True story - ex girlfriend had her car broken into and vandalised. They caught the bloke and it went to court, he was let off with 150 hrs of community service. His address was published and being young, dumb and...well, very angry I decided that I’d pay him a visit with a mate. Now, we’re both quite big lads, however I look like a fat geek and my mate isn’t much more threatening. On arriving at the house we saw the bloke in question. He was huge. Like properly huge. And VERY scary looking.
Now I’m not entirely sure what my plan was going to be if I’d knocked on his door, it would probably have been the delivery of a line from God father. However having seen the bloke I would have played the role of Pizza delivery boy and legged it. We both decided from the comfort of my car that we’d give this one a miss and go get some chips.
The likelihood is that someone breaking into a house tooled up is probably used to altercations - in other words they’ve probably been in a few fights. As long as my family is safe then they can take what they need. I hate it yes, but it’s better than having my family hurt to save a few bikes or whatever.
The bloke that did over my girlfriends car went on to steal a pensioners car and killed the owner by reversing over him several times. I’m pretty glad we stayed in the car that evening...
There is a slow creep of this stuff getting worse in scale. It is very worrying that these groups have the confidence to be so brazen about it.
I feel that the shortage in police numbers are really effecting people's attitudes towards crime (participation in on one side, and intolerance of on the other).
2 Incidents that stand out for me recently although not bike related are as follows:
Criminals hopped the fence into the "secure" yard at my workplace and smashed the windows in on a works van to get the locking wheel nut tool. They then took all 4 wheels from the van (smart VW alloys). Dropped the van on it's sump/discs/exhaust and took off. Left a screwdriver that they used to try the office doors with, and the wheelie bin that they used to take the wheels to the fence and climb over. Called the police and they just sent a crime number. No scene visit. No dusting for prints. Just here's a crime number, contact your insurance.
On holiday in France, got back from a night out to discover that the house we were staying in was broken into and turned over for cash and jewellery. French police were prompt on the scene to secure the area and check for any trace of the intruders. What got my goat was that the people sharing the gite with us were incensed at the idea that someone had broken into the house but then inflated their insurance claims to include numerous expensive items that they didn't have... obviously missing the irony of that process.
Theft is becoming acceptable at this level to many in society meaning that the other end of the scale appears to be moving up as well. It's a worrying trend indeed.
This is kind of me. I’m ten stone wet through but have no sense of personal safety. I have no doubts that it’ll get me killed at some point.
But you'll have learned a valuable lesson in the process and won't do it again 🙂
The whole 'get stuck in' thing has the potential to go badly wrong when, say, the guy you've smacked in the face keels over and smashes his head on a kerbstone leaving you facing a charge of manslaughter.
Being reluctant to accidentally kill people doesn't necessarily make you an apologist for crime or social disorder. Think of it as self-preservation in the wider sense.
No dusting for prints.
After having had my garage all but emptied a few years ago (targeted theft of most of my bikes, all my tools and spares, ~£7k before excess) police did come round to dust for prints, but at the time they said that it pretty pointless as thieves aren't complete idiots. You can get a box of 100 nitrile gloves for £13 from Halfords[*], half that from Amazon.
[*] - Quite possibly free for someone whose moral compass already accepts breaking and entering, theft etc as OK.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
All the people saying “oh but it’s social inequality’s fault, they’re victims of society not subhuman little scrotes” miss the point that plenty of us here and out in the real world grew up on the poor/underprivileged end of the scale and didn’t resort to feral behaviour & theft. We learned that if we wanted something, we worked hard to get it.
That's great, if you can do it then everyone can as everyone is exactly the same as you and has had exactly the same upbringing and influences. Not everybody's real world is the same...
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
What do you think 'good men' should do then?
What do you think ‘good men’ should do then?
Post about it on the internet? 😀
Post about it on the internet?
Lol!
Most issues I've ever had have been near my home, so I have bit my lip rather than have a feud with local yoofs who know my address! These days, I play golf with youngsters who hit the ball so much further than me, it makes me realise that physically I couldn't fight anyone 30 years younger than me and hope to have a chance.
So I tend to keep a low profile these days. I might not be very hard but I have all my own teeth!
Actually, one of the scariest stories around here,(in leafy Surrey) was not more than half a mile away, A Polish builder with a grudge broke into a house to stab the owner and ended up killing him and his wife in the bedroom in a bloodbath...the wife trying to save her husband. He left the traumatised son alone in his bedroom. Imagine that, someone intent on killing you comes into your bedroom in the middle of the night....you'd certainly fight then!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-32145937
Tragic!
What do you think ‘good men’ should do then?
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/murder-or-reasonable-force/
Del I broke his nose because he threatened to batter me not because he threw his chocolate box away.
If he had aplogised for his littering and placed it in the bin we would have all gone home happy.
I think this was OK advice 20+ years ago but in the current climate of senseless stabbings and acid attacks etc. I just don’t think it’s worth the risk – especially in this situation with 4 blokes, at least one of them with a hammer and with added protection of crash helmets. I’m 6ft and 16st but no chance am I physically confronting them and hoping it’s enough to scare them off without them attacking me first.
This cuts to the heart of the issue I think, we're seeing escalating violence in robberies and what happens is that homeowners get nastier, then the robbers themselves get nastier - it's an arms race.
which is a fair point, but beating the crap out of them is unlikely to teach them a lesson other than ‘get stabby first, ask questions later’.
Del made a good point in regards to this.
Fighting can be fairly amusing, even if you're getting pasted. It's just that sometimes, they end up resembling this
- it just gets a bit pointless, depressing and unless you can live with resorting to that level of violence - pretty shit and if you can't then you may get your head kicked in anyway.
I'd rather go home to my missus....
On influences in society
Crime rates go up and down with the prosperity of the country. when people become relativly poorer crime goes up, when people become relatively richer crime goes down
Societies that are more equal have less crime
Societies that use jail more and have punitive approach to crime have more crime, societies that us a rehabilitation approach in the criminal justice system have less crime. Jails are simply finishing schools for criminals when all you do is warehouse them
All 3 things are well proven
People on here are confusig influences on society as a whole and individual responsibility. Two very different things
I have a compound bow that’ll punch through a few mm of sheet steel at decent range.
Elevated position + stationary targets (the bikes) would make for an easy and effective display.
You should be allowed to defend yourself and your property.
YOu are allowed to using reasonable force.
Crime rates go up and down with the prosperity of the country. when people become relativly poorer crime goes up, when people become relatively richer crime goes down
This is so true.
Our area is being blighted again with burnt out cars smack bang in Sherwood Forest. I don't apologise for politicising this but the last time this happened was very much under Tory rule.
The trickle down politics do not work. What you need is schemes that local authorities run that engage the bottom end of society. These sort of things quickly get removed when the right wing take hold.
For the clip, I might be tad hesitant but I would probably go outside with as many people as I can muster. It doesn't have to end in death. These scooter kids don't like hanging around too long and prefer not to be slowed down.
There is a risk that something could go wrong but i would say 'worth it.'
My push bike was stolen in broad daylight by scrotes on a moped in a country park right in front of us. They were wearing tshirts over their faces with cut out eyes. We couldn't believe what we were seeing but we have chase, a hard bloke from Doncaster joined in and rang the police (helicopter, cars everything) .
We got the bike back.