I'm very proud of my son

Iask myself, if i was defending myself and my mother, after more than on attack by someone driving a van at me.Would i be shooting at the passenger side of the vehicle. Not so sure i would have that level of restraint.
Well done to the young man for sticking to his guns.Excuse the pun.
Pleased that no one was seriously injured.
Saddened that the low life theives didnt get all they deserve from plod.
According to a junior police officer I spoke to yesterday, the recommendation to charge him with just theft came from a senior police officer, and it isn't difficult to work out a possible reason for this.


BTW, he pleaded guilty, the full facts didn't come out in Court (far from it in fact) and he was fined £100 and ordered to pay £34.95 in compensation...
 
EDIT - I was posting midway through this thread before realising - well its early on a Sunday :lol:

My post was...


Remarkable restraint indeed

I'm pretty sure I'd have just shot the driver, and bizarrely that sounds like it may have been easier at law for your son too :(

But what kind of nutter gets shot at and keeps coming :cuckoo:

Just glad everyone is ok :)

Dave
 
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Garry Edwards said:
According to a junior police officer I spoke to yesterday, the recommendation to charge him with just theft came from a senior police officer, and it isn't difficult to work out a possible reason for this.

BTW, he pleaded guilty, the full facts didn't come out in Court (far from it in fact) and he was fined £100 and ordered to pay £34.95 in compensation...

Junior police officer? Not really such a thing anymore!

It would have been dealt with as a burglary to start with, as such only the CPS can make the charging decisions. Custody sergeants (the only other person other than the cps with charging authority) can only make the decisions on more minor cases.

As such, I think you've been told a porkie. As I've already said, this has all the hall marks of the CPS not having the guts go charge the more serious offence.

The charges would not have been decided by the police.

BTW - it would only have been burglary if they actually broke into a substantial building, it's not clear from your OP if they actually did this or just took property from the land? If it was the latter, it would only be theft.
 
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Junior police officer? Not really such a thing anymore!

It would have been dealt with as a burglary to start with, as such only the CPS can make the charging decisions. Custody sergeants (the only other person other than the cps with charging authority) can only make the decisions on more minor cases.

As such, I think you've been told a porkie. As I've already said, this has all the hall marks of the CPS not having the guts go charge the more serious offence.

The charges would not have been decided by the police.

BTW - it would only have been burglary if they actually broke into a substantial building, it's not clear from your OP if they actually did this or just took property from the land? If it was the latter, it would only be theft.
Jim, you may or may not be right. I'll rephrase what I said...

"We felt that he should have been charged with more serious offences but were over ruled by our boss"
My assumption from that is that the evidence supplied to the CPS, who actually made the decision, may have been incomplete.

Personally I expected him to be charged with aggravated burglary, and also with criminal damage, but he was only charged with theft. Because of this, there was no compensation order for the thousands of pounds of damage to the machinery that he destroyed when cutting off the armoured cable that he then stole. Just £14.95 for repairs to the gate (don't know where the CPS dreamed that figure up from) and £10 for the gate padlock that he cut off.

As he pleaded guilty, the Magistrates only heard an abbreviated account from the CPS solicitor, plus an account from his solicitor that is worthy of an award for fiction - according to the solicitor, he was driving in the area looking for work when he came across some scrap that he assumed was abandoned. When the owner turned up, he pointed a shotgun at his head and he was in fear of his life. He jumped into his van and tried to escape. The property owner fired at him several times, fortunately he missed but my client's van was literally shot to pieces, and as a result my client no longer has a van and is now forced to live on state benefits. My client admits that he did wrong in stealing by finding but he did not deserve what happened to him and is the victim here. He has been punished enough by an extreme example of rough justice...
 
That sounds about right - the justice system listening more to the account of the convicted scum than the victims. I doubt the CPS put your sons side across and how it left him?

In the "trade", they know what the CPS stands for...
 
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Ok so you've also generalised about an entire profession. I'm prepared to offer advice to Gary if he wants it but as usual a decent thread has turned into good old TP police bashing, of which there are a few on here.

I'll be backing out of this one.

In the "trade", we know what the CPS stands for - Cnuts Preventing Sentencing...

So no generalisation about the police is acceptable but you think the CPS are fair game? And I don't recall anyone on TP ever being so derogatory as referring to the Police as the C-word.
 
...he pleaded guilty, the full facts didn't come out in Court (far from it in fact) and he was fined £100 and ordered to pay £34.95 in compensation...

