6-11-2003 Canada:
The lawyer for a murdered pedophile says his jailers failed to protect him.
On Monday, guards found 46-year-old Richard Hatton dead in his cell at the Regional Detention Centre.
His cellmate, 29-year-old Daniel Labelle, is charged with second-degree murder.
Richard Hatton had been in the Regional Detention Centre since his arrest for violating the terms of a long-term supervision order.
Carol Sparling, a spokeswoman for the National Parole Board, says Hatton was being held awaiting a hearing to see if he should go back to federal prison.
"The breach had to do with being in an area where he was not supposed to be," says Sparling. "It had to do with a breach of an alcohol condition that he admitted to doing. There wasn't anything of involvement with children."
But Hatton did have a long history of criminal involvement with children. He had been convicted seven times for sexual offences against children.
That history made Hatton a target for other inmates, and officials at the detention centre should have known that, says his lawyer, Joshua Zambrowski of Kingston.
"There is a legal onus on any detention centre, prison or penitentiary to take reasonable care to protect all prisoners. And the fact that he was sharing a cell with some other offender is in my view irresponsible and negligent," says Zambrowski.
Hatton had spent about a month at the provincial detention facility, according to Zambrowski. He says his client, a federal inmate, should have been moved much sooner to a federal prison where he would have been safer. ..more.. by CBC News
Inquest probes pedophile's slaying by cellmate
6-19-2007 Canada:
Mentally ill inmates should be housed separately from other prisoners, a schizophrenic man who killed his cellmate four years ago told a coroner's inquest.
Daniel Labelle was testifying Monday via videoconference at the inquest in Ottawa into the death of 46-year-old Robert Hatton in 2003.
Hatton was intellectually disabled and had been convicted seven times for sexual offences against children, but was being held in the Ottawa Carleton Regional Detention Centre for a parole violation.
Labelle strangled Hatton in June 2003 and was later convicted of manslaughter. He's now serving an eight-year sentence at Penetanguishene Psychiatric Hospital.
Labelle, speaking from the hospital, said that before the slaying, he was scared that his cellmate, who weighed about 300 pounds, would try to rape him.
He said he asked repeatedly to be moved to another cell, but his request was denied.
Labelle apologized for what happened, and wanted the inquest to recommend that people with mental illness be housed separately.
Sister backs separate housing idea
As part of the inquest, Hatton's sister, Beverley Poste, spoke from Ottawa to Labelle during the videoconference Monday.
She agreed that people with mental illness should be housed separately, and said so should people who have been convicted of sex crimes.
"Both of those types of individuals are ill in one way or another and really need to be segregated from the rest of the population," Poste told the CBC following the day's testimony.
Pedophiles, in particular, are often targets of violence by other prisoners.
Poste said the inquest was useful, allowing her and Labelle to tell their sides of the story.
"I've explained to him … my brother that I knew and grew up with," she said after testifying.
She described Hatton as being "like a monster bird in a little wee nest."
Despite his enormous size, she said, "he didn't have a mean bone in his body. He couldn't be riled, he couldn't be angered and he certainly would have fallen over if Daniel had even pushed him."
But she said she was not angry at Labelle, as she recognized he was a sick man.
"He expressed horrendous anxiety about being celled with my brother and he didn't feel that the powers that be listened to him," she said. "He didn't anticipate murdering, and I honestly believe that."
The inquest is expected to end Friday. ..more.. by CBC News
Showing posts with label 2003 FRN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2003 FRN. Show all posts
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Inquest probes pedophile's slaying by cellmate
6-19-2007 Canada:
Mentally ill inmates should be housed separately from other prisoners, a schizophrenic man who killed his cellmate four years ago told a coroner's inquest.
Daniel Labelle was testifying Monday via videoconference at the inquest in Ottawa into the death of 46-year-old Robert Hatton in 2003.
Hatton was intellectually disabled and had been convicted seven times for sexual offences against children, but was being held in the Ottawa Carleton Regional Detention Centre for a parole violation.
Labelle strangled Hatton in June 2003 and was later convicted of manslaughter. He's now serving an eight-year sentence at Penetanguishene Psychiatric Hospital.
Labelle, speaking from the hospital, said that before the slaying, he was scared that his cellmate, who weighed about 300 pounds, would try to rape him.
