UK: Man punches wife 24 times, no jail time.

Crime: Not even a month or something. Sometimes the Judges in the UK seem they just can't bother doing their job correctly.

A senior doctor who savagely beat up his wife after they argued about buying a new car has escaped a prison sentence. Anaesthetics consultant Stuart Brown, 37, threw his wife to the floor and punched her at least 24 times as she lay at his feet. He claimed a "red mist" descended after she went to sleep in the spare bedroom. The vicious assault on Carol Mcewan followed regular verbal and physical abuse during their seven-year marriage. But Brown, 37, who is thought to earn £100,000 a year, walked free from court after being ordered to pay her just £500 in compensation. Magistrates decided against jailing him because he had no prior convictions and was of previous "good character". Presiding magistrate John Warne told him: "No punishment this court could enforce could come anywhere near the impact you feel this had on you, your profession and your colleagues."

This second case seems even more clear cut.

Detective Sergeant Ian Fox, of Norfolk police, said: "This shows that domestic violence knows no class boundaries and can affect people from all walks of life." A force insider added: "The sentence does not send a warning to abusive partners. Being of otherwise good character is no excuse for domestic abuse." Cambridge graduate Colin Read, 25, was fined on Monday for using the iron on his wife, medical student Elizabeth, also 25. He also slashed her with a knife after she forgot to make his sandwiches. Read was even spared a community punishment because the judge ruled he was unlikely to reoffend and he was "too busy" to complete any order.

The wife is probably lucky the judge didn't fine her for getting in the way of the iron.