Nial mason 6 months suspended prison sentence!!!!

[Alickismyhero]

I really don't know which way to go on this!

One side of me says that if it had been my daughter she would have smacked him and stopped the incident progressing.

The other side of me says sack him! No means no, drunk or not.


I think, because none of us where there and we just don't know all the facts,


I am tending to think IDM makes a good point.


Whatever the decision the club make I will support.

[Donnywolf]

He’s not a rapist, so why would he be persecuted as one..

A drunken fumble - according to the reports the woman said no so being drunk is no excuse..

There’s only one apology needed and that isn’t to anyone else..

Hes done just what you said - but is already a "nonce" on Pompey Forum which I think has an entirely different meaning

The Club have a very very difficult judgement / deciion to make here and I too dont envy them that decision and I will also accept whatever they decide.

[NickDRFC]

I don’t think people should say “my daughter would have done this, my wife would have done that”. Truth is none of us have any idea how you would react in a situation like that until it happens and hopefully will never have to find out. Frankly I find it pretty disrespectful to the victim as the implication is that she should have done something to nip it in the bud.

[IDM]

If the report is correct as I read it in the DFP, the victim DID do something to nip it in the bud, when she said “no”..

[NickDRFC]

If the report is correct as I read it in the DFP, the victim DID do something to nip it in the bud, when she said “no”..

Yes of course, that should have been enough but obviously wasn’t. My point is to people who’ve said things like “she’s have smacked him and stopped the incident progressing”. The victim herself said that she always thought she would react like that but as it was happening, she just froze.

[drfchound]

I was one of the people who said that my wife would have stopped him if he had put his hand up her top and stroked her back.

SHE WOULD HAVE SLAPPED HIM AND STOPPED IT THERE.

[karlos]

Different react different but at the end of the day the victim shouldnt be put in that place in the first place. It wasnt just a fumble he violated that lady after she had said no and that is that. as has been said on here before NO MEANS NO and that is that.

[RoversAlias]

I was one of the people who said that my wife would have stopped him if he had put his hand up her top and stroked her back.

SHE WOULD HAVE SLAPPED HIM AND STOPPED IT THERE.

Your wife may well have Hound, but you don't know how anyone would react including yourself, not until you are in that situation (which hopefully none of us or our loved ones ever are). Its akin to sudden shock, the victim in this case said herself she thought she would always react differently in this situation but when it came to it she just froze. Thats very normal and understandable when someone is subject to such an act. She also did NOT just let him continue, she said no, she told him to stop and she alerted her friend to help her.

To the poster who referred to this as "a drunken fumble" - no. This is not a "fumble", it was an unwanted sexual assault. Simple as that. She did not want Mason to touch her, he proceeded to touch her multiple times and refused to accept the word "no". Consent is not negotiable in these situations, nobody has the right to put their hands on another person without their permission.

[drfchound]

I was one of the people who said that my wife would have stopped him if he had put his hand up her top and stroked her back.

SHE WOULD HAVE SLAPPED HIM AND STOPPED IT THERE.

Your wife may well have Hound, but you don't know how anyone would react including yourself, not until you are in that situation (which hopefully none of us or our loved ones ever are). Its akin to sudden shock, the victim in this case said herself she thought she would always react differently in this situation but when it came to it she just froze. Thats very normal and understandable when someone is subject to such an act. She also did NOT just let him continue, she said no, she told him to stop and she alerted her friend to help her.

To the poster who referred to this as "a drunken fumble" - no. This is not a "fumble", it was an unwanted sexual assault. Simple as that. She did not want Mason to touch her, he proceeded to touch her multiple times and refused to accept the word "no". Consent is not negotiable in these situations, nobody has the right to put their hands on another person without their permission.

RA, I agree that the young lady said no and all that goes with that.

I was responding to Nick and making it clear to him that what my wife would have done in those circumstances and I guess that Alickismyhero would say the same about his daughter, no question in the case of my wife.
Not all people would freeze.

[NickDRFC]

I was one of the people who said that my wife would have stopped him if he had put his hand up her top and stroked her back.

SHE WOULD HAVE SLAPPED HIM AND STOPPED IT THERE.