He said he asked repeatedly to be moved to another cell, but his request was denied.
Labelle apologized for what happened, and wanted the inquest to recommend that people with mental illness be housed separately.
Sister backs separate housing idea
As part of the inquest, Hatton's sister, Beverly Post, spoke from Ottawa to Labelle during the videoconference Monday.
She agreed that people with mental illness should be housed separately, and said so should people who have been convicted of sex crimes.
"Both of those types of individuals are ill in one way or another and really need to be segregated from the rest of the population," she told the CBC following the day's testimony.
Pedophiles, in particular, are often targets of violence by other prisoners.
Post said the inquest was useful, allowing her and Labelle to tell their sides of the story.
"I've explained to him … my brother that I knew and grew up with," said Post after testifying.
She described Hatton as being "like a monster bird in a little wee nest."
Despite his enormous size, she said, "he didn't have a mean bone in his body. He couldn't be riled, he couldn't be angered and he certainly would have fallen over if Daniel had even pushed him."
But she said she was not angry at Labelle, as she recognized he was a sick man.
"He expressed horrendous anxiety about being celled with my brother and he didn't feel that the powers that be listened to him," she said. "He didn't anticipate murdering, and I honestly believe that."
The inquest is expected to end Friday. ..more.. by CBC News
Construction put prisoner in killer’s way
6-19-2007 Canada:
Ideally, inmates with psychological problems are not supposed to be put in the same jail cell as high-risk offenders such as pedophiles, a coroner's inquest heard Tuesday. But crowding is often a problem at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre - and in the spring of 2003, construction made the situation even worse.
That is how Daniel Labelle, a schizophrenic inmate at the facility, ended up in the same cell as Robert Hatton, a convicted pedophile, Jean-Marc Joly, security manager at the centre, testified.
The match turned out to be deadly, as Mr. Labelle killed Mr. Hatton on June 8, 2003. An autopsy revealed Mr. Hatton died of asphyxiation.
"We just didn't have the cell space to have everyone who has a psychological disorder to have their own cells," Mr. Joly testified. A lack of cell space wasn't the centre's only problem.
A lack of communication between departments in the facility also may have been a contributing factor in Mr. Hatton's death. Tuesday, the psychiatrist contracted to assess Mr. Labelle once a month testified he did not have access to the inmate's psychological, health and criminal files.
Dr. Rufino Balmaceda, a psychiatrist with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, said Mr. Labelle appeared "fit" and "not psychotic" just less than a week before he murdered his cellmate. It was determined only after the killing that Mr. Labelle suffered from serious psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and, on June 8, 2003, he was taking one-tenth of the medication required to maintain a healthy mental state.
Mr. Labelle, 33, is now serving an eight-year sentence at the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre, after admitting to the crime in November 2006.
Mr. Labelle and Mr. Hatton shared a cell at the detention centre for nearly three weeks starting in late May 2003 as the facility was undergoing renovations. At that time, prison staff placed inmates in cells together based on their psychological problems and their behaviour in jail, but did not take their crimes into account, Mr. Joly said. He did not explain why the decision was made to place Mr. Labelle in a cell with Mr. Hatton.
In recent years, Ontario judges have declared illegal the practice of sending mentally ill people who have been charged with crimes to jail until beds come open at the forensic units of psychiatric hospitals. Yet, because of a lack of beds, the practice continues.
Mr. Joly testified that Mr. Labelle got into repeated fights with other cellmates, and often lashed out, exhibiting erratic behaviour. But Dr. Balmaceda said he was unaware of any such behaviour.
On May 28, in his last report before the killing, he wrote that Mr. Labelle was "not as anxious" and was "sleeping well. I didn't get any sense he was going to be acting up," he testified Tuesday, suggesting that the system would better serve inmates if there were just one health file accessible by all departments.
Currently, psychological, psychiatric and criminal files are not available between departments in order to protect the inmates' privacy, Dr. Balmaceda said.
The inquest also heard from Nick Kennedy, the corrections officer who first noticed Mr. Hatton was unresponsive on June 8, 2003.
