UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-...sets-one-free/

:eek:

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

"I don't think anyone would benefit" if a burglar was locked up? WTF?????
What about all the victims and would-be victims?
It isn't "courageous" to burgle someone's home- it is evil, and should be punished. Those nasty bits of work are all having their egos boosted.

Stop me before I go off into a rant about judges having no sense of reality....

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

Careful, it has all the hallmarks of a UK newspaper warping of the story.

Two burglaries, first offence, druggie, confessed, helped police, getting off drugs - and he got supervision order which appears to be in keeping with the sentencing guidelines, which the judge deplored.

Seems like the problem is with the guidelines and maybe how they are applied, rather than particular quotes.

Judge said:
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/te...4229-31770544/

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

Cmon stop spoiling the game for the woozers...... can't believe people quote these stories.

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

What's the point in spending forty thousand quid of taxpayer money on keeping a recovering substance abuser in prison? Prisoners with that duration sentence don't get any training or education, and you're certainly not keeping them away from addictive substances. What do you think would happen to them when they get out and they're broke, addicted and one more year out of the workforce?

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

The fact is the judge did indeed make that statement. Had he not and had just explained why it was considered to be a mistake to send him to prison, it would have been generally accepted. By making that completely moronic statement, he's caused uproar for no apparent reason other than to get his picture on the front page of various UK rags.

I have no problem with various criminals not going to prison for whatever reason, but I do have issues with judges who think it clever or even amusing to step outside their remit and make the entire system look stupid.

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

There is no point at all- let's just shoot them instead.:sneaky:

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

Note to self: Don't burgle CP's house. ;)

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

What a tit.

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

Well,

a) its pretty unlikely he was trying to get his picture in the newspaper - isn't it? Much more that the UK rags picked up and ran with an unfortunate set of words so they could make a fast buck, misrepresent what was going on, and generally sh*tstir - which is what they have done.

b) making a judgement in line with the sentencing guidelines IS within their remit, as is explaining their reasoning. Seems to think the individual is showing guts and turning things around (and hence the verdict) and chose to use an example of those guts which could get blown out of all proportion by the press.

c) its the press who've tried to make the system look bad, by only selectively quoting and not putting forward the other things the judge said.

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

As posted by another on here... Completely true quote/ story! I am in England and this incompetent idiot has dominated not just the papers, but the news, breakfast chat shows and the house of commons! The fact a few on here assumed it was a miss quote or a spun story by our less than trustworthy journo's just goes to show how unbelievable this prat has been!
Welcome to England! A beautiful country, rich in history and culture, where the jails are full to capacity, peadophiles are free to roam your local parks, burglars are praised by judges as brave and set free to terrorise again, and all the while it's the good hardworking who are being left to deal with the conciquences.
If you're feeling homesick I hope this helps!

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

With the prison population up 66% between 1995 and 2009, and 70% of prisoners having 2 or more mental illnesses, and 50% of prisoners are illiterate, and 55% of prisoners with a serious drug addiction, and a prison spot costing £41,000 a year, that judge must be totally cut off from reality to say that sending someone to prison rarely does anybody any good.

http://www.criminaljusticealliance.o...ispopstory.pdf
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-...stics/prisons/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8463492.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/fr...00/8174870.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8640399.stm

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

It wasn't a misquote but it was quoted with no context. And the judge was not calling burglars courageous but saying that it took courage for this one criminal to override the societal norms that others live by to feed his drug addiction. An addiction that he incidentally picked up whilst in prison. The context was that he was a man who had already used that 'difference' in himself to overcome his addiction (at the time of sentencing) and perhaps the subtext that he could continue to use this to improve himself further.

The ratty little journalist who picked this one up must have just widdled himself with excitement at the thought of how much damage he could do with it.

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

The problem is what do you do with them. I suggested to an army mate that they should be shipped to Afghanistan and put on the front line to see what a cushy life that had back in the UK but the army don't want them. Penal colonies would be a good idea.

Re: UK judge declares burglars 'courageous'
 

Really ? :)