In a case so ridiculous it seems impossible, a British court released a convicted criminal because he claimed he dreamed of being a professional poet.
Drug-addicted Mark Patterson has 31 previous convictions, 11 of them for burglary. When he broke into his hospitalized neighbor’s home with a machete, anyone would agree that Patterson deserved to spend some time in jail.
But under new sentencing guidelines, the judge can release him to find his “path to salvation.” Now Patterson will enjoy an 18-month drug treatment program while he prepares for life as a poet. For good reason, victim’s rights groups are incensed. Police officer and director of Victims of Crime Trust, Norman Brennan proclaims, “We should have a vote of no-confidence in judges who have an inability to give appropriate sentences for these serious crimes.”