Wednesday 18th December 2002

Banned from Bicycle

Potential thief outlawed from riding a bike in "Looking Suspicious" shocker

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[Captain Muppet]

How is this legal? If the scrote actually commits a crime then I'm happy to see him hung (not so happy if he gets community service) but to be banned from parts of a city for looking suspicious is mad.

That said - it's only Manchester, so it's not like he's missing anything

[TheLemming]

I cant say that I agree with banning the guy from areas of the city for "looking suspicious".

If he was going equipped, or anything to give reasonable cause to believe he intended to break into the cars, then its still not solving anything. The guy now has to go look somewhere else.

On the other hand, If I see a nice car while im out on foot or on a bike, then sure, im going to have a look and try not to drool over the nice piece of machinery...

Can we be punished for a crime that hasnt been committed? Do magistrates have powers that are too wide ranging?

[joust]

Surely that is against the HRA's Article 5 (right of liberty and security)????

J

[CarZee]

He's currently practicing rollerblading, unicycling and pogoing in order to ensure his freedom of movement around Manchester

[Deester]

Thats frickin insane!

I agree, I think the pogo stick is the way to go, or a pair of stilts.

[deltaf]

Can he go pillion on a unicycle?

[CeeGee]

I have to say that I actually agree with the Judge - he's using a bit of common sense. I suspect that the police had good reason to believe that he's done this before. I've seen people on bikes looking suspicious myself in our street: 1 day later, a car stereo gets stolen in a smash & grab. I'm sure that anyone who's come back to their car to find the window smashed in, or the lock smashed, won't shed too many tears about this guy being banned from his bike - it's not as if the judge sentenced him to a summary execution!

Whilst I'm all for 'presumed innocent until proven guilty', a good practical approach to preventing crime like this is long overdue. And please don't quote the Human Rights Act...what about my right to live in a safe society?