Bill
12-15-2007, 05:34 AM
Sad story.
I think the legal result would have been different had the roles been reversed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=502173&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow
Justice Michael Adams, sentencing York in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney yesterday, said Mr Boa and girlfriend Gillian Brown, both biomedical scientists, had met up with York at a pub in the town of Tumut, near the caravan park where they were all staying, and a discussion about creationism escalated into a shouting match.
The Scottish couple, who were staying in Tumut in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, picking fruit as part of a year-long round-the-world trip, had been arguing the case of evolution, while York, also fruit picking, had asserted that humans had been created as described in the Bible.
“Although this became perhaps a little sharp-edged, it did not really amount to anything,” said the judge.
“For some reason, however, the offender's mood changed suddenly and he began to abuse Mr Boa and Miss Brown.
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The court heard earlier that she had then slapped York in the face and he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her to the ground. It was then, she told the court at the earlier hearing, that she saw "something" in York's hand and heard him say he had a knife and would stab Boa.
She then saw Boa stumble back a couple of steps before he collapsed in her arms.
The judge said he had handed out a sentence at the lower end of the scale, partly because of the "accidental nature" of the stabbing.
“I do not believe that he took aim, but rather thrust out,” he said. “I think he knew that the knife was in his hand ... but he did not actually turn his mind to the potentially serious consequences of doing this.”
With time already served, York will be eligible for release in January 2009.
I think the legal result would have been different had the roles been reversed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=502173&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow
Justice Michael Adams, sentencing York in the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney yesterday, said Mr Boa and girlfriend Gillian Brown, both biomedical scientists, had met up with York at a pub in the town of Tumut, near the caravan park where they were all staying, and a discussion about creationism escalated into a shouting match.
The Scottish couple, who were staying in Tumut in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, picking fruit as part of a year-long round-the-world trip, had been arguing the case of evolution, while York, also fruit picking, had asserted that humans had been created as described in the Bible.
“Although this became perhaps a little sharp-edged, it did not really amount to anything,” said the judge.
“For some reason, however, the offender's mood changed suddenly and he began to abuse Mr Boa and Miss Brown.
---
The court heard earlier that she had then slapped York in the face and he grabbed her by the throat and pushed her to the ground. It was then, she told the court at the earlier hearing, that she saw "something" in York's hand and heard him say he had a knife and would stab Boa.
She then saw Boa stumble back a couple of steps before he collapsed in her arms.
The judge said he had handed out a sentence at the lower end of the scale, partly because of the "accidental nature" of the stabbing.
“I do not believe that he took aim, but rather thrust out,” he said. “I think he knew that the knife was in his hand ... but he did not actually turn his mind to the potentially serious consequences of doing this.”
With time already served, York will be eligible for release in January 2009.