A SCOTTISH judge raised a few eyebrows in court yesterday when he used the text language abbreviation “lol” (meaning laughing out loud) when sentencing an attacker to nine months behind bars for punching a vulnerable man after he refused to carry out community service.
Judge Norman Ritchie used text speak after hearing that David Newlands had posted on Facebook: “I’m out bro, easy.”
The judge said: “As they say, lol.”
Newlands who had been convicted of a street attack, was jailed for failing to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and boasting about it online.
The 24-year-old, who is currently serving an eight-month sentence for assault and breach of the peace, will serve the latest sentence when his current sentence ends. He was one of eight people who ended up in court after Ivor Miller, an innocent man with learning difficulties, was called “a beast” and chased until he threw himself out of a flat window. During that hearing at the High Court in Glasgow in January, Ritchie described the group as “a pack of animals” in Glasgow city centre.
Newlands, from Glasgow, was given a community sentence but refused to carry out unpaid work and when he walked free, he posted on Facebook: “A got a high court conviction n they never sent me eh jail instead gave me a community order ..told them to stick it...so got sent back to court n what do they dae? The judge says mr Newlands I would refer to you as an idiot..n then what does he dae? He geez me it again...probation am no dayn it simple!!!”
After being brought back to court, Newlands admitted breaching the order.
Ritchie told him: “It’s always interesting to see a different view on sentencing as in ‘I’m out bro easy.’ As they say lol.”
He added: “I gave you two chances. You didn’t take the chances. I hope you don’t think I’m doing this out of anger. In truth it enlivened what was otherwise a dull day.”
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