His reputation & career have been trashed forever (arguably, quite rightly), which to a man in his position is far, far worse than a prison sentence. I think he'd happily accept 6 or 9 months inside if it meant his reputation was restored.
It's all very subjective, & some people get very emotive about this sort of stuff, but I read the Judge's summing up at length & I think he probably got it about right.
Whatever way you look at it, it's a very sad & sordid tale.
His reputation & career have been trashed forever (arguably, quite rightly), which to a man in his position is far, far worse than a prison sentence. I think he'd happily accept 6 or 9 months inside if it meant his reputation was restored.
It's all very subjective, & some people get very emotive about this sort of stuff, but I read the Judge's summing up at length & I think he probably got it about right.
Whatever way you look at it, it's a very sad & sordid tale.
Without going into it in any depth. It seems strange to me that the ar5eholes from Just Stop Oil can get up to 5 years inside for disrupting the M25, and some of those who were guilty of making comments on social medis during the riots also ended up in jail. Shouldnt we also consider the message that no jail for a celebrity sends.
His reputation & career have been trashed forever (arguably, quite rightly), which to a man in his position is far, far worse than a prison sentence. I think he'd happily accept 6 or 9 months inside if it meant his reputation was restored.
It's all very subjective, & some people get very emotive about this sort of stuff, but I read the Judge's summing up at length & I think he probably got it about right.
Whatever way you look at it, it's a very sad & sordid tale.
Without going into it in any depth. It seems strange to me that the ar5eholes from Just Stop Oil can get up to 5 years inside for disrupting the M25, and some of those who were guilty of making comments on social medis during the riots also ended up in jail. Shouldnt we also consider the message that no jail for a celebrity sends.
I should add that I'm fully aware that I'm a bit out of step with public opinion on this one. Celebs should NOT get preferential treatment, I agree, but equally, they should not be punished more because they are celebs.
I read the Judge's summing up at length, & I just think he nailed it, got it spot on.
Prison or no prison, nothing will be worse for him than the public shame. Nothing.
Be interested in the view of @Esse4xphil too, though he seems to have been in hiding since Sunday afternoon.
Morning. Been doing other stuff
Tricky one, this.
The first thing to say is that this is serious stuff. While he doesn't appear to have committed acts himself, he has paid for some pretty serious stuff.
Most people who do this sort of stuff are going to Prison. But not all. And I think you can make a case for this non-custodial sentence. As @Tikay10 rightly says, in other senses he has suffered more than other people in his position. From losing massive amounts of money, to having his well-known face plastered everywhere. He faces deprivation and dangers others do not. And he has well-documented mental health problems.
The 1 thing I have not seen is what financial restitution he has to make. For example, does he have to repay his BBC salary? No. But if he still has that money, and chooses not to, then I think it likely the Court would have given him 2 options in relation to money and/or Prison.
Yes, I'm a little surprised he has not voluntarily repaid his salary for the last 6 months or whatever it was. I would have expected him to do so without a seconds thought.
Then again, perhaps there is more depth to this story, & he does not have the money any more due to some obsession or addiction or whatever.
Yes, I'm a little surprised he has not voluntarily repaid his salary for the last 6 months or whatever it was. I would have expected him to do so without a seconds thought.
Then again, perhaps there is more depth to this story, & he does not have the money any more due to some obsession or addiction or whatever.
If he wanted to repay the money, you would have thought the best time to do so was prior to appearing in court.
Yes, absolutely, as not doing so makes him look even worse.
I just thought it seemed far too lenient. The guy that supplied him got 12 months suspended. They apparently have him commenting, while watching various acts.
Yes, absolutely, as not doing so makes him look even worse.
I just thought it seemed far too lenient. The guy that supplied him got 12 months suspended. They apparently have him commenting, while watching various acts.
Yes, absolutely, as not doing so makes him look even worse.
I just thought it seemed far too lenient. The guy that supplied him got 12 months suspended. They apparently have him commenting, while watching various acts.
Am I right that HIS phone was never produced? This is based on what was shared to a Whatsapp group, where they could obviously prove who had looked at the images.
I wonder what HIS phone had on it, maybe that's why he got off lightly, who knows. There may well have been much more evidence on his phone but it was never found.
Pay back the money? Why would he, voluntarily? He'll forever be known for what he looked at, people won't remember the fact that he pocketed hundreds of thousands whilst suspended and didn't pay it back.
