It started with a stick........

[Sawdusty surfer]

Another arson attack in Durston, the village where my workshop is. This time it's between 5 and 10 acres of miscanthus (elephant grass) That is the third incident of arson in 4 weeks in Durston. Turns out, allegedly, that a 17/18 year old is responsible and has confessed. I feel I should be rejoicing , but am just feeling sad. For whatever reason he has messed himself up even more than he has messed me up. I'll be fine in the end but his future is really bleak now and for what? He lives in the village where I work. Maybe offer him a job when they finally let him out? And to think that he is aged between Alice and Amber ,my two children. So sad.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

It is sad to hear. He's obviously messed up somehow - or he's just a natural born arsonist. The courts take a pretty dim view on arson so who knows what his sentence will be if he's found guilty. Although I can see where you are coming from I'd find it hard to employ someone who had burnt down my workshop, stolen my tools and dented my ability to fend for my family. Then again, maybe he is worth saving and something constructive like your line of work could just be the outlet he needs. Tough one to call.

[guypjfreak]

your to kind old son... i wouldn't trust him though .i think he should be made to help rebuild your workshop that way you would be able to see if he has any remorse wot ever happens i hope your getting back to some sort of normality .

[guypjfreak]

any one know how james is doing ????

sunday bump for the best thread on efests

[guypjfreak]

same question bump any one know anything maybe youve seen him at other festis ??

[eFestivals]

I bumped into someone who works at Croissant Neuf on Saturday night at my local who said he was an old friend of James' of 25+ years and in regular contact .... and on the basis that he didn't say that James was dead or lost or anything, I guess he's around somewhere.

[AnnaGrant]

James has been posting on here as recently as 15 September.

[guypjfreak]

James has been posting on here as recently as 15 September.

[grumpyhack]

I've got a guy who started on one of my teaching courses this week who's a prisoner on day release at the end of an 11 year jail sentence and he wants to build a new life teaching about reparation and victim support. Don't know how life will work out for him but people can change and show remorse.

If James could work with the guy who torched his workshop it could be helpful for both.

Edited September 26, 2012 by grumpyhack

[Dark Star]

Not been on here in ages, really shocked to see about this, hope things are looking up for you James!

[Sawdusty surfer]

Hi,

thanks guys, reading that lot ^ has just given me a nice warm glow

Having not had the best of years we've kind of had to spend our energy getting going again. We only went to one festival this year,Croissant Neuf. Lovely party!

Wasn't possible to do more events, but probably for the best. Re sanding and re oiling all our wood after a muddy one is a nightmare.Weather wise I almost feel as if we had a lucky escape by not doing lots of festivals and it WILL be sunny all next summer

Still haven't another workshop sorted so am having to work at home.

Coincidentally, this morning I had to drive a woody neighbour to do some tree work on the levels between Street and Glastonbury. Took this shot on my phone at about 7.45 am. Wish I'd had a proper camera and got there a bit earlier

Here's to next year!

Edited October 1, 2012 by jamesontheverge

[Sawdusty surfer]

[Derby_Dave]

Sheds a small tear.

[Sawdusty surfer]

So the lad that burnt my workshop down, as well as 8 acres of miscanthus and also did 4 burglaries was in court yesterday.

The result? A 12 month supervision order which means that once a week he has to go into an office and say how he is being a good boy. No fine or compensation for anyone.

Am not entirely happy.

Grrrrrr.

[Leggins]

So the lad that burnt my workshop down, as well as 8 acres of miscanthus and also did 4 burglaries was in court yesterday.

The result? A 12 month supervision order which means that once a week he has to go into an office and say how he is being a good boy. No fine or compensation for anyone.

Am not entirely happy.

Grrrrrr.

[guypjfreak]

Am I the only one who cannot read this?

[neilloggie]

And justice has not been served once again.

[guypjfreak]

And justice has not been served once again.

[eFestivals]

And justice has not been served once again.

would you consider the far higher taxes you'd have to pay 'justice' if kids like that were always banged up? Or would you see that as unjust to you?

Whatever your own answer might be, the very reason why kids like that are not being banged up as the string-em-up brigade might wish is precisely because those same people consider the taxes they'd have to pay for their string-em-up ideas to happen a bigger injustice than a kid like that walking free.

The real injustice here is the inability of the string-em-up brigade to have a fully considered idea before they open their mouth.

[Dukeicon]

James - Are you the guy that sells stuff in the layby on the A39 outside the Bibic HQ place and the guy that does lovely bacon rolls?

[neilloggie]

would you consider the far higher taxes you'd have to pay 'justice' if kids like that were always banged up? Or would you see that as unjust to you?

