Udon Thani: Robert Hastings sentenced to 15 years by UK court for child abuse

[mikosan]

There can be no worse crime than molesting kids. Like many RC priests have done for decades.

Technologybytes - you have it totally wrong - he should be flung into a deep & dark dungeon and the key must be thrown away.

Surely murder is worse?

From the point of view of the victim, I would disagree that murder is worse than child molestation. The murder victim is dead, so doesn't have to live with the thoughts of what happened to them. The victim of child molestation, rape, or similar heinous crimes, has to live with the thoughts of the event, or events, for the rest of their lives. From the point of view of family or friends, then it would be hard to make a call, all would be equally as horrendous I imagine.

I have to say though, I do hope that Mr Hastings has a truly horrific time in jail, he deserves every bit of it.

[Assurancetourix]

The child was British and abused in the UK. Get the story right. He wouldn't have been extradited and tried in the UK, if it occurred in Thailand.

Yes, you are right ;

a French man who did the same thing with a little boy in Nan , Thailand , is still in prison in Nan or maybe in Bangkok because Nan authorities said they don't want to keep him for the 23 years he was condemned ; it was about three or four years ago .

[billd766]

The child was British and abused in the UK. Get the story right. He wouldn't have been extradited and tried in the UK, if it occurred in Thailand.

The provided link takes me to a Chiangrai newspaper report dated November 2014, is that what you are commenting on?

Here is a local link to the paper in Somerset.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-33936250

[Traveller45]

My 2 Cents worth of wisdom: The treatment by fellow inmates would serve a purpose if it helped a Child Sex Offender not to offend again, or prevented him from doing it in the first place. Statistics absolutely do not bear that out. It's like wanting to cure an alcohol addict that way. It's not going to work. So, lock him away, yes, and of course barring from any further contact with children. But this showering in feces and all, that just serves to assuage a thirst of vengeance and that's not very productive, unworthy of a Western democratic justice system.

Edited August 17, 2015 by Traveller45

[Transporter]

First thing that should have happened is smash his nuts with two bricks. When he has recovered from that remove the rest with a blunt knife and leave him to rot in dark damp cell until he is dead.

I have children and if he did this to one of mine he would have been dealt with.

What really angers me is that I have to pay to keep these filthy low life alive when the really effective answer to the problem is free.

[Morakot]

The child was British and abused in the UK. Get the story right.

Thanks! Link to article in the Bath Chronicle here:

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Child-sex-offender-Robert-David-Hastings-jailed/story-27608163-detail/story.html

[loonodingle]

Very hard to defend an allegation from 25 years ago. You have to be concerned that he hasnt just peed someone off. Like an ex partner who is upset he went to thailand. Its all to easy to say men who go to thailand are kiddy fiddlers. It's all to common an opinion around the world. Tell someone in the UK you have been to Pattaya and they will think u are a perve who cant get a women and need a prozzie or a lad.

[Rumblecat]

Very hard to defend an allegation from 25 years ago. You have to be concerned that he hasnt just peed someone off. Like an ex partner who is upset he went to thailand. Its all to easy to say men who go to thailand are kiddy fiddlers. It's all to common an opinion around the world. Tell someone in the UK you have been to Pattaya and they will think u are a perve who cant get a women and need a prozzie or a lad.

Well, it's equally as hard to prosecute an allegation from 25 years ago, if not more so considering that the burden of proof is on the accuser. Despite what paranoid ex-pats say, people can't just pull allegations out of thin air and watch the justice system blindly accept them and jail people.

Considering that the victim contacted the police about the sexual offences caused to her when she was between the ages of four and nine, what makes you think it's an angry ex-partner behind this..? Because that's a pretty bold claim to make so I imagine you must have something to back it up, rather than just a vague sense of solidarity with the convicted.

[brewsterbudgen]

First thing that should have happened is smash his nuts with two bricks. When he has recovered from that remove the rest with a blunt knife and leave him to rot in dark damp cell until he is dead.

I have children and if he did this to one of mine he would have been dealt with.

What really angers me is that I have to pay to keep these filthy low life alive when the really effective answer to the problem is free.

In other words you'd like the west to be more like ISIS?

[VINCENT2012]

there is then a new house for sale in udon now...!

[Nobb]

I hear that the prisoners in the UK prisons do not like child molesters. I think they will give him his up pings for this offence!

[bbbbooboo]

Will probably die in jail.....good riddance

[empireboy]

Abuse of innocence is one of humanity's worst acts.

[zackattack]

May he rot until his days end

[Suradit69]

The report in the Chiangrai TImes said that Hastings arrived in Thailand 9 years ago.

The offenses were evidently committed in the 1990's.

The Brits sure took their time in finding him !

I wonder if he had been kiddy fiddling in Thailand too? Hopefully not.

The report said he had a Thai wife so maybe he was a reformed character. (working as a teacher though?)

This case should illustrate what can happen to people who do bad things -- the law often catches up many years later.

Hastings may get some protection in prison but at least he can be thankful that he doesn't have to do time in The Bangkok Hilton.

