them. Because they get away with it.

I’m not talking about murderers and paedophiles (or am I? The late Messrs Epstein and Saville were definitely in this bracket). But about people who park wherever they like because the parking fine is just pocket change. People who don’t bother insuring their car because they can just buy another one if it gets impounded. People who don’t pay their taxes because they can afford an accountant who finds them loopholes.

And for a lot of tabloid readers and Facebook scrollers, I can see how Katie Price crashing her car while banned, drunk and high feels like that sort of thing. I’m not saying it is. Just that I can see why the feeling might be kicking around.

There is a technical reason why she isn't in jail and it has nothing to do with being a carer. The judge said her hands were tied and she should really go to jail.

davyK wrote:

There is a technical reason why she isn't in jail and it has nothing to do with being a carer. The judge said her hands were tied and she should really go to jail.

Her hands were tied?!? Now thats what I call Dangerous Driving!

Thank you, I'm here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress

Death caused by drink driving should be punished with the severest penalty in my book. While those who do it don't set out to kill someone, they are far more likely to and , it should be judged, don't care. That has to be factored into any sentence.

But imagine waking up the next day and learning you have killed someone and you have no memory of even getting in the car. It's very hard to ascertain the state of a person's mind at the time especially when drink and drugs are involved.

DrewMerson wrote:

On which note, if you think that people who are ‘a violent risk to the public’ should be locked up, but you think that (repeatedly) getting into a ton of metal that can travel at 100mph while you’re off your tits on drink and/or drugs somehow doesn’t qualify, then I don’t really know what to tell you.

You don't need to tell me anything, I understand how dangerous a vehicle is but why are people who are known to be habitually drunk or on drugs allowed to retain access to their vehicles so they can do this?

If the system was working, if you are caught driving while banned, your vehicle should be seized. If you are driving someone else's vehicle then the normal rules apply, either you took it without consent in which case go to jail or they let you drive it knowing you were banned and they get punished accordingly. You shouldn't be able to repeatedly drive while banned in the first place. You get banned, bye bye car, you can have it back after your ban is lifted. Oh someone you know is third party on it and needs to use it regularly? Okay, make them the named driver and register it at their address and send the change of ownership slip to the DVLA and they can sort the tax and insurance out to use it while you are banned.

I don't understand how we've ended where we currently are, where the system can't cope with even managing a banned driver properly so they are left with access to their own vehicle and told "You better not drive this thing while banned, or else", even though the judge knows they are known to drink and take drugs so aren't likely to be in a functioning mental state at all times. It's garbage imho, especially as more progressive systems of rehabilitation for offenders exist and are in operation in other countries with smaller economies than ours.

So we have to lock people up because we don't want to go to the effort of removing their access to their vehicle and giving them help? Which costs more to the taxpayer? Repeated arrests and judgements eventually at some point culminating in a stint inside? Or sticking a vehicle in a secure compound and giving people actual help to sort themselves out the first time it happens?

I understand the need to lock her up NOW because she's a danger to the public, but I feel like we can't look at cases like this that have got to where they are and not also ask ourselves, what the fuck is going on with crime and punishment? Is the UK okay? Why do we just let people who need help not get the help they need and leave them with access to the vehicle they own that they were just banned from driving and then do a shocked pikachu face and get really angry at how irresponsible the person known to have alcohol, drug and mental health problems was for getting back behind the wheel when we could and imho arguably should have taken better steps to prevent it reoccurring?

And I'm not having a go at anyone in the thread, I'm just baffled at this point at how this country treats people that need help. Everyone is angry at crime when it happens but we don't do anything really as a country to try and address the root causes so that people are less likely to do these things in the first place.