IAN HART: '˜One rule for one, another for another'

Adam Johnson is guilty and should be punished, but where's the consistency?
By The Newsroom
Published 13th Mar 2016, 12:00 BST

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Ian HartIan Hart
Ian Hart

So the ‘show trial’ of the year has reached its conclusion, with Adam Johnson being found guilty of one count of sexual activity with a girl aged 15.

The former Premier League footballer was found not guilty on a charge relating to another sexual act, and had previously admitted grooming the girl and one charge of sexual activity.

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I wonder if part of his downfall was due to the rewards enjoyed by top-flight footballers.

Wages and the reported lifestyles of our top footballers have almost spiralled out of control, and today they are not the role models we had in days gone by.

But perhaps far worse than that is almost the case of ‘one rule for one, another for another’.

Former Eton College student Andrew Picard, 18, has been found guilty of possessing in excess of 1,000 indecent images of children on his computer – he was sentenced to a ten-month prison term, suspended for 18 months.

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Some might argue that Picard’s offences were committed at 17, so he was technically a juvenile, but could it be countered that at that age you clearly know what is right from wrong?

Personally, while both are guilty, I know which of the two deserves the longer sentence in my opinion.

And having read the countless column yards, I now firmly believe that the establishment couldn’t risk bringing Jimmy Savile to justice during his lifetime because he basically knew too much.

Could the same also be said for others?

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