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news
Justice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)Suspended sentence for serial bike thief
An Ipswich man who pleaded guilty to the thefts of six bicycles has been handed a 12-week suspended sentence. Robertas Jasinskis, who was said by police to have committed “sophisticated thefts with significant planning” had previously been charged in connection with five other bike theft incidents – all in Ipswich.
The Ipswich Star reports that Jasinskis took the bikes between August 26 and October 27, 2020 and also asked that seven other offences be taken into consideration.
The bikes ranged in value from £70 to a £900 Giant Stance. None has been recovered.
On October 12, officers attended the Chequers Hotel in Ancaster Road, Ipswich, where Jasinskis was staying and bolt cutters disguised with clothing around them and an all-purpose spanner.
"In essence, a cycle stealing kit was found,” said Mark Milkovics, prosecuting. "These were sophisticated thefts with significant planning. He has all the tools and equipment and is clearly targeting cycles."
Jo Paton, defending, said Jasinskis had stolen the bikes for financial reasons after being made redundant.
"He was left without a passport which meant he could not get benefits and could not get a job," she said.
Magistrates told Jasinkskis that the offences crossed the custody threshold but said they were prepared to suspend the sentence. He was also ordered to pay £50 in compensation for each of the thefts.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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13 comments
the more surprising detail is that police were able to link the 6 bike thefts to this individual at all, as I didnt think serial bike thieves held on to the evidence for long enough, and when one of my friends had a bike stolen from a bike rack in Ipswich town centre, all the police did was issue a crime number for insurance purposes, they wouldnt even check the cctv which covered the area.
the impact stuff like this has, on me and other cyclists in the area,and sure Ipswich is no better or worse than other towns & cities across the country for his, but I already was wary about leaving a bike locked up in the town centre, Id certainly not risk it now.
so it was frustrating that the county council then spent some of the emergency travel fund money on these new temporary bike racks, whilst do nothing to increase the security for them https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/local-council/new-bike-parks-in-suffo...
consequently they remain largely empty & unused, and the vocal minority use it as another brickbat to complain funding for cycling is a waste of money.
The only thing he should be suspended from is:
A) A bridge with a rope around his neck.
B) A strawberry jelly.
C) The 21st of March.
Vote now 😜
Alternatively if you did get hold of the theif, don't mutilate him as this will land you yourself in legal trouble. What I suggest is you pour coal dust or black paint over him, then let the police shoot him.
A
Should have been given a year in prison, then deported
So bike theft isn't a crime?
So this is what the legal system thinks of cyclists is it, a suspended sentence. Theft is theft it makes no difference how much a person spends on a bike whether its seventy pounds or several thousand pounds, some person is having their bike stolen, game over. The bit I find interesting is that in one breath the defence is suggesting the defendant turned to stealing bikes becuase he was made redundant and lost his job. In the next breath it states he could not access benefiits or get a job because he was left without a passport. The question is, well how did he get a job in the first place then..
There is no thought for the individual who has their bike stolen in my view, regardless of if the bike was even insured or not. The defendant should have had a more severe sentence. Thousand of bikes are stolen each year, and maybe one of the reasons is its because the legal system lets cyclists down with pathetic sentences like this one case.
There's not enough detail here but it isn't a given that if you can work in the UK, you can also claim benefits if you lose that job.
It's a bit hard to accept with 7 offences taken into consideration that a suspended sentence is appropriate. The defendant is a repeat criminal by his own admission. I think a community order - so that there is some punishment now - would make sense as a bare minimum.
Tagging with appropriate curfews may have had some effect, though "if" he gets caught the sentence would stop being suspended.
And even though we might want him punished, I'd rather he just didn't do it again...
A little bit more detail here:
https://www.suffolk.police.uk/news/latest-news/ipswich-man-sentenced-con...
"The bikes ranged in value from £70 to a £900 Giant Stance. None has been recovered."
"He was also ordered to pay £50 in compensation for each of the thefts."
Am I missing something here? A calculator perhaps? F'in ell.
"He was left without a passport which meant he could not get benefits and could not get a job," she said."
So if you get made redundant they confiscate your passport these days?
Maybe not in normal, above-board jobs. But there are some dodgy employers who might try to hold on to a passport to make migrant workers more dependent on them. Or maybe he was living onsite and the employer kicked him out, leaving some of his stuff behind - which would explain why the police found him living in a "hotel".
I once stayed in the same hotel when I was broke and had desperately travelled halfway across the country for work (with a more legit employer although it turns out they weren't entirely honest about the day rate), and at the time half the "guests" seemed to be people put there by the council. Some of them seem to have had quite chaotic lives. Most nights somebody had a loud argument, so I used to walk down to the marina and fantasise about living on a boat.
I'm not saying that bike theft is acceptable but I think it's reasonable to assume this man has some Problems To Deal With which are tougher than most problems faced by the comfortable middle-class commentariat of road.cc (which includes me, now).