PPEcel
cope and seethe
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- Joined
- Oct 1, 2018
- Posts
- 29,088
A follow up on these two threads:
Might interest @LittleDarkAge and @mental_out
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Quick summary:
Friel says he was bullied, suicidal, and depressed. In 2017, he stabs a cop, was detained in connection with attempted murder, and given 300 hours of community service and a treatment order -- a rather lenient sentence because he was a young offender who claimed he was attempting "suicide by cop".
In 2019, Friel tells his social worker that he "felt like ER", that he had bought a crossbow and machete, and said he wanted to go on a mass shooting but also said "ït would be hard" and "didn't want to hurt anyone". The social worker referred him to a psychiatrist, and the psychiatrist notified the police. The police searched his home, found the weapons, examined his browser history, and decided to charge him with terrorism.
The Scotcel was facing two major charges:
1) possession of an article for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism (under Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000), and;
2) preparation of terrorist attacks (under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006)
As part of both charges, he was accused of having "expressed affinity with and sympathy for one incel-motivated mass murderer" (ER), and "a desire to carry out a spree killing mass murder". Charge 1 carries a maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment, Charge 2 carries a potential life sentence. He was found guilty of the first charge but notably the second one was "not proven" (under Scots law, a jury can choose a verdict of "not proven" in addition to "guilty" or "not guilty"; this is not the case in England and Wales).
IMO, while I think there was a strong legal basis to bring the first charge, that wasn't present for the second charge -- they were effectively arguing that his internet research into Klebold, Harris, Rodger, Cho constituted preparation for terrorism. Luckily, the jury didn't buy it.
By the way, in the UK, when they say "10 years" in this particular case they actually mean "6 years and 8 months" (most prisoners are automatically released halfway through their sentence, but on a terrorism charge he'll have to serve 2/3rds of it).
Might interest @LittleDarkAge and @mental_out
Weapons haul man jailed for 10 years under Terrorism Act
Gabrielle Friel, 22, had armed himself with a high-powered crossbow and a foot-long machete.
www.bbc.co.uk
---------------------
Quick summary:
Friel says he was bullied, suicidal, and depressed. In 2017, he stabs a cop, was detained in connection with attempted murder, and given 300 hours of community service and a treatment order -- a rather lenient sentence because he was a young offender who claimed he was attempting "suicide by cop".
In 2019, Friel tells his social worker that he "felt like ER", that he had bought a crossbow and machete, and said he wanted to go on a mass shooting but also said "ït would be hard" and "didn't want to hurt anyone". The social worker referred him to a psychiatrist, and the psychiatrist notified the police. The police searched his home, found the weapons, examined his browser history, and decided to charge him with terrorism.
The Scotcel was facing two major charges:
1) possession of an article for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism (under Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000), and;
2) preparation of terrorist attacks (under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006)
As part of both charges, he was accused of having "expressed affinity with and sympathy for one incel-motivated mass murderer" (ER), and "a desire to carry out a spree killing mass murder". Charge 1 carries a maximum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment, Charge 2 carries a potential life sentence. He was found guilty of the first charge but notably the second one was "not proven" (under Scots law, a jury can choose a verdict of "not proven" in addition to "guilty" or "not guilty"; this is not the case in England and Wales).
IMO, while I think there was a strong legal basis to bring the first charge, that wasn't present for the second charge -- they were effectively arguing that his internet research into Klebold, Harris, Rodger, Cho constituted preparation for terrorism. Luckily, the jury didn't buy it.
By the way, in the UK, when they say "10 years" in this particular case they actually mean "6 years and 8 months" (most prisoners are automatically released halfway through their sentence, but on a terrorism charge he'll have to serve 2/3rds of it).