Official Match Thread Appeal Judge Vs Ryan Hall

[Richard T]

shocking decision, so much for the legal system, nice to see he accepted a caution for criminal damage back in 2007!! my crystal palace sources indicated as much

still most of you on here are happy, and I though sturrocks comments in the echo this morning shocking. If sturrock junior was the victim of an assault similar to halls victim!! would sturrock still be happy and not want his assailant jailed?? Still I expect in a couple of seasons time, Hall will have moved on to pastures new, and all of this and the expense involved forgotten about. And dont forget "alledged racist attack"

You continue to find a negative out of almost any situation.

So I can only assume you are not a fan of SUFC so it might be best if posted on the board of the team you really support !!

 

[WightShrimper]

You continue to find a negative out of almost any situation.

So I can only assume you are not a fan of SUFC so it might be best if posted on the board of the team you really support !!

And while you're at it, change your name to Poison Ivy

 

[Beefy]

shocking decision, so much for the legal system, nice to see he accepted a caution for criminal damage back in 2007!! my crystal palace sources indicated as much

still most of you on here are happy, and I though sturrocks comments in the echo this morning shocking. If sturrock junior was the victim of an assault similar to halls victim!! would sturrock still be happy and not want his assailant jailed?? Still I expect in a couple of seasons time, Hall will have moved on to pastures new, and all of this and the expense involved forgotten about. And dont forget "alledged racist attack"

I find it odd that you show so much concern for the 'victim' who allegedly spouted racist filth, who certainly left Hall with a broken jaw and who was so squeeky clean that he refused to give his details to the Police.

 

[Beefy]

You continue to find a negative out of almost any situation.

So I can only assume you are not a fan of SUFC so it might be best if posted on the board of the team you really support !!

Of course he's a fan of SUFC, he's just a fan with a very clear agenda.

 

[Firestorm]

I find it odd that you show so much concern for the 'victim' who allegedly spouted racist filth, who certainly left Hall with a broken jaw and who was so squeeky clean that he refused to give his details to the Police.

Perhaps he is the "victim"

 

[chapperzUK]

Perhaps he is the "victim"

... or could be Hall's evil twin seeking revenge for his lost childhood .... we will never know.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I find it odd that you show so much concern for the 'victim' who allegedly spouted racist filth, who certainly left Hall with a broken jaw and who was so squeeky clean that he refused to give his details to the Police.

Absolutely.
The guy wasn't stupid, probably had form and knew the consequences of giving his details. Once the police had reviewed the CCTV, he could have been arrested and charged after the event, especially as he started it and broke a guys jaw.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I for one admire Captain Birdseye's principled stand on the matter.

His stringent views on the matter are clearly based on some very strong principles. I'm not sure where such views come from - they certainly aren't in keeping with Christian values - but they are quite possibly Islamic and Captain Birdseye's Muslim beliefs should not be held against him, just because the rest of us want to adopt Christian values such as forgiveness, tolerance, turning the other cheek, judge not lest ye be judged etc.

I'm sure his strongly held beliefs have caused him difficulties in the past - and I'm not just talking about making it impossible for him to cheer on Lee Sawyer or Ricky Otto - but how his abhorring violence will have meant that he must have disowned friends, acquaintances maybe even family who have been involved in or have glorified in football violence for example. So let us not be overly harsh on our friend and moral guardian.

 

[MK Shrimper]

I for one didn't like shorty dwarf Goalkeeping legend for weeing in public and getting told off for it. Send him back to Oz I said!

 

[Rob1920]

shocking decision, so much for the legal system, nice to see he accepted a caution for criminal damage back in 2007!! my crystal palace sources indicated as much

still most of you on here are happy, and I though sturrocks comments in the echo this morning shocking. If sturrock junior was the victim of an assault similar to halls victim!! would sturrock still be happy and not want his assailant jailed?? Still I expect in a couple of seasons time, Hall will have moved on to pastures new, and all of this and the expense involved forgotten about. And dont forget "alledged racist attack"

Taken from a previous Captain Birdseye post:

no protest marches, no pitch invasions, no threats of violence, just fans rolled over and had their bellies tickled . The council are equally to blame, they should have never allowed this week for the amended plans to be approved, but they were more worried about their 6m in road improvements, than to give a flying f about southend. anna waite who should be sent to an aslyum for how she has ruined southend, was quoted as saying it was great thing for southend and its ppl?? why . fans travelling to the ground are more likely to go straight to the stadium off the 127 and walk from prittlewell than even touch the town centre, and remember any money they spend at fossets wont benefit the club only martin.

So apparently violence (oh sorry, just threats of it..) are justified where RM is concerned, but not when you've been racially abused.

Be consistent at least.

 

[devonexile]

Good news, a suspended sentance seems reasonable given all the circumstances pertaining in the incident. I am though surprised that the judge bothered with 150 hours of unpaid voluntary work, given that much of Hall's time as a footballer at RH is likely to be unpaid.

 

[Bramble'sGoalieGloves]

FULL REPORT OF TODAY'S APPEAL:

http://www.theenquirer.co.uk/Southend+United+star+escapes+jail+after+appeal%20id=4620


:loyalsupporter: Personally it was great to see Ryan Hall back on the pitch scoring on Tuesday night and was very humble at court today - no celebrations or anything stupid he just took his sentence like a man. Incidents like that happen a lot in Southend on a Friday and Saturday night and though no one can defend his actions it seemed clear to me from the CCTV that it was provoked by an ealier attack.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Does playing for Southend count as 'unpaid community work'?

If it does then '150 hours unpaid community service' would equal about 100 appearances, brilliant!

I'm sure I read it about Hall too.

