8 ms·
The case of t-shirt guy (Barry Thew) is much worse than "4 months for wearing an offensive t-shirt". Turns out he has a history. a) He's a psychiatric patient
by cstross 14y ago
The case of t-shirt guy (Barry Thew) is much worse than "4 months for wearing an offensive t-shirt".
Turns out he has a history.
a) He's a psychiatric patient, on anti-psychotic meds with a history of compulsory in-patient detention,
b) His son died in police custody 3 years ago.
He also has a series of criminal convictions, most recently for cultivating cannabis, but I'd like to note that there's a really strong association between schizophrenia and self-medication with cannabis. (I'm told -- this is purely anecdotal, but comes first hand from a dignosed schizophrenic -- that it makes the voices shut up for a while.)
The judge tossed out the mental health argument advanced by the defense. Moreover this case was a public order case, a minor one, but came up before a judge in a crown court (usually the province of serious offenses such as robbery and murder), who imposed a much heavier sentence than would normally be the case for a public order conviction. (Public order offenses are frequently dealt with by a spot fine or, at worst, brought up before a magistrate who has much more limited sentencing powers. It may be that Threw's status -- he was also found to be in breach of a probation order because he was found to be in possession of cannabis -- accounts for that, but: WTF? Four months for possession of cannabis, and another four months for wearing a loud t-shirt in a built-up area? What are we coming to?)
Thew is pretty obviously a petty criminal and what, on the internet, we'd term a troll. But his treatment by the state in this case is odious and heavy-handed, and raises disturbing implications.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/11/manchester-man-jailed-tshirt-police http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/11/manchester-man-jail...
- illuminate 14y ago"I'd like to note that there's a really strong association between schizophrenia and self-medication with cannabis. (I'm told -- this is purely anecdotal, but comes first hand from a dignosed schizophrenic -- that it makes the voices shut up for a while.)" There's a strong correlation between self medication of ~all~ variety and schizophrenia. The reason being (or so I hear) is that the most effective psychiatric drugs to treat schizophrenia tend to have very unpleasant side effects. Cannabis is an interesting case because it's been observed in some cases to exacerbate schizophrenic conditions. http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-woman-in-606/Content?oid=14524160 http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-woman-in-606/Content?...
- Joeboy 14y ago> His son died in police custody 3 years ago I keep reading this, but I haven't yet seen a better citation than "my mates in Manchester say it's true".
- illuminate 14y agohttp://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/11/manchester-man-jailed-tshirt-police http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/11/manchester-man-jail... "Stuart Duke, defending, said Thew had been an inpatient at a mental health unit and was still on anti-psychotic medicine, but the judge replied mental health was "not a factor". He said Thew had a longstanding dispute with Greater Manchester police over the death of his son three years ago"
- Joeboy 14y agoI've seen that, and other similar vague wordings, but I haven't seen anything trustworthy that said why.
- illuminate 14y agoIt's not necessarily suspicious that his local media does not care enough to investigate claims of police misconduct and interview the man's family. http://nothingiseverlost.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/one-less-pig-perfect-justice-grieving-father-jailed-for-t-shirt/ http://nothingiseverlost.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/one-less-p...