Mr. Kennedy said he was serving lunch to the inmates just before 1 p.m. when Mr. Hatton, who appeared to be sleeping, did not respond. He said Mr. Labelle answered for his cellmate, saying that Mr. Hatton "doesn't want to eat."
Suspicious, Mr. Kennedy said he entered the cell and discovered Mr. Hatton was not breathing and did not have a pulse. He called for medical treatment and began to perform CPR.
Mr. Labelle appeared calm that day and seemed content with his cellmate, Mr. Kennedy testified.
But just the day before, the inquest learned Mr. Labelle approached corrections officer Pierre Patenaude at least seven times with written and verbal requests for a cell change.
On Monday, Mr. Labelle testified via video-link from Penetanguishene, saying he wanted to change cells because he didn't want to be housed with a pedophile. Because his numerous requests for a cell change were denied, Mr. Labelle told the inquest he planned to start a fight with Mr. Hatton to get the attention of jail officials. He said he never intended to kill Mr. Hatton.
Mr. Patenaude testified he was fed up with Mr. Labelle's constant requests and threw one of his written requests in the garbage can.
"You could never reason with inmate Labelle," Mr. Patenaude said. "There was always an issue. It was never smooth sailing, never a good day with him."
The inquest continues Wednesday. The five-member jury is expected to make recommendations on how to prevent a case like this from happening again. ..more.. by Ottawa Citizen
Mentally ill inmates should be housed separately from other prisoners, a schizophrenic man who killed his cellmate four years ago told a coroner's inquest.
Daniel Labelle was testifying Monday via videoconference at the inquest in Ottawa into the death of 46-year-old Robert Hatton in 2003.
Hatton was intellectually disabled and had been convicted seven times for sexual offences against children, but was being held in the Ottawa Carleton Regional Detention Centre for a parole violation.
Labelle strangled Hatton in June 2003 and was later convicted of manslaughter. He's now serving an eight-year sentence at Penetanguishene Psychiatric Hospital.
Labelle, speaking from the hospital, said that before the slaying, he was scared that his cellmate, who weighed about 300 pounds, would try to rape him.
He said he asked repeatedly to be moved to another cell, but his request was denied.
Labelle apologized for what happened, and wanted the inquest to recommend that people with mental illness be housed separately.
Sister backs separate housing idea
As part of the inquest, Hatton's sister, Beverly Post, spoke from Ottawa to Labelle during the videoconference Monday.
She agreed that people with mental illness should be housed separately, and said so should people who have been convicted of sex crimes.
"Both of those types of individuals are ill in one way or another and really need to be segregated from the rest of the population," she told the CBC following the day's testimony.
Pedophiles, in particular, are often targets of violence by other prisoners.
Post said the inquest was useful, allowing her and Labelle to tell their sides of the story.
"I've explained to him … my brother that I knew and grew up with," said Post after testifying.
She described Hatton as being "like a monster bird in a little wee nest."
Despite his enormous size, she said, "he didn't have a mean bone in his body. He couldn't be riled, he couldn't be angered and he certainly would have fallen over if Daniel had even pushed him."
But she said she was not angry at Labelle, as she recognized he was a sick man.
"He expressed horrendous anxiety about being celled with my brother and he didn't feel that the powers that be listened to him," she said. "He didn't anticipate murdering, and I honestly believe that."
The inquest is expected to end Friday. ..more.. by CBC News
Construction put prisoner in killer’s way
6-19-2007 Canada:
Ideally, inmates with psychological problems are not supposed to be put in the same jail cell as high-risk offenders such as pedophiles, a coroner's inquest heard Tuesday. But crowding is often a problem at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre - and in the spring of 2003, construction made the situation even worse.
That is how Daniel Labelle, a schizophrenic inmate at the facility, ended up in the same cell as Robert Hatton, a convicted pedophile, Jean-Marc Joly, security manager at the centre, testified.
The match turned out to be deadly, as Mr. Labelle killed Mr. Hatton on June 8, 2003. An autopsy revealed Mr. Hatton died of asphyxiation.
"We just didn't have the cell space to have everyone who has a psychological disorder to have their own cells," Mr. Joly testified. A lack of cell space wasn't the centre's only problem.
