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| Trenton Oldfield's crime and punishment put into perspective | Trenton Oldfield's crime and punishment put into perspective |
| (3 months later) | |
| What is it with the British obsession with imprisoning people? Why was the Boat Race protester Trenton Oldfield given a six-month jail term (Man jailed for Boat Race protest ordered to leave UK, 24 June), of which he served two months in Wormwood Scrubs? | What is it with the British obsession with imprisoning people? Why was the Boat Race protester Trenton Oldfield given a six-month jail term (Man jailed for Boat Race protest ordered to leave UK, 24 June), of which he served two months in Wormwood Scrubs? |
| In addition, the calls to imprison miscreant bankers (Report, 19 June) seem disproportionate. They should definitely suffer punishment under the law, but our prisons are grossly overcrowded. I am sure that a convicted banker could work free for any number of charities, applying their financial skills for the good of society instead of personal monetary gain. Andrew Thacker Edgbaston, Birmingham | In addition, the calls to imprison miscreant bankers (Report, 19 June) seem disproportionate. They should definitely suffer punishment under the law, but our prisons are grossly overcrowded. I am sure that a convicted banker could work free for any number of charities, applying their financial skills for the good of society instead of personal monetary gain. Andrew Thacker Edgbaston, Birmingham |
| • You don't need statistics to explode the "done nothing wrong, nothing to fear" lie (Owen Wells, Letters, 24 June); and surveillance systems are indeed already in the wrong hands (Peter Healey, Letters, 24 June), when Trenton Oldfield's act of conscience (it caused trifling inconvenience to a quite wonderfully insignificant sporting event), having drawn down a grossly disproportionate jail sentence, is now to be used – vindictively, it seems, but also threateningly to us all – as grounds for deportation. People in general live with the experience of feeling not only frustration but also guilt at our inability to act or to shout loud enough to prevent the great wrongs and injustices that confront us day by day. Yes, the complexities go deep, and life must go on; but it is still to our collective shame that so many and such avoidable wrongs go on happening, in our name, and as it were on our generational watch. Phillip Goodall Norwich | • You don't need statistics to explode the "done nothing wrong, nothing to fear" lie (Owen Wells, Letters, 24 June); and surveillance systems are indeed already in the wrong hands (Peter Healey, Letters, 24 June), when Trenton Oldfield's act of conscience (it caused trifling inconvenience to a quite wonderfully insignificant sporting event), having drawn down a grossly disproportionate jail sentence, is now to be used – vindictively, it seems, but also threateningly to us all – as grounds for deportation. People in general live with the experience of feeling not only frustration but also guilt at our inability to act or to shout loud enough to prevent the great wrongs and injustices that confront us day by day. Yes, the complexities go deep, and life must go on; but it is still to our collective shame that so many and such avoidable wrongs go on happening, in our name, and as it were on our generational watch. Phillip Goodall Norwich |
| • Trenton Oldfield told the court that his protest was designed to highlight elitism in British society, but he argues that he should not be asked to leave the UK because he has a tier one visa and is a highly skilled migrant. Why does he believe that such elitist considerations should govern immigration decisions? Do lower-skilled or unskilled migrants have less right to be here than him? Simon Jarrett London | • Trenton Oldfield told the court that his protest was designed to highlight elitism in British society, but he argues that he should not be asked to leave the UK because he has a tier one visa and is a highly skilled migrant. Why does he believe that such elitist considerations should govern immigration decisions? Do lower-skilled or unskilled migrants have less right to be here than him? Simon Jarrett London |
| • The influence of the shadowy elite around the universities of Oxford and Cambridge on our political life is brought into strong relief by the deportation of Trenton Oldfield. Without making it look like a Philip Pullman novel, perhaps we are due some investigative reporting as to how deep this influence is? Dr Alan Lafferty London | • The influence of the shadowy elite around the universities of Oxford and Cambridge on our political life is brought into strong relief by the deportation of Trenton Oldfield. Without making it look like a Philip Pullman novel, perhaps we are due some investigative reporting as to how deep this influence is? Dr Alan Lafferty London |
| • Reading Monday's Guardian this week, one might identify the real state of British justice today. One man who disrupted an elite sporting event for 25 minutes was jailed for two months and is now to be deported. Yet hundreds of women and children have reported being the victims of the appalling inhuman sexual and physical abuse of female genital mutilation (70 a month seek help after genital mutilation, 24 June), without a single person being taken to court for committing such an offence. It is difficult to know whether the police, social services or the medical profession should be more ashamed of continuing to allow this to happen. Stephen Kay Abergavenny, Monmouthshire | • Reading Monday's Guardian this week, one might identify the real state of British justice today. One man who disrupted an elite sporting event for 25 minutes was jailed for two months and is now to be deported. Yet hundreds of women and children have reported being the victims of the appalling inhuman sexual and physical abuse of female genital mutilation (70 a month seek help after genital mutilation, 24 June), without a single person being taken to court for committing such an offence. It is difficult to know whether the police, social services or the medical profession should be more ashamed of continuing to allow this to happen. Stephen Kay Abergavenny, Monmouthshire |
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