Vigilante driver jailed for ten years.

[Turbo cab]

Apologies for the daily wail link

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9063629/C...

Seems a bit harsh imo.

Thoughts?

[Psycho Warren]

Harsh because they are setting an example.


Also doubly harsh because the police now ram bikes off the road as the met have shown in the widely publicised videos.

However they are highly trained in ramming people off the road - well compared to joe bloggs. So probably have a few criteria to meet before doing so to minimise the chance of injury or death.

[matrignano]

Psycho Warren said:

Harsh because they are setting an example.


Also doubly harsh because the police now ram bikes off the road as the met have shown in the widely publicised videos.

However they are highly trained in ramming people off the road - well compared to joe bloggs. So probably have a few criteria to meet before doing so to minimise the chance of injury or death.

I doubt they can be "highly" trained.
The theory of it, perhaps. But I doubt they can find many volunteer motorcycle riders to practice ram...

[grumbledoak]

Made an example of. Our legal system shames us.

[Bill]

The BiB do at least wait for the bike to slow before giving it a tap, rather than driving over it flat out.

He drove like a tt to catch them and then flattened them. The sentence seems fair enough to me.

[ApexCult]

Steal a bike you have deal with the consequences IMHO.

[ridds]

There's probably a fair bit of difference between "taking someone out at low speed and to cause the bike to fall over and minimum injuries" to "smashing into a bike at high speed and with a high speed differential".

Without seeing the footage we can but guess.

[Willy Nilly]

Of course, had they not stolen his bike, he wouldn't have been able to knock them off it.

[mickyh7]

Like it or not, he will never steal a bike again.
His mate will definitely think twice about taking what doesn't belong to him in the future.

[Uhtred]

We all love a bit of vigilante justice (certainly don’t think justice would have been achieved via the normal routes) and the term does seem harsh.

Ultimately though, it’s just not worth it over an object at the end of the day is it? Unless it had particular sentimental value and even then probably still not worth it.

[Richard-D]

I'm very surprised by the length of the sentence. I wouldn't have thought twice about giving chase to knock a thief off. Would do now, which is obviously the purpose.

[Teddy Lop]

mickyh7 said:

Like it or not, he will never steal a bike again.
His mate will definitely think twice about taking what doesn't belong to him in the future.

think about how many good families and people who would have suffered the actions of these thieves over the coming years but are now spared.

[normalbloke]

Was that article written by a 5 year old?

[JulianHJ]

Reasonable sentence in the circumstances.

There’s acting in a reasonable and proportionate manner to protect your property (fair enough, protected by law etc) and there’s driving like a with no regard for anyone else on the road, then ramming the thieves at high speed with absolutely no regard for the consequences.

As for those saying the police do it, yes, they do in certain circumstances, but they can still end up in court, such as this case currently being dealt with (rider hit another car whilst being pursued): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55147...

[Willy Nilly]

JulianHJ said:

Reasonable sentence in the circumstances.

There’s acting in a reasonable and proportionate manner to protect your property (fair enough, protected by law etc) and there’s driving like a with no regard for anyone else on the road, then ramming the thieves at high speed with absolutely no regard for the consequences.

As for those saying the police do it, yes, they do in certain circumstances, but they can still end up in court, such as this case currently being dealt with (rider hit another car whilst being pursued): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55147...

I suspect there would be a marked reduction in vehicle thefts, particularly motorcycle thefts, if more thieves were treated like this.

I would use my bicycle for more than commuting, a half mile to work. But it will get stolen and Essex police won't do anything about it, so I drive. Then the council sit around scratching their heads wondering why the traffic is so bad and everyone is so fat.

[Rozzers]

You’d be happy when your kids were trying to cross the road when this idiot is doing 80 in a 30 on the wrong side of the road chasing a motorbike?

This is a 10 stretch in my book, but quite a few others should be too.

He would have been on a 3 or 4 year sentence for the driving alone.

For a £450 motorcycle......

This was a guilty plea, he was apparently facing a long list of charges, admitted manslaughter and the rest was waived/ concurrent sentenced.

No tears for the thieves though.

[anonymous-user]

Psycho Warren said:

Harsh because they are setting an example.

grumbledoak said:

Made an example of. Our legal system shames us.

How do the guidelines apply to the circumstances?

The sentence would need to be outside of them for it to be 'an example'.

[birdcage]

He was clearly a loon. Punishment deserved.

That aside that will teach the dead fella not to steal a nutters motorbike

[anonymous-user]

Far from shaming us, this case shows the UK to be a civilised country with the rule of law. The thieves were scumbags, but that did not justify what the driver did.

[mac96]

JulianHJ said:

Reasonable sentence in the circumstances.

There’s acting in a reasonable and proportionate manner to protect your property (fair enough, protected by law etc) and there’s driving like a with no regard for anyone else on the road, then ramming the thieves at high speed with absolutely no regard for the consequences.

For me that's the crux- he could have killed an innocent bystander. You don't need sympathy for the thieves to know that chasing them down like this was not reasonable.