Kerry Lovegrove, prosecuting, said the 20-year-old stole DVDs worth £69.99 from Sainsbury’s, sandwiches and cider worth £18.86 from Co-operative and a bicycle worth £500 from outside Sainsbury’s.And that was far from his only offence, of course:
She said the bike belonged to an employee who found the security chain had been cut through after finishing his shift.
CCTV footage showed Dinsdale riding away on the bike. It was never recovered.
Dinsdale, of Howard Road, Dines Green, Worcester, also failed to comply with a curfew imposed on him between the hours of 7pm and 7am. He pleaded guilty to all four offences.Pleaded guilty out of remorse?
Errr, not exactly:
Becky Connelly, defending, told the court there was little she could say about her client and said Dinsdale had taken the DVDs to sell for money to buy alcohol.As you can imagine, that didn’t go down too well:
She said he had told her that he would not comply with any orders of the court or pay any fines and that he made his feelings known on the last occasion he was in court when the curfew was imposed for breaching his anti-social behaviour order.
Deputy district judge David Miller considered sending Dinsdale for sentencing at Worcester Crown Court because he questioned whether or not 12 months imprisonment – the maximum sentence available to magistrates courts – was enough.Of course, he didn’t consider too long:
Miss Connelly said she believed it would be sufficient punishment for his crimes.And when he comes out (much, much less than 46 weeks later, of course) he’ll be a changed man, I’m sure…
Mr Miller re-sentenced Dinsdale for breaching his Asbo, sentencing him to 20 weeks in custody and added a further 26 weeks for stealing the bike.
10 comments:
The sentences were probably concurrent and not consecutive so he's probably out now. Fair play to his brief 'Becky' and amazing the muppet stipe didn't get the hint from her 'defence' of this DNA wasting slimeball and refer the case upwards, but then there's the sentencing guidelines and the prisons are full aren't they. No chance Dave and the gang will embark on a massive prison building programme?
Another success for our caring, sharing society.
If you build it, they will come. So we built a society where the feckless and indolent can swan around and flout any rules and behave as they fancy because there is no real consequence for them, other than a slight inconvenience. Sometimes.
The benefits of stealing and cheating today far outweigh any penalties our human-rights-loving society can impose.
But as for prisons... if you build them, they will come. They will come by their thousands, I would guess.
"And when he comes out (much, much less than 46 weeks later, of course) he’ll be a changed man, I’m sure…"
Oh, he certainly will. He will have learned from his fellow inmates some more tricks of the trade, and will doubtless be a much more accomplished thief on his release. He may even have learned how not to be caught so easily. Prison works, as they say...
He has to go all the way to the Co-op - Sainsbury's cider not good enough for him?
I'm grudgingly content with the judge's decision to imprison immediately because if he'd referred it for sentencing it would have been another umpteen weeks before a penalty, if any, was imposed.
Ranter
"The sentences were probably concurrent and not consecutive so he's probably out now."
Correct - as the last paragraph of the quoted report shows
Dinsdale also received 18-week sentences for each of the supermarket thefts which will run concurrently with the other two. He will serve half of his 46-week sentence in custody and the rest on licence.
Is anyone else hearing Norman Wisdom? "Mr Dinsdale! Mr Dinsdale!"
Might help if Magistrates Courts could give a 2 yr sentence. Although never would dish out the full 2 yrs, it would stop the Mags worrying about sending the case up to Crown Court for sentence and would it have the effect of raising the sentencing bar
"No chance Dave and the gang will embark on a massive prison building programme?"
Or just let out some of the people who don't require custodial sentences?
"So we built a society where the feckless and indolent can swan around and flout any rules and behave as they fancy..."
Well, quite! But then, the results of such policy are unlikely to rebound on our senior lawmakers, are they? More's the pity..
"... and will doubtless be a much more accomplished thief on his release."
I think that only holds true for a very, very few who are willing to learn. After all, if there's no real punishment, why bother?
" Although never would dish out the full 2 yrs.."
Some would. But I suspect they'd be few and far between.
"Is anyone else hearing Norman Wisdom? "Mr Dinsdale! Mr Dinsdale!""
Er, no. I'm thinking Monty Python.
As much as I loathe sharia law there are some folks who really do need their hands cutting off.
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