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THIEF'S FUTILE ESCAPE BID
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11:00 - 21 June 2005
A Prolific criminal who raced away from police in a car stolen from Corsham has escaped another spell in jail, despite a judge telling him he had one of the worst records he had come across. Ricky Stonehouse, who had 76 previous convictions, was on licence from prison when he was caught behind the wheel of a high-powered Mitsubishi Evo.
But Recorder Christopher Frazer told Stonehouse yesterday that the best way to protect the public was to give him the chance of a drug treatment and testing order.
Robin Shellard, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that the car was taken following a burglary at a house in Corsham on the afternoon of Friday, January 14.
He said the keys to the vehicle were taken but the car was fitted with a tracking device, so police quickly tracked it to Kingswood, near Bristol.
Officers saw the vehicle and tried to stop it, but their patrol car and the Evo were then in collision.
One of the officers got out of the squad car and smashed the window of the stolen car to apprehend Stonehouse, but the Evo drove off at speed and was later abandoned in a cul-de-sac.
Stonehouse fled the scene but was arrested soon after. He denied being the driver.
At an earlier hearing, the court was told that the man who had carried out the burglary was not Stonehouse.
Also at a previous hearing, Stonehouse, of Harold Way, Hanham, Bristol, admitted aggravated taking without consent and driving while disqualified.
The court heard yesterday that Stonehouse had a long record for drugs, dishonesty and motoring offences, and had been returned to prison by the Home Office for breaching his licence following the Corsham incident. He was now a week away from being released.
Sentencing him, Recorder Frazer said: "You have got one of the worst criminal records I have seen in 21 years as a barrister and latterly sitting here as a recorder.
"However, it seems to me that the sentencing process until now has not allowed you at least the opportunity of improvement, and it seems to me that if we can get you off the drugs you will stop offending, and public time and money will not have to be spent in prosecuting you, investigating you, defending you and sentencing you. So it seems that we should give the drug treatment and testing order a big chance, so that is what I am going to do."
Stonehouse was also banned from the road for a year and was told he would have to take an extended retest before he would be allowed back behind the wheel.
http://www.thisisbath.com/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163301&command=displayContent&sourceNode=163031&contentPK=12676119
Next Story | Previous Story | Back to list
11:00 - 21 June 2005
A Prolific criminal who raced away from police in a car stolen from Corsham has escaped another spell in jail, despite a judge telling him he had one of the worst records he had come across. Ricky Stonehouse, who had 76 previous convictions, was on licence from prison when he was caught behind the wheel of a high-powered Mitsubishi Evo.
But Recorder Christopher Frazer told Stonehouse yesterday that the best way to protect the public was to give him the chance of a drug treatment and testing order.
Robin Shellard, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that the car was taken following a burglary at a house in Corsham on the afternoon of Friday, January 14.
He said the keys to the vehicle were taken but the car was fitted with a tracking device, so police quickly tracked it to Kingswood, near Bristol.
Officers saw the vehicle and tried to stop it, but their patrol car and the Evo were then in collision.
One of the officers got out of the squad car and smashed the window of the stolen car to apprehend Stonehouse, but the Evo drove off at speed and was later abandoned in a cul-de-sac.
Stonehouse fled the scene but was arrested soon after. He denied being the driver.
At an earlier hearing, the court was told that the man who had carried out the burglary was not Stonehouse.
Also at a previous hearing, Stonehouse, of Harold Way, Hanham, Bristol, admitted aggravated taking without consent and driving while disqualified.
The court heard yesterday that Stonehouse had a long record for drugs, dishonesty and motoring offences, and had been returned to prison by the Home Office for breaching his licence following the Corsham incident. He was now a week away from being released.
Sentencing him, Recorder Frazer said: "You have got one of the worst criminal records I have seen in 21 years as a barrister and latterly sitting here as a recorder.
"However, it seems to me that the sentencing process until now has not allowed you at least the opportunity of improvement, and it seems to me that if we can get you off the drugs you will stop offending, and public time and money will not have to be spent in prosecuting you, investigating you, defending you and sentencing you. So it seems that we should give the drug treatment and testing order a big chance, so that is what I am going to do."
