Don't make me laugh...
A crime victim has hit out after a thief was ordered to pay her £260 compensation for stealing her £540 phone.
Nicola Eaton was left puzzled by the court decision which left her with only half the phone’s value – and no phone.
Oh, it's even worse than that!
Mrs Eaton will only get the money back in payments stretching over two years.
*sighs*
Kingston was sentenced at Southend Magistrates’ Court on Monday, to a 12-month community order with supervision, and ordered to attend a programme designed to reduce reoffending called “Thinking Skills”.
Once again, I'm of the impression these are ordered for the
wrong side of the dock...
6 comments:
Is it too cynical to suppose a scheme called "Thinking Skills" will enable the miscreant to better-plan his future crimes, and so improve detection-evasion?
Bunny
Happened to a friend of mine back in the 80s, a Mini Cooper he had restored was hit by an uninsured driver. The court order the uninsured driver to pay him back at £5 a week, no use to my friend at all. If I am right and the thief sold it for half its value, he is up in cash-flow terms, useless decision from the idiot on the bench.
I just went looking for it ... but embarrassing stuff for the courts and justice system has a way of disappearing from Newsquest UK titles....
Aggressive drunk stoved in a large display window of a local sole trader shop next door to the pub he was refused entry to = £1500 damage. Half wit magistrates order him to pay less than a quarter of the cost of the window...
There's also the other side of the coin too. I once clipped someones door mirror on their car, ok it was a Merc, but even so, a replacement glass isn't £400, and this was 25 years ago.
It was a works van, so was insured. Anyway months later, a bailiff turned up at the door and went round poinding all and sundry. I let him carry on, and when he'd finished I ask if he'd done, and then said "You aint taking fuck all". He then got all stroppy and said words to the effect of "Don't get stroppy, cos I'll have a van round here sharpish with some big lads".
I then pointed out to him he wasn't taking anything because this was the birds place, and nothing in it was mine. He then went "Er....I'll have to get back to the office and get back to you". A few months later I got a letter from the county court where I had to swear an affidavit to say that this was so, which I did, and was asked to make an offer of payment. I said I can afford £4 per calender month (which was less than £1 per week) which was accepted (He'd no friggin choice). I think I paid for about 6 mths and heard no more on the matter (And let's be fair, I can nip down to Halfords and buy a mirror glass even for a Merc, for less than a tenner today, let alone 25 years ago).
Let's just say that some folk take the piss where compo payouts are concerned.
"... will enable the miscreant to better-plan his future crimes, and so improve detection-evasion?"
The thief here was a woman, but I see what you mean.
"Half wit magistrates order him to pay less than a quarter of the cost of the window... "
GAH!
"Let's just say that some folk take the piss where compo payouts are concerned."
True enough. Look at this ghastly bitch for a prime example.
How about changing the rules so that the thief pays back the whole amount plus compensation and if they can't pay from their own resources there's a resident loan shark available.
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