He was never going to be sent to prison as the person who supplied him with the images pleaded guilty at a previous hearing and only received a 12 month suspended sentence.
The man who shared indecent images of children with the former BBC presenter Huw Edwards is a 25-year-old fellow Welshman who was given a 12-month suspended jail term earlier this year.
Alex Williams, from Merthyr Tydfil, was sentenced in March at Merthyr Tydfil crown court after pleading guilty to seven offences related to possessing and distributing indecent images.
Yes, absolutely, as not doing so makes him look even worse.
I just thought it seemed far too lenient. The guy that supplied him got 12 months suspended. They apparently have him commenting, while watching various acts.
Yes, absolutely, as not doing so makes him look even worse.
I just thought it seemed far too lenient. The guy that supplied him got 12 months suspended. They apparently have him commenting, while watching various acts.
Comments
Not sure I'd go as far as saying he is "lucky".
His reputation & career have been trashed forever (arguably, quite rightly), which to a man in his position is far, far worse than a prison sentence. I think he'd happily accept 6 or 9 months inside if it meant his reputation was restored.
It's all very subjective, & some people get very emotive about this sort of stuff, but I read the Judge's summing up at length & I think he probably got it about right.
Whatever way you look at it, it's a very sad & sordid tale.
It seems strange to me that the ar5eholes from Just Stop Oil can get up to 5 years inside for disrupting the M25, and some of those who were guilty of making comments on social medis during the riots also ended up in jail.
Shouldnt we also consider the message that no jail for a celebrity sends.
@HAYSIE
I don't think these things can or should be correlated.
I should add that I'm fully aware that I'm a bit out of step with public opinion on this one. Celebs should NOT get preferential treatment, I agree, but equally, they should not be punished more because they are celebs.
I read the Judge's summing up at length, & I just think he nailed it, got it spot on.
Prison or no prison, nothing will be worse for him than the public shame. Nothing.
Tricky one, this.
The first thing to say is that this is serious stuff. While he doesn't appear to have committed acts himself, he has paid for some pretty serious stuff.
Most people who do this sort of stuff are going to Prison. But not all. And I think you can make a case for this non-custodial sentence. As @Tikay10 rightly says, in other senses he has suffered more than other people in his position. From losing massive amounts of money, to having his well-known face plastered everywhere. He faces deprivation and dangers others do not. And he has well-documented mental health problems.
The 1 thing I have not seen is what financial restitution he has to make. For example, does he have to repay his BBC salary? No. But if he still has that money, and chooses not to, then I think it likely the Court would have given him 2 options in relation to money and/or Prison.
@Essexphil
Yes, I'm a little surprised he has not voluntarily repaid his salary for the last 6 months or whatever it was. I would have expected him to do so without a seconds thought.
Then again, perhaps there is more depth to this story, & he does not have the money any more due to some obsession or addiction or whatever.
@HAYSIE
Yes, absolutely, as not doing so makes him look even worse.
Which is why I'm wondering if there is some other reason.
The guy that supplied him got 12 months suspended.
They apparently have him commenting, while watching various acts.
@HAYSIE
Throws up an interesting question. Who is worse, the supplier, or the buyer?
You should watch last nights NewsNight.
You can get it on catchup or the iPlayer.
I wonder what HIS phone had on it, maybe that's why he got off lightly, who knows. There may well have been much more evidence on his phone but it was never found.
Pay back the money? Why would he, voluntarily? He'll forever be known for what he looked at, people won't remember the fact that he pocketed hundreds of thousands whilst suspended and didn't pay it back.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/01/man-who-shared-indecent-images-with-huw-edwards-named-as-alex-williams
The man who shared indecent images of children with the former BBC presenter Huw Edwards is a 25-year-old fellow Welshman who was given a 12-month suspended jail term earlier this year.
Alex Williams, from Merthyr Tydfil, was sentenced in March at Merthyr Tydfil crown court after pleading guilty to seven offences related to possessing and distributing indecent images.
@HAYSIE
Correct, but I'm curious as to why.
@HAYSIE
I plan to watch it on I-Player tonight.
Last night I watched the HS2 thing. I strongly recommend you watch that, it'll take your breath away.
Here you go;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002336f/panorama-hs2-the-railway-that-blew-billions