A matter of respect

Whether you choose to wear one or not, the poppy remains the eternal symbol of solemn remembrance to those who have, and continue to make the ultimate sacrifice in the field of conflict, for the sake of others.

District Judge Howard Riddle yesterday described the burning of replica poppies by a Muslim extremist on Remembrance Day last year as, "a calculated and deliberate insult to the war dead and those who honour their sacrifice”.

Well said indeed.

In finding Emdadur Choudhury guilty of an offence contrary to S.5 of the Public Order Act 1986, the Judge had at his disposal sentencing options of anything up to a maximum £1000 fine and/or a six month prison term. Plenty of scope, one might have thought, with which to set an example to the kind of people minded to defile the memory of those who have died in order to protect the very freedoms those same people routinely abuse. 

Choosing to hand down a fine of £50 with a further £15 ‘victim surcharge’, Judge Riddle conspired to add further grotesque insult to injury.

In these libertarian times Choudhury was not obliged to attend the hearing and learn of his fate. However for the purpose of means testing the paltry fine, his solicitor was able to inform the court that his client earned £480 a month and was in receipt of a further £792 per month in state benefits.

Howard Charles Fraser Riddle, 63, was appointed to be the Senior District Judge in November 2010, on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, the Right Honourable Kenneth Clarke QC MP.

Makes you proud to be British.