A lack of communication between departments in the facility also may have been a contributing factor in Mr. Hatton's death. Tuesday, the psychiatrist contracted to assess Mr. Labelle once a month testified he did not have access to the inmate's psychological, health and criminal files.
Dr. Rufino Balmaceda, a psychiatrist with the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, said Mr. Labelle appeared "fit" and "not psychotic" just less than a week before he murdered his cellmate. It was determined only after the killing that Mr. Labelle suffered from serious psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and, on June 8, 2003, he was taking one-tenth of the medication required to maintain a healthy mental state.
Mr. Labelle, 33, is now serving an eight-year sentence at the Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre, after admitting to the crime in November 2006.
Mr. Labelle and Mr. Hatton shared a cell at the detention centre for nearly three weeks starting in late May 2003 as the facility was undergoing renovations. At that time, prison staff placed inmates in cells together based on their psychological problems and their behaviour in jail, but did not take their crimes into account, Mr. Joly said. He did not explain why the decision was made to place Mr. Labelle in a cell with Mr. Hatton.
In recent years, Ontario judges have declared illegal the practice of sending mentally ill people who have been charged with crimes to jail until beds come open at the forensic units of psychiatric hospitals. Yet, because of a lack of beds, the practice continues.
Mr. Joly testified that Mr. Labelle got into repeated fights with other cellmates, and often lashed out, exhibiting erratic behaviour. But Dr. Balmaceda said he was unaware of any such behaviour.
On May 28, in his last report before the killing, he wrote that Mr. Labelle was "not as anxious" and was "sleeping well. I didn't get any sense he was going to be acting up," he testified Tuesday, suggesting that the system would better serve inmates if there were just one health file accessible by all departments.
Currently, psychological, psychiatric and criminal files are not available between departments in order to protect the inmates' privacy, Dr. Balmaceda said.
The inquest also heard from Nick Kennedy, the corrections officer who first noticed Mr. Hatton was unresponsive on June 8, 2003.
Mr. Kennedy said he was serving lunch to the inmates just before 1 p.m. when Mr. Hatton, who appeared to be sleeping, did not respond. He said Mr. Labelle answered for his cellmate, saying that Mr. Hatton "doesn't want to eat."
Suspicious, Mr. Kennedy said he entered the cell and discovered Mr. Hatton was not breathing and did not have a pulse. He called for medical treatment and began to perform CPR.
Mr. Labelle appeared calm that day and seemed content with his cellmate, Mr. Kennedy testified.
But just the day before, the inquest learned Mr. Labelle approached corrections officer Pierre Patenaude at least seven times with written and verbal requests for a cell change.
On Monday, Mr. Labelle testified via video-link from Penetanguishene, saying he wanted to change cells because he didn't want to be housed with a pedophile. Because his numerous requests for a cell change were denied, Mr. Labelle told the inquest he planned to start a fight with Mr. Hatton to get the attention of jail officials. He said he never intended to kill Mr. Hatton.
Mr. Patenaude testified he was fed up with Mr. Labelle's constant requests and threw one of his written requests in the garbage can.
"You could never reason with inmate Labelle," Mr. Patenaude said. "There was always an issue. It was never smooth sailing, never a good day with him."
The inquest continues Wednesday. The five-member jury is expected to make recommendations on how to prevent a case like this from happening again. ..more.. by Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
St Mary mob kills man accused of murder-rape
7-11-2003 Jamaica:
POLICE IN Annotto Bay, St. Mary, have launched a search for persons involved in a mob killing on a man accused of raping and murdering a teenage girl in the community of Enfield on Tuesday.
The man, 21-year-old Damion White, died Wednesday night in the St. Ann's Bay Hospital, after he was transferred from the Annotto Bay Hospital. He was beaten and chopped by the residents, after they discovered the body of 16-year-old Althea Dick in Enfield on Tuesday morning.
White is from Golden Grove in St. Thomas.
The police report that White, who was wanted by the police in connection with the death of Dick, was held by residents on the St. Mary Banana Estate.
The residents continued to pursue White after he was admitted to hospital. The police say there was a major disturbance at the Annotto Bay Hospital on Wednesday night, when scores of residents showed up searching for him.
An official at the hospital said the angry residents converged on the hospital, demanding that White be released to them in order that they may avenge Dick's death. ..more..
