This poll is a bit more serious than any of my others and rightly so.

But the question I believe is quite difficult. Imagine this scenario - a Scottish man of 61 (we'll call him Nigel) has come to your town and has just settled into a new flat he's bought. But it's not as if he's a stranger here - or anywhere for that matter. Back in 1987, Nigel, then 39, was convicted of indecently touching a 12-year-old girl in his old town on the outskirts of Glasgow in Scotland - and raping her twice. The case was one which, like many cases of its nature, rippled across the country and its effect was magnified due to Nigel's reputation as "just the guy next door" and "a good man".

Nigel immediately admitted the crime, apologizing profusely in court at his trial, and has always expressed remorse for his actions. He served sixteen years in prison during which he wrote an 11-page letter of apology to the family of his victim. When released on parole (the board citing his good behaviour as a "model prisoner"), he moved back to his home town for a few years before coming here - and contrary to everyone's assumptions, he's tried as hard as possible to further redeem himself and to be accepted in the community - helping out with work, doing "bits and bobs here and there" etc.


But....you have your thoughts about this bloke. Should he be accepted into society, should he be given "a second chance"? After all, he did commit the most heineous of crimes. This man, with his background, is now trying to make himself known as a very different person.


So I suppose my question is, would you let him? In short, owing to a bit of confusion lately, would you forgive this Nigel?


For the record, you have 100 days to vote.

None of those. If he raped her twice he should have been sentenced to life and never released...

I wouldn't allow him anywhere near my kids, and it would be hard to trust someone who has committed an offence like that, regardless of how much they've impressed the prison authorities by "good behaviour". Also, is it really wise for him to come back to his old town, the same one as he committed the crime? It's a truly horrendous crime and deserves many years behind bars, however your question is "would you forgive an ex-paedophile?" I guess that comes down to what your belief system is about forgiveness. I do believe in forgiveness because when we don't forgive we can actually punish ourselves more than the person who needs to be forgiven, and I believe that redemption is possible for anyone if they're given the chance. That in no way makes any excuse for someone committing something so abhorrent though, and anyone released back into society that has done something like that needs to be closely monitored, and in my opinion any repeat offence should be an automatic life sentence.

An interesting subject, but there are too many questions here for one poll, and the voting options are a bit vague. Different questions might have different answers. You need to be more specific, so I will abstain on this one.

"Would you give Nigel a second chance at life - in your town?"

"should he be given "a second chance"?"

"would you forgive an ex-paedophile?"

"So I suppose my question is, would you let him?"

The thing is with this subject, I find that answers are usually "Yes they do deserve a second change" but also "Not in my community" which is a bit contradictary. Where my dad lives, a peadophile had been charged over a few cases in the past, and spent time in prison, but as soon as he came out, the council put him in a ground floor flat next to a kiddie's park [for under 10s]. Which ever way you look at it, that is rather silly.

Wow... im the only one that went for the 3rd one??? Seriously???

I'm with Lewis 246 on this. Get the sentencing right in the first instance and it doesn't become an issue.

Write "NONCE" on his forehead and push him off a cliff.

Hahahaha... made me laugh and wake the dog up

There is something very Gene Genie about that...

2nd option.

I'm with Gary on this one too many questions but my answer is that you can't pass judgement on somebody like that because nobody is perfect. Also IMO it's not our place to judge everybody makes mistakes and does things for the same reason however some mistakes are ALOT worse than others. The reasons people make the mistakes aren't always their fault. In this case I will refrain from passing judgement. It's nobodys place to judge someone, there's only God who can.

This exactly. For crimes like the one in the example above, life really should mean life.

Im sorry Alex but I think if you see it like that then you are saying only god can judge rapists, murderers, terrorists, etc.

As a parent I shall pass judgment on a Paedophile, I dont want any near my children, it's all good and well these people that say put them back into the community but would they still be saying if the person hurt their child.

You have to remember that sexual abuse on a child is something that will stick with them for the rest of their lives, it doesnt go away, no matter how hard they try, believe me.

I too voted hang him....get scum like that off our streets. If he had raped my Daughter I would be the one doing time as I would have killed the little turd.

i wish i voted for 'no' now

he is a sick idiot who should be hanged.

Interesting. At the 10 day mark we've had 12 votes which can be split into;-

1 person (8%) saying they'd give Nigel a second chance despite his crimes

3 (25%) including myself, who say they might give him a new start in life albeit slightly begrudgingly and nowhere near wherever they were staying

7 (or 58%) the current majority, who are of the opinion that Nigel is a sick-minded, twisted and evil man and should be hanged, shot, thrown off a cliff....whatever way possible to extract him from life and make him pay the ultimate price,

And 1 (8%) who said they would rather not pass judgment on Nigel.


So it looks as if most people at the moment want this Nigel man hanged....not surprising really.

That's the religious side of life talking for Alex there I think!

The saying "Once a...always a..." springs to mind here anyway, so definitely 3)

I am in complete disagreement with the death penalty. Force these people to face the consequences of their actions and let them spend their lives in a lonely prison cell with absolutely no contact with the outside world. And by life imprisonment, I mean life.

The death penalty is a very difficult subject. On the one hand it would deter potential criminals from commiting serious crimes because they would fear death but the wrong person could be convicted and killed and I would not want that to happen and plus the criminals would not face several years of punishment only the fear of death.