Two years jail for bike thief

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Vorpal
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Two years jail for bike thief

Post by Vorpal »

While I'm glad the thief got what he deserved. It begs the question why someone who is responsible for (admitted) £11,000 of illicit gain gets 2 years, while someone who kills a cyclist doesn't.

http://road.cc/content/news/56196-londo ... -two-years
Last edited by Vorpal on 5 Apr 2012, 12:05pm, edited 1 time in total.
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daveg
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Re: Two years jail for bike thief

Post by daveg »

The way I read that he's got one year suspended for two years and various other bits on top of that. Unlikely to be a guest of Her Majesty I would think.

Reading the article I wondered how much it had cost seeing all who had been involved, and how much it was still going to cost if they were looking to to something under Proceeds of Crime. Can't see that effort being kept up as the size of Police force shrinks.
If it wasn't for cars, there wouldn't be the amount of tarmac that there is.
snibgo
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Re: Two years jail for bike thief

Post by snibgo »

Amewode got 2 years jail; O'Meara got 52 weeks suspended for 2 years and 150 hours community.
thirdcrank
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Re: Two years jail for bike thief

Post by thirdcrank »

In the context of the recent discussions on the suitabilty or otherwise of the CJ system for dealing with bad driving, this shows that given the right circumstances, it still works OK for traditional crime.
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meic
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Re: Two years jail for bike thief

Post by meic »

It is a measure of how strongly people feel about the "get out of jail free" tickets given by Judges for motorists who kill cyclists that nobody seems able to revel in a couple of bike thieves getting their just punishment.

Though would any body like to make out a statistical calculation of the likelihood of a bike thief actually getting prosecuted even?

I dont really see that if offers much of a deterrent to practising bike thieves either but it should prevent the likes of myself from getting tempted.
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thirdcrank
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Re: Two years jail for bike thief

Post by thirdcrank »

meic wrote: ...Though would any body like to make out a statistical calculation of the likelihood of a bike thief actually getting prosecuted even? ...


One initial thing is that taking a pedal cycle is only a summary offence. It only becomes theft when there is an intention to deprive the owner permanently. This means that unless there is evidence - as there was in this case - of a bike being taken then sold or another clear sign that the owner would never see it again, there'd be not much hope of a conviction for theft. Somebody caught in the act might well be able to say that they were only intending having a ride. The days when they always said something like "You are too good for me Mr Chisolm, I'll come quiet" are long gone. There was also evidence in this case of somebody acting systematically which must have been a big aggravating factor in the eventual sentence. It's a matter of human resources. Your typical beat constable, being sent from job to job and dashing about like a BAF just hasn't the time to follow something like this up. As I've said many times before on here, it's a matter of something being recognised as a problem. When it is, people are assigned to deal with it - as in this case.

It just needs persistance - attending police consultation meetings and the like. That's how all these PCSO's come to be issuing fixed penalties for pavement cycling.
karlt
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Re: Two years jail for bike thief

Post by karlt »

Vorpal wrote:While I'm glad the thief got what he deserved. It begs the question why someone who is responsible for (admitted) £11,000 of illicit gain gets 2 years, while someone who kills a cyclist doesn't.

http://road.cc/content/news/56196-londo ... -two-years



Intent. Very important legally, thank God.
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