Freed pervert PC should be glad he didn't do something serious such as fell a tree
Disparity of sentences between having vile images of children and vandalism tells us all we need to know about what is most important to those in charge
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The Barrie Hudson Column
Barrie Hudson is a known quantity when it comes to writing words. Sometimes he even spells them correctly. In fact he has been writing words in the Swindon area for more than two decades. First of all for the Swindon Advertiser and then for Swindon Link and now for The Ink. Here are some of his words…
What is the mere life-shattering exploitation of children when compared to the destruction of a large plant some important people were fond of?
As a journalist who prides himself not merely on informing the public of the news but also on explaining aspects of it to anybody who asks, I’m only too happy to answer queries.
A number of people have been in touch to ask about certain recent news stories, both national and local, related to the criminal law and penalties handed to offenders.
For example, there was a recent case in Swindon involving a filthy creature by the name of Callum Denley, a former Wiltshire Police officer whose name popped up in an account of disciplinary proceedings.
Denley was charged some time ago with five counts of making indecent images of children, ranging in severity and including categories A, B and C, along with possession of an extreme pornographic image and possession of a prohibited image of a child.
On 3 April, it pleaded guilty to all charges and subsequently walked free from court with a suspended 10-month prison sentence and an order that it register as a sex offender for 18 months.
The misconduct hearing found that if the gutless, deviant, pustulent little creep had not resigned on the day it was charged, it would have been dismissed.
Another case about which people have been in touch with me involved two brothers who attacked a perfectly innocent road worker for refusing to let them drive through road works in Royal Wootton Bassett.
On March 28, 2023, Jamiel Latif, 38, of Evening Star, Royal Wootton Bassett, became verbally aggressive towards the victim after being told he couldn’t drive through roadworks at the junction of Station Road and High Street.
Latif, who was working as a delivery driver, then drove through the closure before pulling up on the side of the road.
A second vehicle then arrived, driven by Latif’s brother, Shakiel Latif, also 38, of Evening Star, Royal Wootton Bassett.
Both men got out of their vehicles to remonstrate with the road worker, a man in his 50s. Shakiel attempted to punch the victim, but missed. Jamiel then punched the victim on the side of the head, knocking him briefly unconscious and causing life-changing eye injuries.
Following an investigation, Jamiel Latif pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm. In a hearing at Swindon Crown Court, he was given an 18-month jail term suspended for two years. He will also have to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £750 compensation.
He also pleaded guilty to possession of a Class A drug and received a six month conditional discharge.
Shakiel Latif pleaded guilty to common assault and was fined £120.
In other words these two, like the living sewage Callum Denley, are as free as the proverbial birds.
The third case about which people have been in touch was the highly-publicised one involving the pair of slackwits who, for reasons best known to themselves, decided to cut down the Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland. Neither of these slackwits, unlike the Wiltshire Police officer who gathered indecent images of children or the attacker who left a victim with a life-changing eye injury, strolled free from court at the end of the hearing.
Instead, each was jailed for four years and three months. Admittedly they’ll almost certainly be free in not much more than a year, but they’ll nevertheless be spending quite some time behind bars.