Hmmm
I am not sure about this one!!
when i first read it my initial response was with pity, i thought oh let him go he is 83 ffs.
I think when you think about 83 year old men you get an image of 'kindly old Granpa'
then i thought it over and i thought 'hold on a minute'
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he wasn't skint/starving was he?having a job and a car makes me think probably not
did he feel sorry for his victims?no he put a fookin gun to their head. even worse - it was a colleague, someone he worked with! was he going to go to work next day and shed some croc tears and pretend to be supportive?
He even fired a shot, although not at anyone, he was being intimidating. Now it might turn out that he is losing his marbles, or just lost his family in a horrific accident. If so i think yeah go easy on him. I also think if someone served in the armed forces, some kind of national service or are a war veteren then i think we owe them one and it should be reflected when sentencing.
Just on the info in the article it looks to me like a very nasty premeditated crime by a nasty little man. Its traumatic having a gun at your head. Imagine thinking you are going to be shot any minute.
unless any other factors come to light i wouldn't say let him off with it just cus he is an old man.
If you get any more info on this guy will you update this topic IceQueen? It would be interesting to find out if he had a criminal record and any previous armed robberies!!!