290
submitted 4 weeks ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Teenager detained for 12 years minimum for attempted murder at private Blundell’s school in Devon

A teenager who attacked two sleeping students and a teacher with hammers at a private school in Devon has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 12 years after being found guilty of attempted murder.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was armed with three claw hammers and waited for the two boys to be asleep before attacking them at Blundell’s school in Tiverton, Exeter crown court heard.

He was wearing just his boxer shorts and used weapons he had collected to prepare for a “zombie apocalypse”, the court was told.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Cruxifux@feddit.nl 67 points 4 weeks ago

So rich kid with (probably) autism attacks two other rich kids in their…. Cabins (?) while wearing only his underwear with hammers and also a teacher that came to help. He claims he was sleepwalking. Badly injures them, gets minimum 12-life for the attack.

Every part of that story is wild.

[-] Nougat@fedia.io 30 points 4 weeks ago

The judge said the boy experiences an autism spectrum disorder ...

That's not for a judge to determine.

Edit: While the above statement remains true, reporting elsewhere shows:

Kerim Fuad KC, defending, told the court the defendant had also been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c781p92vdyko

Sloppy journalism from The Guardian here.

[-] then_three_more@lemmy.world 37 points 4 weeks ago

What makes you think that's not the judge just reading a medical professional's opinion?

[-] Nougat@fedia.io 2 points 4 weeks ago
[-] CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 11 points 4 weeks ago

Did the judge actually determine it, or did the judge just relay information given to them by someone else?

[-] Nougat@fedia.io 0 points 4 weeks ago
[-] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

If the judge said it then it would have been established fact in the case. This can be established by evidence and found as fact in the case, or it can be part of the agreed facts of the case, in which case the court doesn't waste time hearing evidence. All it takes to become agreed fact is for the defence to present it as part of their case and for the prosecution to not dispute it.

In that context the finding of fact by the court is more than enough for the paper to report on it, and the two versions presented by you of it being said by the defence and by the judge, are entirely compatible with one another. Nobody is going to demand to see the boy's medical history to verify an uncontroversial point like this. That would just be a waste of time.

The papers presented it as stated by the defence and the judge, they said nothing false or misleading, and I don't see any problem with that part of their reporting.

Now, if you have an issue that it was reported because it casts autistic people in a bad light, the issue becomes whether you think it's something the papers should leave out. Well, the defence considered it important, and it became news. Not much we can do about that after the fact.

[-] EatATaco@lemm.ee 3 points 3 weeks ago

I don't get why this is sloppy. They didn't say he diagnosed him with autism, only that he said he experiences it.

You jumped to conclusions and are trying to blame them. I certainly did not interpret it the same way you did.

[-] underwire212@lemm.ee -4 points 3 weeks ago

The fact that it can be interpreted in multiple different ways makes it sloppy. Should be more explicit.

[-] EatATaco@lemm.ee 3 points 3 weeks ago

Yes, noone who has read anything has ever made a mistake in their interpretation.

[-] Nougat@fedia.io -4 points 3 weeks ago

The only authority cited in the article for this autism diagnosis is the judge. A different article stated that the defendant's attorney "told the court that [the defendant] had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder ..." That's far more trustworthy than the judge "saying" it.

Excluding that context is sloppy journalism.

[-] EatATaco@lemm.ee 4 points 3 weeks ago

The only authority cited in the article for this autism diagnosis is the judge.

And precisely zero that indicated the judge came to this conclusion themselves. It's doesn't make sense to assume that the judge would come to this conclusion themselves, so blaming the article for leaping to that conclusion doesn't make much sense.

[-] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Sloppy journalism from The Guardian here.

Aww, bless :)

[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 weeks ago

wearing only his underwear with hammers

.

and also a teacher that came to help.

Was the teacher also part of the underwear that the boy was wearing?

this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2024
290 points (99.7% liked)

World News

39021 readers
1221 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS