(no subject)

[theweaselking]

"A man walked free from court today after he admitted setting alight an RAF pilot who was dressed as a sheep for a fancy dress party."

Phillip Buckingham, 24, set fire to the costume made from cotton wool and pillows at a boozy graduation party at the Linton-on-Ouse air base, in North Yorkshire, in November.

His victim, Martin Geraghty, 26, suffered 13% burns in the incident, which followed a traditional piano-burning ceremony that dates back to the second world war.

Comments

[takhisis.livejournal.com]

The judge, Brian Forster, handed him a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and to pay his victim £7,500 in compensation. Buckingham must also pay £900 prosecution costs.

So not exactly "scot-free" as the headline implies, but definitely a bit of a slap on the wrist, IMO, for lighting someone on FREAKING FIRE. :(

[boixboi.livejournal.com]

You seem to have a real hard-on for sending people to prison.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

In some cases, I think people deserve prison, and don't get it. It others, I think they get it, and don't deserve it.

In this case, my linking the story was not to express anger over his sentence, but, rather, because the idea of setting fire to a man in a sheep costume at a traditional piano-burning is *inherently funny*. No commentary on the justice, or lack thereof, was intended.

[jirel.livejournal.com]

NOTE: Your "guess the state" about the substitute teacher fired for performing magic tricks was a PR trick made up by the substitute. He was really fired for not being able to control the students, cussing and leaving a student in control of the class. But the substitute knew that "fired for 'wizardly magic tricks'" would draw lots of attention by people who post headlines without research and caused hundreds of calls to the school board in protest of his firing.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

Well I have to agree with what the judge says - it was a stupid drunken prank at a stupid drunken party that got stupidly out of hand. Hells, it could have happened at dozens of parties I've attended (for some reason at uni it was a popular hobby of the drunken idiot crowd to set their own pubic hair on fire. No, I have absolutely no idea either).

I mean, there's no maliciousness or intent. We're not talking about a criminal sadist, we're talking about an act of utter stupidity committed while utterly drunk that you can guarantee he will never even consider doing again

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I agree. I just find the case *funny*.