A British man is appealing against a 14 year sentence imposed by a Danish court for killing a paedophile who he says molested his nine-year-old daughter.
10-8-2003 Denmark:
Fifty five year-old, Stephen Hoath, who has lived in Denmark for the last thirteen years, insists he and a Danish friend shot the man because local police refused to take action. The case is proving particularly controversial in a country where earlier this summer two young girls were brutally murdered by paedophiles. Many Danes are complaining that out-dated liberal attitudes are preventing the courts from taking action and there are fears that some might follow, Stephen Hoath, by taking the law into their own hands.
Mr Hoath befriended 63 year-old, Villy Andersen, whilst on a fishing trip. He claims his daughter later told him that Andersen had fondled her legs after she went with him to fetch a torch from their car. He then discovered that the man was a convicted paedophile who’d spent 18 months in jail for abusing a child a few years before. Hoath then reported the incident to the police but they claimed that there was insufficient evidence to take any action.
In response Stephen Hoath and a Danish friend, Ejvind Olesen, sent off with a loaded rifle to look for Andersen. On finally finding him Hoath, who has a previous conviction in Britain for attempted murder, shot him dead. Though his controversial solicitor, Peter Hjorne, who frequently represents Danish Hells Angels, insists Hoath had only meant to scare Andersen into leaving his daughter alone. Though quite how shooting someone in the eye can be a warning is hard to tell. Nonetheless, Hjorne claims the sentence imposed on his client for premeditated murder is outrageous given that he was only trying to defend the honour of his daughter.
I recently travelled to Assens jail, East of Jutland to interview Mr Hoath to get a clearer picture of what happened that day. Yet whilst he was willing the authorities were not and I was told he would not be allowed to talk to this programme. His lawyer has seen filed a complaint to the country’s Director of Public Prosecutions claiming this is a denial of Mr Hoath’s freedom of speech.
Ironically no such restrictions seem to be placed on Danish paedophiles. In fact they are allowed to have their own organisation which boasts his own fully legal web site. The Danish Paedophile Association, which sometimes carries full page ads in some newspapers, frequently has it’s say on the alleged benefits for children of having sex with adults.
It pronounces: “Paedophilia means love for children involving erotic feelings.”
And on another web page: “The claim that some child/adult sexual contacts are benign or even beneficial is supported by such a wealth of scientific studies that it cannot be discounted.”
How can they be allowed to say such things? Well, the Associations rights to freedom of speech…along with everyone else’s, are enshrined in the country’s constitution. They have the right to meet and express views provided they are just talking about sex with children and not actually having it. Save the Children Denmark is campaigning to have the website, along with the Association, closed down. The charity’s spokesman in Copenhagen, is Kumo Sorensen. Does he believe that the Associations members stop at talking? “No, I believe very much that they have sexual relations with children because they are so convinced that they don’t harm children.”
Proving what Denmark’s estimated 30,000 paedophiles are up to is a tricky business. Police point out that under Danish law they can’t convict an organisation they have to find evidence against individuals and then prosecute them. But the Head of Copenhagen’s CID, Detective Commander Per Larsen, says is easier said than done: “They are very clandestine. They almost work like secret agents because they are well aware of how dangerous it is for them to expose themselves to society. So, it is very difficult to investigate them in this environment.”
The other option is to change the law and exclude organisations like the Danish Paedophile Association from the right to Freedom of speech. But that is equally difficult. This right is enshrined in the country’s written constitution and amending that requires a referendum and two conclusive votes in parliament. It’s thought that even then such a move would be challenged by Paedophile Association lawyers.
The current situation horrifies journalist, Kristian Jensen, who was abused by a paedophile for three years from the age of nine. Since telling police he has spent more than 12 years receiving counselling and other help in coming to terms with the experience. “It is really, really outrageous. This is an entire government refusing to act. As we speak children are lying in beds being abused. As we speak there is an organisation in Copenhagen which is actually promoting the sexual abuse of children and no one is doing anything.” Mr Jensen is now campaigning for a change in the law which would outlaw the Danish Paedophile Association and close down their web site.
Meanwhile the police acknowledge that frustration is growing in Denmark about what many see as an ugly loophole in the law which puts children at risk. Anxious to defuse the rising tension, Commander Larsen has this advice for any one thinking of copying Stephen Hoath’s idea of vigilante justice:
“Let us handle the cases, even if you’re very angry. If you want revenge use the state’s authorized revenge system and I am part of that. I will make the revenge on your behalf. Trust us.” ..more.. by Mike Thomson
Campaign to free father jailed for killing child molester
9-27-2003 Denmark:
A Briton jailed in Denmark for murdering a paedophile who had molested his daughter should be released, campaigners said last night.
Stephen Hoath was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday in Odense, Denmark, after admitting shooting dead Villy Andersen, a convicted Danish child molester who had abused Hoath's nine-year-old daughter.
The case has gripped Denmark, with many commentators complaining that the police failed to take the original accusations of child molestation sufficiently seriously.
advertisementProtesters outside the court said that Hoath, 55, who has terminal lung disease, was a hero and that they were dismayed by the sentence. One man said: "He should be given a medal."
Hoath, a London-born factory worker who has lived in Denmark for 13 years, was found guilty of premeditated murder. He had admitted shooting dead Andersen, 63, on August 17 last year but denied murder. Ejvind Olesen, Hoath's Danish accomplice, also received 14 years.
Hoath's relatives reacted with fury at the sentences. His son Gerry, in his twenties, was arrested after spitting at the jury and warning them: "You are pigs. If you ever come to England, we'll kill you."
His daughter, Zoe, threw herself into his arms as he was being taken away and shouted: "You're a hero, dad."
Police said Hoath, who lived with his wife and daughter in Jutland, had first reported to them that Andersen had attacked his daughter in July last year.
She had alleged that Andersen, a truck driver who had recently become friendly with Hoath, had touched her over her clothing during a fishing trip. He had also suggested playing strip poker, she said. Andersen had lured the girl away from her father with the pretence of getting a torch from his car.
Detectives at first decided to take no action because there were no witnesses and no physical evidence. They did, however, decide to charge Andersen five days before his murder but had not done so at the time of his death. The police did not tell Mr Hoath of their intentions.
Hoath told the court that he had confronted Andersen about the attack. He said he had meant only to threaten him, but lost his temper when Andersen boasted he was going to molest his daughter again. Andersen allegedly said to Hoath: "I will get her again. You cannot always watch her."
In an interview from his prison cell earlier this year, Mr Hoath said: "I had to do something. The police did nothing. I couldn't believe it. He threatened to get my daughter again and still they did nothing. I tried to do everything by the book but in the end I had to protect her."
He said: "I never intended to kill him but I'm not ashamed of what I did. My wife is close to a breakdown. My daughter will live with what he did for the rest of her life - and now she's lost her dad."
Niels Pinborg, of the Ekstra Bladet newspaper in Copenhagen, said that Andersen was known to have several convictions for paedophile offences.
Hoath's lawyers are considering an appeal because he has been given just five years to live. ..more.. by David Bamber and Julian Isherwood in Copenhagen
No comments:
Post a Comment