Your wife may well have Hound, but you don't know how anyone would react including yourself, not until you are in that situation (which hopefully none of us or our loved ones ever are). Its akin to sudden shock, the victim in this case said herself she thought she would always react differently in this situation but when it came to it she just froze. Thats very normal and understandable when someone is subject to such an act. She also did NOT just let him continue, she said no, she told him to stop and she alerted her friend to help her.

To the poster who referred to this as "a drunken fumble" - no. This is not a "fumble", it was an unwanted sexual assault. Simple as that. She did not want Mason to touch her, he proceeded to touch her multiple times and refused to accept the word "no". Consent is not negotiable in these situations, nobody has the right to put their hands on another person without their permission.

RA, I agree that the young lady said no and all that goes with that.

I was responding to Nick and making it clear to him that what my wife would have done in those circumstances and I guess that Alickismyhero would say the same about his daughter, no question in the case of my wife.
Not all people would freeze.

You're either missing or ignoring the point. We expect that we or people we know would react in a certain way in a certain situation. But until that situation presents itself, it's impossible to know.

The victim herself said "I have often thought what I would do in a situation like this, and I've always thought I would shout, react, confront them. The reality is I just froze". Like you think about your wife, she thought she would respond in a certain way but when put in such a traumatic situation in reality, it was different.

[Chris Black come back]

Whatever individual reactions may or may not have been, it is against the law. He broke the law. A law that was meant not to be broken has been broken. Something that was illegal has been done. There is legal and then there is not legal, this was not legal.

[Metalmicky]

Whatever individual reactions may or may not have been, it is against the law. He broke the law. A law that was meant not to be broken has been broken. Something that was illegal has been done. There is legal and then there is not legal, this was not legal.

Just to confirm - did he break the law...?

[Avsuptem]

I live much of my time in a corner of the world where what Nial Mason did would be ignored as trivial or even taken as a compliment by the victim, similarly I am old enough to know that such a matter would have been dealt with quite differently in the UK not so long ago. I am not condoning it at in the slightest but just trying to add some perspective.

[drfchound]

I was one of the people who said that my wife would have stopped him if he had put his hand up her top and stroked her back.

SHE WOULD HAVE SLAPPED HIM AND STOPPED IT THERE.

Your wife may well have Hound, but you don't know how anyone would react including yourself, not until you are in that situation (which hopefully none of us or our loved ones ever are). Its akin to sudden shock, the victim in this case said herself she thought she would always react differently in this situation but when it came to it she just froze. Thats very normal and understandable when someone is subject to such an act. She also did NOT just let him continue, she said no, she told him to stop and she alerted her friend to help her.

To the poster who referred to this as "a drunken fumble" - no. This is not a "fumble", it was an unwanted sexual assault. Simple as that. She did not want Mason to touch her, he proceeded to touch her multiple times and refused to accept the word "no". Consent is not negotiable in these situations, nobody has the right to put their hands on another person without their permission.

RA, I agree that the young lady said no and all that goes with that.

I was responding to Nick and making it clear to him that what my wife would have done in those circumstances and I guess that Alickismyhero would say the same about his daughter, no question in the case of my wife.
Not all people would freeze.

You're either missing or ignoring the point. We expect that we or people we know would react in a certain way in a certain situation. But until that situation presents itself, it's impossible to know.

The victim herself said "I have often thought what I would do in a situation like this, and I've always thought I would shout, react, confront them. The reality is I just froze". Like you think about your wife, she thought she would respond in a certain way but when put in such a traumatic situation in reality, it was different.

Nick, sorry mate but you are missing the point too.

Very obviously I know my wife’s characteristics and believe me, she would have reacted, no question.
There would be no messing about.

Please don’t come back and tell me I am wrong.

[Metalmicky]

I live much of my time in a corner of the world where what Nial Mason did would be ignored as trivial or even taken as a compliment by the victim, similarly I am old enough to know that such a matter would have been dealt with quite differently in the UK not so long ago. I am not condoning it at in the slightest but just trying to add some perspective.

I agree to an extent - I remember pinching a pert bottom or two back in the day and the lady would generally take it as a compliment.  Times change and NM should have known better.....

