do you think the police and law courts should get tougher on joy riders over here in the UK?

Question

should they adopt the U.S zero tolorrence aproach. joyriders (who get caught) over here usually receive a (small) fine and a stupid short (sometimes suspended) sentence. courts won't even try them for attempted murder if they (joyriders) tried to mow down people on the streets!

Answer 1

It's the same with all sentences for all crimes in the UK. The time served does not fit the crime.

These yobs "choose" to steal a car (which is somebody Else's property which is hard come by) then endanger innocent people when they drive like twats, not to mention the police time in chasing them and potentially killing them too.

10 years which means a minimum 10 years served... none of that only serving 5 years for good behaviour shite. We might get our streets back then.

Answer 2

YES!!!!!! I personally have had two motorbikes and a car stolen for the purposes of 'joyriding' ( I hate that name because I take no joy at having to put hand in my own pocket and fork out my hard-earned to fix my vehicles). Joyriding is not deemed as theft it is deemed as taking a vehicle without consent because it is hard to prove the mens rea element of permenant deprivation to the victim which is why the sentences are so damn lenient for these offences.

I'll tell you how much the little £$%**" care about the sentences they receive. The first bike I had stolen, I caught the people stealing it (looked out the window to see it being pushed down the street gave chase and caught up with them in a darkened entry where they were trying to hotwire it, won't bore you with the bloody details but let's just say one of them was 'apprehended') they were prosecuted and got menial fines as they were on benefits and two were still at school. The following week my replacement bike (I bought another one while my original was having new locks fitted) was stolen, so me and a friend went to the area where the convicted bike thief lives in his car, we turned up and there they are riding my bike around - Don't you think this just goes to show how much disregard these people hold the law in.

It wouldn't be so bad either if the officers took the problem seriously, but they don't. On all three occassions where I have had vehicles stolen they have said "oh well, it's probably just kids". I wonder, if they take the same attitude when firearms are stolen, because in my view that is exactly what a vehicle is in the hands of an unqualified driver, a deadly weapon, and it should be treated in the eyes of the law as no less.

Answer 3

Yes. Here in the US, the police have no tolerance on this dangerous behaviour. If you have not seen some of the police chase videos from this country, you would see some of them were joyriding like fools. For example, I saw this wild police chase in the Arizona desert. It happened when a man stole a late-model Corvette and ran from the police. That nut got too cocky and smashed his stolen car against the back of the stalled 18-wheeler, smashing it into fragmented pieces. The car thief survived that horrendous wreck, but was unharmed. A closer look showed what was left of the Corvette. The windscreen wipers were the only things working on that trashed car. Now you get what I mean about doing a US-style crackdown on joyriders in your country. Have your lawmakers to make flight from an officer a felony just like in California and many other states. That would make joyriders think twice before running from the police in stolen vehicles! The punishment for doing something like that could be very stiff down the line!

Answer 4

Unfortunately the Police and Law Court are governed on how tough they can be by the government.

Usually Joy Riders are actually come down on quite hard under the following offences:

Taking without Owners Consent (aggravated if there is an accident which is a more serious offence).
Driving without a licence.
Driving without insurance.
Driving with tax.

This cut and paste of the answer above is to a degree true: but not in every instance… Courts hands are somewhat tied as to the punishments given, especially if the driver is below 17… but again: not in every instance!!

But it is not just TWOC’S & JOY RIDERS!!

What about repeat ‘Drink Drivers’, Repeat Offenders For Speeding, or Driving Without Insurance!!??

How many times have you heard the news, ‘The driver had 5-10-15- 20+ previous convictions for X, Y, Z’!?!?

The Police can catch the Buggers, but then the law becomes an ***, as courts let them off with a ban for 12 months-2 years, 5 if you’re really lucky: which is then usually ‘Ignored’!! Or in the case of kids: a slap on the wrist, and a ‘Please don’t do it again’!!

Why are the courts not banning these people for ‘LIFE’, which ‘Is’ within their Power? And then giving them ‘Serious’ prison sentences if caught a second time?

Why is there not a ‘Zero Tolerance’ approach to drinking and driving as there is in other European countries? Then there would be no argument as to, ‘I thought I was under the limit osifer’!!

Why is someone who ‘Kills’ an individual with a motor vehicle, and especially if under the influence of alcohol, and driving a dangerous weapon: not charged with the offence of ‘Murder’, or at the very least, ‘Man Slaughter’: and given the appropriate sentence under that law!!

The law is an ***, and not being used or enforced as it should be!!

But then what can you expect from a country/government that makes it ‘Illegal to be drunk on licence premises’: ‘Illegal to sell alcohol to anybody who is believed to be drunk’: ‘Illegal to buy alcohol for anyone you know to be drunk’: but then allows it to happen each and every night of the week, in each and every pub, wine bar, club, nightclub, restaurant, etc in every village, town and city around the country: without even batting an Eyelid!! But then complains of ‘Binge Drinking’ and ‘Antisocial Behaviour’ being on the increase!!

What a Joke.. only its not funny!!

Answer 5

Unfortunately the Police and Law Court are governed on how tough they can be by the government. Usually Joy Riders are actually come down on quite hard under the following offences:
Taking without Ownders Consent (aggravated if there is an accident which is a more serious offence)
Driving without a licence
Driving without insurance
Driving with tax
I work alongside the Courts and have seen loads of people go to prison over these offences.

Answer 6

What you do is impose absurd sentences, eventually enough people will complain. Then when you bring in your draconian laws and oust civil liberties; the people can't complain as the govt. is only doing what's asked of it.

Tends to be known as 'Problem-Reaction-Solution', you 'create' a problem, somebody 'reacts', then you can produce a 'solution' usually not what the creators of the problem were after implementing in the first place.

Another idea is to introduce laws which go further than intended. From this standpoint you can concede to the position you wanted to be in from the outset. If you're lucky, you'll get more than you bargained for.

Answer 7

they need to get tougher full stop. Theres not really any more hte police can do except continue to catch people. But yes the criminal justice system in general at the moment is a joke.

Answer 8

yes why ban people who shoud not be driving in the first place thats hardley a deterant

Answer 9

Yes definitly.