http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/york/news/YORK_NEWS_LOCAL1.html

The drug addict in Australia who threw Caroline Stuttle off a dry bridge in Bundaburg has lost his appeal. I think I posted a very angry message a year or so ago when he first appealed. Three judges unanimously threw out his appeal, which is the Good Thing.

Oh, Caroline was in my year at school, and though she wasn't a close friend of mine, she was very close to a lot of people I know very well, and used to live around the corner from me. For those who don't know, this guy threw her off a dry bridge, robbing her for a few lousy dollars and her mobile phone to feed his drug addiction.

It's nice to put an end to this after nearly 3 years.

Just felt the need to share this with you all, as it's important to me.

Good! Now death penalty would be useful.

Holy crap Martyn, you went to school with her? I remember when that was all over the news.

Terrible stuff, and I completely agree with you. The only good junkie is a locked up (or dead) junkie.

Yeah, she's from Huntington - and she's buried just over the road from my house - the graveyard's about 400 yards down the street - I can see it from my window.

If there is an afterlife, I hope she rests in peace.

as for him...

As long as he goes to jail for a long time I don't care.

Maybe some drug rehab too.

So he can get out in 15 years? wtf?

Presumably not even considered for parole in 15 years

Oh, and he was already in prison for something else when they found out about this.

I hope that he gets the help he needs.

I hope that help involes something that emits large amounts of electricity.

Detty's was the first post that wasn't a kneejerk bloodlust reaction.

People are responsible for their own actions. We've been told since we were born not to use drugs. Drugs are illegal. Drugs are addictive, blah blah blah. If you CHOOSE to break the law by using drugs, and then getting addicted to them, why should I spend even one ounce of energy feeling sorry for you after you KILLED SOMEONE? He doesn't need help, it's too late for that. You can ask for help and you can repent up until your actions severely impact someone else. Maybe if he just robbed her without THROWING HER OFF A FREAKING BRIDGE, then maybe, yeah, you could say, "that guy needs treatment." But it's too late for that.

Also, has the guy ever said he was sorry? Has he ever asked for forgiveness or mercy or anything like that? Or is he still appealing the conviction and trying to say he didn't do it? There's a huge difference here. Obviously if he's been in jail for the past 3 years he's broken his addiction to whatever drugs he was taking. My comments above are assuming he *is* guilty (and presumably so are Dettys). Of course they are all null and void if in fact he's been wrongly convicted - I obviously don't have enough information to make a valid claim either way. It's probably well known around here that I don't exactly trust the legal system (and for good reason).

I agree with what Brian said completely. You can never blame drugs for an instance like this. People get into that crap willingly, and therefore must accept complete responsibilty for anything they do under the influence.

Slightly off-topic: I went down to Camden (in London) a couple of weeks ago to meet a mate for a gig. The place was infested with junkies, several of them came up to me either asking to buy or offering to sell drugs. One of them followed me for two minutes down Camden high street shouting after me because I was ignoring him. It's a crappy situation to be living on the streets like that, but I felt no pity for them, just disgust really.