Man Jailed for 3 months over Facebook Jokes

j0frenzy

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I'm generally against the idea of jailing people for Facebook posts, but given that we are dealing with a British case (whose laws and legal customs I am unfamiliar with) and that there are a lot of facts missing from that news story, I am just going to back away slowly from this without a strong judgement.
I will say I don't like how the OP phrased the topic. I'm willing to bet the charged for making bad jokes. That said, the article doesn't actually spell out what the charge was.
 
Apr 24, 2008
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Zombiefish said:
I believe the joke he was arrested for was 'whats the difference between mark ( the father) and santa? Mark comes in April (the kid)
As utterly disgusting as this is, I cant see how it can justify a court sentence.

Frankie Boyle for instance posted this:
https://twitter.com/frankieboyle/status/252713279900758016
So it was just a bit of word-play?...

We care too much about whether or not peoples delicate sensibilities are offended these days. It's only going to get worse if we start locking people up as it will re-affirm to everybody that they have the right never to be offended...which they feckin' don't.

Get over yourselves, it doesn't matter a damn bit if you're offended, especially over trivial bullshit. Juvenile...
 

DoPo

"You're not cleared for that."
Jan 30, 2012
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FelixG said:
haha the UK is going full retard, not surprised.

Article said:
Chorley magistrates heard members of the public were so upset about his posts they reported them to the police.

About 50 people went to his home. He was arrested at a separate address.
And apparently in the UK you need 50 folk to arrest someone who makes a bad joke.
No, those 50 people weren't the police. Where did you get that from?

Also, the title here is really misleading.
 

getoffmycloud

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As much as the comment is in very bad taste this is a bit of an overreaction he should have been given a warning especially as it wasn't publicly posted and wasn't causing any harm to anyone who knows the girl. The thing I hate about this is all the people who turned up at his house like they actually care about this girl if they did they would have gone to wales and started looking for her not pretended to be horribly offended by this.
 

AzrealMaximillion

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Jan 20, 2010
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Elementary - Dear Watson said:
I think it is good...

It serves as a deterrent for other people who think that mediums like the internet can be used to cause others hurt and misfortune...

I don't mind trolling... but I do mind when the comments are seriously aimed to hurt other people when they are already upset... hell... aimed to hurt anybody is horrible!

It is inconsiderate and generally horrible... so I am glad someone has been made an example of...

Also... Private page? This is the internet... there is no such thing!
I disagree. Jailing someone for being offensive is parallel with dictatorship style censorship. In the article, it states that the joke was made while drinking at a friend's house. Him going to jail over this is taking things way too far. I know its the U.K. and not the States, but if you jail this guy, you're effectively making it ok to jail anyone who tells rude jokes in a bar setting.

I don't think we need jail to deter people from verbally being assholes on the internet. The internet has a funny way of punishing idiots.
 

DoPo

"You're not cleared for that."
Jan 30, 2012
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FelixG said:
DoPo said:
FelixG said:
haha the UK is going full retard, not surprised.

Article said:
Chorley magistrates heard members of the public were so upset about his posts they reported them to the police.

About 50 people went to his home. He was arrested at a separate address.
And apparently in the UK you need 50 folk to arrest someone who makes a bad joke.
No, those 50 people weren't the police. Where did you get that from?

Also, the title here is really misleading.
I guess the person who wrote the article really sucks as well, as it talks about the police, then switches to talk about other people then finishes up talking about the police then?
Dude...the previous two sentences are (in order) that he was arrested for his own safety and that the public was really upset. The police are only mentioned in passing there, the author didn't narrate their actions.
 

flaming_squirrel

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Watched a bit of some police TV program last night, 2 guys were arrested from their car and a quantity of cocaine was found stashed inside. Nearby in a bush a set of electronic scales and a much larger bag of cocaine. They were not charged, not enough evidence.

Then this guy gets 3 months for being a dick on the internet? Bloody hell they'd have a field day on Youtube if this gets commonplace.

Utterly ridiculous.
 

Esotera

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Yeah, this is the second case this week that's been in the news, and it's totally fucked. Whilst the humour is definitely dark I know that I've certainly got a few friends who would make jokes like that, and they should have every right to say them, no matter how distasteful they are. Whatever law they can be charged under needs changing.
 

JoJo

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Secret world leader (shhh) said:
Wow.

My country is actually becoming a police state.

I am now in full support of scottish independence.

We gotta haul ass before it's too late.
To be fair Labour is pretty big in Scotland and they didn't do anything to stop the encroaching of police statism, so be careful if the Scots end voting for independence that you don't end up on the same path since you'll probably initially inherit most of the UK's laws.

OT: The guy's joke is sick and disturbing but that shouldn't be a reason to arrest or imprison him, seems like freedom of speech really is dead in my country :-(
 

lapsed_pacifist

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Jan 6, 2011
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I heard some fucking brilliant Jimmy Savile jokes today. Would love to share them but I don't fancy getting banged up for the chance of making someone laugh. Ridiculous. Punishment should fit the offence and last time I checked being a twat wasn't a crime. So, I'll keep it tasteful...

Why did the baker have brown hands?

Because he needed a poo.
 

White Lightning

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Feb 9, 2012
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Man how awkward is this gonne be in the Jail courtyard. "So, what're you in for? Rape eh? What about you? Murdering Oprhans? Geez dude what the fuck.. oh hey what about you? Telling a joke on Facebook? HA! I guess we found our shower *****."