A shamed reality TV star has been spared jail after making a public apology for saying children with Down’s Syndrome should be killed at birth.
Ursula Presgrave – who appeared in the BBC show The Call Centre – admitted being “sickened and ashamed” at her own comments about disabled children.
Presgrave, 23, was brought before magistrates after writing on Facebook that children with Down’s should be killed instead of living the “pointless life of a vegetable”.
Her comments were considered a “hate crime” under the Malicious Communications Act – with a maximum sentence of six months in jail or a £5,000 fine.
Tattooed Presgrave went online to say: “Anyone born with down syndrome should be put down, it’s just cruel to let them lead a pointless life of a vegetable.”
The post attracted thousands of comments after being shared by other Facebook users and police received several complaints.
These were really vile comments and I am glad that such action was taken against such a person.
However I wonder why only individuals who usually turn out to be stupid and ignorant ordinary members of the public who are prosecuted for "Hate Crimes".
Recently the Daily Mail published a carton by Mac depicting refugees that has been compared to Nazi Propaganda.
As many pointed out it bears comparison to one , published in a Viennese newspaper by the name of "Das Kleine Blatt" in 1939:
And its not only hate filed newspapers who seem to be immune from prosecution
I don't think you can refer to Ursula Presgrave as a reality "Star" but
Another former reality "Star" , Katie Hopkins is well known and she made a series of tweets suggesting that people with dementia are "bed blockers" who take up scarce hospital beds. Her comments were condemned by leading UK Alzheimer's charities.[
On 17 April 2015, Hopkins wrote a column in The Sun comparing migrants to "cockroaches" and "feral humans" and said they were "spreading like the norovirus".
and yet Hopkins seems unlike Ursula Presgrave to be protected .
Can you really see a difference between the comments made by these two vile people. Or is it that the higher media profile you have the more Hate filled comments you are allowed to make?
Can it be that they like the Newspapers Katie Hopkins work for they are protected by Lawyers who will make such a prosecution more expenses and less likely to get a result.
I'm all in favour of prosecuting such "Hate" crimes but if only obscure members of the public are to face the full weight of the law then it is not completely fair and equal.
1 comment:
I've often wondered why people like Frankie Boyle can get away with saying some things (about the McCanns for example) where as if it were you or me then we might be arrested, have a newspaper campaign to track us down and get us sacked from our jobs or ostracised by our friends and family.
Mind you, his joke about Diana surviving the crash is epic.
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