Hi
Unfortunately on Tuesday someone did break into my garage and attempted to break into my house, they stole nothing but tried to put our kitchen window through to get to our car keys which where on display (not any more). So the question is what should be the punishment for them if caught I say chop a hand off, what's your thoughts?
Back in early September we were he victims of an aggravated burglary, aggravated is when the burglar enters the building holding a weapon, in this case the 2 men were carrying knives, caused damage and grievous bodily harm.
They were caught within the hour and have been held in custody ever since despite numerous appeals for bail.
If charged with burglary and found guilty they could be sentenced to up to 14 years imprisonment as they have been charged with aggravated burglary the maximum sentence is life but solicitors say they are probably looking at a sentence of up to 10 years.
The case will be heard on 24th February and they will remain in custody until that time.
One of the accused has a previous conviction for murder.
The sentences in the UK are fine the problem is that we don't give people the maximum sentence and then what we do give them is halved by good behaviour instead of increased for bad behaviour.
they should be violated in their own home in every room so they know what it feels like to have a thief break in.
about 7 years ago a friend of mine was broken into a robbed of some very sentimental goods.
it took about 3 weeks to find out who did it, so he set about his revenge.
he sent the guy a letter saying he had won a two day stay for two in a hotel with a gift voucher for a hotel, stating he had to go on a certain two days, he waited for the guy and his partner to leave and then jemmied the front door and and unloaded the guys complete house into 3 vans.
when the guy returned he had nothing no clothes,cooker not even a light fitting! waiting at the door was my Friend who handed him a list of things he wanted returned in exchange for the thief's contents.
took a few weeks but he got it all back and from what we know the thief went straight and now works as a local bin man.
There used to be a very good blog by Inspector Gadget (as the name suggests, a police Inspector) who would often complain about the CPS.
He would often see the same people getting nicked by his lads time after time and either the Crown Prosecution Service decline to prosecute (they are also know as Criminal Protection Service) or the magistrate give them yet another chance, usually after about 40 other appearances before the bench.
There are a couple of very good books, Wasting Police Time, and Wasting More Police Time - be warned though, you will end up fizzing with anger at the useless criminal justice system and will also have a lot more respect for our police if you get them (I got them on my kindle for next to bugger all).
about 18months ago we were broken into in the middle of the night. the scum in question tried to enter the house via the garage (most garage door locks are pitiful from a security standpoint) they then managed to get into the kitchen via the internal garage door. its at this point that my german shepards woke up and shot downstairs at warp factor 10. i got up and headed downstairs, where i found our white tiled kitchen floor looking like a scene from a butchers shop, with both my dogs drooling blood and looking fairly happy with themselves.
one of the said scum was arrested at the local A&E trying to get a large wound in his bicep stitched up, the other was arrested in the car park of the hospital waiting for his mate to get out so he could get his own wounds attended to.
8months later in court they both got 100hrs of community service after giving a sob story of drug addiction/broken homes and families to feed.
moral of my tale is, forget the burgalar alarm, and get yourself tooled up with as many dogs as you can manage, preferably large with teeth and an attitude to match.
your house and family will be safe and you will be living with your best friends for life.
The shit heads have tried getting in again twice again since I posted this tread so if you seen on the news bugular found dead in Manchester you know I will have caught the shitheads arrrr
CCTV is a waste of time, apart from the bonus of being able to watch them break into your house time and again.
most chav theives dont give a damm about cctv, if they want what you got they will try to take it, lets face it, its easier than having to work for it.
the only deterrent is violence, whether by hungry large dog or baseball bat. HV tazers are available on ebay, i'd advise picking one up, as a non lethal means of deterring said chav the judge might look on this as reasonable force, but thats a coin flip.
most chavs break in either when your not at home or at night when your asleep, dogs are probably the best option, but if cannine commitment is too much just do the best you can.
good alarm system, with sms capability is a no brainer these days, chavs hate alarms. zoned so you can cover the house but still move around upstairs.
remote panic buttons to activate internal sounders in case you get breached during the day.
lockable window catches, and DONT LEAVE THE KEYS IN THEM as every one seems to do.
deadlocks on main doors.
and last of all good insurance cos if they want it they will try to take it
So after 6 months of being in prison on remand awaiting the case to come to trial we finally got a trial date. went to court only to find that CPS decided to do a deal with them, they changed their pleas to guilty when all 5 witnesses turned up (special thanks to our Polish neighbours who turned up despite the hassle from their employment agency urging them not to).
They pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in return for having the 2nd charge of aggravated burglary being dropped.
Personally I am annoyed, the evidence was overwhelming against them and a conviction could have been easily gained but the CPS have gone for the cheaper option, the trial was estimated to take 3 days, 3 days barrister, 3 days interpreters, jury costs, witness costs etc etc, yes it would have cost a lot but isn't that what we pay taxes for, these guys are prevalent offenders, letting them out sooner is only going to cost more in the long run when they commit more offences. Sentencing will take place next Monday I will let you know .........
