It wasn't any sort of murder (despite the thread title) - it was culpable homicide. If there had been a murder conviction then the sentence would have been life.
Exactly. I wonder why that's hard for some to get.
Taunted for being a "Chinky" and killed by a baying gang of white neds..but cops refused to treat Simon San's death as a racist crime
The family of a Chinese man killed in a racist attack have finally won an apology from cops who ignored evidence that it was a hate crime.
Delivery driver Simon San was ambushed outside his family's takeaway by a pack of white neds and killed with single punch by 16-year-old thug John Reid.
But despite strong evidence - including witnesses who said the gang called Simon a "Chinky" after the attack - police refused to treat it as a racist crime and Reid was caged for just five years.
Police also ignored possible racial incidents in the records of the accused, and previous hate attacks on Simon's relatives.
Now, after a year-long fight by the San family, top brass at Lothian and Borders police have finally admitted "significant failings" in the case.
Deputy chief constable Steve Allen made three public apologies at a news conference.
He told the family: "I am sorry we did not record and investigate the attack on Simon as a racist incident when we should have done so.
"I am sorry we did not listen to you when you told us you thought the attack was racially motivated.
"I am sorry we did not treat you in a way that made you feel like you mattered."
The cop told the family Simon was in the "wrong place at the wrong time", called the attack "minor" and wrongly said
Simon was Vietnamese. He was a British citizen of Chinese origin who had been born in Vietnam.
Allen said: "Simon was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was a fellow citizen who was killed tragically and pointlessly."
Simon's family who made 39 separate allegations against the cops, dismissed the apologies as too little, too late.
Simon, a shy, gentle man who hated violence, was ambushed outside his family's Yong Hua Garden takeaway in Lochend, Edinburgh, in August last year.
A pack of feral youths surrounded his Smart car and began rocking it back and forth. Simon phoned police and got out of the car.
Witnesses saw the gang force Simon back towards a wall. Reid then punched him in the face while he was on the phone.
Simon hit his head on the pavement and suffered fatal brain injuries. The scum went through his pockets and stole his car keys and phone as he lay dying.
Locals then heard the neds calling their victim a "Chinky".
Simon's family told the cops he was a victim of racial hatred but their warnings fell on deaf ears.
Police were called to the takeaway months before Simon's killing after local neds racially abused the family. A stone had also been thrown through their window, and Simon's nephew had been attacked and knocked to the ground.
Allen has spoken to all the officers and police staff mentioned in the family's complaint.
The force have reviewed their management of critical incidents and are "refreshing" guidance and training on spotting hate crimes.
Police mentioned the witness statements about the use of the word "Chinky" in their report on the case to prosecutors, but Crown lawyers concluded there was not enough evidence that the attack on Simon was racially motivated.
They did not treat the case as a hate crime, but told the court of the San family's belief that the assault was racist.
Reid admitted culpable homicide and got five years in October 2010. He could be out in three, and back on the streets when he is just 19.
Just 11 days after the attack, the killer bragged on Facebook from behind bars that he was "doin' my time, then comin' out to shine".
Michael Roberts and Keir Rodger, both 16, got 42 months and 34 months respectively for assault. Roberts also admitted stealing Simon's car keys and phone.
Appeal judges later cut Rodger's sentence to 26 months and Roberts's to 24 months.
There's nobody here happy with such light sentences regardless of who the victim is.
We have seen the same sort of sentences handed out many times and we have had numerous threads complaining about them.
To link the sentence to being too light to the ethnicity of the victim is not that far removed from what you are opposing.
Two sides of the same coin.
Are you saying that the sentence would be fair if the victim wasn't an immigrant?
Apparently the life of an immigrant is worth about the same as a Facebook prank or some bottled water in the UK today.
Sentences aren't a measure of the value of the life taken, nor should they be. They're about the crime the offender actually committed. As the killer in this case was convicted of culpable homicide, it was presumably felt that it hadn't been shown that he meant to kill him. Had he been convicted of murder, the sentence would have been far longer.
Comments
Exactly. I wonder why that's hard for some to get.
Or maybe the people who hand down sentencing policy to the judges are responsible?
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2011/08/24/taunted-for-being-a-chinky-and-killed-by-a-baying-gang-of-white-neds-but-cops-refused-to-treat-simon-san-s-death-as-a-racist-crime-86908-23367495/
Apparently the life of an immigrant is worth about the same as a Facebook prank or some bottled water in the UK today.
Or some Armani t-shirts. Well, they are designer though....
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/riots-in-brief-armani-looter-jailed-2344684.html
There's nobody here happy with such light sentences regardless of who the victim is.
We have seen the same sort of sentences handed out many times and we have had numerous threads complaining about them.
To link the sentence to being too light to the ethnicity of the victim is not that far removed from what you are opposing.
Two sides of the same coin.
Are you saying that the sentence would be fair if the victim wasn't an immigrant?
Sentences aren't a measure of the value of the life taken, nor should they be. They're about the crime the offender actually committed. As the killer in this case was convicted of culpable homicide, it was presumably felt that it hadn't been shown that he meant to kill him. Had he been convicted of murder, the sentence would have been far longer.