Cycle thief is sent to prison (02/10/2009)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A man who fed his gambling addiction by stealing bicycles from railway stations across the country has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Muharrem Sener, of Roman Road in Bethnal Green, London, pleaded guilty to 28 thefts between August 2008 and June 2009 at Southwark Crown Court. He also asked for 55 similar offences to be considered.

Sener, 26, spent more than a year touring Surrey, Sussex and the South East wider targeting commuter's bikes.

The court heard how he carried a pair of bolt cutters that he used to chop through security chains before riding off with the bikes. He then went back to London to sell them on for a fraction of their value.

The court heard he was stealing bikes since at least 2003 and was repeatedly arrested, resulting in conditional discharges and community orders.

Prosecutor Charles John-Jules said although Sener was caught committing crime repeatedly on CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) he somehow managed to remain free.

Judge John Price told Sener: "You were caught on camera so many times it is surprising it took so long to arrest you. The courts have really done everything but send you to prison to try and stop you doing this and it hasn't worked."

[caliwag]

So, he'll be out in ten months! A corrected person surely.

I am curious to know what the prison authorities will teach him to make him realise the error of his ways. I bet he's a useful falla in the community really, perhaps, mending bikes!
Come on boys and girls... how would you help this kid, if he was your son ?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Well, he seems to be happy travelling the railways, and is apparently fairly handy with tools: how about getting him an apprenticeship with Network Rail?