Prosecuting, Paul Ricketts had told how Gibbon, 24, of Ashley House, Kingsdown, was caught raiding someone's home in the early hours of last New Year's Eve.And they turned up just in time:
At about 4.20am, the neighbour of the victim called the police after he heard the sound of smashing glass in their Bristol street.
Officers saw Gibbon trying to smash his way out of a ground-floor flat window.Heh!
They told him to stop, but he ran away, straight into the arms of one of the officers.
In police interview, Gibbon said someone had told him the house belonged to a drug dealer and it contained a safe which had £1,500 in cash and some drugs in it.Well, there’s a shocker! Could it be his story was bogus from the start?
Mr Ricketts said the house did have a safe, but it was empty, and the notion that the house belonged to a drug dealer was "completely unfounded".
It’s not like he didn’t have experience at it, after all…
Gibbon, who was supported by a handful of friends in the public gallery, had 24 previous convictions consisting of 49 offences and he had been previously jailed for burglary.Mitigation?
Mitigating, Giles Nelson said: "This is a young man who has been losing the battle with drugs for the last ten years."Really? Sounds to me like he’s holding his own.
He said his client had been honest with the police, the court and the probation service, when they carried out a pre-sentence report.Why did they need to write a new one? Couldn’t they just drag out the one they must have prepared the last 24 times and update it?
Gibbon wrote a remorseful letter to Judge Hagen and said he was determined to change his ways.Oh, yeah. How many times have we seen that before? The shysters must have a damned template for the things…
Judge Hagen said: "I will give you a chance. What you make of that chance is up to you."He’s had all his chances, you cretin!
She imposed a one-year community order, containing six months' drug rehabilitation and regular drug testing, and supervision by probation.Didn’t you read the history? He’s probably got his own file cabinet at the Probation Office!
Judge Hagen reserved his drug treatment reviews and any further court hearings to herself, before warning him: "If you fail to complete these requirements you will be in breach and back you come to be sentenced – and you know the consequences."Yes, I’m sure you’ll be really, really hard on him next time. But then, he probably isn’t going to burgle you, is he?
Visibly nervous, Gibbon admitted to the judge: "It needs to stop. Thank you ever so much for giving me this chance."We’re doomed…
As he walked out of court, he added, "that's brilliant, thank you ever so much your honour," before being reunited with his relieved friends.
* Do I mean recidivists, or judges? Your call.
I wait with bated breath for the results of a trial in which a judge is burgled
ReplyDeleteNo need for a template; this scene is played out in miniature every day in our schools.
ReplyDeleteBy the time they hit the courts, these characters have already perfected every nuance of their 'very sorry, will try to change,' routine thanks to dozens of 'second chances' and repeated visits to the head's office.
The lawyers may refine the details, but the performance is already well-rehearsed. Presumably with 24 previous convictions as well, Gibbon should be up for some kind of criminal BAFTA.
Never mind burgled; this one isn't averse to threatening with a knife and he's just dim enough to use one, too.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Man-held-kitchen-knife-near-driver/story-11261912-detail/story.html
I don't reckon we'll get any change until a judge or one of their family is stabbed during a burglary; maybe then they'll understand that them polishing their halos not helping either the victims or the criminals.
" Mitigating, Giles Nelson said: "This is a young man who has been losing the battle with drugs for the last ten years" ...
ReplyDeleteAs he quite obviously has no chance of ever winning that battle, surely society should offer him a helping hand, by putting him (and us) out of his misery ..
Permanently !
My diary is clear for the next few weeks & my shooting skills are still well up to scratch ..
One thousand five hundred in cash in a drug-dealer's safe?
ReplyDeleteI thought drug dealers made scads more than that. Must be damned inflation and competition ruining the market.
".. this scene is played out in miniature every day in our schools."
ReplyDeleteOh, indeed! And we wonder why we are breeding a nation of feral, unemployable youth.. :*(
"I don't reckon we'll get any change until a judge or one of their family is stabbed during a burglary.."
I'm not sure we'll get any change even then. I'm really beginning to think this country is doomed.
"I thought drug dealers made scads more than that. Must be damned inflation and competition ruining the market."
Times are hard everywhere, it seems!