Perhaps he should have used the Trump defence...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45958023

[pib]

Just because other people would react differently it doesn't lessen the crime.

[drfchound]

Pib, if that is aimed at me, I am not disagreeing with that.

[pib]

It's not particularly aimed at anyone. There's a bit of an err towards apologist behaviour by some people towards these things, and I find it troubling.

[Metalmicky]

It's not particularly aimed at anyone. There's a bit of an err towards apologist behaviour by some people towards these things, and I find it troubling.

Opinions are like arseholes thought.................... so I wouldn't let it trouble you.

[selby]

  We can discuss this matter for ever, and there will be disagreement as to how this situation should be handled.
    The fact is the club will handle the situation as they see fit, contractual and other outside influences such as the  players union will all have to be considered, and the legal position as regards an employer.
   Whatever conclusion the club comes to, it looks as though some supporters will agree with, and some will not.
    The only thing I can say is, I am glad I myself have not to be party to that decision, and trust the club to make the right decision for everyone personally involved, and the club itself.
  I am sure that the club will want the situation resolved as quickly as possible.

[ravenrover]

I wonder why she didn't move after the 1st attempt?
Mason was wrong, by the way, no defence for what he did.
I will stand by the decision of the club in this matter

[idler]

Back in 1959 when I was ten or eleven I went to the Essoldo pictures on Silver St. on a Saturday afternoon. I was on my own as my mate didn't want to go.
I sat down and some time later a big navvy type in donkey jacket and wellies sat next to me. After about five minutes I felt his hand rub my leg. I thought it must be a mistake but frightened to death pretended to tie my shoe lace and then sat back. After about a minute he did it again. I was crapping myself as apart from him rubbing my leg I shouldn't have even been in town on my own. I got up and went to the toilet and then sat somewhere else near a courting couple. After about five minutes the navvy who stank of beer got up and walked up the aisle obviously looking for me wondering if I had maybe told someone. That experience lasted for years in my mind. You don't always think rationally when in a strange situation.

[aidanstu]

For those that may struggle with the issue of consent this explains throngs in way everybody can understand.

https://youtu.be/oQbei5JGiT8

[Metalmicky]

For those that may struggle with the issue of consent this explains throngs in way everybody can understand.

https://youtu.be/oQbei5JGiT8

You could open another pointless thread just in case anyone is not looking in here.....

[Alickismyhero]

Just to sum up my earlier comment:

My daughter has never touched alcohol in her life probably because she has seen her dad having had too much to drink many times in her formative years.

She is well above average strength for a woman and very able to express her feminist point of view forcefully. Having talked her through the paper reports she did say she could understand the girl freezing for a time before regaining full consciousness of what happened, but not moving away when she had the opportunity? hard to understand.

Mason has been punished by the Judge 6 months suspended jail sentance and 7 years on the Sex Offenders register, that is tough punishment. Mason and his family now have to live with the embarrassment of that night. The club punishment is on its  way and I will support the club whichever way it goes, even if Mason returns after a long suspension.

Somehow I think Mason may have learnt a very important lesson....

....NO MEANS NO!.....


something we all have to take on board.

I also have a lot of sympathy for the girl and her boyfriend who will have suffered from this incident, no winners only losers.

[drfchound]

Back in 1959 when I was ten or eleven I went to the Essoldo pictures on Silver St. on a Saturday afternoon. I was on my own as my mate didn't want to go.
I sat down and some time later a big navvy type in donkey jacket and wellies sat next to me. After about five minutes I felt his hand rub my leg. I thought it must be a mistake but frightened to death pretended to tie my shoe lace and then sat back. After about a minute he did it again. I was crapping myself as apart from him rubbing my leg I shouldn't have even been in town on my own. I got up and went to the toilet and then sat somewhere else near a courting couple. After about five minutes the navvy who stank of beer got up and walked up the aisle obviously looking for me wondering if I had maybe told someone. That experience lasted for years in my mind. You don't always think rationally when in a strange situation.

Wow, that must have been scary idler.

Good job you had the sense to move away to stop him doing anything else.

