Yea Richard thats the one but I think it was the appeal that caught my attention as that went national on the news. The guy that battered had what was it 50 convictions?? why was he out on the streets, well I reckon he got what he deserved.
Another case that sticks in my throat was the old lady that nearly had to sell her home a few years ago.
If memory serves me right a burglar was attempting to break into her Bungalow via ventalite type window on her roof at the back of her property. He fell through the window and landed heavily on the edge of the kitchen work top breaking his femer/thigh bone.
He admitted to breaking and entering and was done for that. He then decided to persue a personal injuries claim through the courts and was awarded £75,000 damages. I think a good samaritian hired a decent lawyer on behalf of the old lady and the award was over turned.
That is what sucks in the world the victim of crime is made out on occasion to be the bad guy.
My mother inlaw died a few years ago and where her wee house was, was not in a great area. We had the place up forsale. In the middle of the night my wife got a phone call from the police saying the place had been broken into but the police had caught him red handed as a concerned neighbour had heard glass breaking and phoned the police as they knew an old lady lived there(great neighbours she had been dead six months). Anyway the police said my wife should attend and get someone to make the property secure. The damage was slight but still to call out someone to board up the door and replace the glass was over £100. The police asked my wife not to press charges as the lad had been out for a night at his mates and was pissed and only wanted somewhere to doss down as he had no money for a taxi. They said he had never been in trouble before and had a young family and a decent job. If my wife pressed charges it could be a blot on his character. If my mother inlaw had still been living he would have likely as not have been facing a man slaughter charge as she hard a real dickie heart and I would have thought the shock would have seen her off. I was away at sea at the time and was not aware at what had taken place.
I said to my mrs we should not be out of pocket, so as long as he paid for the repairs we would let it slide. He agreed to that and asked for our address so he could send a cheque. I told my wife under no circumstances was she to let him have our address. Lets face it I am away at sea and my wife is on her own, bollocks to that, the guy is a criminal in my book. It was suggested he drop a cheque into the police station and we would collect it from there. Everyone was happy with that. Karen got a call from the police to collect the cheque, guess what, it bounced. I was home by then and complained to the police. I was told nothing to do with tem as this was now a civil matter. Okay can I have his address, answer from the police NO, justice my arse.