... but he was only charged with theft. Because of this, there was no compensation order for the thousands of pounds of damage to the machinery that he destroyed when cutting off the armoured cable that he then stole. Just £14.95 for repairs to the gate (don't know where the CPS dreamed that figure up from) and £10 for the gate padlock that he cut off....
Blimey. :(
So is that it? The end? Is every decent civilian expected to roll over and play dead?

A friend of mine allegedly ;) once got told by the cops to finish off burglars and bury the bodies in the swamp. The fens! - what you gonna do? :|
 
Spuff said:
So no generalisation about the police is acceptable but you think the CPS are fair game? And I don't recall anyone on TP ever being so derogatory as referring to the Police as the C-word.

Just stated what some people in the legal profession call them.

But it is very apt...

I've edited it for you.
 
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Garry Edwards said:
Jim, you may or may not be right. I'll rephrase what I said...

My assumption from that is that the evidence supplied to the CPS, who actually made the decision, may have been incomplete.

Personally I expected him to be charged with aggravated burglary, and also with criminal damage, but he was only charged with theft. Because of this, there was no compensation order for the thousands of pounds of damage to the machinery that he destroyed when cutting off the armoured cable that he then stole. Just £14.95 for repairs to the gate (don't know where the CPS dreamed that figure up from) and £10 for the gate padlock that he cut off.

As he pleaded guilty, the Magistrates only heard an abbreviated account from the CPS solicitor, plus an account from his solicitor that is worthy of an award for fiction - according to the solicitor, he was driving in the area looking for work when he came across some scrap that he assumed was abandoned. When the owner turned up, he pointed a shotgun at his head and he was in fear of his life. He jumped into his van and tried to escape. The property owner fired at him several times, fortunately he missed but my client's van was literally shot to pieces, and as a result my client no longer has a van and is now forced to live on state benefits. My client admits that he did wrong in stealing by finding but he did not deserve what happened to him and is the victim here. He has been punished enough by an extreme example of rough justice...

And your son had no right to make a personal statement, nor one from you wife? Obviously the issue here is 6 shots as that's reload at least twice. Easy for a defence to make a lot out of that.
 
I think your son showed remarkable restraint in not just emptying both barrels with the first shot straight through the drivers side of the windscreen

I'm surprised there's so much gun crime, if you want to kill somebody do it with a car and you'll walk by the sound of it

I was watching a cop show where a scumbag drove a stolen car right at the drivers side of a police car deliberately trying to injure him

That was caught on HD TV let alone some blurry camera in a shop , how much more evidence do they need

They didn't even prosecute him for that, just theft of a motor vehicle IIRC
 
Blimey. :(
So is that it? The end? Is every decent civilian expected to roll over and play dead?

A friend of mine allegedly ;) once got told by the cops to finish off burglars and bury the bodies in the swamp. The fens! - what you gonna do? :|
What some cops (who after all are overwhelmingly decent human beings who must get pretty frustrated sometimes) may say off the record, and what they actually have to do when push comes to shove, can be very different things.

Yes, we are expected to just roll over and take it. Don't expect any support from either the Courts or from senior police officers. And don't, whatever you do, stand your ground and defend your loved ones.
And your son had no right to make a personal statement, nor one from you wife?
No right at all. The CPS solicitor, who was remarkably unimpressive, simply read extracts from his statement, and not the most important bits. She did tell the bench that the complainant was in Court but the magistrates chose not to speak to him.
Obviously the issue here is 6 shots as that's reload at least twice.
The number of shots fired was the number needed to stop the various attacks without injuring the driver. It's a pump action shotgun, Bill uses it virtually every day and is more than capable of loading and firing in one movement. He doesn't know how many times he had to reload it.
Easy for a defence to make a lot out of that.
Yep, that's the way it is. When someone pleads guilty then they or their defence can lie their heads off in mitigation, there is absolutely no chance of anyone correcting them or in any way challenging anything that they say.

A guilty plea to a minor offence, a quick statement from the CPS, a pack of lies from the defence, a 1/3rd discount for pleading guilty and it's all over in 10 minutes - good for the Court system, bad for the justice system. And bad for the law abiding public, who IMO deserve better.
 
Read that in the early hours of this morning! Shame it's the DM mind...
 
Read that in the early hours of this morning! Shame it's the DM mind...

I speak as I find - this case has been covered by BBC, ITV and others as well, but it's the DM that has taken a real interest and has sent a reporter to the Court on each of the 4 times the case was due to be heard (adjourned 3 times).

