I wrote some time ago about sentences handed out by Scarborough magistrates court they were totally different and very much harsher than our magistrate's court.
Tonight's Hartlepool Mail.
Assaulting a police officer & drunk / disorderly in James Cook hospital the same day fined £25.00 +
Possession of heroin fined £25.00 +
I think they have lost the plot.
Totally by the look of it
Both should carry a custodial sentence..
Any context on the assault? £25 does seem a bit soft for the possession.
Would be interested on the mitigation offered.
Why was this heard in Hartlepool if the offence was in Middlesbrough?
Where they arrested in Hartlepool but subsequently taken to James Cook for treatment...?
Possibly, depends how hard the police officer hit them. Minor injuries should have gone to North Tees. James Cook is for major trauma.
Suppose we wouldn't have this question if we still had a hospital.
Quote from: Jamescampbell78 on April 20, 2014, 08: AM
Possibly, depends how hard the police officer hit them. Minor injuries should have gone to North Tees. James Cook is for major trauma.
not necessarily.... to both points.
Quote from: Jamescampbell78 on April 20, 2014, 08: AM
Possibly, depends how hard the police officer hit them. Minor injuries should have gone to North Tees. James Cook is for major trauma.
Suppose we wouldn't have this question if we still had a hospital.
No wonder I'm confused. I thought minor injuries where for One Life and Trauma was for North Tees?
At this rate, give it a year and Minor Injuries will be for James Cook and Trauma will be Leeds Infirmary.
So does one life specialise in spelks, bee stings and Chinese burns now........?
The way I understand it:
One life: Minor but urgent stuff that does not qualify as an emergency. Such as non-life threatening stuff like bumps, scrapes, possible breaks and sprains.
North Tees: Proper accident and emergency stuff, more serious cuts, breaks that are obvious to the observer like foot the wrong way round, potential concussions, breathing difficultuties etc
James Cook: Serious burns, road accident type injuries such as compound fractures, bones sticking out of body, obvious internal bleeding, heart attacks and suchlike.
This is just the way I've read it talking to medical professionals and to be honest if they made it clear to the general public what you are expected to take where there would probably be a lot less inappropriate traffic at each location with the outcome of waiting time reductions, better use of resource etc.
Give it one year and the whole shebang will be privately owned and you won't have to bother going unless you can afford it or have adequate insurance.
That's by the by though. Why would the case of an offence committed in Boro be heard at Hartlepool?
In terms of the magistrates, I used to know one, think she's retired now. Wonderful lady, had her finger right on the pulse but often had hands tied by guidelines. Normally the mitigation presented can change the way they have to deal with a case.
It's the same in civil cases. District Judges who I deal with regularly often make judgments that run counter to the way they would wish to are made because of precedent or interpretation of a guideline issued generally.
Quote from: Jamescampbell78 on April 20, 2014, 04: PM
That's by the by though. Why would the case of an offence committed in Boro be heard at Hartlepool?
One
possible way. Man picked up in Hartlepool and gets taken to hospital. Whilst there assaults Hartlepool escort bobby.
Quote from: Jamescampbell78 on April 20, 2014, 04: PM
This is just the way I've read it talking to medical professionals and to be honest if they made it clear to the general public what you are expected to take where there would probably be a lot less inappropriate traffic at each location with the outcome of waiting time reductions, better use of resource etc.
the locatipn is the problem.......no one is going to North Tees or James Cook on a whim leaving us with the One Life.... a glorified tourist information bureau for treatment... so those with wheels cut the middle man out, bypass the one life and go straight to a proper facility...those without face a long journey .
As regards inappropriate traffic or as we like to call it too many punters...this is the inevitable result of closing A&E depts.
Agree too many punter is caused by closing A+E's.
That's the overarching plan, make NHS look s**t so the only viable solution becomes privatisation. Cue massive profits for private companies, on the boards of which (and in many other senior/beneficiary positions) are politicians of all parties.
