Month: September 2022

Edward Reeve: Two teens jailed for stabbing vulnerable man to death

BBC News | 28th September 2022

Two teenagers who befriended a vulnerable man before stabbing him to death in his own home have been jailed.

Jack Hindley and Samuel Jones, both 17, killed 35-year-old Edward Reeve in Christchurch, Dorset, on 31 December.

Winchester Crown Court heard the pair “berated” Mr Reeve in front of their friends before stabbing him eight times and fist-bumping in celebration.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-63047354

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Bournemouth Echo

“Whilst there the two defendants were smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol. The group moved up to the music. 

“[O]ne girl described how the defendants came into the music room and moved a chest of drawers in front of the door, preventing him from coming back in.

“They began to punch the walls, causing damage to the plaster. The girls began screaming at them to stop which they did, Mr Reeve came back asking why are they trashing the house.”

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/20253684.edward-reeve-murder-trial-live-updates-case-opening/

World Anti-Doping Agency decides cannabis to remain banned substance in sport

BBC Sport | 23rd September

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/63006026

This story is interesting for the news itself, but also for this line midway through: ‘In the UK cannabis is a class B drug and possession carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and an unlimited fine.’

I think that every time this fact is noted, it should be followed by something along the lines of ‘but in the last fifty years nobody has ever gone to prison solely for cannabis possession, and the fines issued, far from being “unlimited”, are usually around one hundred pounds, and quite often less. Moreover, while there are several million cannabis smokers in the country, the number of people who receive even these lax punishments in any given year is in the low tens of thousands.’