How pleased was I......

[Kos]

....to read of the 4 joyriders who after crashing a stolen car got set upon by a group of 12 men and had the s4|t kicked out of them?!?!- Thats what I call justice. Bet they won't do it again. And guess what?- the police are looking for the 12 men- now theres a surprise! (not)

[nedflanders]

I disagree with your logic bernado ! As soon as you get behind the wheel of a car your are in possession of a lethal weapon just as a knife is! If some one kills another person when joyriding they should receive the same sentence as someone who commits pre-meditated murder. Look at this story http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3825679.stm i
f this guy had stabbed the three victims to death he would not see the light of day again. As it stands he will be out in 6/7 years and just cause he has been banned this might not stop him doing it again.

[slimjim]

Liberals are always full of rubbish until its them who becomes a victim. I've been a victim too many times. Good on the vigilantes I say.

[Greedyfly]

Slimjim - I am pretty sure we have all been a victim once or twice but we still do not have the right to play god or to take law into our own hands. If it wast right and it would work then the law wouldnt be there

[scuzzball]

Nedflanders - if you give everyone the same sentence regardless of intent you devalue the sentence and also would encourage additional crime - if a joyrider is going down forever he might as well kill any witnesses as well might he not?

[inferno]

Vigilantism is always wrong - partly for moral reasons but mostly because of the real danger of innocent people being hurt. Even in an apparently cut and dried case like the one under discussion. Who is to say at least one of the four "joyriders" wasn't there under duress (unlikely, sure , but it could be the case) of had a mental health problem or whatever. The point about a decent judicial system is that you have the opportunity to look at the case objectively and understand the whole picture - then make a decsion on how to deal with the guilty party. Flawed? - sure it is, but what is the alternative? Its a free for all and the ones who lose out are the weak and the vulnerable. I for one don't want summary justice meeted out by a bunch of mindless yobs. Just look at the paedophile business a couple of years ago. A Peadiatricians house was attacked!

[Kos]

Thanks for all of your comments. To make it clear I do not in any way condone vigilantism but I am so dis-illusioned with the justice system in this country that the only punishment these joyriders would get would be via this method. If they got taken to court, all they'd get is slapped wrists and Community Orders I expect. I just hope that something like this will one day wake up the justice system in this country and hopefully get the police doing what they should be doing rather than sitting in lay-bys or on bridges looking for speeding drivers.

[bernardo]

Surely the most effective solution is to drop loads of nuclear bombs all over the world and kill everybody pre-emptively, as a precaution, before they have a chance to commit crimes. Then they might learn to show a bit of respect for us normal people.

[gerry]

In my view the joyriders got what they deserved.Why should we let these idiots get away from stealing a car & then crashing it?, because once they have got away from 1 joyride then they will do it again.They shouldn't have been doing something like that in the first place.Let's hope the kicking they got was a wake up call.

[tartanwiz]

If you fly with the crows, you get shot with the crows, and the joyriders had it coming to them. They knew they were harming other people but they didn't care just as long as they were having fun. Maybe now they'll realise that they won't necessarliy get away with it.

[norfolk boy]

With respect bernado the point i was making was wether the european justice system which we as a nation have to abide by,hands down very much differing terms to be served with the end result of the crime being the same (the old lady is dead) i feel the mentallity of the joyriders is such that probably the only law they would understand is the law of mob rule no matter how un pc this is

[darth vader]

When i next go joyriding i am taking a gun with me in case a bunch of nutters want to give me a good kicking. I stand by my original response. An I for an I makes Countdown harder to play

[bazwillrun]

They deserved all they got, if they go to court as soon as the sentence is pronounced, and they hear the word community crop up as in service, rehab etc. they are laughing all the way to the next crime. Go and sit in the public gallery of your local court sometime, and watch some of the cases being sentenced anything community is considered by these Chav ssccuumm as a let off