Just a few short lines really.
Those readers who live in the Kensington area will be very well aware that a certain teenager, with an Irish surname, who is short in stature has (allegedly) been burgling very prolificly of late.
We all knew who was doing it (if only because he was openly tauting householders) but he was savvy and was not leaving physical traces.
He was arrested last week in the act of disposing of his stolen goods, taken into custody and then into court. Possibly because of his young age he was remanded not into custody as we all hoped but into a secure home. He was put on a 7pm - 7am curfew pending his court case.
He took no notice of the terms of his remand and was back out burgling again more or less straight away.
Local police who have dedicated themselves to this case after local residents campaigned vociferiously, caught him again today, after chasing him all round the streets. They caught him in the act of burgling and have witnessses who can identify him at an earlier break-in this afternoon. We are all now crossing our fingers, police and residents alike, that this time the judge will lock him up until his court case comes up.
I have to praise the police for getting stuck in to this.
4 comments:
As someone who has burgled three times by this toerag (I tally his activities to have cost people in the region of £30,000) I'd love to know the name and address of the kind spririted judge who slapped the little bastards wrists, I coudl maybe pass it onto Lee as the enxt gaff he burgles. I'd reallt like the opportunity to go along to the next hearing and offer myself as a character witness on he defendants behalf, as I feel judges need a bit of insight into the disruption this get has caused, I'm moving.....
I was obviously that exasperated that the part of my brain which spells properly broke down under the pressure of these events
And we all understand your exasperation and the desperation you feel.
I am sure you are well under estimate.
I am not sure you should have named names though, so if you get the chance can you please resubmit the original post without it and I will delete the spluttering one.
My understanding from a recent deputation of Romer Road and Channel Road residents at a surgery is that these burglars have committed 20 burglaries in their area in about three months. That is counting yours, they said 17 and I added your 3 as they were not aware of them.
The same criminals have burgled extensively in the Holt Road neighbourhood too. Last night Wendy and I were at Elm Park TRA and a resident there swears he was a victim of the same gang. He lives on Ottley Street.
Dont talk to me about judges. Is it because of their age? I dont know. Maybe the evidence wasnt strong enough. We need to bring forward as much evidence as we can, as a community. And that includes witness statements, people who have been taunted, people who have seen him swinging his alleygate key and laughing, people who suspect DNA might have been left etc.
I was listening to BBC Radio Merseyside the other day and there was a guy on there who used to be a serious criminal but has turned his life round and is now working to prevent crime, working with offenders and offering help and support to the police and the judicial system. I dont remember his name but I do remember him saying this one thing. "If I come to your house and challenge you about your criminal behaviour you may well attack me, but if 10,000 local residents come and knock on your door, it will be you who backs down."
I keep thinking about that. Not a lynch mob but a respect mob.
As someone clever once said "United we stand, divided we fall" and another clever person said "The rights we enjoy reflect the duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect".
The little offender's name is actually sprayed on the wall next to my house and has been for about two months, with the added info "he robs houses" I reckon that counts as being in the publc domain already.
The fact that he was given a curfew for the times of the day when he wasnt screwing people's houses points even more to the lack of reality from the court in this particular case. He was breaking in during the day!!! not at night!!!
Unfortunately I suspect he'll only get some sort of "punishment" which he'll be able to walk away from with consumate ease (fine communtiy hours, Youth Custody tagging) and really the punishment should really be something which makes him think long and hard about the amount of shit he and his mates have caused. Because really I think he hasnt got a clue.
It is all very reminiscent of the good old days of the late 80's and early 90's when the heroin problem began to kick in. This period was actually the tiping point for Kensington's rapid decline in my humble opinion.
It was around this time I moved into the area (what good timing!!!) and it was also about this time that as a sane sensible and fairly liberal person I actually had to change the habits of a lifetime by dealing with people like this on their level, any other approach is seen as being weak and in their parlance you are bit of a "knobhead", which I probably am.
People need to cast their mind's back to the havoc the Franey's caused, i.e. emptying a whole street (asked Richard Marborrow about them as he lived in the said street)and destroying about £240,000 worth of cars.
This new kid's activities only highlights how rapid that decline can be, if he isnt nipped in the bud this could really get contagious. You got to remember that heroin thanks to the cock up in afghanistan is cheaper and more avaialable than ever before, once hooked the dealer's have created someone who is going to cost the state about 3 million quid over the next 25 years.
Methadone treatment had abaited this trend over the last couple of years but obviously it's quiet easy for Smack Trek "the Next Generation" to be created and the cycle starts again. His continuous string of crimes poitns to the fact that he is probably dabbling in heroin, as only an addiction creates this type of demand. This should have been addressed at his intial capture. Telling him to stay in is just so pathetic, grounded!!!!
If you can supply his Mum and dad's address I would have no qualms in leading the "respect vigilantes" for a quick conflab.
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