A few weeks ago I reported that Sir Jack Brabham’s son was on trial for raping a young girl. His sentencing was set for April 15th.
This was a sad case involving one of motor sports most famous families. Gary had been caught twice for the same offence and this one would involve the second time he would serve jail time – the first being in 2009.
Being the second offence involving similar charges, it was expected that the sentencing would have been stricter than the first offence. However, it wasn’t to be, at the sentencing hearing, Brabham was sentenced to two years and three months in jail, suspended after six months! Basically six months in jail, far less than his first jail time.
The sentence was very lenient considering the charge – and the fact that Brabham is a repeat offender. I would have thought that the sentence would have been five to ten years at least, considering the history. The judge even commented on the lack of remorse shown which should have been punished as well.
Clearly the victim’s family were unhappy, with the mother stating outside the court the sentence was not sufficient but urged young children to speak to a parent should they ever suffer like her daughter did (as reported by ABC News).
The first sentence he completed had been suppressed by his family and this one is open to public scrutiny, of which there will be some for sure. How can a repeat offender technically get a lesser sentence for the second conviction? I hope that the judge wasn’t swayed by the family name – this shouldn’t be about that, rather the severity of the crime(s) committed.
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