For this terrible crime - over 6 years each.
Hey, come on; a tiny failed fraud...
Yes it was odd to do that to the children but hell... 6 years?

The answer is simple - IT'S A GREAT STORY!

The media was watching! The judge knew he'd be on all the Front Pages!

Who cares about whether or not it was fair? A stiff sentence guaranteed praise in the SUN. A Judge's wet dream.

Our legal system is now totally and absolutely controlled by headline morality.

Just as long as we all know.

Chief Inspector Geordie Littledick says...

"This is the worst crime I've ever known. The little boys have been devastated. Thousands of lifeboats searched for the canoe. We spent millions on freebie first class flights to luxury Panama hotels to investigate. The two of them should face capital punishment".

www.kingofhits.co.uk/component/option,co...id,54/?g2_itemId=671

The point is that it was a crime, but six years for both was way too harsh.

Feel sorry for the kids, but the way it was being reported, the sentence was down to the way they deceived them and not for the actual crime.

If you are guilty of a crime, you should be punished accordingly, however, the media should be banned from reporting on it.

They got the same sentence as Nick Leeson and yet it was a tiny fraud.

So according to C.I Littledick, it was a worse crime than the Moors Murderers etc...

I don't pay too much attention to this story. How old were the "little boys" when they were told their father was dead? I thought they were grown up, but I'm not sure how long ago this happened.

The "little boys" are fully grown married family men Denise - that's why my sarcastic and ironic mock statement by the imaginary (but all purpose) DCI Littledick seems so bizarre.

Is he really called Littledick?

I fear you haven't watched Vile Pervert; The Musical Denise.

May I politely point you towards it? All will become clear.

www.VilePervert.com

Chief Inspector Geordie Littledick looks remarkably like one of the stars of Vile Pervert !

are they perchance related ?

The media and authorities have really gone to town on these 2-it's a sentence way over the top.

Can anyone remember the MP John Stonehouse who faked his death on a beach ?. He only got caught in Australia because the local plods thought he was Lord Lucan !

I think he ended up only doing about 2 years after being given 7.

It's always the same-if a person rips of a big business or double dips on the dole-they get the book thrown at them. But if a group of directors siphon off the pension fund..someone just writes a nasty letter to them.

Jonathan it was not only "odd" to do this to the sons, it was a henous crime,much more than the fraud. I wouldn't be surprised if they spend a long time in psychotherapy. Imagine if both your parents did that to you? That is the major crime in my book.

The Guardian had a very interesting piece today saying how odd it was that they could go to such lengths and for so long for what is, in the grand scheme of things, not a great sum. it would be for me but they had properties they could have sold.

Why do this to their sons? Can anyoen come up with a plausible reason to do this and keep it up for 6 years?

My mum did a similar thing to me when I was a toddler and I am still suffering the psychological effects.

I agree as always that the press loves a good story over all else, but this is one case I fail to comprehend.

It was bizarre and awful how they treated their sons-especially the Mum as the bond is usually the closest.

But the crime was the fraud and bad parenting isn't a crime.

Sad though if something similar happened to you and you and their sons deserve sympathy.

But people should only be judged and given a penalty on the crime they commit-not because of media sensationalism and the so-called "message" to be sent to the public ( who have a one week retention rate about everything now(.