bike thief arrested

lolo62

Just saw a pesky bike thief in handcuffs being put in the back of a cop car and a gaurd walking the bicycle back to it's owner. All happened on Dame street.

Not something you see every day and thought it might be nice to share here as there's nothing worse than having your bike stolen. Nice to know there's one getting his comeuppance!

Amazingfun

Delighted to hear it, thanks for the share

Zillah

Literally never heard that before. Wonderful.

ted1

They'll bring him down to the station fill up a form , pay him on his head and send him on his merry way. I've lost all faith in our judicial system years ago

brocbrocach

stanley1989 wrote: »

Delighted to hear it myself
One less cyclist on our roads for another day :-)

That's it. All the more traffic for you to enjoy :-)

magicbastarder

i once saw a guy being lifted for bike theft; someone flagged down a garda car (the thief didn't spot this happening behind him), and interestingly, the garda made him turn around while questioning him, during which he insisted the bike was his, but he'd lost the key to the lock.

'what colour is the bike?'
'eh... it's my bike'
'okay, it's your bike - what colour is it? don't turn around'
'eh... blue?'

Chips Lovell

stanley1989 banned for highly unimaginative trolling.

68 lost souls

Ought to get his bolt cutter used on his nether regions

Wishbone Ash

Zillah wrote: »

Literally never heard that before. Wonderful.

I saw a female Garda arresting a scrote with 2 bikes a couple of years ago. He began to get a bit challenging while she was waiting for back-up so she cuffed him to both bikes. He looked like a right eejit in the full glare of the public on Talbot Street.

check_six

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I saw a female Garda arresting a scrote with 2 bikes a couple of years ago. He began to get a bit challenging while she was waiting for back-up so she cuffed him to both bikes. He looked like a right eejit in the full glare of the public on Talbot Street.

I wonder if the plan was to have the thief pulled asunder by angry returning bike owners?

I'm not totally advocating a return to gruesome biblical era style executions as punishments, but there is definitely something we can learn from here.

07Lapierre

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I saw a female Garda arresting a scrote with 2 bikes a couple of years ago. He began to get a bit challenging while she was waiting for back-up so she cuffed him to both bikes. He looked like a right eejit in the full glare of the public on Talbot Street.

Sounds like just another working day for your average bike thief! getting caught is an inconvenience at most!

Finbarr Murphy

In Amsterdam the police just tell you to steal another bike if your bike is stolen. Ha ha

Chuchote

Finbarr Murphy wrote: »

In Amsterdam the police just tell you to steal another bike if your bike is stolen. Ha ha

Ha ha indeed. One of the reasons the theft of €1,000+ bikes is rife in Ireland is that no one is ever prosecuted for receiving stolen goods when they buy a bike off a fella in a pub, like.

endacl

I the Old West, you'd hang for stealin' a man's horse...

cython

check_six wrote: »

I wonder if the plan was to have the thief pulled asunder by angry returning bike owners?

I'm not totally advocating a return to gruesome biblical era style executions as punishments, but there is definitely something we can learn from here.

Maybe we need to reinstate literal pillorying? :pac:

Chuchote

cython wrote: »

Maybe we need to reinstate literal pillorying? :pac:

it's not the thieves who are the main problem, though; it's the people who buy the bikes and the people who sell them on. Cut the bottom out of that market and we'd end bike theft - and save a lot of kids from wasting their lives.

Squeeonline

Chuchote wrote: »

it's not the thieves who are the main problem, though; it's the people who buy the bikes and the people who sell them on. Cut the bottom out of that market and we'd end bike theft - and save a lot of kids from wasting their lives.

It's already illegal to buy stolen goods. I've always bought bikes (even second hand) from shops mainly because they are better maintained, but also because they are less likely to be stolen. Still no guarantee.

People are always going to want a "good deal" on a bike as they can get expensive at the higher end.

More trap bikes to catch the sh#tbirds who steal them and make any others doubt any bike they feel like stealing. Name and shame them in the press, along with a blacklist so they can't sell to legitimate shops or on Adverts/donedeal easily... Might deter them enough.