Some of the facts are wrong, I'm not sure that it's relevant that Bill was privately educated and of course the photos of Bill with a shotgun are mine not theirs (taken at a competition last year) but generally they've provided a valuable public service here.

Bill needs to put this behind him now and get on with his life. And I need to earn some money to get back to where I was before paying his legal costs:)
(The duty solicitor supplied isn't even legally qualified, so we got a proper solicitor. Unfortunately though, as Bill wasn't charged, there was no legal aid)
 
This is why we intend to leave the UK as soon as possible, its become a total joke.

£5 a week to pay his fine, WTF.......

The real issue as well is the scummy solicitors, who defend people just for the cash.

My son had his mountain bike stolen a few months ago, and he recognised ne of thoes involved, a local waster, anyway to cut a long story short, after we found them at there house, the front room window and door got broken.......not sure how your honour!

Anyway, the police turned up in force, didn't know GMP had so many on duty at once......they said no one was available when the bike was stolen..?

I was arrested for criminal damages, the police then did a deal, that they would drop the charges if we dropped the thief charges.... The guy went to the place he sold the bike and returned with it and that was that, now 3 people were involved in the theft, the 2 lads we tried to put in an early grave and the guy who bought it, but the police we're more interested in keeping me in the back of a van for 40mins. Very sad.

Ps when we found the lads, we did call the police first, they said it could be up to 4 hrs before someone attended, so that's why we decided to go crack some heads, again turns out that they can be there in force within mins when they need to be :)
 
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This is why we intend to leave the UK as soon as possible, its become a total joke.

£5 a week to pay his fine, WTF.......

The real issue as well is the scummy solicitors, who defend people just for the cash.

My son had his mountain bike stolen a few months ago, and he recognised ne of thoes involved, a local waster, anyway to cut a long story short, after we found them at there house, the front room window and door got broken.......not sure how your honour!

Anyway, the police turned up in force, didn't know GMP had so many on duty at once......they said no one was available when the bike was stolen..?

I was arrested for criminal damages, the police then did a deal, that they would drop the charges if we dropped the thief charges.... The guy went to the place he sold the bike and returned with it and that was that, now 3 people were involved in the theft, the 2 lads we tried to put in an early grave and the guy who bought it, but the police we're more interested in keeping me in the back of a van for 40mins. Very sad.

Ps when we found the lads, we did call the police first, they said it could be up to 4 hrs before someone attended, so that's why we decided to go crack some heads, again turns out that they can be there in force within mins when they need to be :)
With respect, you did take the law into your own hands and you then did something illegal - what did you expect the police to do about it?

I can though identify with your point about police attendance...
At the time that Bill and Louisa desperately needed help, the police weren't there - it's a very rural area and so that isn't a criticism. Several hours later they got round to telling me that Bill had been arrested and it then took me a couple of hours to get to the house. All these hours after the event, there were 5 police cars and 4 police officers outside the house and 4 police officers inside it. As far as I could see, one police officer there had a role - he was waiting for a "locksmith" to arrive to smash open a safe that was irrelevant to the case It did seem to me to be a bit of a waste of resources.
 
When the police get scared they send a mob round : actual citizens responding to crims makes the police very scared for some reason. :shrug:
Crims just robbing your stuff doesn't interest them at all : hence no response, or a token officer many hours later.

OK, for balance ... anyone got contrary stories where a mob came round within minutes for the initial crime and the crims got caught and put away?
 
There's a joke about a homeowner reporting a burglar in his shed and the police say they don't have any available resources.

The homeowner calls them back 5 mins later and say he's shot the burglar.... within 5 mins there are more police cars than you can shake a stick at and the helicopter flying overhead.

The police apprehend the burglar and say the the man "I thought you said you shot him?" the man replies "I thought you said you didn't have any available resources?"

Now I'm not trying to make light of this awful situation, far from it. My point is that the joke above isn't really funny any more and is a more realistic scenario facing most law abiding citizens who become a victim of crime.
 
Studi0488 said:
This is why we intend to leave the UK as soon as possible, its become a total joke.

£5 a week to pay his fine, WTF.......

The real issue as well is the scummy solicitors, who defend people just for the cash.

My son had his mountain bike stolen a few months ago, and he recognised ne of thoes involved, a local waster, anyway to cut a long story short, after we found them at there house, the front room window and door got broken.......not sure how your honour!

