Creepy legal question

[pica_scribit]

Say someone on the island of Guernsey kidnapped and later killed a young child in the mid-1960's. He is later caught after abducting another child. What kind of sentence would he have been likely to get? Any chance he would ever be released from prison? This is for a non-magic AU.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

You might want to read about The Moors Murders for child murders in the UK at this time.

[pica_scribit]

Thank you for the link. I seem to remember reading something about that ages ago. Probably when she died. I guess one aspect of my question is whether there would be a difference in law or sentencing due to the fact that Guernsey is not really part of the UK?

[lil_shepherd]

Sorry - I deleted my last comment because I misread your question.

[stormwreath]

The Bailiwick of Guernsey didn't formally abolish the death penalty until 2000, unlike in the UK where it was abolished for murder in 1965 and for all offences in 1998. However, nobody has actually been executed in the Channel Islands since 1959 (and that was in Jersey, not Guernsey).

I'd suspect, then, that he'd get life imprisonment, or possibly the death penalty commuted to life imprisonment, but it's theoretically possible he'd be hanged.

A prisoner serving a life sentence can be released on licence - it's similar to parole, with the difference that it never ends; he can be recalled to prison at any time. In Britain there have been a couple of notorious cases where the government intervened to prevent a prisoner being released on licence even though the parole board judged that they were sufficiently rehabilitated to make this safe; on Guernsey I'm not sure if their govenrment would have a similar power.

[pica_scribit]

Thanks. That's pretty much exactly what I wanted to know.

[inamac]

There is very little serious crime in the Channel Islands, and they have a slightly different legal system from the UK mainland (you might look at the wiki on John Tapner for more on the Jurat).

In practice I expect someone convicted by the Guernsey courts would serve any sentence in a mainland prison.

[rosinarowantree]

That is right - they would be held in the English prison system (rather than the Scottish one). If they were to be confined to a secure mental hospital, either because they were found Guilty but Insane, or sentenced to life, and then transferred to a mental hospital, it would be one of the English hospitals - probably Broadmoor, or Rampton if they were mentally subnormal

[pica_scribit]

Thank you. This is helpful. Not sure if any of this will come up in my story, but I wanted to know, just in case.

[pica_scribit]

Thanks

[syntinen_laulu]

I'm not clear whether you meant to ask "Any chance he would ever be released from prison?" after the first murder or the second.

After the first, as several others have said, he would very likely be released eventually (unless ruled insane). But after the second, they would certainly lock him up and throw away the key.

[pica_scribit]

The second child (in this case, Remus) was rescued in time, but was held for several months by his kidnapper (Greyback). My story involves 16-year-old Remus dealing with what happened to him when he was a child, and I just wanted to know where Greyback was likely to be, and whether Remus might have any concerns that he would ever be released.