Sitting here watching "Police Interceptors" a programme I enjoy, it is just as annoying though as CPS decide not to charge a guy with burglary and car theft (having stolen the cars keys in the burglary) leading the Police in a dangerous car chase and hitting another vehicle, despite being arrested inside the stolen care the CPS said "lack of evidence to prosecute".
In another instance an arrest following the use of the Police Helicopter is also deemed "insufficient evidence for assault" by the CPS.
I am sure there are many times when prosecution is not in the publics interest because of insufficient evidence but all too often it seems to be just "money saving" by the CPS, a false economy in my opinion since these criminals are free to commit more crimes and cost the taxpayer more money instead of being locked up. I feel sorry for the Police who put so much time and effort into catching these people only to have them laugh in their faces as they are being released, I would wonder if it was worthwhile in the first place as a job.
Vlad the impailer had the right idea.
The sentence
1 got 14 months for assault, as he had been on remand for 7 months he was freed immediately.
Apart from the long list of convictions he already has for drug taking, drug dealing, assault and other such nice things it is just another thing for Judges to disregard in the future.
The charge of aggravated burglary was dropped (possible sentence 14yrs) and the charge of assault with a deadly weapon (they were carrying knives and a hammer) was reduced to one of assault in order to get them to change their plea from not guilty to guilty and save some taxpayers money.
The second one got 18months probation, he was not held in custody because unlike the other one he wasn't already on tag when the offence was committed and therefore did not break any of the rules of being tagged.
5 witnesses for the prosecution turned up in court including 2 polish neighbours and the girlfriend of one of the accused. Forensic evidence was good and the weapons described by the witnesses were found in the defendants car when they were stopped and arrested.
My claim for £1000+ in damages after they had rampaged in the house smashing TV's and such with the hammer was refused as they were never convicted of the burglary.
So I lose the criminals win and the Government think they have saved some money by not having to go to trial.
Truth is these guys will re-offend soon and more Police time Court Time, Probation Service time will be spent on dealing with them, probably more than would be spent by trying them and imprisoning them for offences committed years ago for which they should still be locked up and should have been locked up instead of attacking my family and my home.
It does too often seem that the Crims get away with it and the innocent victims are literally left to pick up the pieces. Can't see any of the current crop of politicians having the guts to change it tho. Maybe Nigel's mob would be less tolerant of the wrong-doers ??
John
It's Jed.
Face the fact that his post's don't always make sense.
No I mean I caught them ransacking and damaging my house, this was also witnessed by Sasha and a friend who stays with us and 2 Polish guys who live opposite who all completed witness statements and turned up at Court when required, forensic evidence confirmed the identities of the burglars and evidence was found in their vehicle when arrested on the motorway, they were also carrying the hammers and knives used in the assault. They were promptly arrested and as one was on tag and had broken the conditions of the tagging order by leaving his town of residence (Lytham St Annes) he was remanded in custody for 7 months until the trial the other 2 were put on bail.
Charges against the driver were later dropped as there was not enough evidence to prove he knew what was going on during the burglary the other 2 were charged with aggravated burglary and assault with a weapon.
They pleaded not guilty but on the day of the trial changed their pleas to guilty of assault and not guilty of aggravated burglary (max sentence for that is 14 yrs) as a plea bargain, the one who broke his tagging order was given 14 months imprisonment and released the next day because he had already served 7 months on remand, the other guy was given an 18month suspended sentence.
Because the were never tried or convicted of the burglar I cannot claim compensation for the damage caused during that offence.
The claim was made in two formats, as part of the statement I made, the Police asked about any damages and the cost then I got a letter from the Witness assistance people with a claim form and another on the day of the trial so that the Judge could award damages/compensation but as they were never tried for the offence no compensation/damages could be awarded.
If anyone can advise on taking out a civil suit against them I would appreciate the advice but as they have never been convicted of entering the property or doing any damage not sure where I stand on this.
The claim was made in two formats, as part of the statement I made, the Police asked about any damages and the cost then I got a letter from the Witness assistance people with a claim form and another on the day of the trial so that the Judge could award damages/compensation but as they were never tried for the offence no compensation/damages could be awarded.
If anyone can advise on taking out a civil suit against them I would appreciate the advice but as they have never been convicted of entering the property or doing any damage not sure where I stand on this.
You could issue a county court summons and claim for the cost of the damage but unless the defendants have assets, you could be wasting your time.
Go see a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau. They were convicted of a crime during which your property was damaged. I can't see how you can't have a claim for compensation. Or go to see your Member of Parliament!
Have you tried claiming on your house insurance?
most of those systems can be "added" to so that you could have upto 12 indoor and outdoor cameras. There are also pan, tilt and zoom cameras available operated by remote control from your pc/I phone anywhere in the world (with a wifi signal) 