Chuchote

Squeeonline wrote: »

It's already illegal to buy stolen goods. I've always bought bikes (even second hand) from shops mainly because they are better maintained, but also because they are less likely to be stolen. Still no guarantee.

People are always going to want a "good deal" on a bike as they can get expensive at the higher end.

More trap bikes to catch the sh#tbirds who steal them and make any others doubt any bike they feel like stealing. Name and shame them in the press, along with a blacklist so they can't sell to legitimate shops or on Adverts/donedeal easily... Might deter them enough.

It's illegal, but have you seen the law enforced? Have you seen people prosecuted for buying stolen bikes? Not only have you not, but the fact that bike thieves confidently approach people on the street to buy their swag shows the contempt they hold the possibility in!

coq au vin

Would be great if he appeared in an ISIS propaganda video as the star!

the.red.baron

Chuchote wrote: »

It's illegal, but have you seen the law enforced? Have you seen people prosecuted for buying stolen bikes? Not only have you not, but the fact that bike thieves confidently approach people on the street to buy their swag shows the contempt they hold the possibility in!

Why would the bike thieves care about whether buying bikes were illegal or not They are selling them How would you go about enforcing this by the way?

Wishbone Ash

the.red.baron wrote: »

Why would the bike thieves care about whether buying bikes were illegal or not They are selling them How would you go about enforcing this by the way?

You've missed the point entirely. Bikes are stolen because there is a market for them. If there was no one willing to buy stolen bikes, theft would plummet.

Take car radios as an example. Throughout the 70's and 80's theft of car radios/stereos or whatever was rampant as new cars either didn't have one or they were very basic if fitted. Nowadays all cars have a good system so there's no market for stolen ones.

magicbastarder

possibly also to do with the fact that in many (most?) cars, the stereo is integrated into the dash, and not modular.

Chuchote

I had a car in which you could take out the stereo and put it in your bag, leaving an empty gap so thieves wouldn't bother. And a big specialised lock to hold the accelerator to the steering wheel.

tomasrojo

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Bikes are stolen because there is a market for them. If there was no one willing to buy stolen bikes, theft would plummet.

They really fall into quite a sweet spot for casual thieves. While they generally can't be sold for that much, since nobody is going to hand over many hundreds of euro to some obvious chancer hawking bicycles of dubious provenance, there are plenty of them that are badly locked and hence easy to steal, and the punishment for being caught, in itself rare, is generally far from harsh. Coupled with that, it's one of the few artefacts you can steal AND make an easy get-away on.

There are also the organised criminals, who do manage to sell high-end bikes for good money, but most thefts are by opportunists.

Chuchote

I wouldn't go for the stocks, but handcuffing a bike thief to a bike rack with a garda standing beside him for a couple of hours, so that the cyclists who came up to lock their bikes could talk to him about what bike theft means - that might possibly be useful.

magicbastarder

tomasrojo wrote: »

Coupled with that, it's one of the few artefacts you can steal AND make an easy get-away on.

and not only the means of your getaway, but one that does not arouse undue suspicion; unlike say someone walking down the street carrying a TV. or a louis vuitton handbag.

gctest50

Chuchote wrote: »

I had a car in which you could take out the stereo and put it in your bag, leaving an empty gap so thieves wouldn't bother. And a big specialised lock to hold the accelerator to the steering wheel.

easiest thing to cut, ( before anyone thinks its a good idea )

De Bhál

Chuchote wrote: »

I wouldn't go for the stocks, but handcuffing a bike thief to a bike rack with a garda standing beside him for a couple of hours, so that the cyclists who came up to lock their bikes could talk to him about what bike theft means - that might possibly be useful.

"Wha you fookin looking ah"
That would be the extent of that conversation

endacl

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Take car radios as an example. Throughout the 70's and 80's theft of car radios/stereos or whatever was rampant as new cars either didn't have one or they were very basic if fitted. Nowadays all cars have a good system so there's no market for stolen ones.