POLICE IN Annotto Bay, St. Mary, have launched a search for persons involved in a mob killing on a man accused of raping and murdering a teenage girl in the community of Enfield on Tuesday.
The man, 21-year-old Damion White, died Wednesday night in the St. Ann's Bay Hospital, after he was transferred from the Annotto Bay Hospital. He was beaten and chopped by the residents, after they discovered the body of 16-year-old Althea Dick in Enfield on Tuesday morning.
White is from Golden Grove in St. Thomas.
The police report that White, who was wanted by the police in connection with the death of Dick, was held by residents on the St. Mary Banana Estate.
The residents continued to pursue White after he was admitted to hospital. The police say there was a major disturbance at the Annotto Bay Hospital on Wednesday night, when scores of residents showed up searching for him.
An official at the hospital said the angry residents converged on the hospital, demanding that White be released to them in order that they may avenge Dick's death. ..more..
Killers likely to die in jail
10-30-2003 Australia:
Snowtown murderers John Justin Bunting and Robert Joe Wagner are likely to die in jail after being sentenced yesterday by a judge who condemned them as cowards in the business of killing for pleasure.
Denounced by Justice Brian Martin as beyond rehabilitation and lacking contrition, 37-year-old Bunting - convicted of 11 gruesome murders, some preceded by torture - and 31-year-old Wagner - convicted of 10 - will serve mandatory life sentences without parole on each count.
Justice Martin, who said dreadful crimes required dreadful punishment, refused to set a non-parole period and warned future judges not to relent. "I make it plain I cannot envisage anything that would justify fixing a non-parole period," he said after hearing statements from some of the families of the victims of the men, two of a gang of four who became Australia's worst serial killers.
"If I had the power to make an order for them never to be released, I would unhesitatingly make that order."
In the only submission made in the South Australian Supreme Court yesterday in the defence of either man, Wagner told the court he was only doing what the authorities failed to do by hunting down pedophiles.
A handcuffed Wagner, illiterate at the time of his arrest, stood up to explain his reasons for killing: "Pedophiles were doing terrible things to children and innocent children were being damaged," he said, reading from a statement. "The authorities did nothing about it, I was very angry. Someone had to do something about it. I decided to take action and I took that action."
But Justice Martin did not accept that the killers were motivated by vigilantism. "I am satisfied both of you derived pleasure from the physical act of killing and the violence and torture that preceded some of the killings," he said. "I am also satisfied you derived pleasure from the defleshing and dismembering of some of the bodies."
Another killer, James Vlassakis, 23, who was recruited into the ring for the last four murders, was sentenced last year to 26 years' jail after pleading guilty.
Bunting, a former abattoir worker whose hatred of pedophiles drove the serial murders that ran from 1992 until just before his arrest in May 1999, and Wagner, the strongman who did much of the killing, were found guilty by a jury early last month of 11 and seven counts of murder respectively. Before that trial, Wagner had pleaded guilty to three more murders, including that of Barry Lane, a convicted pedophile he ran away from home to live with when 14.
The verdict was the culmination of a police inquiry that linked a series of missing people. On May 21, 1999, police broke into a disused bank vault at Snowtown, a small town in South Australia's mid-north. There they found the rotting and dismembered remains of eight people in six heavy-duty plastic barrels. Another four bodies were found at three other sites.
While most of the victims were strangled, some were also tortured using pliers to crush their toes, either to extract voice recordings used later to dupe relatives and authorities, to gain PINs to access bank accounts or for pleasure. Before murdering him, Bunting and Wagner burnt Fred Brooks, 18, with cigarettes.
After the deaths, Wagner and Bunting succumbed to a kind of blood lust, dismembering corpses and playing with them. On one occasion Wagner held the head of a victim and invited Bunting to "kiss the puppet". Wagner also took flesh from David Johnson's thigh, putting it into a glove he offered to Bunting, saying he had a surprise.
The deaths were premeditated, sometimes planned weeks in advance. In the case of the final victim, David Johnson, 24, Bunting offered to sell Johnson's car 10 days before he was murdered.
After 11 months of evidence from 227 witnesses and 17,000 pages of transcript, the Snowtown trial became the longest and most expensive criminal trial in South Australian history, requiring its own budget allocation of $15 million.
