crime

Former marathon runner gets suspended sentence for shoplifting

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Hang on... if she was already on a suspended sentence for a crime of the same nature, she should, by law, have to serve the previously suspended sentence, not get ANOTHER suspended sentence on top of the one she already has. I mean, I know Japan is the land of suspended sentences for lawmakers, other politicians, police, celebrities, and what not, but suspending the suspended sentence and adding another? Wow. Your average Joe Tanaka would most certainly not get this treatment, eating disorder that somehow forces you to steal or not.

10 ( +15 / -5 )

A whole circus where she has to apologize for what is mostly due to a "mental disease". I cant help but feel sorry for her. Instead of ruining her life why not help her.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

I hope she gets the help she needs.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Instead of ruining her life why not help her.

Well, we live in a free society where nobody can be forced into treatment against their will. What do you do with someone who is aware of their condition but fails to take sufficient steps to prevent offending for a second time? At some point you have to give them an incentive to seek treatment.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What’s the point of a suspended sentence if nothing happens if you commit another crime?

9 ( +9 / -0 )

cla68, as my J wife would say to me, "Stop being logical! Grrrrrr......"

4 ( +4 / -0 )

She could have shaken off her pursuers if she had been a 100-meter-dash sprinter instead of a marathon runner.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Japan is not really renown for being smart in dealing with mental disorder.

Poor lady!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Japan is not really renown for being smart in dealing with mental disorder.

you can say that again, about 50 years behind the rest of the world..

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This lady said that she had struggled with bulimia, which was brought on by her coaches putting her under constant pressure about her weight during her career. The report I saw also talked to a Japanese psychiatrist who said that implusive behaviour like kleptomania was fairly common for people with bulimia. A quick Google search confirms that this is the case.

As an aside, I do know that the Norwegian cross country skiing team, basically the elite in that sport, stopped publishing the weights of its female athletes due to problems with eating disorders.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2191906/eating-disorders-are-more-common-you-think

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't get it. She stole a bag of candy worth 382 yen among other items. I might be completely wrong but I assume this happened in a supermarket where even the most expensive things might cost 10000 yen or so at most. Do the prosecutors really think that 1 year in prison is proportional to the crime? What term would they seek for her had she stolen a car? Capital punishment?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

What’s the point of a suspended sentence if nothing happens if you commit another crime?

Different jurisdiction maybe? Seriously though I dont see any benefits from her going to prison.

Monday's ruling came after she was sentenced by a different court to one year in prison, suspended for three years, in November last year for shoplifting at a convenience store in Tochigi Prefecture in July.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I have to agree with yubaru on this one. even if she was a regular Joe she needs treatment that she wouldn't get in prison.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

eating disorders are often a sign of another disorder such as bpd, which has much greater challenges.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It's true that under Japanese law if you commit a crime whilst on a suspended sentence you should automatically serve the jail time allotted to the suspended sentence. The Japanese supreme court web page states the very same:

http://www.courts.go.jp/saiban/qa_keizi/qa_keizi_28/index.html

However, everyone knows that judges in the Japanese "justice" system make up the law as they go along. I sometimes wonder if they have even read the laws that they are supposed to be applying. They certainly don't seem to understand them if they have.

That said, I think it would be a huge waste of money to put this woman in prison for stealing something worth a few hundred Yen, especially when bureaucrats who defraud the state of millions are not even charged.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Former world championships marathon runner Yumiko Hara has been sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for four years with supervision

The 36-year-old was on another suspended sentence for a similar crime when she was arrested after stealing three items including a bag of candy

Hold on a tic of a tok........so she was on a suspended sentence when she committed another crime and they just added another suspended sentence to her new crime? 'scuse me while I sit back and think of that for a second.

But the court also concluded she was mentally competent to be held responsible.

So she knew what was doing, yet she was given another to do the same thing again? And we all know she will do the same thing again because.....

"It is not easy to treat (the disorder)." Judge Masaya Okuyama said in handing down the ruling on Monday.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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