Jailed for using a dropped number...

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Surrey Phil Jun 2018 1:28pm, 22 Jun 2018 2,455 posts	0 Surrey Phil Sentence may be harsh but thief, cheat and lier he certainly is.
premierfella Jun 2018 1:36pm, 22 Jun 2018 44 posts	0 premierfella Re: sentencing. I was thinking only about prior convictions and actions after those being considered when determining sentencing in this kind of case. It strikes me (IANAL!) that this sort of fraud offence might normally be treated with some form of community sentence and nominal fine. The most obvious reason I can think of for a custodial would be if it was considered that community sentences in the past hadn't been complied with and/or hadn't achieved the intended results (and thus were unlikely to work if applied this time). Usual disclaimer that this is of course completely speculative conjecture on my part. The judge has the full facts and I'm sure will have given due consideration to all options.
Nelly Jun 2018 2:04pm, 22 Jun 2018 3,859 posts	0 Nelly I read this really interesting thread on Twitter yesterday about the sentencing guidelines for fraud by false representation (n.b. I have no idea whether it is factually correct or not), so thought I'd share it twitter.com It appears as though the prescribed sentence comes down to the extent to which the magistrate believed London Marathon (as the "victim") suffered harm... Personally, I think the quote from the London Marathon CEO that "It is good to see that justice has been done", when other high profile cheats have not been pursued, does a lot more harm to the London Marathon than a homeless man picking up a number and crossing the finish line!!!
jdarun Jun 2018 2:26pm, 22 Jun 2018 2,921 posts	0 jdarun There was some recent discussion about a runner who ran with another's number and iirc won the race. Even the angriest hang-em-and-flog-em types only suggested a DQ and ban, not a prison sentence!
Raemond Jun 2018 2:38pm, 22 Jun 2018 229 posts	0 Raemond Was that maybe with the other runner's consent?
Son of a Pronator Man Jun 2018 2:42pm, 22 Jun 2018 8,477 posts	0 Son of a Pronator Man criminals should be sent to jail when: other punishments are not appropriate or have failed in the past The public needs to be protected from the criminal To deter others from committing the same ( or similar) offences It's difficult to see how the last two criteria are met. The first I don't know about. It does seem harsh and an expensive way of dealing with the matter.
jdarun Jun 2018 2:51pm, 22 Jun 2018 2,922 posts	0 jdarun Yes Raemond with the runner's consent but not the organisers (who had explicitly prohibited such behaviour) or other competitors.
Raemond Jun 2018 3:05pm, 22 Jun 2018 230 posts	0 Raemond I was just conjecturing that might one of the reasons people feel so differently - if they can frame it more as a technical infraction that didn't really hurt anyone, compared to taking a number (and t-shirt and medal) that someone else has (presumably) trained hard and raised a lot of money to wear and then unknowingly dropped or lost (or been unable to claim). On the other hand, the chappy you mention who ran under a false identity was presumably not homeless or foreign, which often makes hang-em-and-flog-em types feel differently.
larkim Jun 2018 3:19pm, 22 Jun 2018 5,103 posts	0 larkim I wonder if the more vocal race organisers who are rigorous about number swapping will start including in the race notes "Race number swapping is not permitted and is a criminal offence. If we identify race numbers being swapped we will report all offenders to the police". There really is no difference btween the consensual swapping and non-consensual as the medals, t-shirts, right to run, prize money etc are all the property of the race organiser until they hand them over.
Llamadance Jun 2018 7:18pm, 22 Jun 2018 10,074 posts	0 Llamadance The Secret Barrister is on the case and tends to agree that the sentence was harsh thesecretbarrister.com