Peter Lynch, the 61 year-old grandfather who was sentenced to almost three years behind bars for his part in the summer riots despite not being violent himself, has died in prison in a suspected suicide. He was Keir Starmer’s political prisoner, says Isabel Oakeshott in the Telegraph. Here’s an excerpt.
Lynch’s punishment for his role in an angry demonstration outside an asylum seeker hotel was out of all proportion to the treatment of many of those convicted of far graver offences. Doubtless he bitterly regretted his actions on August 4th, when he made the very foolish decision to join an angry mob in Rotherham.
Brandishing a placard bearing strange conspiracy theories, he insulted police officers – calling them “scum” – and labelled the occupants of a migrant hotel “child killers” and “rapists”. None of this was remotely justifiable. It was stupid and nasty, and he should have known better. But did it really merit even a fraction of two years and eight months he was sentenced to serve, at His Majesty’s Pleasure?
For unlike other rioters, Lynch did not physically harm anyone; nor set anything alight; nor cause thousands of pounds worth of criminal damage. His comments were unpleasant and may have contributed to tensions, but they were just words.
While much has been made of his strange placard, there is no crime in accusing politicians of corruption, or having wackadoodle theories about the world. Moreover, unlike many of the hardened criminals currently being released to free up prison places, this man had no track record of causing trouble, still less a string of previous convictions for serious offences.
Why on earth, then, was he given such a draconian sentence? Shocking as it may sound in modern Britain, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that this man was a political prisoner.
Here’s what seems to have happened: confronted with a law and order crisis triggered by widespread public fury over the total loss of control over our borders, a panicking Prime Minister decided to make an example of certain individuals.
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.