imlach

Now, I know the rapist winning £7m is discussed on another thread, but the point on this thread is this :

Convict wins £7m on lottery. Pretty unique event - chances of it happening again within 10 years pretty slim.

Yet, Blunkett all over the press stating a proposed law change to ensure future winners either forfeit the cash, or donate some to compensation funds etc.

The point is, this is a rare event, and yet Blunkett/Labour trying to be all media friendly and jumping on the easy public sympathy they'd get for this law.

There are hundreds of proposed laws still waiting to get through Parliment, most of which would help thousands, if not millions of people get protection from the law. Instead, Labour prioritise on this very very rare incident just to pick up some more public sympathy.

Making laws is a tough job. They should concentrate on the tough laws, and not just take the easy option on ones like this.

MattW

Agreed. TBH I don't see the problem, if he'd bought a bottle of Coke and won a CD no one would be having a problem. Jealousy!.

Goochie

I'm with MattW on this one. If he'd won a tenner on the Lotto people wouldn't have cared.

What did make me smile was that he's been moved to a high security wing so they can keep other prisoners away from him LOL!

imlach

Oh, and assuming said rapist had £100 of Premium Bonds held since before Prison, would he not be allowed to collect the £1m winnings on that either?

If you enter a competition/draw/lottery, and you are within the terms & conditions of the rules, you win the money. Plain & simple.

No-one stopped the victim from entering the lottery and winning £7m. It's pure luck.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

WTF has it got to do with the government? Surely a nod in camelot's direction could change the lotto's rules and T&C's in far less time and money that it would take it pass new legislation

I'm sure the victims have a few lawsuits filed against him for damages now anyway, so it balances it out somewhat.

scoobynutta555

Reading the recent threads about this I recall disgust and outrage that he was allowed to win that amount of money whilst still serving the sentance.

Government policy changes: damned if you do damned if you don't.

chris's scooby

Another sad sad example of the government jumping on the band wagon yet again.

imlach

Not dammed by me. I see no requirement for change. He won the money, his to keep. Buying a lottery ticket had no connection with his crime.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Thing is, if he was banned from winning, what would his victims gets in compensation from him?...nothing.

At least now they have the chance to screw him this time

Freak

ok
so now convicts buy a ticket and give it to their wife/lawyer/brother whatever to claim on their behalf.
Last time i looked the ticket didnt have a name on it
And agree entirely with imlach above

Nice bandwagon hopping blinky

tiggers

Wednesday on SN: Rapist wins lottery - it's disgusting, the government should do something, bunch of to55ers, I hate Blair and Blunkett, blah, blah, blah

Thursday on SN: Government to change law on prisoners whose financial status changes for the better whilst in gaol - it's disgusting, bandwagon jumpers, what does it matter, it's not likely to happen that often, I hate Blair and Blunkett, blah, blah, blah

Got to love Scoobynet!!

By the way did anyone actually bother to notice that the proposal is to change the law for prisoners whose financial status changes for the better whilst in gaol, not just for those who win the lottery.

tiggers

Freak

That even worse then!
Supposing some shares or investments make a packet when inside.. hardly fair losing the lot is it.

imlach

You're missing the point. The same people who shouted on Wednesday, probably aren't shouting on Thu, and vice versa

tiggers

Yes I know that, credit me with some intelligence please. It just makes me laugh.

Having said that there are a hardcore of posters who will just bash Blair and co. no matter what - they're quite amusing too

imlach

The trouble is, ANY goverment of this day is media obsessed - that is the REAL issue.

tiggers

Agree with you on that one.

scoobynutta555

In fact governments have been media obsessed for many years not just recently. Margaret Thatcher? Changed her whole look, and even had a voice coach, and not forgetting her press secretary Bernard Ingham, makes Campbell look like a poodle.

More than likely many governments through time that haven't been media obsessed wouldn't last long.

Least in this country we don't have a media baron running the country, Italy anyone?

Faire D'Income

What about Murdoch then?

Andrew Dixon

Seem to recall that prisoners are not allowed Premium Bond winnings whilst in jail!

scoobynutta555

What about Murdoch? You cannot compare Berlesconi against Murdoch. Murdoch tries to persuade this government as well as every other government, Berlesconi is government.

vindaloo

I hate the way they always spin these things.
Change the law or lottery rules to make criminals (or those with criminal records?) inelligible to ENTER the lottery in the first place.

It seems wrong to allow someone to enter a competition and then whip their winnings away.

J.

unclebuck

Whoever said it was Camelot's responsibility to change the rules is right.

I seem to remember Blair's lot saying only yesterday that such a law would be unenforcable.

Of course not LOL What a way to run a country, eh?

UB

Chris L

Yes it bloody is!! Waste of time. Anyone remember the Dangerous Dogs Act? The most badly prepared and ill thought out piece of legislation probably in the last 30 years. All because of a few sensationalistic stories in the tabloid press. Dunblane anyone? - All the restrictions that were brought it following the shootings mean that the UK has probably the toughest gun laws in the world. The result? Gun crime has increased year-on-year ever since.

The greatest quote I heard on the lottery story was the guy interviewd on TV who said 'I think it is OK for them [prisoners] to buy tickets as long as they don't win'

Chris

paulr

No,if you actually take the time to read yesterdays thread,most scoobynetters dont see anything wrong with him winning it(according to the rules that is).
But its fair to criticise a knee jerk home secretary.

scoobynutta555

If you took the time to read my post you'll see that I said there was disgust and outrage apparent on that thread, and there was. I appreciate most didn't have a problem, but most isn't all is it.

OllyK

in fairness paulr said "most" as well

A lot of the disgust was "at life being unfair" more than anything i.e. "it's not fair that a rapist in prison can win 7 million and I have never won more than tenner" The fact that the person IS a rapist AND is in prison just fuels the jealousy even more so that it boils over in to anger.

hedgehog

Perhaps this is merely an attempt to cover up the fact that in the depths of todays announcments about police getting the power to arrest people for littering was also a demand that motorists can be stopped and asked for fingerprints and DNA samples.

When you add that to the information in the following thread:

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=350579

Things become very frightening indeed. The government don't want you driving around without them knowing where you are going and having control over which roads you can actually go down.

scoobynutta555

Hence : "I appreciate most didn't have a problem"

Bonehead

We should send Blunkett to the Olympics, his perfect ability at bandwagon jumping should come in useful.

Brendan Hughes

Hedgehog, don't forget the proposal to make all offences arrestable as well...