[Donnybob]

Let us take a deep breath here take away the individuals involved, avoid being emotive and look at the issue of crime and punishment.

Someone who breaks the law, is apprehended, tried and punished appropriately. What then happens to that person?

Should that person, if incarceration is deemed inappropriate, be thrown on the human scrap heap and prevented from ever working again?  To become a permanent liability on the welfare system? A pariah?

Where does it end? At what point does punishment fit the crime? Or do we continue to seek further retribution for ever?

Is not the point of having a legal system with varying degrees of punishment constructed so that the guilty party can be rehabilitated?

Had he been a brickie would he have been banned from laying any more bricks? Would he be allowed to take up joiner instead?

Because what some appear to be saying is, yes he's been an idiot, so he can no longer work again, anywhere, in any capacity. Or are you saying there are jobs he can do?

This is not how the legal system is intended to work. A crime has been identified and an appropriate punishment imposed. By the courts. It didn't happen at work, it does not affect his ability to do his job. Yes, it was unsavoury. Abhorrent. But in a civilised society do we throw every single person who breaks the law on the scrap heap forever, or do we try and rehabilitate the ways of those who transgress?

That's the fundamental issue. Unless of course we introduce the death penalty for practically every crime on the statute book.

Difficult, isn't it? If only he hadn't been such an idiot!

[IDM]

But some organisations take a dim view of certain crimes, especially where the employee is very much in the public eye..  also civilian convictions are very badly perceived in the forces where additional punishment is often given...

[sha66y]

Let us take a deep breath here take away the individuals involved, avoid being emotive and look at the issue of crime and punishment.

Someone who breaks the law, is apprehended, tried and punished appropriately. What then happens to that person?

Should that person, if incarceration is deemed inappropriate, be thrown on the human scrap heap and prevented from ever working again?  To become a permanent liability on the welfare system? A pariah?

Where does it end? At what point does punishment fit the crime? Or do we continue to seek further retribution for ever?

Is not the point of having a legal system with varying degrees of punishment constructed so that the guilty party can be rehabilitated?

Had he been a brickie would he have been banned from laying any more bricks? Would he be allowed to take up joiner instead?

Because what some appear to be saying is, yes he's been an idiot, so he can no longer work again, anywhere, in any capacity. Or are you saying there are jobs he can do?

This is not how the legal system is intended to work. A crime has been identified and an appropriate punishment imposed. By the courts. It didn't happen at work, it does not affect his ability to do his job. Yes, it was unsavoury. Abhorrent. But in a civilised society do we throw every single person who breaks the law on the scrap heap forever, or do we try and rehabilitate the ways of those who transgress?

That's the fundamental issue. Unless of course we introduce the death penalty for practically every crime on the statute book.

Difficult, isn't it? If only he hadn't been such an idiot!

Completely agree and am appalled by the vehemence of a few on here,
for pursuing an extension to a punishment...
I’m not a religious person by any means , but it seems that those clearly “WITHOUT SIN” are throwing boulders not stones....

until you know the full facts of this incident, and apply proper context,
You will only know the version that the tabloids run....

My female friend has read the free press version of this unfortunate event, and has found the article lacks both clarity and context...

I personally believe that the law of the land has deemed fit to pass down a sentence befitting the crime......and I am prepared to give this young man his footballing life back at Doncaster Rovers because Justice has been served

[Donnybob]

Mason is not in the forces, he's a footballer. If society, or the courts are going to judge him differently to an actor, a roadsweeper or a politician (for example) then surely those rules must be applied consistently across all football levels. Some have done far worse and are still playing today.

If his contract is terminated you can rest assured he'll be back in the game very soon. And that's a dilemma for the club because they lose a valuable asset, a replacement won't come cheap, nor before the next transfer window.

When a car breaks down you normally have a choice, sell it or fix it. You don't give it away if it has a decent residual value.

Like it or not, the best way forward as a caring family club is to help with his rehabilitation. Pretty sure that's what the PFA will be pleading for.

Some will agree, some won't. There is no simple solution. I agree, the club has every right to issue a second punishment in line with whatever is in the player's contract.  How draconian that is will be interesting to see.