I found these articles:

Life’s Hard When You’re a Convicted Pedophile: http://www.vice.com/read/lifes-hard-when-youre-a-convicted-paedophile

And this:

Hey Dad! star and convicted paedophile Robert Hughes showered in urine and faeces when he first arrived in prison

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3183338/Hey-Dad-star-convicted-paedophile-Robert-Hughes-showered-urine-faeces-arrived-prison.html

Apparently criminals of all types are allowed to abuse convicted paedophiles with impunity even though some of them have committed far more heinous crimes.

Not that child molestation isn't heinous but I guess murderers and rapists feel they have the higher moral ground.

And it appears that a number of these paedophiles are convicted on the basis of hearsay and invented evidence given by disgruntled wives/partners.

There are reports of how ex-partners have rehearsed the child in what to say to police and in court.

The acts of revenge by estranged wives knows no bounds and unfortunately they often go unpunished.

Thai police will very likely act upon the word of a disgruntled Thai wife of a foreigner where they see a chance of monetary reward.

When a foreigner is trapped in this scenario he is faced with an impossible task to prove his innocence.

"The Brits sure took their time in finding him !"

Definitely. Crimes committed in the 1990's. Crime reported in 2011. 2014 they figured out where he was and, as so often happens, they then depended on Thai police to apprehend him.

The offences were all committed in the 1990s in the Weston-super-Mare area against a vulnerable girl, who was aged between four and nine years old at the time.

The victim contacted police in February 2011 and was able to give a video statement the following month.

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Paedophile-Robert-Hastings-escaped-Thailand/story-27608170-detail/story.html

[easybullet3]

Not long enough.

erm, i'm certain NOT supporting child abuse, but surely 15 years pretty damn long.. (considering that he would have got LESS for killing the child).

it kind of annoys me when all the Tabloid News Readers start yelling "it should be life" or "castrate him".

seriously, she has been psychologically harmed and abused, but she will grow up (a bit mucked up during her teens and early twenties), but she will get over it. she hasnt been killed.

the way the UK law works, you get less for killing someone !!

[suzannegoh]

What was his username on ThaiVisa?

Edited August 17, 2015 by suzannegoh

[John Kane]

The child was British and abused in the UK. Get the story right. He wouldn't have been extradited and tried in the UK, if it occurred in Thailand.

Yes he could, if it occurred in Thailand. Under new trafficking laws you can be arrested at the border of your home country, usually the USA but Britain too, if you committed a sex crime in another country. I suppose if it were serious enough you could be extradited. There are examples of 17 and 18 year old boys having a sexual relationships in a foreign country with a willing girl under 18 in that country and the boy is arrested when they return home. This requires that the local country learn about this relationship and notify the US government, usually the embassy, about it. This could play out if, for example, they were caught having sex in a public place, for example on the beach. This has nothing to do with whether both parties are over the age of consent in that country. Sex with a girl under 18 is automatically "trafficking" per the UN definition. Crazy but true! And we all know how the USA is on its big white horse to attack trafficking everywhere especially if those laws can be used to also attack prostitution.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

I find it very disturbing, that inmates - with some of them having committed vicious murders, rapes, etc. (i.e. rape and murder of a 19 year old "woman", or bludgeoning a 76 year old granny to death over 50 bucks in her purse) - feel they are "above" the rank of a kiddy fiddler (who hasn't commited murder)... Even more disturbing is that some civilians and forum members agree on a murderer and rapist of a victim of "proper age" standing above a child molester. There's something wrong with human nature...

[MyFriend You]

Luckily for him he'll be in a UK Prison, just picking up on a previous poster, his 15 year sentence will not qualify him for a 50% sentence reduction,, you need 4 years and under for that, he'll do 2/3rds, so basically he got 10 years if he is released as a model prisoner.

As to beatings inside, it's not going to happen, he'll be in Seg, they have a seperate exercise area and are away from the general prison population, they are not on the same levels as gen pop guys, even while being assessed after sentence in a local Prison.

He easily could end up in HMP Whatton, which is a specialist prison for sex offenders, there he will be amongst a prison population of mostly sex offenders who have determinate sentences, around 70% have committed offences against children.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32085076

There are many people in Thailand who live in worse conditions.

What is this policy??? Birds of a Feather, do time together?? I thought the US Jails were lenient, he needs to be in a Cell with 6.4 240lb Bubba from Alabama............

[loonodingle]

Very hard to defend an allegation from 25 years ago. You have to be concerned that he hasnt just peed someone off. Like an ex partner who is upset he went to thailand. Its all to easy to say men who go to thailand are kiddy fiddlers. It's all to common an opinion around the world. Tell someone in the UK you have been to Pattaya and they will think u are a perve who cant get a women and need a prozzie or a lad.

Well, it's equally as hard to prosecute an allegation from 25 years ago, if not more so considering that the burden of proof is on the accuser. Despite what paranoid ex-pats say, people can't just pull allegations out of thin air and watch the justice system blindly accept them and jail people.

Considering that the victim contacted the police about the sexual offences caused to her when she was between the ages of four and nine, what makes you think it's an angry ex-partner behind this..? Because that's a pretty bold claim to make so I imagine you must have something to back it up, rather than just a vague sense of solidarity with the convicted.

