Allow sex at 13, says lawyer, and end 'witch-hunt’ of old men
Barbara Hewson says Savile scandal has resulted in the unjust 'persecution of old men’
LAST UPDATED AT 14:53 ON Thu 9 May 2013
A PROMINENT lawyer has called for the age of consent in the UK to be lowered to 13, claiming the move would end "the persecution of old men" that has emerged in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.
Barbara Hewson, a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London, also argues that complainants should no longer receive anonymity and says that Britain has started "a witch-hunt of ageing celebs" echoing trials held in the Soviet Union.
In an article for the online magazine Spiked, Hewson argues that Operation Yewtree - the investigation created to deal with the Savile abuse scandal - is the work of moral crusaders intent on "policing all aspects of personal life".
Hewson, who specialises in reproductive rights, says the crimes committed by broadcaster Stuart Hall, who last week pleaded guilty to a number of indecent assaults, were not serious crimes but merely "low-level" misdemeanours.
"What we have here is the manipulation of the British criminal justice system to produce scapegoats on demand."
Hewson writes that "touching a 17-year-old’s breast, kissing a 13-year-old, or putting one’s hand up a 16-year-old’s skirt" are not comparable to cases such as the Ealing vicarage rape or the Fordingbridge gang rape and murders from 1986.
As well as reducing the age of consent and removing complainant anonymity, Hewson calls for a strict statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions and civil actions.
Reacting to Hewson’s comments, Peter Watt, director of the NSPCC helpline, said such "outdated and simply ill-informed views" from a highly experience barrister were appalling: "Stuart Hall has pleaded guilty to abusing children as young as nine years old, we think most people would agree that crimes of this nature are incredibly serious".
Watt adds that lowering the age of consent would increase the risk from those who prey on vulnerable young people.
Hewson’s employers at Hardwicke sought to distance themselves from her comments: a spokesperson for the legal chambers said they had not seen or approved the article and were "shocked" by Hewson’s views. ·
Read more: Barbara Hewson: allow sex at 13 to stop 'witch-hunt' of old men | News | The Week UK < click
told ya!
this is their plan. they said so. bestiality is next and is mainsteaming now (trial runs/beta-testing - t.v.; movies; billboards and ads)
the F.S. said they will not stop until we reach necrophilia and cannibalism.
look it up.
on record.
total destruction of "the West" (they meant and said Christianity)
start with usury and sodomy...inch forward.
now look.
hold fast people.
Barbara Hewson says Savile scandal has resulted in the unjust 'persecution of old men’
LAST UPDATED AT 14:53 ON Thu 9 May 2013
A PROMINENT lawyer has called for the age of consent in the UK to be lowered to 13, claiming the move would end "the persecution of old men" that has emerged in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal.
Barbara Hewson, a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London, also argues that complainants should no longer receive anonymity and says that Britain has started "a witch-hunt of ageing celebs" echoing trials held in the Soviet Union.
In an article for the online magazine Spiked, Hewson argues that Operation Yewtree - the investigation created to deal with the Savile abuse scandal - is the work of moral crusaders intent on "policing all aspects of personal life".
Hewson, who specialises in reproductive rights, says the crimes committed by broadcaster Stuart Hall, who last week pleaded guilty to a number of indecent assaults, were not serious crimes but merely "low-level" misdemeanours.
"What we have here is the manipulation of the British criminal justice system to produce scapegoats on demand."
Hewson writes that "touching a 17-year-old’s breast, kissing a 13-year-old, or putting one’s hand up a 16-year-old’s skirt" are not comparable to cases such as the Ealing vicarage rape or the Fordingbridge gang rape and murders from 1986.
As well as reducing the age of consent and removing complainant anonymity, Hewson calls for a strict statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions and civil actions.
Reacting to Hewson’s comments, Peter Watt, director of the NSPCC helpline, said such "outdated and simply ill-informed views" from a highly experience barrister were appalling: "Stuart Hall has pleaded guilty to abusing children as young as nine years old, we think most people would agree that crimes of this nature are incredibly serious".
Watt adds that lowering the age of consent would increase the risk from those who prey on vulnerable young people.
Hewson’s employers at Hardwicke sought to distance themselves from her comments: a spokesperson for the legal chambers said they had not seen or approved the article and were "shocked" by Hewson’s views. ·
Read more: Barbara Hewson: allow sex at 13 to stop 'witch-hunt' of old men | News | The Week UK < click
told ya!
this is their plan. they said so. bestiality is next and is mainsteaming now (trial runs/beta-testing - t.v.; movies; billboards and ads)
the F.S. said they will not stop until we reach necrophilia and cannibalism.
look it up.
on record.
total destruction of "the West" (they meant and said Christianity)
start with usury and sodomy...inch forward.
now look.
hold fast people.
. why? i'm not.
