It takes courage to burgle someone

[BadFish]

I am only saying that the burglar in the case which Gareth started the thread about was Ill with addiction when he did the crime and has taken a lot of steps to address his problem.

I don't know whether he has shown remorse for what he did whilst in the grip of a powerful addiction but I do know that folks who are smack heads tend not to make rational choices and would sell their own kids to fend off the DTs.

Not sending him down, it turns out, was the right thing to do. The judge will get a spanking off the press for calling burglary an act of courage. If he'd said "absolute f***ing desperation" we would be closer to the proper terminology.

Burglary for greed is different from burglary to support a drug addiction. To understand the difference you would have to either have been a heroin addict or to have lived in an area where a lot of your good friends became one. Wishing them dead is harsh and doesn't speak to the broader issue at all.

I was also an A&E nurse for some years and have seen too many dead addicts to think that the utter waste of those young lives is a good thing for society.

These are similar ideas to the other thread. These ideas are often taken as excuses for criminal behaviour, I don't think that anyone can condone the act of burglary. However by seeking to explain why it happens and what puts people in the position of making that choice we can seek to make adjustments to our society in order to stop it happening the first time or changing the factors which turn a smacked out kid making a bad choice into a career criminal by giving him/her a criminal record and access to a whole heap of other criminal in prison where they can learn their trade. To my mind in this case the judge has made the correct call.

NB: to call burglary courageous is just stupid and I would guess the Judge is kicking himself for using that word when he probably meant something else, but we've all done that haven't we?

 

[dingodan]

What the Judge said is true, on both counts. It takes balls (read also as desperation) to attempt to burgle someones house.

Also, prison does little to help the offender to change, if anything it has a negative effect.

These things are true, they are just politically inconvenient in a society which is constantly demanding the blood of the wrongdoers.

 

[spongy]

Yes I agree to to what everybody has said, of course prevention is better than cure and in some cases rehabilitation is better than punishment, I would be ignorant to not see that.

It's just from my parents view point I am writing this, the thief who stole from them was never found, we don't know whether it was to feed an addiction or a greed burglary. But if they were to read about this then they wouldnt be happy and would see it as being a soft punishment for what they went through.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I am only saying that the burglar in the case which Gareth started the thread about was Ill with addiction when he did the crime and has taken a lot of steps to address his problem.

I don't know whether he has shown remorse for what he did whilst in the grip of a powerful addiction but I do know that folks who are smack heads tend not to make rational choices and would sell their own kids to fend off the DTs.

Not sending him down, it turns out, was the right thing to do. The judge will get a spanking off the press for calling burglary an act of courage. If he'd said "absolute f***ing desperation" we would be closer to the proper terminology.

Burglary for greed is different from burglary to support a drug addiction. To understand the difference you would have to either have been a heroin addict or to have lived in an area where a lot of your good friends became one. Wishing them dead is harsh and doesn't speak to the broader issue at all.

I was also an A&E nurse for some years and have seen too many dead addicts to think that the utter waste of those young lives is a good thing for society.

This.

 

[TheMajor]

The judge reportedly told the offender on Tuesday: "It takes a huge amount of courage, as far as I can see, for somebody to burgle somebody's house.

And on that basis it would also take a lot of balls to shoot a crap judge.

 

[father_and_son]

I have been "burgled" in a holiday apartment (cash, cameras, etc stolen) but was out at the time.

I have been IN for two attempted burglaries (one at home, one in a hotel room). I can assure you that when confronted by me, in both cases stark-bollock-naked chasing them down the street and hotel corridor respectively, none of the offenders were "brave".

They run away, crapping themselves like the cowards they were. What surprised me was how, in both instances, I wasn't scared and gave chase without thinking about knives or other weapons THEY may have had. In both cases I gave up the chase when I realised I was running naked through a public place with people watching!

 

[Bevendean Hillbilly]

I have been "burgled" in a holiday apartment (cash, cameras, etc stolen) but was out at the time.

I have been IN for two attempted burglaries (one at home, one in a hotel room). I can assure you that when confronted by me, in both cases stark-bollock-naked chasing them down the street and hotel corridor respectively, none of the offenders were "brave".

They run away, crapping themselves like the cowards they were. What surprised me was how, in both instances, I wasn't scared and gave chase without thinking about knives or other weapons THEY may have had. In both cases I gave up the chase when I realised I was running naked through a public place with people watching!

Man, you must spend a lot of time in the buff.

 

[glasfryn]

A new expression has entered the English language: "As brave as a burglar". Either that or we could have "As daft as a judge"

EDIT: I do agree with him though that prison rarely works. It WAS an unfortunate choice of words though.

it might if there were more of them, they were bigger, and prisoners sentences were what they say they are 6 years means 6 years and not 1/3 off for good behavior ect ect and of coarse they were drug free which would mean less or no visits no outside working parties and anyone bringing drugs in no matter who, spends their sentence in the prison they got caught in and on a more personal note one hour only exercise otherwise lock-up.
Oh and further to that not private jails the prison service has become very sloppy since the privatisation of prisons and court duties and transportation

END RANT