While we still had more A+E's open emergency staff I know were telling me that the biggest problem they faced was people using A+E as a drop in for minor ailments.
MK - I get that the arrest may have been made in Hartlepool and the assault on the escort in James Cook. But why the need the for treatment all the way over there? Given there's a possession charge involved it could be a number of scenarios from suspect swallows the lot to avoid arrest, overdoses requiring hospital treatment, while there becomes delirious and assaults officer under the influence to officer was overly zealous during arrest, defendent needs treatment and gets arsey and has a revenge attack at officer in hospital.
You can't compare the Redcar case with the Hartlepool one as like for like without knowing the circumstances.
One Life is Privately owned - Virgin to be precise. Not sure what the arrangement is; perhaps the Minor Injuries Unit pays rent to the owners who split any profit 50/50 with the doctors practice.
Regarding the venue of trial discussion does anybody know the name of the defendant? It could be a "prominent person in the community" involved and the case was switched. As in the case of McLuckie to Newcastle, happens all of the time. In any event what is the hassle.Like young offenders cases being switched to the Boro this month it will only be a matter of time until we lose our courts altogether. This is the first time I have posted a negative and pessimistic reply on here. Must be a sign of things to come. I hope not!!!!!
The important factor here isnt the location of the offence or who the offender is, we know cases will be heard out of area due to a multitude of factors/mitigation.
More worrying is the "relaxed sentencing" Hartlepool Magistrates have been dishing out for a long time and the obvious direction our Courts are currently heading in. If or to be probably more precise WHEN our whole court system moves to Teesside people may well be in for a sharp culture shock, they have been issuing more severe penalties to offenders for a long time compared to the Hartlepool Courts
Also as highlighted earlier our Youth Court now sits at Teesside Magistrates (Middlesbrough), it was probably difficult enough getting young people and families to attend in Hartlepool never mind Middlesbrough. Are we going to see more warrants issued for non attendance, are the local authority planning to transport these young people and families at another added cost as well as staff the court with Hartlepool workers?
Another worrying issue is the point raised by Jamescampbell78 regarding the Police having to take "injured/those under the influence" arrested offenders across the county to hospitals, not only is this very time consuming on the arresting officers but removes much needed police from our streets for a considerable period of time.
These problems are not going away and will only unfortunately get worse before we see any slight upturn or progress, services very slowly being taken away from Hartlepool will have a detrimental effect on the Town.
What is our Council Tax paying for, (am i right in thinking the Police raised their element this year) - 3 or 4 Police Officers to Police the town on a Friday and Saturday night as the other 4 are babysitting those in custody across the county in hospitals?
I think Hartlepool has always suffered from being part of Cleveland Police. In terms of investment in policing v Council Tax element paid we've been short changed for a long time.
Further centralisation of the court services to Middlesbrough will worsen this.
If we're an independent borough we should have opted for a Hartlepool Police service a long time ago then strategy and the resource allocated to support it could have been defined and allocated at a local level resulting in far more effective policing which in turn would have taken the strain off the court system.
We should have also sought to distance ourselves from Cleveland police for other reasons.
Just to add insult to injury the following week magistrates dealt with a number of traffic related offences;
Case; 1.
Failing to notify the transfer of a vehicle; £200 fine. £110 costs. & £20.00 surcharge.
Case;2.
Failing to meet insurance requirements; £200 fine. £110 costs. & £20.00 surcharge.
Case;3.
Failing to meet insurance requirements £35.00 fine. £110 costs. & £20.00 surcharge.
It would seem these cases are far more easier to deal with giving mandatory sentencing, it's a pity they cannot adopt the same for the more serious offences.
This seems to back up what's already been said.
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/tesside-hardcore-crooks-outnumber-any-7017592
Fear not we're reliably informed that the Crime Figures for Hartlepool are down backed up by Barry Coppinger
on his visit to the town.
They are indeed down;
Because it's now a waste of time reporting it.