More men in uniform

[bolt pp]

I dont get what happend, is he a burgler or a squatter?

As I understand it, he was a smackhead squatter.

Drugs, a menace to society in so many ways.

In case anyone doubted it, & despite taking a humorous slant on it, it has upset Ding a great deal.

I'm sure it has, it's an upsetting thing to happen and i hope she's ok.

If the guys in there taking drugs i dont suppose she wants that.

All i was wondering if he was burgling the place or not, i dont really condone squatting if someone else is being put out by it, by that i mean if it's an unoccupied residence or derelict.

I think Wader may have just been saying if it was a lone bloke not doing drugs and looking for a warm place to kip then as upsetting as it is for the owner It's got to be a pretty crap life the guy that's got to do it.

And FWIW i very much doubt the guy grew up with aspirations of being a Heroine addict having to squat in peoples homes to get out of the cold, I think it's a sad situation for everyone involved.

Nobody HAS to take drugs, he chose to, & now others are footing the bill. And yes, it's sad for everyone involved, both sides. You know my views on drugs.

If the guys in there taking drugs i dont suppose she wants that.

Well, Ding wrote.....

The alleged offender is a known heroin addict, currently on methadone as he was released this week from prison so he was given methodone while he was away. He told the police that they had done him a favour as he wanted to go back inside. Great shame that he feels that way and I'm sure that reflects how he has been treated since he left prison but that doesn't excuse what he has done to my property. There are specific shelters in Northampton he could have gone to that have spaces tonight but he chose instead to break into my property.

Nobody HAS to take drugs

This is'nt entirely true, i think with drugs like Heroine you can die if you just stop and i know thats the case with alcohol, it sounds like i'm arguing for the sake of it and that it's a bit petty and i'm clutching at straws but i just dont think it's as simple as that, once you're addicted you do HAVE to take drugs.

I mean theres an argument to balance that and look at how/why people got started taking hard drugs, well i think a lot of them have probably gone through things in their lives(particularly in their young lives) that are simply so bad we couldnt even imagine, I dont begrudge someone who was abused as a kid wanting to block that out using drugs, ive never been through that so who am i to say that they should get over it the appropriate way, have councilling etc, that's not for me to say.

I think if you were to balance the lives most of us have had with the experiences that some of these guys have HAD to endure, maybe as children or when in positions of vunerability then for me it feels a bit like kicking someone down being so dogmatically judgmental towards drug addicts.

[Rod Paradise]

Well said Bolt.

[Dingdell]

Funnily enough in this instance the guy came from a good family - I know that because his sister lives next door to one of the arresting officers. (small world) Apparently the rest of the family are as law abiding as you can get.

[Claw75]

jeez you're having a rough time of it of late Trace - let's hope 2009 is a quieter year for you xxx

[pokerfan]

Funnily enough in this instance the guy came from a good family - I know that because his sister lives next door to one of the arresting officers. (small world) Apparently the rest of the family are as law abiding as you can get.

What do you class as a good family? 2cars,semi,mum and dad still together?

[Dingdell]

Funnily enough in this instance the guy came from a good family - I know that because his sister lives next door to one of the arresting officers. (small world) Apparently the rest of the family are as law abiding as you can get.

What do you class as a good family? 2cars,semi,mum and dad still together?

I'm using the police officers description of the family. He didn't mention any material things that i remember, he just said they were a nice family, the sister had never been in any trouble and they were good next door neighbours that viewed their brother as the black sheep of the family. No mention of what family members there were, just how they fitted into the community.

The sister had asked the PC to see if he could find out if her brother was still alive as they hadnt heard from him for some time, turns out he was inside. 

As an aside the police rang tonight, he goes to court tomorrow morning, he has only been charged with trespass as they can't prove he caused the criminal damage which is true, no one saw him do it so he can't be fairly accused of it. All things being equal he will be having lunch free as a bird tomorrow which is how it should be without proper evidence, as frustrating as that is.

[gatso]

how can he be charged with trespass? that's not a criminal offence is it? thought it was a civil matter

[wader leg]

