Judge says 'lol' as he sentences man after Facebook boast about avoiding prison
David Newlands was jailed for nine months after twice refusing to do community service
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A Scottish judge has said “lol” as he sentenced a man who boasted about refusing to carry out his community sentence in a post on Facebook.
David Newlands was given 150 hours of community service earlier this year after he punched a vulnerable man in Glasgow in 2015 but he refused to complete it.
At a second court appearance in June he was given a second chance to complete the sentence but failed to do so and then wrote on Facebook that he was “out bro, easy”.
He wrote that he had avoided going to jail for the second time and would not being doing the community service.
He laughed at the judge for calling him an “idiot” and asked why “people wonder why this country is f*****”.
But when he was back in front of Judge Norman Ritchie, he was given a nine-month sentence which he will have to serve after he finishes his current eight-month sentence for assault and breach of the peace, the BBC reported.
Justice Ritchie said: “It’s always interesting to see a different view on sentencing as in ‘I’m out bro easy’. As they say 'lol'.
“I gave you two chances. You didn’t take the chances. I hope you don’t think I’m doing this out of anger. In truth it enlivened what was otherwise a dull day.”
In January, the 23-year-old was one of eight people called a “pack of animals” by Justice Ritchie when the High Court in Glasgow heard how they had beaten and chased a vulnerable man out of a flat window.
Ivor Miller, who had learning difficulties, sought refuge in a derelict flat and then suffered a severe injury after he jumped from a second-floor window to escape the gang.
Three of those accused, not including Newlands, were initially charged with attempted murder but the prosecution later accepted guilty pleas for assault.
Newlands admitted breaching the peace and punching the 27-year-old at the Hootenanny pub in Howard Street.