Stonehouse was also banned from the road for a year and was told he would have to take an extended retest before he would be allowed back behind the wheel.
http://www.thisisbath.com/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=163301&command=displayContent&sourceNode=163031&contentPK=12676119
While my initial reaction is to lock this gy up for years, I do think the Recorder has given this a lot of thought in this case - and of course we don't have all the facts.
I do think though, that this should be the scrote's last and final chance. If he re-offends that should be it for a very long time indeed.
I do think though, that this should be the scrote's last and final chance. If he re-offends that should be it for a very long time indeed.
JagLover said:
What more facts do we need?
It is leniant sentences such as these that are one of the principle reasons for the high crime rate we suffer.
Ordinarily I would totally agree. However if you read the Recorder's comments, it would seem he has given this careful thought.
As to what further facts we need - I don't know. But equally I know we haven't met this scrote, and the Recorder has.
The mere fact that he has been sent down plenty of times and yet continues to offend rather suggests jail has little impact on him.
Jail might do him some good if it were a way of forcing him of drugs, but it seems to be very easy to obtain drugs in prison. Why is this?? I find it hard to understand why it is difficult to stem the supply.
Jail might do him some good if it were a way of forcing him of drugs, but it seems to be very easy to obtain drugs in prison. Why is this?? I find it hard to understand why it is difficult to stem the supply.
Yes you have the right solution there Tonker.
If you lock career criminals up for a proper length of time it is irrelevant whether prison reforms them or not, it is keeping them out of circulation.
In California they have a '3 strikes and your out' law. Conviction for a third serious offence results in automatic life imprisonment.
We would do well to apply a similar law here.
>> Edited by JagLover on Tuesday 21st June 15:38
If you lock career criminals up for a proper length of time it is irrelevant whether prison reforms them or not, it is keeping them out of circulation.
In California they have a '3 strikes and your out' law. Conviction for a third serious offence results in automatic life imprisonment.
We would do well to apply a similar law here.
>> Edited by JagLover on Tuesday 21st June 15:38
It costs the prison service about £40k a year to keep a prisoner locked up ... so a five year sentence costs the tax payer £200,000. To which I say .... something rather rude. It is worth exploring alternatives to see if there is a more effective way. If every other alternative is more expensive, then by all means throw away the key ... but over this scrotes lifetime he is capable of running up a bill in excess of a million quid for accomodation at HM's expense.
Leaving aside the question of whether we can reduce the costs of keeping prisoners.
The financial benefit from lower crime and policing/justice costs from keeping career criminals incarcerated will outweigh the costs, even before we begin to examine the non-monetary benefits to society of lower crime.
The financial benefit from lower crime and policing/justice costs from keeping career criminals incarcerated will outweigh the costs, even before we begin to examine the non-monetary benefits to society of lower crime.
Prison budget is spent primarily on manpower and (quite likely pointless) admin. Gyms and TV aren't big ticket items. In reality the chance of significantly cutting prison costs is slim. I still need some convincing that there isn't a better (cheaper) way of dealing with criminals than locking them up at my expense for the rest of their lives.
If funding a drug habit is the root of a lot of burglaries in the UK how can it be acceptable that 10% of prisoners in random drug tests prove positive for narcotics? We can worry about the TV and rowing machines too, but unless we deal with drugs in prison we're ignoring the bloody enormous elephant standing in the corner of the room.
Truth is you probably need to intervene early on while the offenders are still kids ... but think about their rights, blah, blah, blah
If funding a drug habit is the root of a lot of burglaries in the UK how can it be acceptable that 10% of prisoners in random drug tests prove positive for narcotics? We can worry about the TV and rowing machines too, but unless we deal with drugs in prison we're ignoring the bloody enormous elephant standing in the corner of the room.
Truth is you probably need to intervene early on while the offenders are still kids ... but think about their rights, blah, blah, blah
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