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yeah it's a shit article and I couldn't care less about guys like Weepu, Nonu etc who just breached alcohol ban areas or made a little bit of noise.
From what I read this guy punched a girl and kicked a guy multiple times in the head when he was on the ground.
Regardless of the circumstances, or whether he was provoked, it's a serious crime and I think the outcome is wrong.
Fair enough that he has career prospects that may be affected, but make an example of him so the next guy doesn't act like such a dick when he's out on the piss.
As others have mentioned.....That's what the judge should've done, not his employer
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@SammyC said in Appalling double-standard:
yeah it's a shit article and I couldn't care less about guys like Weepu, Nonu etc who just breached alcohol ban areas or made a little bit of noise.
From what I read this guy punched a girl and kicked a guy multiple times in the head when he was on the ground.
Regardless of the circumstances, or whether he was provoked, it's a serious crime and I think the outcome is wrong.
Fair enough that he has career prospects that may be affected, but make an example of him so the next guy doesn't act like such a dick when he's out on the piss.
As others have mentioned.....That's what the judge should've done, not his employer
Heaping Nonu and Weepu in with the rest of those jokers is ridiculous.
As you say Sammy perhaps he was provoked but as I'm sure we've all experienced sometimes "provocation" to some people involves simply making eye contact for a fraction of a second. No excuse whatsoever for what he did.
I'm pretty disgusted that one of the more recent ABs I admire in George Moala essentially got away with what he did too, as for Savea I was working with police at the time of his 'issues" and the consensus was the assault was about as minor as it could possibly be.
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@mariner4life how pissed off would you be if you took your mrs out for dinner and Piri Weepu was tapping on the window saying " bro , Ard you going to finish that"?
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Personally, I think for charges of a serious violent nature, discharge without conviction should not apply. It's disgusting that this fuckwit's potential future is given precedence over the significant trauma to his victims. I mean FFS, this wasn't a little push n shove.
Also, I also HATE the fact that 'willingness' to participate in restorative justice is seen as a mitigating factor. Who wouldn't offer, if they knew it would be favorable to their case? It's a fucking insult to victims of violence. Anyone can show remorse for a bit too, if that reduces their sentence.
The judge makes some very weird comments in his summary too. That whole convictions seen as a rite of passage thing, and it is only now in 2016 that people in NZ are truly beginning to understand the impact of convictions. Fuck off you patronising twat.
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Surprisingly the stuff article reporting on the judges reasoning for the "no conviction" is actually pretty good.
When you read the article, there were quite a number of mitigating circumstances in Filipo's favour.- He was 17 at the time of the offence
- It was his first offence having a clean record prior (unlike his brother who was also involved in the incident and received a harsher punishment but not jail time)
- From the article, he did not punch either of the females but "more in the nature of pushing and shoving of each of them".
- Since the incident, he has made some reparations (and will likely have to continue to do so as I would imagine he would be liable for the loss of work and medical costs of his victims)
- Has undertaken "voluntary community work with a youth development group, which promoted sport as a way of helping youth with personal development"
- And finallly the potential impacts to a promising career.
Of those reasons, number 6 is potentially the least important.
Having the great displeasure of being involved in an ongoing court case (not criminal fortunately) over the past 5 years and going through all levels of the courts here in NSW, just about to go to the NSW Court of Appeal, I can certainly vouch for the fact that presiding Judges can often make mistakes and errors of judgement.
However, looking at the reasoning as presented, I would like to think that there was sufficient mitigation to warrant a "non-conviction". My only hope is that this type of thinking and line of reasoning would be applied across the board and not just to "rugby players".
I don't think that NZ or Australia benefits from any young person going to jail unless the offence is of sufficient standard becuase if they do there is only one guaranteed outcome... that person who goes to jail will be a much worse person at the end of it and this will likely have even longer term negative impacts on society.
My $0.02 worth.
p.s. If anyone is interested, I'm writing a rather long diary about the 5+ years of a court case which my wife and I are going through with regards to our home and the owner/builder we purchased from and local council. It is my intention in the very near future to start a new thread in the "Off Topic" section to detail this horrendous experiance. As they say... "Stay tuned for more information"
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@Mokey said in Appalling double-standard:
Personally, I think for charges of a serious violent nature, discharge without conviction should not apply. It's disgusting that this fuckwit's potential future is given precedence over the significant trauma to his victims. I mean FFS, this wasn't a little push n shove.
Also, I also HATE the fact that 'willingness' to participate in restorative justice is seen as a mitigating factor. Who wouldn't offer, if they knew it would be favorable to their case? It's a fucking insult to victims of violence. Anyone can show remorse for a bit too, if that reduces their sentence.
The judge makes some very weird comments in his summary too. That whole convictions seen as a rite of passage thing, and it is only now in 2016 that people in NZ are truly beginning to understand the impact of convictions. Fuck off you patronising twat.
The gist I got was convictions could affect potential careers......riiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhhttttttt.
"I kicked someone half to death but I really feel it's going to be tough to fulfil my childhood dream of stacking shelves at Pak'n'Save if I have a criminal record....."
