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Alton Towers Hotel Manager Stabbed

Can we refrain from bringing 'politics' and your opinions about immigration into this topic please as it could be deemed offensive by some members of the forum. Posts have been edited and deleted.

Thank you :)

Glad to see that the man has been caught though. Credit to the police for finding him quickly so justice can be brought
 
nice to see a person has been been arrested. hopefully justice can be done. I wont say any more as it is a live case.
 
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Sam said:
As the man arrested has not been found guilty or innocent, this post is possibly (mildly) in contempt of court.
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You can't be in contempt of court if you are providing an objective opinion of a case that you have nothing to do with. Surely?
 
Alastair said:
You can't be in contempt of court if you are providing an objective opinion of a case that you have nothing to do with. Surely?
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The phrase "got their man" implies that the man arrested is the man who committed the crime. As he has not been found guilty or innocent, this could prejudice a fair trial and is therefore potentially in Contempt of Court (though it'd be highly unlikely for such a mild breach on a forum like this to be pursued). Also, could potentially be libel (man who is innocent at the moment is inferred as being the perpetrator of a serious crime).

Probably best to remove it and lock the topic until the trial is over, just to be on the safe side.
 
Sam said:
The phrase "got their man" implies that the man arrested is the man who committed the crime. As he has not been found guilty or innocent, this could prejudice a fair trial and is therefore potentially in Contempt of Court (though it'd be highly unlikely for such a mild breach on a forum like this to be pursued). Also, could potentially be libel (man who is innocent at the moment is inferred as being the perpetrator of a serious crime).

Probably best to remove it and lock the topic until the trial is over, just to be on the safe side.
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How it's changing: Under the Defamation Bill, due to become law later this year, litigants in England and Wales will have to show that the words they are complaining about caused "substantial harm" rather than simply "harm" to their reputations.
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Does harmless presumption on a forum substantially harm this guy's reputation? I think not.
 
That's about libel, not Contempt of Court. Saying that someone has stabbed someone else without them having been found guilty in any court of law does substantially damage his reputation - it doesn't matter how widely it is seen.

This is a case where a paper was done because they printed negative things about a defendant's history - they didn't even explicitly presume his guilt as BigT has done above. That would be a much more serious offence. I'm not saying that a police officer is going to contact the admins (it's a pretty trivial breach) but the post is in contempt of court. I guess it's up to you as mods if you want that on the forum - I wouldn't mess around with it. Your call.
 
Surely saying they got their man is only confirming that they caught the man they suspected after their investigation? He didn't say they got the man that did it?
 
Dar said:
Surely saying they got their man is only confirming that they caught the man they suspected after their investigation? He didn't say they got the man that did it?
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No, he said that [the police] "got their man", with 'their man' meaning the man that committed the crime. Which he isn't as he hasn't been found guilty.

That's all I'm saying on this, I wouldn't want legally dubious posts on the forum if I was a mod, but I'm not. :)
 
Looks like the mods need to get their vacuum cleaner out again and clean up this thread.

At what point does saying the cops got the guy they were after prejudice a trial.
Have I said he was guilty? No.
I think I'll take my chances with that one in a court of lawo_O.

And the mods say the bit that got edited was offensive. :cool:
 
The term "the cops got their man" simply means they got the suspect they where after. Doesn't really imply any outcome in a trial.

And Internet forums come under the pervue of slander laws not liable, despite been a written form.
 
I see they couldn't resist getting some Smiler publicity in there. But why use pictures of it testing with dummies?

Either way, glad they caught him. But saying it was "revenge for the way he treated his staff" doesn't sound good. Was this guy ex staff, or a friend of someone who worked there? It doesn't seem to say.

Edit to add:

Looks like they did "get their man" after all. ;)
 
Hang on a second...?

This man nearly killed someone, and did actually stab them yet he's only been jailed for four years?
Should be for life.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
I see they couldn't resist getting some Smiler publicity in there. But why use pictures of it testing with dummies?
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They'll be stock photos that the editor would have grabbed to show the theme park.

Rest assured, that won't be Towers trying to get added publicity.
 
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