My partner had the window of her car smashed and the wooden dashboard butchered a few months ago. To nick a €100 halfords retrofit. In leafy Clontarf.

Scumbags don't think. If they did, or could, they wouldn't be scumbags. They steal stuff because they're scumbags, and that's what scumbags do when there is no consequence to being a scumbag.




On a happier note, I was disturbed one night about a month ago by a ruckus outside. I went out to check what was going on. My neighbour came back from the pub to find a scumbag in the act of bending out the door of his car. Scumbag won't be bending much for some time to come. Neighbour is a big lad.

dermabrasion

After having 5 bikes stolen during my time in UCD, the thief of number six was unaware he was being followed by a plain clothes Garda. He whipped out a bolt cutter and snapped off my lock and was pounced on by a Garda. This occurred at the former taxi rank in front of the Stephans Green centre. When I came by moments later, a taxi man said the Garda had apprehended a scumbag. I went to Harcourt St, I.D. my bike. The plain clothes Garda insinuated that he'd beaten the crap out of him, as he showed my his personal protection weaponry.
I went to make a statement later on that week and learned the Garda had caught the guy again trying to rob bikes. He chased him down into a corner in a car park and gave him another slapping.
Finally, I went to court. Scumbag had a list of offences, outstanding warrants and was on a suspended sentence. He didn't show in court and was give 1 yr with 6 months suspended.
I have often thought of the summary justice given by the Garda, and the fact that the guy life was likely a complete waste. He could be dead now as I assume he was a junkie. But, I had 5 bike nicked as a student. Given the failure f the judicial system to stop this guy, I can see why the Garda gave him a thumping.

ted1

dermabrasion wrote: »

After having 5 bikes stolen during my time in UCD, the thief of number six was unaware he was being followed by a plain clothes Garda. He whipped out a bolt cutter and snapped off my lock and was pounced on by a Garda. This occurred at the former taxi rank in front of the Stephans Green centre. When I came by moments later, a taxi man said the Garda had apprehended a scumbag. I went to Harcourt St, I.D. my bike. The plain clothes Garda insinuated that he'd beaten the crap out of him, as he showed my his personal protection weaponry.
I went to make a statement later on that week and learned the Garda had caught the guy again trying to rob bikes. He chased him down into a corner in a car park and gave him another slapping.
Finally, I went to court. Scumbag had a list of offences, outstanding warrants and was on a suspended sentence. He didn't show in court and was give 1 yr with 6 months suspended.
I have often thought of the summary justice given by the Garda, and the fact that the guy life was likely a complete waste. He could be dead now as I assume he was a junkie. But, I had 5 bike nicked as a student. Given the failure f the judicial system to stop this guy, I can see why the Garda gave him a thumping.

After the first 4 bikes were taking did you not cinduder upgrading the type lock you use?

Chuchote

dermabrasion wrote: »

After having 5 bikes stolen…
[Garda] gave him another slapping…
I have often thought of the summary justice given by the Garda…
I can see why the Garda gave him a thumping.

Summary justice? I don't think so.

And did it stop this person from thieving? Clearly not. Not a good method.

tomasrojo

There are obviously numerous problems with Gardaí roughing up working-class youths, but in particular I know my in-laws when they were kids used to get picked on by the Gardaí and humiliated when they were doing nothing at all. God knows, the Gardaí turn a blind eye to enough misbehaviour among their ranks. This "Lugs Brannigan" approach is completely counter-productive.

brocbrocach

tomasrojo wrote: »

There are obviously numerous problems with Gardaí roughing up working-class youths, but in particular I know my in-laws when they were kids used to get picked on by the Gardaí and humiliated when they were doing nothing at all. God knows, the Gardaí turn a blind eye to enough misbehaviour among their ranks. This "Lugs Brannigan" approach is completely counter-productive.

It's the Favella/Banlieue effect.
I'm not sure what a good punishment would be though when addiction is part of the equation. Fines? Nah, won't be paid. Imprisonment? Not for a €300 bike.