I thought Sawyer got himself in trouble because his relationship broke down, but Hall's started to break down because he got in trobule.

As I said, maybe I am making all of this up!

You are quite right pickledseal, it was in the Echo last Friday. His partner dumped him because of the case, although it did mention she was present at the sentancing last week. Hope he can mend the relationship esp if his daughter is from the same relationship.

As other have said, this is good news - good to see that Hall has now received the same punishment as anybody else would receive for commiting a similar crime (and he did commit a crime) and as YB said, proves the system works.. Whilst this has great benefit to our team and playoff hopes, it is most importantly the right decision for Ryan Hall, let's hope he learns from it, can rebuild his relationships and continues to knuckle down at work.

 

[Cockle43]

Right, little bit more to add to my previous report.

Lot of the appeal against the sentence hinged on whether or not the offence merited being assessed as being in the medium or lower bracket for the sentencing guidelines. Hall's barrister argued that the offence could be seen to to be in the lower end of the medium bracket but could also be seen in the lower bracket, she further argued that if it fell in the higher bracket then with discount for pleading guilty and for no previous convictions then the 20 weeks plus the discount showed that the starting point for sentence must have been above the 26 week higher limit imposed on Magistrates Court and therefore the original sentence started above the sentencing powers of the lower court. She then further argued that if it fell in the lower bracket then due to no previous convictions and presentencing reports which indicated that Hall acted out of character, was of no danger to the general public, in a relationship and family environment and unlikely to reoffend then the option of suspending the sentence would appear to be appropriate and not unusual along with the use of a community service order. Well argued, and the Justices seem to have been persuaded by this argument.

In his verdict the judge did mention that he had taken all of the above into consideration and that is why he felt the new sentence was appropriate. He did also mention that he had also taken into account the fact that Hall, as a professional football player, was regarded as being more able to deliver a more powerful kick, and more accurately, than a normal member of the public so was obviously acknowledging the comments about it being akin to a punch from a boxer made at the original sentencing.

Other thing which probably helped sway it a little with the original assault being on Hall and breaking his jaw was that on arrest and while in custody at Southend Police station he complained of a painful jaw and was seen by the police doctor who prescribed analgesics for the pain, a subsequent X-ray showed the broken jaw and thus tended to verify Hall's version of the initial assault. As to the racist abuse angle that must remain as unanswered because there is no sound on the CCTV and no corroborating evidence was offered.
Something else which was mentioned was that Hall had had one alcoholic drink all evening as he was the designated driver for the night.

 

[Pubey]

Right, little bit more to add to my previous report.

Lot of the appeal against the sentence hinged on whether or not the offence merited being assessed as being in the medium or lower bracket for the sentencing guidelines. Hall's barrister argued that the offence could be seen to to be in the lower end of the medium bracket but could also be seen in the lower bracket, she further argued that if it fell in the higher bracket then with discount for pleading guilty and for no previous convictions then the 20 weeks plus the discount showed that the starting point for sentence must have been above the 26 week higher limit imposed on Magistrates Court and therefore the original sentence started above the sentencing powers of the lower court. She then further argued that if it fell in the lower bracket then due to no previous convictions and presentencing reports which indicated that Hall acted out of character, was of no danger to the general public, in a relationship and family environment and unlikely to reoffend then the option of suspending the sentence would appear to be appropriate and not unusual along with the use of a community service order. Well argued, and the Justices seem to have been persuaded by this argument.

In his verdict the judge did mention that he had taken all of the above into consideration and that is why he felt the new sentence was appropriate. He did also mention that he had also taken into account the fact that Hall, as a professional football player, was regarded as being more able to deliver a more powerful kick, and more accurately, than a normal member of the public so was obviously acknowledging the comments about it being akin to a punch from a boxer made at the original sentencing.

Other thing which probably helped sway it a little with the original assault being on Hall and breaking his jaw was that on arrest and while in custody at Southend Police station he complained of a painful jaw and was seen by the police doctor who prescribed analgesics for the pain, a subsequent X-ray showed the broken jaw and thus tended to verify Hall's version of the initial assault. As to the racist abuse angle that must remain as unanswered because there is no sound on the CCTV and no corroborating evidence was offered.
Something else which was mentioned was that Hall had had one alcoholic drink all evening as he was the designated driver for the night.

really interesting stuff, cheers Cockles

 

[ms brush]

Common sense has prevailed from what i can see. I think that as it is the whole episode has scared him enough for him to not get into trouble again - which is the whole point of the exercise!

Despite Ryan being a footballer, he is employed and as such is a taxpayer (on the assumption we do pay him eventually of course...). Keeping anyone inside costs fortunes and rarely has the desired effect - so there is not a single reason I can think of that makes a prison sentence worthwhile with this sort of offence, when the offender is, in fact, employed and as a tax payer is already making some level of contribution to society. Yes, he rightly deserves to be punished, and a community service sentence is actually far more productive, it will add some value to a community project and he will have to do this in his own time and alongside his job.

Contrast with the "victim", who apparently chose to not press charges or give a name to police... why not? It does make you wonder... if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear!

 

[The General]

Top news ... 3 points on Saturday will top off a topsy turvy week!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Good stuff, as I said earlier I think it would have been wrong to have sent him down, so I'm really pleased to hear common sense has prevailed in this case.

 

[West Stand Benfleet Blue]

Good news now the punishment fits the crime. So time to get his head down and let his football continue to do the talking.

 

[CAPTAIN BIRDSEYE]

Yorkshire blue clearly has a problem wirh
Muslims and christians and their views
Which does suprise me for someone so left leaning
Its just shows how ppl will support anything which
Benefits them.