"Fair call, discharged without conviction...."
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WRFU and Losi Filipo agree to terminate contract
TUESDAY 27 September 2016
Latest news
Wellington Rugby and Losi Filipo have mutually agreed to the termination of his contract.Filipo today withdrew himself from the Wellington Lions 2016 Mitre 10 Cup squad in a move he hopes will go some way toward helping the victims of his assault move on with their lives.
The 18-year-old has always recognised that his actions caused hurt and complications for the victims of the assault, and hopes that the termination of his playing contract will go some way towards demonstrating his remorse and personal accountability for the situation.
With support from his representative and the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association Filipo approached Wellington Rugby this afternoon seeking a release from his playing contract and, after discussions the parties agreed that the termination of his contract was the best outcome for all parties.
Wellington Rugby chief executive Steve Rogers said the situation was an unfortunate one for everybody involved.
“Our first thoughts are with the victims of this assault. Wellington Rugby would like to extend our sympathies to the two men and women involved in the incident and reiterate the fact that we do not condone violence in any form.
“We would like to extend an offer of assistance and support to Greg Morgan, a member of our rugby community who we have learned will not be able to play the game due to his injuries.”
Filipo said in a statement that he is remorseful of is actions and the effects they have had on the people involved.
“I understand why the victims of the assault do not want to talk to me and have not taken up an offer of restorative justice, but I would like to publicly apologies for my actions and the damage they caused. I made a huge mistake that my victims and myself will have to live with for the rest of our lives.
“I will continue to access the personal development and support structures I have engaged with over the past year. Though I cannot change what happened I recognise that I have been provided with a second chance and I want to continue use this opportunity to work hard.
Rogers reiterated that Wellington Rugby was not simply washing its hands of Filipo due to public pressure and would continue to offer support.
“Wellington Rugby believes the best outcome for society would be for Losi to remain involved in the game of rugby. To that end we put support structures in place which we believe have already helped him make big advancements.”
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only possible outcome. good news.
so he'll be playing in Japan shortly then?
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Given the article said he preferred league, I guess a quick trip across the Ta$man for a spell of anonyminity into the NRL?
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@Stockcar86 I was surprised to hear Rogers say that he and the WRU were not aware of all of the facts or the seriousness of the assaults. Credit to the WRU for making this decision but they had little choice after the backlash today.
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@antipodean said in Appalling double-standard:
15 out of 25-30,000? That's basically statistically insignificant.
I agree with Willie, why is the NZRU coping heat about it?
That was only the first XV wasn't it? yeah, nitpicking, i know.
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Meanwhile, over here in the UK Fautua Otto has been jailed and sacked by his club Jersey for driving while disqualified. Unless there is more to it than simply driving without a licence then jail seems harsh.
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@MN5 said in Appalling double-standard:
Well you can be assured social media will go fucken ape shit over this one.
How long until a young rugby player kills someone but gets a slap on the wrist because, say, he's an extremely promising lock forward and Whitelock and Retallick are close to retirement ?
That's absolute bullshit.
Missed this, its already happened . In fact there were two let off for an assault that resulted in a death.
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Here are a couple of manslaughter cases where the defendants were discharged without conviction:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/69124061/no-conviction-for-woman-in-manslaughter-of-her-son
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5981533/Mum-walks-free-after-daughters-drowning
Negligent rather than deliberate, but on the other hand, someone died.
It's not just rugby players by any stretch.
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@Godder said in Appalling double-standard:
Here are a couple of manslaughter cases where the defendants were discharged without conviction:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/69124061/no-conviction-for-woman-in-manslaughter-of-her-son
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/5981533/Mum-walks-free-after-daughters-drowning
Negligent rather than deliberate, but on the other hand, someone died.
It's not just rugby players by any stretch.
Definitely not a "rugby" thing as people like to claim. If an offender has bright future prospects then, rightly or wrongly, they are looked at far more favourably then someone that does not. This really has nothing to do with the NZRU or rugby.
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@RoninWC said in Appalling double-standard:
Surprisingly the stuff article reporting on the judges reasoning for the "no conviction" is actually pretty good.
When you read the article, there were quite a number of mitigating circumstances in Filipo's favour.- He was 17 at the time of the offence
- It was his first offence having a clean record prior (unlike his brother who was also involved in the incident and received a harsher punishment but not jail time)
- From the article, he did not punch either of the females but "more in the nature of pushing and shoving of each of them".
- Since the incident, he has made some reparations (and will likely have to continue to do so as I would imagine he would be liable for the loss of work and medical costs of his victims)
- Has undertaken "voluntary community work with a youth development group, which promoted sport as a way of helping youth with personal development"
- And finallly the potential impacts to a promising career.
From my reading of the article, referring to the assault on the girls as pushing and shoving. That was the journalists words, not the words / quote from the judges summation.
The victims described it as a punch to the throat of one girl, while the other needed some plastic surgery (didn't describe whether pushed or punched) I guess if you are shoved face first into asphalt etc requiring surgery - then it's technically of a 'pushing and shoving nature'.
Appalling double-standard