Chuchote

brocbrocach wrote: »

It's the Favella/Banlieue effect.
I'm not sure what a good punishment would be though when addiction is part of the equation. Fines? Nah, won't be paid. Imprisonment? Not for a €300 bike.

The solution is to cut away the profit by targeting the buyers. If they can't sell it they are less likely to steal it.

I also have a lot less respect for some middle-class scrote (and I use this unpleasant term advisedly) who makes it profitable for a kid to get into crime by buying something he knows to be stolen from the kid.

There used to be a campaign in Boston with notices asking people not to leave their goods on their car seats when they locked and left the car. The catchline was "Don't turn a good boy bad".

Anyone who buys a stolen bike has no conscience if they'll get a kid - who might have an apprenticeship, a few years in America, a lifetime's steady work - into crime and into the network of the kind of people who'll hand him a syringe and say "Try this, tis great crack".

Squeeonline

Chuchote wrote: »

It's illegal, but have you seen the law enforced? Have you seen people prosecuted for buying stolen bikes? Not only have you not, but the fact that bike thieves confidently approach people on the street to buy their swag shows the contempt they hold the possibility in!

Just because it's not enforced doesn't mean that we shouldn't bother or that it's unenforceable.

At an extreme end, we could have licences for bikes like with cars, and require a paper trial for their purchase/sale.

Chuchote

Squeeonline wrote: »

Just because it's not enforced doesn't mean that we shouldn't bother or that it's unenforceable.

At an extreme end, we could have licences for bikes like with cars, and require a paper trial for their purchase/sale.

It's starting to happen; more and more ads on Adverts.ie, creditably, are mentioning the words "Have original receipt" or even add a photo of the receipt with name and address blanked out.

There's also a nice little earner to be made by someone who'll set up a shop that will engrave your name in nice lettering on your bike. A German neighbour whose bike was nicked got it back within days when the Gardaí saw the name engraved on a bike under someone who didn't look right on it.

eeeee

The problem is much bigger than bike theft - as long as we live on a neoliberal capitalist society that is founded and maintained by inequality you will have bike theft. By taking part in this system we are condoning it, and perpetrating the conditions that make bike theft and it's attendant conditional necessities occur.
It's all our fault.
Dehunamising people by labeling them 'junkies' and 'scumbags' others people, and allows them to be treated as sub-human, and separate. It creates a them-and-us mentality, demonising them for 'not taking part' in the current dominant ideological system of governance prevalent a the time.
It's an economic and ideological/philosophical problem we all have a part and responsibility in creating and perpetrating. Pillorying the 'victims' or losers in the system is not going to help in finding a solution to these problems (bike theft here). Applying some critical thinking and genuine understanding the issues faced by everyone in this faulty system is the only way forward IMO.

magicbastarder

nee wrote: »

By taking part in this system we are condoning it, and perpetrating the conditions that make bike theft and it's attendant conditional necessities occur.
It's all our fault.

can you let me know how i don't take part in this system?

eeeee

magicbastarder wrote: »

can you let me know how i don't take part in this system?

I haven't got the answer to that.
Acquisition, capital and consumption are not questioned anywhere near enough.
You can choose the level you participate in it though, how much do you need to live, and erosion what your priorities are.
And be aware of your privilege. That's the least talked about thing in my experience. Middle class people are bizarrely ashamed of it, and rush in with less privileged credentials in my experience. People situate themselves always against those who have more rather than less than them, in order to feel less guilty and more justified in exercising their privilege or absolving their social responsibilities (see the massive rent increases in Dublin at the moment as an example). Reframing that argument critically isn't a bad start.

Chuchote

Yeah, but I don't want people stealing stuff I've worked hard to get.

eeeee

Chuchote wrote: »

Yeah, but I don't want people stealing stuff I've worked hard to get.

That's a really good example of what I was taking about - 'yeah great but my stuff and my things matter more than massive inequality and injustice in society locally and globally'. That exact attitude is what creates the problem and condones the system in place at the moment.
Symptom/problem blah blah blah.

