£1m stolen in 665 raids. Yet burglar walks free... and is given a new home

[eshrules]

He didn't hold a gun to anyones head, never raped, murdered or assaulted anyone and any items/cash stolen will have been covered by insurance. This is I grant you an incredibly extreme case but I agree with G4Z, given the over populated nature of our prisons I think it's high time we started looking at doing things a little differently.

I know the number of crimes he's committed is extremely high but he plead guilty to every one, then asked for 645 more to be taken into account (I bet that saved the police a few bob as well) is it really worth spending £200k keeping that lad locked up for the next five years just because the number of crimes he committed is extremely high? Maybe, maybe not, but it's worth a gamble i my opinion.

Have you ever been burgled, mugged or had property damaged/stolen? I can tell you, it's not a pleasant experience and gun used or not, it's a violation of one of our core human rights.

I find myself torn, I agree with your point(s) but I also feel that those who commit such crimes deserve to serve a fitting punishment. Putting the chap up in a house (monitored or not) away from his original area with his missus is not what I consider to be a fitting punishment.

Let's hope the guy proves to be the epitome of reformation, I'd dread to think what he may get up to next.

a friend, who asked not to be named, said: 'He is cock-a-hoop about this

[bobfleming]

He didn't hold a gun to anyones head, never raped, murdered or assaulted anyone and any items/cash stolen will have been covered by insurance.

Oh well in that case get the guy a car too, we don't want the poor lad having to walk anywhere do we!
A smiths song always comes into my head when I see stuff like this:

He was a sweet and tender hooligan, hooligan
And he swore that he'll never, never do it again
And of course he won't (oh, not until the next time)


Poor old man
He had an "accident" with a three-by-five
But that's OK
Because he wasn't very happy anyway
Poor woman
Strangled in her very own bed as she read
But that's OK
Because she was old and she would have died anyway
DON'T BLAME


The sweet and tender hooligan, hooligan
Because he'll never, never, never, never, never, never do it again
(not until the next time)

If it wasn't so sad it would be funny.

[Disturbedguy]

Way to dig up an old thread :S

[Saracen]

He didn't hold a gun to anyones head, never raped, murdered or assaulted anyone and any items/cash stolen will have been covered by insurance. This is I grant you an incredibly extreme case but I agree with G4Z, given the over populated nature of our prisons I think it's high time we started looking at doing things a little differently.

I know the number of crimes he's committed is extremely high but he plead guilty to every one, then asked for 645 more to be taken into account (I bet that saved the police a few bob as well) is it really worth spending £200k keeping that lad locked up for the next five years just because the number of crimes he committed is extremely high? Maybe, maybe not, but it's worth a gamble i my opinion.

Hold up .... you're assuming that any items and/or cash stolen were covered by insurance, which may or may not be the case. Not everyone covers everything, and not everyone can even afford to have contents cover at all.

Secondly, burglary isn't just about the material value of stuff nicked, it;s about the effect on the occupants. One elderly lady I know had to move home after being burgled for the second time because she didn't feel safe in her own home, and that's the home she'd lived in for most of her adult life, raised her kids in and shared her husband for some 40 years, until he died leaving her alone in it.

Thirdly, asking for loads of other offences to be "taken into account" really just means that the police get to clear their "solved" statistics down a bit. If they've already got some scumbag dead to rights, rarely does 'coming clean' significantly affect the sentence, and it does mean that they can't subsequently be prosecuted for those crimes. Far from showing any contrition or remorse, all it does it's wipes the slate clean and lets the offender get off clean on those.

Granted, you can't take a newspaper report, maybe especially one from certain papers, as entirely comprehensive and balanced in it's reporting, but nonetheless, the story as reported strikes me as an absolute travesty and, regardless of supervision or police visits (if they happen), this seems to be to be a betrayal of honest people who quite rightly feel that the system doesn't protect them, but also feel (not quite so rightly) that they'll be in deep trouble if they take steps to protect themselves.

[Saracen]

Way to dig up an old thread :S

Well, it's not that old, and I could say "Way to make a new member feel welcome".

This member has only just joined, and if he wants to comment on a thread a few weeks old, then I for one welcome it .... and him.

[jim]

He has re-offended, and been banged up for 5 years

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-10865629

[scaryjim]

No great surprise really. My concern is that they think he'd already committed a number of crimes before he was caught and banged up. If I'd been responsible for allowing him in to my Force's area, I'd've been keeping a much closer eye on him than that...

[DeludedGuy]

I was just going to post this...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/au...iminal-justice


but yeah, big LOL.

[g8ina]

First judge should be in there with him.

[jim]

First judge should be in there with him.

Same judge both times