I'm sorry that my post has upset you, it wasn't my intention.
Your 1st post translated to my speak was "Feisty middle class woman comes home to find a homeless person had broken into her (unoccupied) second home and decides to use the full force of the law on this poor bastard because he broke a window to get in.She then proceeds to nearly kick him down the stairs and gives him a right earbashing as the rozzers cart off said miscreant to the local workhouse to break rocks for a week. That'll teach him.
So i was going to post something along the lines of "why don't you get your Gamekeeper to  have him shot" or some other trite remark but alas it was not to be and instead I posted the seemingly far more offensive and vitriol inducing " I hope you don't press charges Ding, it can't be very pleasant being homeless in the middle of December" which is still a fair enough comment considering the version of events I was commenting on.
Your reply to me painted a very different picture of events which were obviously unknown to me when I posted, yet you seem have turned this into a diatribe against me, just for suggesting some leniency on someone who was described as homeless. Not the dirty thieving threatening nasty piece of work you later described.
.
But now it's somehow been turned into how dare you, after all I've been through and a " How would you like it if your wife or girlfriend etc"
Well I'll tell you how my wife would like it, she would think it was a pleasant relief from all the shit she puts up with day in day out In a hospital A+E department.
Do you get spat at at least once a week by drunks? are you pushed, punched or kicked almost daily? are you verbally abused, have explicit sexual innuendos shouted at you regularly do you get threatened by people from all walks of life because they are drunk and angry.The ones that shout "I'm going to find out where you live" well one day one of them just might do that. I've just got to hope i'm at home at the same time if they come.How do you think it feels being the husband of someone in that situation, your natural reaction is to want to find out who they are and where they live and pay them a visit but obviously that would be a silly thing to do so you either worry yourself to death, become bitter and antagonistic or try to forget about it.
So I would rather she got frightened by a squatter living in the shed (my equivalent of your 2nd property) once in a while, than having to deal with the twats that try to make her life miserable on a daily basis.

You got a bit of a fright and it's going to cost a couple of hundred to fix, so what, stick it in the whinge thread, life can be shit but someone else's is always worse, get over it you'll make it worse worrying about it etc,
No need to twist it to make me the villain.


The Heroin issue is another argument altogether and I can't be arsed.

Up yours Rookie my posts are never piss poor.

Cheers Bolt (the voice of reason).

[Rookie (Rodney)]

The point you was trying to make was piss poor, so I stand by what I said.

You telling Ding to put her stuff on the whinge thread means nothing now as you seem to want to put your life on this thread also.

Bolt is the voice of reason because he agrees with you? You want to not press charges because you feel sorry for him, let him move onto the next house and cost another person £300, they let him off too, he moves on again.

I'm sorry to hear your life is worse than Dingdells.

[celtic]

Funnily enough in this instance the guy came from a good family - I know that because his sister lives next door to one of the arresting officers. (small world) Apparently the rest of the family are as law abiding as you can get.

results orientated imo

glad ur ok trace.

[Swordpoker]

I'm sorry that my post has upset you, it wasn't my intention.
Your 1st post translated to my speak was "Feisty middle class woman comes home to find a homeless person had broken into her (unoccupied) second home and decides to use the full force of the law on this poor bastard because he broke a window to get in.She then proceeds to nearly kick him down the stairs and gives him a right earbashing as the rozzers cart off said miscreant to the local workhouse to break rocks for a week. That'll teach him.
So i was going to post something along the lines of "why don't you get your Gamekeeper to  have him shot" or some other trite remark but alas it was not to be and instead I posted the seemingly far more offensive and vitriol inducing " I hope you don't press charges Ding, it can't be very pleasant being homeless in the middle of December" which is still a fair enough comment considering the version of events I was commenting on.
Your reply to me painted a very different picture of events which were obviously unknown to me when I posted, yet you seem have turned this into a diatribe against me, just for suggesting some leniency on someone who was described as homeless. Not the dirty thieving threatening nasty piece of work you later described.
.
But now it's somehow been turned into how dare you, after all I've been through and a " How would you like it if your wife or girlfriend etc"
Well I'll tell you how my wife would like it, she would think it was a pleasant relief from all the shit she puts up with day in day out In a hospital A+E department.
Do you get spat at at least once a week by drunks? are you pushed, punched or kicked almost daily? are you verbally abused, have explicit sexual innuendos shouted at you regularly do you get threatened by people from all walks of life because they are drunk and angry.The ones that shout "I'm going to find out where you live" well one day one of them just might do that. I've just got to hope i'm at home at the same time if they come.How do you think it feels being the husband of someone in that situation, your natural reaction is to want to find out who they are and where they live and pay them a visit but obviously that would be a silly thing to do so you either worry yourself to death, become bitter and antagonistic or try to forget about it.
So I would rather she got frightened by a squatter living in the shed (my equivalent of your 2nd property) once in a while, than having to deal with the twats that try to make her life miserable on a daily basis.

You got a bit of a fright and it's going to cost a couple of hundred to fix, so what, stick it in the whinge thread, life can be shit but someone else's is always worse, get over it you'll make it worse worrying about it etc,
No need to twist it to make me the villain.


The Heroin issue is another argument altogether and I can't be arsed.

