A guy attempts to drug his dinner date and is caught:
in June last year when the head waiter saw Spall putting a pill in the red wine of his companion while she was in the toilet. Officers searched his pockets and found a blister pack of Xanax, similar to the so-called date-rape drug Rohypnol. Only one tablet was left.
The judge quite rightly finds him guilty of administering a substance with intent to commit a sexual act:
"On arrival at the restaurant you informed the waiter, Mr Murphy, in no uncertain terms that you intended to have sexual intercourse with the victim. When you were having a meal you continued to press drink upon her and indeed said to the waiter at one point you wanted him to provide her with something to knock her out."
But then it turns into WTF?
Judge Smith said that while he regarded Spall as "unscrupulous" and "underhand", he was not convinced he posed "any significant risk to young women of serious harm" and said his behaviour was caused by his own "drunken state" and was "totally out of character".
So it was out of character... unless he was drunk? Meaning that women are probably safe right up until he has more than a pint? Oh, that's ok then. And if it was so out of character and only something he would contemplate when pissed then how come he had hundreds more of the same drug in the boot of his car?
The two-year sentence means Spall, who police fear may be a serial sexual predator, will be free in just over three months, once time he has already spent in custody is taken into account.
Way to go Judge Smith. Only last month The Guardian was asking Why is rape so easy to get away with? The police are obviously pissed off at the outcome and you can read the victim's response here.
