Any number of cases may be found in the newspapers. Look for cases where the principles involved are markedly different (e.g. fraud and murder for example). The two cases provided with this material are remarkably different.

A In this case a motorist is convicted of dangerous driving and is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment, despite driving on the pedestrian pavement and killing a young girl.

• The defence argued successfully that manslaughter (causing the death of somebody without premeditation - with premeditation it’s murder!) would only have been relevant in this case if it could have been shown that the driver had seen the girl as he drove on the pavement.
• The driver allowed his attention to be distracted while fumbling for a cigarette lighter and he claims that he did not see her.

B A postman has been stealing from letters on his round for a very long time. He was also too lazy to deliver thousands of letters, which he simply stored in cupboards.

• This is clearly a serious crime as he is stealing possibly substantial amounts of money within the letters.
• This situation is serious because he is betraying the trust placed in a postman by society.

Ask the class to consider the following questions:

• Which crime does the class consider the more serious?
• Does the sentencing seem fair to the group? Get them to discuss why.
• Should the postman’s crime of theft be considered more serious because he was in a position of trust?
• Should the dangerous driving be more severely punished because a girl died?
• Should not the driver when illegally driving on a pedestrian pavement at least pay very special attention to the possibility of pedestrians rather than searching for a cigarette lighter?