Anyway, the police turned up in force, didn't know GMP had so many on duty at once......they said no one was available when the bike was stolen..?

I was arrested for criminal damages, the police then did a deal, that they would drop the charges if we dropped the thief charges.... The guy went to the place he sold the bike and returned with it and that was that, now 3 people were involved in the theft, the 2 lads we tried to put in an early grave and the guy who bought it, but the police we're more interested in keeping me in the back of a van for 40mins. Very sad.

Ps when we found the lads, we did call the police first, they said it could be up to 4 hrs before someone attended, so that's why we decided to go crack some heads, again turns out that they can be there in force within mins when they need to be :)

Wow. Just wow.

You feel hard done by because you tried to put 2 lads in an "early grave" and went to "crack some heads"? No wonder the police were quick to attend!

What a completely bizarre attitude.
 
Great to hear all the charges are dropped and they are both fine.

Not everyone with a gun is a menace. Heck, I've walked through the middle of a love bird shoot knowing their was controlled gunfire all around. Got a few shots too and a dozen fuss with guns and dogs were a pleasure.
 
OK, for balance ... anyone got contrary stories where a mob came round within minutes for the initial crime and the crims got caught and put away?

Well not that extreme but one night I was woken up by some noise and looked out of the bedroom window to see a guy inside my hired skip and there was rubbish from the skip strewn all over the garden.
I went down and asked him to clear up the mess and was told to 'go away', he'd 'clear it up after he'd finished'.
Rather than argue I called the police and within minutes an officer in a patrol car and a dog handler arrived and stayed until he had picked up every single bit and then 'saw him on his way'.
 
Wow. Just wow.

You feel hard done by because you tried to put 2 lads in an "early grave" and went to "crack some heads"? No wonder the police were quick to attend!

What a completely bizarre attitude.

About five years ago I would have agreed with you, but due to my dealings with the police since, I have very little/no confidence in them to do their job properly.
The limit of their expertise seems to be traffic offences, and when crimes are committed, they seem to concentrate all their efforts on letting criminals off.
I really feel for Garry's son and his mother, because they will be left with the memory of this incident for the rest of their lives, mulling over what they should/could have done differently, questioning why a criminal, whose actions were the catalyst for all subsequent reaction should get off virtually scot free, and a homeowner who was the initial victim of a crime should be treated like a criminal simply for defending himself and his mother.
The police, CPS and solicitors in the UK are treading a very fine and dangerous line, with the decisions they make and the way in which they treat criminals and victims, and to be honest, it sometimes feels as though we live in an upside down World.:(
 
andy700 said:
About five years ago I would have agreed with you, but due to my dealings with the police since, I have very little/no confidence in them to do their job properly.
The limit of their expertise seems to be traffic offences, and when crimes are committed, they seem to concentrate all their efforts on letting criminals off.
I really feel for Garry's son and his mother, because they will be left with the memory of this incident for the rest of their lives, mulling over what they should/could have done differently, questioning why a criminal, whose actions were the catalyst for all subsequent reaction should get off virtually scot free, and a homeowner who was the initial victim of a crime should be treated like a criminal simply for defending himself and his mother.
The police, CPS and solicitors in the UK are treading a very fine and dangerous line, with the decisions they make and the way in which they treat criminals and victims, and to be honest, it sometimes feels as though we live in an upside down World.:(

Actually, there's very little traffic enforcement that takes place by the police these days. Most traffic depts (if the forces haven't cut them back) are tiny compared to shift and beat. And most non traffic officers have VERY little knowledge about traffic offences, let alone have the authority to deal with them.

Speeding is also one of the least detected offences. People speed pretty much every time they drive, yet how often do they get stopped for it?
 
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odd jim said:
Speeding is also one of the least detected offences. People speed pretty much every time they drive, yet how often do they get stopped for it?

Even when they do get prosecuted it's usually an automated ticket in the post issued by a civilian in a scamera van

I followed a guy last week who overtook a line of cars in a 30 doing about 50 then floored it to get through the lights which were on red by the time he got there

He probably drives like that every day
 
Just seen the story on Calendar News (regional TV)... I thought Bill came across really well, eloquent and sensible... I can see why you're proud Garry! :thumbs:
 
Really? Surely if u are arrested over something but are innocent, why should that show on a crb? .

it shouldnt - a few years ago a freind of mine got arrested after an altercation with 3 neer do wells - 2 of them had knives and one had an axe handle , my mate was alone and unarmed (well at least until he took the axe handle away from scrote no ! :lol: ) - he hospitalised all three and was not particularly suprisingly arrested on suspicion of GBH.