But the Snowtown business is not finished.
After the jury became deadlocked over charges relating to the 12th victim, Suzanne Allen, Justice Martin discharged it. He agreed yesterday to a request from state prosecutors that the Allen murder go to a retrial.
After sentencing the men to indefinite imprisonment, they were immediately remanded to a new trial for the murder of Suzanne Allen. A fourth man, Mark Haydon, married to victim Elizabeth Haydon, has yet to stand trial for the murders. ..more.. by Penelope Debelle
Snowtown murderers John Justin Bunting and Robert Joe Wagner are likely to die in jail after being sentenced yesterday by a judge who condemned them as cowards in the business of killing for pleasure.
Denounced by Justice Brian Martin as beyond rehabilitation and lacking contrition, 37-year-old Bunting - convicted of 11 gruesome murders, some preceded by torture - and 31-year-old Wagner - convicted of 10 - will serve mandatory life sentences without parole on each count.
Justice Martin, who said dreadful crimes required dreadful punishment, refused to set a non-parole period and warned future judges not to relent. "I make it plain I cannot envisage anything that would justify fixing a non-parole period," he said after hearing statements from some of the families of the victims of the men, two of a gang of four who became Australia's worst serial killers.
"If I had the power to make an order for them never to be released, I would unhesitatingly make that order."
In the only submission made in the South Australian Supreme Court yesterday in the defence of either man, Wagner told the court he was only doing what the authorities failed to do by hunting down pedophiles.
A handcuffed Wagner, illiterate at the time of his arrest, stood up to explain his reasons for killing: "Pedophiles were doing terrible things to children and innocent children were being damaged," he said, reading from a statement. "The authorities did nothing about it, I was very angry. Someone had to do something about it. I decided to take action and I took that action."
But Justice Martin did not accept that the killers were motivated by vigilantism. "I am satisfied both of you derived pleasure from the physical act of killing and the violence and torture that preceded some of the killings," he said. "I am also satisfied you derived pleasure from the defleshing and dismembering of some of the bodies."
Another killer, James Vlassakis, 23, who was recruited into the ring for the last four murders, was sentenced last year to 26 years' jail after pleading guilty.
Bunting, a former abattoir worker whose hatred of pedophiles drove the serial murders that ran from 1992 until just before his arrest in May 1999, and Wagner, the strongman who did much of the killing, were found guilty by a jury early last month of 11 and seven counts of murder respectively. Before that trial, Wagner had pleaded guilty to three more murders, including that of Barry Lane, a convicted pedophile he ran away from home to live with when 14.
The verdict was the culmination of a police inquiry that linked a series of missing people. On May 21, 1999, police broke into a disused bank vault at Snowtown, a small town in South Australia's mid-north. There they found the rotting and dismembered remains of eight people in six heavy-duty plastic barrels. Another four bodies were found at three other sites.
While most of the victims were strangled, some were also tortured using pliers to crush their toes, either to extract voice recordings used later to dupe relatives and authorities, to gain PINs to access bank accounts or for pleasure. Before murdering him, Bunting and Wagner burnt Fred Brooks, 18, with cigarettes.
After the deaths, Wagner and Bunting succumbed to a kind of blood lust, dismembering corpses and playing with them. On one occasion Wagner held the head of a victim and invited Bunting to "kiss the puppet". Wagner also took flesh from David Johnson's thigh, putting it into a glove he offered to Bunting, saying he had a surprise.
The deaths were premeditated, sometimes planned weeks in advance. In the case of the final victim, David Johnson, 24, Bunting offered to sell Johnson's car 10 days before he was murdered.
After 11 months of evidence from 227 witnesses and 17,000 pages of transcript, the Snowtown trial became the longest and most expensive criminal trial in South Australian history, requiring its own budget allocation of $15 million.
But the Snowtown business is not finished.
After the jury became deadlocked over charges relating to the 12th victim, Suzanne Allen, Justice Martin discharged it. He agreed yesterday to a request from state prosecutors that the Allen murder go to a retrial.