Mine was a general comment about people who are accused of something 25 years ago and cant prove otherwise. I have no knowledge of this case.

However there's been some high profile cases recently where people have been acquitted including the guy from coronation street who's partner made the claims after he left her. A very serious allegation involving his daughter and he was cleared.

Not everyone accused is guilty. I have no solidarity with this person or anyone else just a concern that justice maybe be skewed in favour of guilty unless proven innocent in any case not just these types

[SunsetT]

Not long enough.

He will spend a minimum of 7.5 years in prison in the UK for that sentence.

Considering he was charged with child abuse, it would appear that he was not actually convicted of anything sexual, though it's possible that the case was badly reported.

At 62 years of age that could be a tough sentence in the UK. depending on his health. He will have a very hard time in prison in the UK as he will be treated very badly by the other prisoners, he will probably be attacked and injured and spend every day of that sentence in fear of more attacks.

No......In the UK, he will be segregated from other prisoners (except other sex offenders) and therefore be protected under 'Rule 43/45'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonce_(slang)

[Broken Record]

Not long enough.

He will spend a minimum of 7.5 years in prison in the UK for that sentence.

Considering he was charged with child abuse, it would appear that he was not actually convicted of anything sexual, though it's possible that the case was badly reported.

At 62 years of age that could be a tough sentence in the UK. depending on his health. He will have a very hard time in prison in the UK as he will be treated very badly by the other prisoners, he will probably be attacked and injured and spend every day of that sentence in fear of more attacks.

No......In the UK, he will be segregated from other prisoners (except other sex offenders) and therefore be protected under 'Rule 43/45'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonce_(slang)

Exactly, Nonces are 'Numbers' other prisoners will not get near him, he could sue the prison service if they did, H.M.P. employees are well aware of this and must take all possible means to protect VP's ( Vulnerable Prisoners ). meaning to take all reasonable measures to protect his well being whilst under their care, if not, they could be libel.

He'll be shipped out to HMP Whatton from whatever Local Nick he's in now would be my guess.

Edited August 17, 2015 by Broken Record

[macca3248]

Cut his nuts out and feed them to the dogs !

[Doc46]

Hang the filth by the nuts till he drops down ,,,than put him in jail with lifers ,,they can use the filth as there Bitch,,,,

[jacko45k]

The child was British and abused in the UK. Get the story right. He wouldn't have been extradited and tried in the UK, if it occurred in Thailand.

The provided link takes me to a Chiangrai newspaper report dated November 2014, is that what you are commenting on?

Here is a local link to the paper in Somerset.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-33936250

That link goes to the BBC.

So the statement in the OP, that suggests he was up to his old ways in Thailand, was repeated or originated via the BBC.

[raybal5]

The child was British and abused in the UK. Get the story right. He wouldn't have been extradited and tried in the UK, if it occurred in Thailand.

If the offender was an Australian citizen, he could be charged in Australia even if the offense did not occur in Australia. Once charged, he would be extradited to Australia for a court hearing even if the country he was offending in did not charge him. If they did, he could still be dealt with in Australian courts after serving a sentence in the country it occurred in.

TL;DR - if you are an Australian - DON'T do it!

[cookee68]

....is that the correct term for such a despicable act....

and then shove a hot poker up his arse for good measure

[MAJIC]

The child was British and abused in the UK. Get the story right. He wouldn't have been extradited and tried in the UK, if it occurred in Thailand.

The provided link takes me to a Chiangrai newspaper report dated November 2014, is that what you are commenting on?

Not the link, the Chiangrai Times has the story correct. Thaivisa incorrectly reported the following:

"LONDON – British national Robert David Hastings, 62, who sexually abused a child in Thailand has been jailed for more than 15 years after a UK trial the BBC reported."

The criminal activity for which he was convicted occurred in the UK, many years before he moved to Thailand. The abuse happened in the 1990's and Hastings didn't move to Thailand until 2005.

"The criminal activity for which he was convicted occurred in the UK, many years before he moved to Thailand. The abuse happened in the 1990's and Hastings didn't move to Thailand until 2005."

So what ? It's good to see him go down anyway!

[DILLIGAD]

Luckily for him he'll be in a UK Prison, just picking up on a previous poster, his 15 year sentence will not qualify him for a 50% sentence reduction,, you need 4 years and under for that, he'll do 2/3rds, so basically he got 10 years if he is released as a model prisoner.

As to beatings inside, it's not going to happen, he'll be in Seg, they have a seperate exercise area and are away from the general prison population, they are not on the same levels as gen pop guys, even while being assessed after sentence in a local Prison.

He easily could end up in HMP Whatton, which is a specialist prison for sex offenders, there he will be amongst a prison population of mostly sex offenders who have determinate sentences, around 70% have committed offences against children.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32085076

There are many people in Thailand who live in worse conditions.

What is this policy??? Birds of a Feather, do time together?? I thought the US Jails were lenient, he needs to be in a Cell with 6.4 240lb Bubba from Alabama............

With only shrimp on the menu.