Whatever your own answer might be, the very reason why kids like that are not being banged up as the string-em-up brigade might wish is precisely because those same people consider the taxes they'd have to pay for their string-em-up ideas to happen a bigger injustice than a kid like that walking free.

The real injustice here is the inability of the string-em-up brigade to have a fully considered idea before they open their mouth.

[eFestivals]

It's not all about sending him to prison or stringing him up. A 12 month supervision order does not fit the crime,what about the victims? Not only James who has been left to pick up the pieces but the 4 householders that were burgled? the landowner with 8 acres of scorched earth?

Minimum 6 months hard labour rebuilding James workshop and replanting 8 acres of grass would have been more suitable,make him think twice before he goes near a box of matches again.

it's the same issue - one of cost. Supervision of that 'hard labour' costs money, money that the taxpayer would rather not pay.

[mr gumby]

it's the same issue - one of cost. Supervision of that 'hard labour' costs money, money that the taxpayer would rather not pay.

[eFestivals]

I think for those who've been victims of crimes (myself included), the thing that's difficult to accept is the fact that the justice system in this country costs an enormous amount already, yet seems to be largely ineffective at discouraging certain crimes. Serious crimes including murder, rape, child abuse etc are given higher priority, and rightly so, but 'lesser' offences like burglary seem to simply get allocated a crime number and largely ignored.

As an example, our house was burgled about 2 years ago, shortly before Christmas. Not a great deal was taken, as we don't have many small valuable gadgets etc. that can be easily sold on. The important things were a couple of pieces of jewellery which had been handed down to my wife from her Nan. Worth next to nothing, but important to her as a reminder. The guy responsible was found, and admitted to having broken in to our house, but he was given a small fine and a suspended sentence. He was a known repeat offender, but he basically got a slap on the wrist.

What I'd like to see is less money being used up by the beaurocracy of the justice system, slowly trudging through endless hearings, postponements and appeals, and a little more used to provide effective deterrents. Then, fewer people might be tempted to commit these crimes, and fewer people would have to arrive home to find their belongings strewn across their floors, or like James, burned to cinders.

the thing is, deterrents don't work in most cases. So it would be an even bigger waste of money to bang people up as a deterrent which didn't have any deterrent effect.

The main cause of the sorts of low level crime* that you experienced and did James are social and economic issues, which time in prison does not change, so the threat of prison or time in prison does not change the person's likelihood of committing those crimes.

(* I'm not trying to lessen what you experienced. It's low level crime in the scheme of things).

For most people it's something they grow out of when they grow up and get a sense of self-responsibility &/or social awareness - and punishment of any type doesn't really make much difference. Those that don't, or who take longer to grow out of it are generally more embroiled in those social/economic issues.

It's all about people having - or not having - a sense of self-worth. If a person ends up believing they've little hope of a job, a house, nice things, then they have little respect for the things which give those things to others.

Don't go falling for the myth that similar crime didn't happen in days gone by when there were harsher punishments. It didn't. Crime has (proportionally) been around constant for a hundred years or more. Where it varies, it tends to follow the same pattern as the economics.

It's worth noting that over the last ten years or so - when a generation have been able to grow up with more hope for their personal future (the effects of a govt that has invested in its people) that crime has fallen quite substantially. Watch it soar again as the effects of tory austerity work thru the following generations.

Too much of the wealth is being stolen by too few of the people. If people want to see crime really fall, then those at the bottom need to move towards the average, as do - and here's the taboo that no politician will speak of - the wages of those above the average (because that's how that rise in income for the poorest will be paid for).

Unless those above the average get a sense of social responsibility to replace their social selfishness ("I earned all of this by my own hands". Bollocks did you!!) to allow that to happen, the only alternative that has an effect (tho a far lesser effect, because of the sense of hopelessness created by the fact of dependency!) is to raise taxes to artificially subsidise the poorest. It is not that the poorest are worthless scum without a work ethic, it's that their sense of worth and their opportunity to work has been stolen by others.

[mr gumby]

I appreciate several of the points you've raised Neil, but in reality, if someone has committed a crime against you, regardless of the severity of the offence, and if you have paid your taxes your whole life on the understanding that it entitles you to help from the police and courts if necessary, then it's pretty disappointing to see the culprit basically walk away free and able to carry on committing similar crimes against others.

As far as I'm concerned, there are certain types of behaviour which are not acceptable. Violence, theft, assault and arson are all among them. The guy who broke into my house may have been stoned, he may have been unemployed or homeless, he may have been skint, he may have had a family to feed. None of these possibilities, or any others I can think of, would stop him being aware that burglary is against the law. Social and economic issues don't change the basic expectations between one human being and another. I don't expect someone to steal from me, any more than I would steal from someone myself. He made a choice to break in to my house, as did the guy who torched James's workshop. They should be held accountable for those choices.