Chuchote

nee wrote: »

That's a really good example of what I was taking about - 'yeah great but my stuff and my things matter more than massive inequality and injustice in society locally and globally'. That exact attitude is what creates the problem and condones the system in place at the moment.
Symptom/problem blah blah blah.

Uhhh, no! Massive inequality certainly matters to me. But I don't think the solution is to say "Yeah, ok, right, it's ok for you to steal from me or me from you". I think the solution is to work for greater equality. That's kind of obv https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spirit-Level-Equality-Better-Everyone/dp/0241954290/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476051621&sr=1-1&keywords=the+spirit+level

eeeee

Chuchote wrote: »

. But I don't think the solution is to say "Yeah, ok, right, it's ok for you to steal from me or me from you". Iel[/url]

That's not the point I made In my post

magicbastarder

nee wrote: »

That's a really good example of what I was taking about - 'yeah great but my stuff and my things matter more than massive inequality and injustice in society locally and globally'. That exact attitude is what creates the problem and condones the system in place at the moment.
Symptom/problem blah blah blah.

nonsense. saying 'i don't want my stuff stolen' in no way shape or form can be seen as 'my stuff is more important than world hunger'. i can't even begin to fathom what the causal link is.

Chuchote

Have to say I'm kind of enjoying imagining myself as a heartless beastly capitalist! An unfamiliar sensation. Think I'll just light up my cigar and enjoy my port while laughing heartily at the plight of the working man now. (snap) Forsythe! More caviare!

magicbastarder

is that le caviare or la caviare?

Chuchote

magicbastarder wrote: »

is that le caviare or la caviare?

It's eggs! Of course it's le caviare

Enduro

nee wrote: »

The problem is much bigger than bike theft - as long as we live on a neoliberal capitalist society that is founded and maintained by inequality you will have bike theft. By taking part in this system we are condoning it, and perpetrating the conditions that make bike theft and it's attendant conditional necessities occur.
It's all our fault.
Dehunamising people by labeling them 'junkies' and 'scumbags' others people, and allows them to be treated as sub-human, and separate. It creates a them-and-us mentality, demonising them for 'not taking part' in the current dominant ideological system of governance prevalent a the time.
It's an economic and ideological/philosophical problem we all have a part and responsibility in creating and perpetrating. Pillorying the 'victims' or losers in the system is not going to help in finding a solution to these problems (bike theft here). Applying some critical thinking and genuine understanding the issues faced by everyone in this faulty system is the only way forward IMO.

That's a frankly disgusting attitude. The vast majority of people who are relatively financially less well off do not resort to theft. They are perfectly capable of understanding right from wrong and choosing the more ethical path. Similarly there are plenty of relatively weatlthy people who steal things. Relative wealth and personal morality are not collected. It's absolutely disgusting that you seem to think that being relatively poor justifies unethical behavior. It show a real disrespect for the vast majority of relatively poor people who do not steal.

Inequality exists as we're human beings, not an ant colony. Different people have different skills and abilities. Any society which tries to level that off is doomed to massive injustice. The only good attempt I can recall at it was the Khmer Rouge, who were prepared to do what was necessary to eliminate any discrepencies in human abilities. Not a great model to adopt, IMO.

Equality of opportunity is a good thing. It's completely incompatible with equality of outcome though.

Chuchote

There's also the point (and I must apologise for constantly banging on about this) that bicycle theft is what 'turns a good boy bad', puts him into contact with really sketchy, nasty people, teaches him that it's ok to steal from others, leads him away from a life of honest work.
By not prosecuting people who buy stolen bikes, we are leading working-class kids into a life that will destroy them.

brocbrocach

Chuchote wrote: »

There's also the point (and I must apologise for constantly banging on about this) that bicycle theft is what 'turns a good boy bad', puts him into contact with really sketchy, nasty people, teaches him that it's ok to steal from others, leads him away from a life of honest work.
By not prosecuting people who buy stolen bikes, we are leading working-class kids into a life that will destroy them.

Maybe it allows him to buy food that he can feed his struggling family with, cos his mam is on gear and no-good, and one day his little brother will grow up to be an AIDS doctor in Africa.