Fined for tackling shop thieves


By JOHN COLES
June 30, 2007
A HERO shopkeeper was fined £250 yesterday — because he tackled three hoodie thieves. Brave Jacob Smyth, 33, chased and caught the yobs after they grabbed armfuls of spray paint from his hardware store.
Cops gave two of them £80 fixed penalty fines — then HE was charged with assault.
The dad of three pleaded guilty at Truro magistrates court in Cornwall rather than face possible jail. His lawyer told JPs: “He was the one who was trying to do the right thing and get his stolen property back.”
A shopworker who helped Jacob catch the thugs in Penzance also faces court.
Magistrate Angy Haslam conceded Jacob acted in self-defence but said his reaction was “aggravated by the fact you kicked the victim on the ground”.
Jacob, who also ordered to pay £43 costs, said later: “It’s outrageous. I did nothing wrong. I was getting a good beating from this lad. I had no choice but to defend myself. I have a young child and do not want to run the risk of prison. But am I not allowed to protect my stock and premises from thieves?”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007300149,00.html

Short answer, Jacob: no. Better to let these little thugs ransack your store, threaten your life and livelihood, and then use the spray paint to deface the property of others.


It’s the British way.


Of course, it’s not just the British way. It’s heading in that direction in liberal areas in America as well. So if you’re unfortunate enough to live in NYC, or Boston, or San Francisco or any of the other Usual Hellholes, be alert to this creeping liberalism. We already know that if you shoot a scumbag in your NYC house, you stand in as much danger of criminal prosecution as the scumbag.The story above should show you where this leads.


But from Red America (in this case, Billings, Montana) comes this heartening video of summary justice being administered to a pickpocket by yet another Old Fart Devil Dog.


And no WAY will Our Hero be charged with anything, because this is how things should be, both in my America and in Bulldog Britain.

The video linked above was in reference to this story Ex-Marine Teaches Pickpocket a Lesson

Bollocks. To steal a phrase from the self-defenseless folk. Sheer bollocks. That man had every right and was within any kind of common sense to justify doing what he did.

EDIT: And for folks like MontyB who are supportive of stricter gun control...These thieves didn't have guns...But if the store owner had had one...Do you think he would have even had to use it to scare off the thieves and NOT be charged with assault?

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

Bollocks. To steal a phrase from the self-defenseless folk. Sheer bollocks. That man had every right and was within any kind of common sense to justify doing what he did.

EDIT: And for folks like MontyB who are supportive of stricter gun control...These thieves didn't have guns...But if the store owner had had one...Do you think he would have even had to use it to scare off the thieves and NOT be charged with assault?

Well I will give a quick response to the original post, I think it is wrong that he was fined I seriously doubt anyone would have done differently, I can only assume the police decided to discourage people from taking the law into their own hands but either way the shopkeeper should have got a pat on the back not a fine.

Now on to you:
What are you waffling on about?
If the shop owner had a gun what makes you so sure the thieves wouldn't have had them too (oddly enough criminals take advantage of soft laws as well) in which case would could have had multiple dead and much greater risk to the folks in the street outside.
See imagination works both ways.

In the end its an irrelevant argument as no one was armed and the incident was concluded peacefully, while it is fine example of how bad laws work it is not a justification for arming every man and his dog.

The article doesn't mention how old the thieves were, but my guess is it was a couple of young bucks trying to pull a quickie on an old man. Turns out, they picked the wrong man. I have a strong suspicion that if there were weapons involved, it would have been the store keeper and NOT the little hoodlums. Much easier for a respectable man to get a firearm than for some teenage thugs.

Monty - it doesn't matter how much you regulate firearms - you will still be able to pick up a GLOCK 17 in NYC for $50 with the serial scratched off that has probably been used to murder someone.

Also, this is a very sad situation for the UK. The day I get fined for beating someone who tried to steal my stuff outside my own home is the day you KNOW the government wants you to be completely helpless and dependant on their police force. Only if things don't go just right the police might just end up taking pictures of your corpse and leaving.