Steal and Shmash!
Near the bottom of the article:
Rakesh Bhasin, a solicitor partner at the law firm Steel & Shamash, which represents some of those charged following the riots, said some reported sentences seemed to be "disproportionate".
(
flatfrog Staring vacantly into space, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 20:26,
Reply)
he is not wrong, well said Mr Bhasin
expenses scandal: £8 stolen, 4 - 6 months jail
rioting and looting: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-14549260 "Three men thought to be among the first in England to appear at crown court after last week's riots and looting have been jailed for up to two years."
The sentences are ridiculous.
(
Avast is still alive!!!!, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 20:33,
Reply)
I dunno
4-6 months for stealing eight pounds seems a little harsh.
Do agree with you though.
(
gingerfreak Why? Why not., Tue 16 Aug 2011, 21:01,
Reply)
hahahah
yeah, oops, thanks for spotting that.
(
Avast is still alive!!!!, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 21:51,
Reply)
6 months for £8?
Seems more than harsh... I'm happy to see *any* criminal prosecuted, but anyone claiming that they nicked a 42" tv and a stack of trainers did it because they "had a right" to them, or as "a protest 'cos of taxes an' shit, innit" is basically an oxygen thief - especially as they're also the ones who are out every day causing the sorts of low level damage and shitty behaviour that generally lowers the quality of life of their unfortunate neighbours.
I am all for helping those that need it, but these little shits and their ilk basically don't want to work, join in with society or xo anything that require effort - they seem to think they have a "right" to live a consequence free lifestyle at the taxpayers expense. To tar the rest of the disadvantaged with the same brush is an insult to the decent habitants of those areas - the ones whose homes and businesses were destroyed; the ones who were out trying to stop the thugs and who were out cleaning up the debris.
My parents were never rich and my father grew up as one of nine children in a three bedroom council house after the war when there was *real* poverty and devastation, but his parents and his siblings worked when they could (bearing in mind his father had been deafened and had a plate in his head after being caught by a grenade in Norway) and made do with what they could afford - they were far more disadvantaged than the assholes who went on a rampage out of a sense of being owed a living, I'm certain.
(, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 21:13, Reply)
he lived in a shoebox in the middle of the road and left for work before he got home, no doubt
(
scarpe We Stole Bikes, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 21:25,
Reply)
Nope...
Three-bedroomed terraced house, as stated.
The point is that just because you are poor, it doesn't excuse thievery. Aside from basic shelter, food and freedom from abuse, no-one has a *right* to anything that they don't earn in some way. Banging out six kids by six different fathers, or actively avoiding work in order to live off the state, or smashing up the town because you ran out of credit on your £300 smartphone and your dole isn't due for a week is not acceptable behaviour. My point was that my grandparents did what they could to live a decent life, my father worked his way up to middle-classdom and bought his own home and raised me to work hard to earn the things I want.
In all fairness, under the previous government (who should take sole responsibility for the way the younger generation turned out, as it happened on their watch - they were in for 14 years, after all) created a climate where the actively workshy grew used to a standard of living that was unaffordable for the taxpayers, but also made them believe anything less was an attack on their human rights. They were taught that anyone pointing out that shoplifting, vandalism and happy-slapping was unacceptable were infringing their cool liberties and provided a legal system that cared more about the criminal's rights than those of the victim. The sentences are within the remit of the law an only appear harsh because we have grown used to news stories where some little moron steals, smashes and pillages their way round an estate and laughs on the way out of court after receiving community service and a visit from social services to see if he isn't stressed out by his ordeal.
If you break the law, you cannot be surprised to be punished for it - as the saying goes: if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. These morons weren't desperate people looting for food (as after Katrina hit New Orleans), these were assholes who thought that they could steal consumer goods and sell them on eBay with impunity.
(, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 22:22, Reply)
you are a tory troll aicmfp
okay, i'm bored with time to spare... let's examine your post sentence by sentence using our intellect, logic and reason...
(
artifus is doing it all wrong, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 22:39,
Reply)
you forgot to add 'in my humble opinion'
on multiple occasions in your post.
(
artifus is doing it all wrong, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 21:35,
Reply)
4 years for setting up a FB group encouraging a riot.
A riot that didn't even happen.
I'm not saying some sort of punishment is not in order, but 4 years?
(
scarpe We Stole Bikes, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 21:30,
Reply)
Last time I looked..
Trying to incite a riot was a criminal activity, much like conspiring to commit murder. Idiots need to learn that saying "yay, other idiots are attacking the police, looting, vandalising and have killed innocent people - let's join in!" is unacceptable.
If you are trying to curry sympathy for these clowns, I think you are going to find it a very disappointing venture.
(, Tue 16 Aug 2011, 22:32, Reply)