- Tue Sep 25, 2007 2:28 pm
#25856
The £5,000 case of the boy who caused criminal damage to a 1p carrier bag
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770
More bullshit reporting extraordinaries. The suggestion is at first of some minor fracas that led to the full might of the law swinging behind a petty incident.
Of course it is entirely predictable that Civitas are used for the rent a quote .Wiki describes them as a neutral organisation , but they clearly are not and have a good right wing pedigree having developed as the social unit from the free market IEA . Their stance on immigration is a sad and predictable affair.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/thinktan ... 99,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_ ... ic_Affairs
Civitas seems to have as it's mission the end of state spending on social matters including the NHS , and a desire for the enshrinement of marriage . And whilst they advocate an expansion of prison places , the main concern here is state cost not social cohesion.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770
More bullshit reporting extraordinaries. The suggestion is at first of some minor fracas that led to the full might of the law swinging behind a petty incident.
From here on in , even with it being the Mail you begin to build up a different picture . It is made clear that the offender had a string of offences and is far from a typical schoolboy who does minor infractionsA schoolboy who caused one penny's worth of criminal damage to a plastic bag was dragged through the courts at a cost of £5,000.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named, yesterday pleaded guilty to snatching a carrier bag from a 13-year-old girl and breaking its handles.
The magistrate also clearly indicates it is not about the value of a bag used to carry PE kit , but about the victim . Whatever happened , the girl now is afraid of walking to school and is driven there. Whilst the lad in question may think little of an act of petty intimidation to a 13 year old girl ( and the Mail appears to agree with him ) the perception of the incident and the effect was considerable.Given his nature , it would seem he is the perfect candidate for a legal system to try to take some action and thus hopefully ( but unlikely I guess ) force him to confront his ant-social nature and amend. But Civitas don't seem to think so.The teenager, who has a number of previous convictions, including carrying a blade in a public place and burglary, was reported to police by the parents of his victim.
There you go . The legal system desired now to deal with the anti-social nature we hear about continuously . A clip around the ear because for God's sake we can't start spending money on state systems .What is it then , ignore the petty crime and intimidation saying it is ignorable , or a return to hanging , flogging 50 year sentences and a stint in national service?Robert Whelan of the Civitas think tank said: "This is a perfect example of the sort of thing that would once have been dealt with by the community - the kind of offence that would have ended with a clip round the ear.
"Now we have to bring in the full machinery of the law. It is a sign of the weakness of civil society."
Of course it is entirely predictable that Civitas are used for the rent a quote .Wiki describes them as a neutral organisation , but they clearly are not and have a good right wing pedigree having developed as the social unit from the free market IEA . Their stance on immigration is a sad and predictable affair.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/thinktan ... 99,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_ ... ic_Affairs
Civitas seems to have as it's mission the end of state spending on social matters including the NHS , and a desire for the enshrinement of marriage . And whilst they advocate an expansion of prison places , the main concern here is state cost not social cohesion.
I would be very curious as to how to the how these figures breakdown . For example , if I went into a police station to report a crime and went through the procedure would then end cost seem at first prohibitive? Is £5000 actually a reasonable sum considering the procedures and those involved as opposed to a kangaroo court legal system of £5 , arbitrary rule and a bit of rough justice?Would they calculate the cost of a clip across the ear from a copper to include the hour renting the policeman's wages during the administration of "justice" , wear and tear on shoes and clothing , transport and private (of course ) insurance for the clipping hand of justice? Next time figures are bandied about , I expect the Mail to include the cost of renting the building and wear and tear on carpets.The one-penny prosecution brought scathing criticism over the failure of the justice system to deal with minor infractions without involving scores of lawyers and officials.
Instead, thousands of pounds was wasted on the time of police officers, Crown Prosecution Service staff and lawyers, court workers, officials and magistrates over two separate hearings.