Up yours Rookie my posts are never piss poor.

Cheers Bolt (the voice of reason).

An apology would have been so much better.

[celtic]

I'm sorry that my post has upset you, it wasn't my intention.
Your 1st post translated to my speak was "Feisty middle class woman comes home to find a homeless person had broken into her (unoccupied) second home and decides to use the full force of the law on this poor bastard because he broke a window to get in.She then proceeds to nearly kick him down the stairs and gives him a right earbashing as the rozzers cart off said miscreant to the local workhouse to break rocks for a week. That'll teach him.
So i was going to post something along the lines of "why don't you get your Gamekeeper to  have him shot" or some other trite remark but alas it was not to be and instead I posted the seemingly far more offensive and vitriol inducing " I hope you don't press charges Ding, it can't be very pleasant being homeless in the middle of December" which is still a fair enough comment considering the version of events I was commenting on.
Your reply to me painted a very different picture of events which were obviously unknown to me when I posted, yet you seem have turned this into a diatribe against me, just for suggesting some leniency on someone who was described as homeless. Not the dirty thieving threatening nasty piece of work you later described.
.
But now it's somehow been turned into how dare you, after all I've been through and a " How would you like it if your wife or girlfriend etc"
Well I'll tell you how my wife would like it, she would think it was a pleasant relief from all the shit she puts up with day in day out In a hospital A+E department.
Do you get spat at at least once a week by drunks? are you pushed, punched or kicked almost daily? are you verbally abused, have explicit sexual innuendos shouted at you regularly do you get threatened by people from all walks of life because they are drunk and angry.The ones that shout "I'm going to find out where you live" well one day one of them just might do that. I've just got to hope i'm at home at the same time if they come.How do you think it feels being the husband of someone in that situation, your natural reaction is to want to find out who they are and where they live and pay them a visit but obviously that would be a silly thing to do so you either worry yourself to death, become bitter and antagonistic or try to forget about it.
So I would rather she got frightened by a squatter living in the shed (my equivalent of your 2nd property) once in a while, than having to deal with the twats that try to make her life miserable on a daily basis.

You got a bit of a fright and it's going to cost a couple of hundred to fix, so what, stick it in the whinge thread, life can be shit but someone else's is always worse, get over it you'll make it worse worrying about it etc,
No need to twist it to make me the villain.


The Heroin issue is another argument altogether and I can't be arsed.

Up yours Rookie my posts are never piss poor.

Cheers Bolt (the voice of reason).

An apology would have been so much better.

[Swordpoker]

Saying sorry then sticking the boot in doesn't count as an apology imo

[lazaroonie]

arguments like this alwas polarize opinions between the "hang em high" brigade (of which I probably am one), and the handwringers whose inability to condemn and criticize these wrongdoers is also unhelpful in trying to solve the problem. The solution, like most things lies somewhere in the middle.

I also wish people would stop making excuses for drug-users. They have already made their choices in life. It costs us, as law abiding taxpayers a fortune to try and exist alongside these people, and pay for their addiction. We are constantly told that jail is too expensive, and yet successve governments have missed the point - given the choice about using our tax pounds to keep these people on the street, or in jail, then the majority of people would favour the latter.

These people offer zero to society.

[Dingdell]

Do you get spat at at least once a week by drunks? are you pushed, punched or kicked almost daily? are you verbally abused, have explicit sexual innuendos shouted at you regularly do you get threatened by people from all walks of life because they are drunk and angry.The ones that shout "I'm going to find out where you live" well one day one of them just might do that.

You do know I play poker at Luton don't you? 

And yes I do know how your wife feels as I worked in a similar field for years. However away for the 'protection of bright lights and colleagues' at home and in the middle of the night it always seems more threatening (to me) and when I wrote my reply I was on my own, incredibly scared and intimidated. The adrenalin had worn off and I was shit scared. The property is next door to mine.

Got a call this morning - the police here are very good at keeping in touch (although I do make great coffee in fairness) and he is now expected to receive a custodial sentence today as several other offences he has committed in his week of freedom are being heard. Apparantly methadone is a poor substitute and he wanted to get back onto the hard stuff so he was offending to feed the habit.

All done now, he gets his wish and gets a turkey dinner for Christmas. There is a part of me that was, after the event and when the scaredy cat in me had been replaced by the 'feisty middle aged woman', feeling sorry for him but after the call from the police today I know more about his criminal history and this guy seems a million miles away from rehabilitaion. Had he stayed undetected next door for any length of time there was a good chance he would have been dealing from there quite soon.

As I write this Radio 2 is playing 'Driving home for Christmas'. Sadly quite apt.