After sentencing the men to indefinite imprisonment, they were immediately remanded to a new trial for the murder of Suzanne Allen. A fourth man, Mark Haydon, married to victim Elizabeth Haydon, has yet to stand trial for the murders. ..more.. by Penelope Debelle
Shock at murder response
12-9-2003 United Kingdom:
The senior officer investigating the murder of a 73-year-old convicted sex offender said he was shocked by the attitude of some locals who said he deserved to die.
Detective Superintendent Brian Dunn, of Cleveland police, said there had been a hard core of people who had been systematically targeting Arnold Hartley because of his conviction for sex offences.
Mr Hartley was found battered to death at his home in the seaside town of Redcar on November 29.
"Quite clearly, feelings are running high," Mr Dunn said yesterday. "Feelings have been running high since his conviction for sex offences.
"I can understand why people are concerned, but at the end of the day it is not justified to systematically target and bully someone so they are left with nothing of any value and stripped of large amounts of cash.
"This is a shocking indictment. Are people really content to let anarchy rule? Are people content to turn a blind eye when someone has been killed?" He said it was a "small minority" who had plagued him and justified doing so because he was a sex offender.
Mr Dunn described Mr Hartley as a "sad, pathetic figure". He said his attackers had smashed his front door and windows and pulled the shutters off his house.
"People are saying that it is no great loss but we can't expect people to tolerate murder."
Mr Hartley was jailed in 2001 for 12 months at Teesside crown court for gross indecency and making indecent images of a girl under 14. On his release in April 2002, he returned to his home and was subjected to repeated attacks. ..more.. by Helen Carter
Paedophile Murder Suspects Freed by Police
Two people arrested over the murder of a convicted paedophile found battered to death in his own home were released by police tonight. The body of 73-year-old sex offender Arnold Hartley was discovered in the early hours of Saturday at his home in Redcar, Cleveland.
He suffered serious injuries to the head and face in an apparent vigilante attack. Cleveland Police said a 28-year-old man and a woman, 20, who were arrested and interviewed today have been released “unconditionally.”
A police spokesman said it was not possible to say whether Mr Hartley was the victim of a vigilante attack. But neighbours said his dilapidated home had been attacked many times and his car damaged by people who knew of his criminal past.
He was jailed for 12 months in 2001 for making indecent images of a girl under the age of 14 and gross indecency.
At a news conference today, Detective Superintendent Brian Dunn said Mr Hartley had lived at his home in Queen Street for many years and was well-known in the community as a sex offender.
On his release in April 2002, the paedophile returned to the area and moved back into his previous address. Mr Dunn said Mr Hartley was on the Sex Offenders’ Register and was considered a “medium risk“. There had been “previous problems” at the address and Mr Hartley had been subjected to harassment, Mr Dunn added.
There was a disturbance shortly after midnight on Saturday in Queen Street and police have appealed for help in piecing together what happened.
Mr Dunn said: “This is a murder inquiry and obviously Mr Hartley’s previous conviction will form part of the inquiry.
“But whatever he has done in the past does not give people the right to attack and kill him.” The paedophile’s home had been subjected to many attacks, a neighbour said, but Mr Hartley once claimed he had “no enemies“.
Cal Birkbeck, owner of the Castle Hotel, opposite Mr Hartley’s two-storey terraced home, said the pensioner gave up replacing his broken windows because they had been smashed that many times.
The hotelier told PA News: “It is common knowledge he was a paedophile. “He looked very meek and mild and wore glasses. “He got his car smashed up about 18 months ago and it looked like somebody had been jumping up and down on the roof.
“I said somebody must have a grudge against him because they hadn’t attacked any other cars. “But he said ’Oh no, I haven’t got any enemies’. “It is very strange.”
Mr Birkbeck believed the pensioner lived alone but he did remember seeing teenage girls going into the house.
“It is quite strange but we just thought it was his granddaughter or something. “Then it came to light that he was a paedophile.”
The hotel owner said some local mothers complained about having a convicted sex offender living nearby but he said there was little that they could do.
Three police vans were guarding the front of the property while another car was in the back alley. The house, close to Redcar’s seafront, stands less than 100 yards from a nursery.
The front door of the house was hidden behind a makeshift tent and forensic experts could be seen going in and out of the rundown property. Uniformed officers were carrying out house-to-house inquiries while two others were patrolling on horseback.
