Being banned from the pub is punishment enough

Not quite sure what to make of this story:

A judge has told a Glasgow pensioner that stopping him going to the pub was a "more meaningful" sentence than a prison term for killing his wife.

My gut reaction is this – surely the judge could stop him going to the pub by, y’know, sending him to prison?

There is justification for restricting this man’s chances to go to the pub, though:

"You still go to the pub where you went with your wife. That must annoy her relatives.”

Yeah, I’m guessing that would annoy the relatives. Probably not as much as the murder peeves them, though. I’d imagine that the murder is considerably more of an annoyance than where the killer drinks. Maybe I’m wrong; I’ve never had to deal with a murdered relative. Or had to worry about where the killer gets shitted.

Still, there is a reason why this man is not going to prison:

"I have read and considered a number of reports from experts. It is plain to me that if I were to impose that sort of sentence you would be released in a very short time because prison would not be able to cope with your condition.”

So, a murderer isn’t going to prison because prison can’t cope with his condition. What are we going to do, free people when their health problems get too much? Free Peter Sutcliffe if he gets cancer? Let Dennis Nielsen go free if he has a dicky ticker? Let Ian Brady leave prison because he has seen better days?

Make no mistake this man is unwell:

"There is a clear diagnosis of dementia setting in. It is a progressive condition and ultimately he will need 24-hour care. I am deeply conscious there has been a death here, but this man is very unwell. He was always willing to plead guilty to culpable homicide, but this was flatly rejected by the Crown and that is why a trial was necessary."

Dementia is a terrible condition, and will lead to this man’s terminal decline. But he still killed someone. If he committed the murder consciously, he should be imprisoned. If he committed it because of mental ill health, then he should be confined to an appropriate medical institution. Letting him go free, despite taking a life, is a staggeringly awful decision.

Banning someone from the pub is the sort of punishment you might give to a wayward teenager – not to a grown man who has committed murder.