He's now a primary school teacher and passed he enhanced CRB without a problem.
 
Just seen the story on Calendar News (regional TV)... I thought Bill came across really well, eloquent and sensible... I can see why you're proud Garry! :thumbs:
Yes, he's a good lad.
Today was ITV, tomorrow it will be the BBC - The Breakfast Show first, then 5 Live, then at 08.30 it will be Radio York, followed by Look North, late afternoon.
In fact, this case is now so well known that even the Scarborough News has noticed! They will be interviewing him tomorrow too.
 
Wow. Just wow.

You feel hard done by because you tried to put 2 lads in an "early grave" and went to "crack some heads"? No wonder the police were quick to attend!

What a completely bizarre attitude.

That's why this country is turning to rat ****, people just take it, WE found out who stole the bike, WE found the people who did this, WE got it back, if the plod hadn't turned up WE would have taught the scum a lesson.

If we had left it to the plod then WE would have been without a bike

And why do WE need to do this? Because the police are undermanned, under resourced to do the job.

Everyone blames the police for not doing there bit, when actually its the citizens that are shamefully walk away.

And if you don't think it's right, go outside, lie on the pavement, and see how many people walk over you before helping.

If everyone got of there arses and did there bit the place would be a lot better for it.
 
That's why this country is turning to rat ****, people just take it, WE found out who stole the bike, WE found the people who did this, WE got it back, if the plod hadn't turned up WE would have taught the scum a lesson.
it.

so the country's turning to rat droppings because more people don't resort to vigilante justice and breaking the law themselves ?

Hmm , yeah, okay :thinking:
 
Would we have the bike back if we let plod get on with it NO.

The scum know who we are, so they can nick your stuff next time, because they sure won't be touching ours again.

It came down to the police could have taken 3 people off the streets for a while, but instead, its a lot easier to deal with one tax paying person and tick a few boxes.

If your relying in the police to protect your property and loved ones then your in for a shock if people knew how under resourced they really are they would t leave there homes....

The riots proved that, another couple of days of that would have seen the army on the streets.
 
The scum know who we are,... because they sure won't be touching ours again.

.

or alternately they can come round at 0 dark 30 and pour petrol through your letter box in revenge for you giving them a kicking :thinking:
 
so the country's turning to rat droppings because more people don't resort to vigilante justice and breaking the law themselves ?

Hmm , yeah, okay :thinking:
Well actually I do think so, yes.
Without the police to protect the crims and to cow the populace, the citizens would be able to defend themselves better and the crims would be less brazen and they'd certainly get away with less crime.
 
Why has this turned into a police bashing thread?
 
yes because thats how it works in somalia, iraq etc :shake:

Without the police to enforce the rule of law , you'd have total anarchy on the streets with only the strong or team handed being in anyway safe and the weak, old, or anyone unable to look after themselves being at the mercy of anyone stronger than them - it'd be like the '11 riots 24/7 - you'd wind up having to draft the army in to restore order

the idea that withuot the police the criminals would be less brazen is ridiculous
 
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Garry Edwards said:
Why has this turned into a police bashing thread?

Unfortunately Garry, they always do on here...
 
Unfortunately Garry, they always do on here...

I don't see any bashing ? If anything it's the opposite.

I am saying that the police of today are ill equipped and certainly massively understaffed to deal with stuff.

The top brass don't know there arses from elbows, and are getting it wrong.

Look at GMP they have more horses than dogs now, why......? Because dogs bite and people sue, the dog a great tool, but there are not enough any more.

The police have there hands tied and its become more of a normal job than it used to be. What did you use to get for assault on police ? It used to be a major no no, now its jut assault in many cases.

I wouldn't want the job for a gold clock. My step brother just resigned from being a special on traffic purely because of internal politics and ********.

My point is that the citizens of the nation need to be involved and doing there bit,

and my last point is that some of the scum out there only understand never to do something again after they have had an arm or two broken...........
 
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or alternately they can come round at 0 dark 30 and pour petrol through your letter box in revenge for you giving them a kicking :thinking:


I think they understood fully what would happen, nobody would give a **** if they went missing.:nuts::nuts:
 
I think they understood fully what would happen, nobody would give a **** if they went missing.:nuts::nuts:

Maybe not but the police would have a field day making you disappear :D
 
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