Three floral tributes were left in front of the house, with one card simply saying “God Bless“. ..more..
The senior officer investigating the murder of a 73-year-old convicted sex offender said he was shocked by the attitude of some locals who said he deserved to die.
Detective Superintendent Brian Dunn, of Cleveland police, said there had been a hard core of people who had been systematically targeting Arnold Hartley because of his conviction for sex offences.
Mr Hartley was found battered to death at his home in the seaside town of Redcar on November 29.
"Quite clearly, feelings are running high," Mr Dunn said yesterday. "Feelings have been running high since his conviction for sex offences.
"I can understand why people are concerned, but at the end of the day it is not justified to systematically target and bully someone so they are left with nothing of any value and stripped of large amounts of cash.
"This is a shocking indictment. Are people really content to let anarchy rule? Are people content to turn a blind eye when someone has been killed?" He said it was a "small minority" who had plagued him and justified doing so because he was a sex offender.
Mr Dunn described Mr Hartley as a "sad, pathetic figure". He said his attackers had smashed his front door and windows and pulled the shutters off his house.
"People are saying that it is no great loss but we can't expect people to tolerate murder."
Mr Hartley was jailed in 2001 for 12 months at Teesside crown court for gross indecency and making indecent images of a girl under 14. On his release in April 2002, he returned to his home and was subjected to repeated attacks. ..more.. by Helen Carter
Paedophile Murder Suspects Freed by Police
Two people arrested over the murder of a convicted paedophile found battered to death in his own home were released by police tonight. The body of 73-year-old sex offender Arnold Hartley was discovered in the early hours of Saturday at his home in Redcar, Cleveland.
He suffered serious injuries to the head and face in an apparent vigilante attack. Cleveland Police said a 28-year-old man and a woman, 20, who were arrested and interviewed today have been released “unconditionally.”
A police spokesman said it was not possible to say whether Mr Hartley was the victim of a vigilante attack. But neighbours said his dilapidated home had been attacked many times and his car damaged by people who knew of his criminal past.
He was jailed for 12 months in 2001 for making indecent images of a girl under the age of 14 and gross indecency.
At a news conference today, Detective Superintendent Brian Dunn said Mr Hartley had lived at his home in Queen Street for many years and was well-known in the community as a sex offender.
On his release in April 2002, the paedophile returned to the area and moved back into his previous address. Mr Dunn said Mr Hartley was on the Sex Offenders’ Register and was considered a “medium risk“. There had been “previous problems” at the address and Mr Hartley had been subjected to harassment, Mr Dunn added.
There was a disturbance shortly after midnight on Saturday in Queen Street and police have appealed for help in piecing together what happened.
Mr Dunn said: “This is a murder inquiry and obviously Mr Hartley’s previous conviction will form part of the inquiry.
“But whatever he has done in the past does not give people the right to attack and kill him.” The paedophile’s home had been subjected to many attacks, a neighbour said, but Mr Hartley once claimed he had “no enemies“.
Cal Birkbeck, owner of the Castle Hotel, opposite Mr Hartley’s two-storey terraced home, said the pensioner gave up replacing his broken windows because they had been smashed that many times.
The hotelier told PA News: “It is common knowledge he was a paedophile. “He looked very meek and mild and wore glasses. “He got his car smashed up about 18 months ago and it looked like somebody had been jumping up and down on the roof.
“I said somebody must have a grudge against him because they hadn’t attacked any other cars. “But he said ’Oh no, I haven’t got any enemies’. “It is very strange.”
Mr Birkbeck believed the pensioner lived alone but he did remember seeing teenage girls going into the house.
“It is quite strange but we just thought it was his granddaughter or something. “Then it came to light that he was a paedophile.”
The hotel owner said some local mothers complained about having a convicted sex offender living nearby but he said there was little that they could do.
Three police vans were guarding the front of the property while another car was in the back alley. The house, close to Redcar’s seafront, stands less than 100 yards from a nursery.
The front door of the house was hidden behind a makeshift tent and forensic experts could be seen going in and out of the rundown property. Uniformed officers were carrying out house-to-house inquiries while two others were patrolling on horseback.
Three floral tributes were left in front of the house, with one card simply saying “God Bless“. ..more..
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Paedophile Murder
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
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
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