Ringleader, Wayne Rogers ’Gets Off’ With Just 2 Years In Prison

As recently as 7 August 2012 prosecutors were calling for "severe sentences" in the Winterborne View abuse case after the last of the 11 ’care workers’ finally agreed to plead guilty at Bristol Crown Court.

But today, Judge Neil Ford QC handed down a range of sentences actually sending just 5 of the guilty to jail and suspending the sentences of the other 6 criminals.

The so-called ringleader, Wayne Rogers, was sentenced to just 2 years in prison and will be out in less than a year if he can stay alive and out of trouble while in custody. The Great Train Robbers got 30 years for stealing a little bit of the Queen’s cash and for tapping the train driver a tad too hard on the side of his head.

Prosecutors had urged the Court to treat these crimes perpetrated against some of the weakest and most vulnerable in our society as "hate crimes" and still Judge Ford allowed most of the guilty to skate out of court with hardly scratch. Sentences of all those found guilty are detailed as follows:

Wayne Rogers, 32, of Kingswood, jailed for two years after admitting nine charges of ill-treatment.
Alison Dove, 25, of Kingswood, was jailed for 20 months for seven counts of abuse;
Graham Doyle, 26, of Patchway, was jailed for 20 months for seven counts of abuse;
Sookalingum Appoo (Nurse), 59, of Downend jailed for six months for wilfully neglecting patients;
Kelvin Fore (Nurse) 33, from Middlesbrough, also jailed for six months for wilfully neglecting patients;
Holly Laura Draper, 24, of Mangotsfield, pleaded guilty to two charges of abuse and was jailed for 12 months;
Daniel Brake, 27, of Downend, pleaded guilty to two charges of abuse and was given a six month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work;
Charlotte Justine Cotterell, 22, from Yate, pleaded guilty to one charge of abuse and was given a four-month jail term suspended for two years. Cotterell was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work and complete 12 months supervision;
Michael Ezenagu, 29, from Shepherds Bush, west London, admitted two counts of abuse and was given a six month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work;
Neil Ferguson, 28, of Emerson Green, admitted one count of abuse and was given a six month jail term was suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work;
Jason Gardiner, 43, of Hartcliffe, who admitted two charges of abuse, was given a four month jail term was suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
In fact, most of those who were jailed today got less time inside than you’d get if you mistreated a cat or dog and that can’t be right. And while the families of the victims publically proclaimed their support for the sentences, I suspect most if not all of the close relatives will be as shocked as I am to realise that our justice system thinks so little of the infirm and vulnerable in our society.

I continue to support capital punishment for Wayne Rogers and believe the other 10 should get life in prison without the possibility of release, but that’s just me.

http://www.wirenews.co/op-ed/uk/1765/ringleader-wayne-rogers-gets-off-with-just-2-years-in-prison