Blog Posts » Offtopic – Our messed up legal system and media

Offtopic – Our messed up legal system and media

Well after several months my cousins murderer has been convicted, for ten years, yep our judges are useless, but at least he got convicted for murder and not manslaughter like he wanted, here is the background as our local press coverage is very biased, more on that later.

Sara Tuckey

Sara Tuckey
1973 – 2007

My cousin Sara Tuckey was pretty messed up, a drug addict from 13 and of course a prostitute (the two seem to go hand in hand), she had been in jail quite a few times for minor offences and was actually much happier ‘inside’. This doesn’t mean she wasn’t liked, she had many friends, her family loved her and even the police were quite fond of her.

Last summer the man she was living with walked into the local police station and told them to get her out of his flat or he would kill her, the police did nothing as it was considered a Civil matter and he would not make a formal statement, three days later he returned to the police station covered in blood and made a statement telling them he had murdered her. The police visited the flat and found my cousin laying on her bed wrapped in a duvet, a kitchen knife was stuck in her throat and her head had been smashed in with a hammer, the police had to use her fingerprints to identify her.

Later, once her killer had lawyered up, he changed his plea to manslaughter, the man was over 6ft, Sara was well under 6ft and a frail drug addict with HIV and hepatitis, she was also asleep in bed and drugged up when he attacked her, how could anyone call that not murder? Luckily the police had already decided they were not going to give thi guy any chance of getting off, and made sure their case was watertight.

Yesterday was the final day of the trial, Lusty claimed he was provoked, she had threatened to tell his neighbours he was a convicted paedophile if he threw her out of his flat, so he killed her. How this makes any sense even in a sick mind is beyond me, throw her out and people get told you are a paedophile, but don’t throw her out and kill her and no-one will mind? I imagine this was purely a fabrication and that she knew something much worse about him, of course we will never know. The jury obviously didn’t believe his story either, after around fifteen minutes of deliberation they returned with a unanimous verdict that he was guilty of murder, the judge then decided to give him a rather lenient sentence of ten years, but with his past I doubt he will make it out upright.

Now to the local media coverage, it is absolutely appalling and biased, I would encourage anyone in Gloucestershire to boycott the Citizen, I won’t quote the articles here, they would probably tell me I was infringing copyright, but here are links to the articles, be sure to read the comments too –

ADDICT MUM KILLED BY OAP

POLICE UNDER FIRE FOR NOT VISITING FLAT

THREATS LED ME TO KILL MY FLATMATE

PROSTITUTE KILLER JAILED FOR ‘HIDEOUS ATTACK’
A nicer report from the Daily Mail –

Paedophile ‘killed woman who threatened to expose sex convictions’

I think the police and CPS did a great job on this case and offer my thanks and that of my Aunt for not letting this man get away with this crime, I wish they had taken measures to prevent this from happening, but I imagine that is not their fault as they have many guidelines handed down to them from the government which do not encourage crime prevention. I would also like to thank the jury, the details of this crime, the evidence you had to hear and see must have been very disturbing, but you made the correct decision. Her friends also deserve thanks for leaving tributes outside the flat, it means a lot to her Mother.

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  1. Chelsea

    In my mind I remember a beautiful face,
    One with very rarely a frown, and almost always a smile
    In the air I breathe I know she is still here
    She is the cool summer breeze,
    The light fluffy snowflakes on a winter’s day,
    She is the foot prints implanted in my heart,
    The tears dripping over all the letters she sent.
    If only all the tears fallen could build a stairway,
    And all the memories a lane,
    I would walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.

    Rest in peace auntie Fafa

    Love lot’s and forever
    Chelsea

  2. Janine

    I too am appalled at the biased media coverage, I’m unsure of the reasons behind it, but regardless of what the might be, it is terrible. The memory of a life lost does not deserve to be tarnished by a cruel reporter with shameful reporting tactics.
    The sentence handed down too is frustrating, quiet honestly it is far from fair punishment. To put a little perspective on it, think to kill someone at twenty your out by thirty. Still have a long life ahead whilst one has been taken. Our world is beyond comprehension some days….

  3. Well, my heart goes out to you. That’s a tough situation to live with.

    You say you can’t understand what drives someone to do that. Some may see this as crass, but through bitter experience myself I have come to understand the wisdom of things like the message in Star Trek of the Vulcans … master the emotions, or of the Jedi in Star Wars. The message is repeated elsewhere. Don’t deny the emotions, but neither give into them … especially the strong negative emotions.

    DJ Barney

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