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Posted by: AmieB Jun 18 2009, 09:47 AM

Another story of a young boy commiting a crime.

It says he was living at the YMCA. So i guess his homelife was not good. He is only 16 years old. What would possess a young boy to act like that.
Do you think the parents are to blame here?

Posted by: GMR Jun 18 2009, 09:56 AM

A lot of time it is circumstances; parents, situation or maybe it is just in their nature. whatever the reason society must show strong discipline when it happens.

Posted by: Simon Jun 18 2009, 10:16 AM

It could be that he was so desperate for money that that seemed the only option, in which case our government has failed him

It could be that he has had a troubled life and is in need of help, and again the government has failed him

or it could be that he is just a bad person, does not understand right from wrong and wants to be gangster, in which case lock him up and teach him how to act as a resonsible civilian

Posted by: TallDarkAndHandsome Jun 18 2009, 10:22 AM

A lot of todays kids have never had any discipline. Thats why they don't understand right from wrong. Anything go's and normally their are no consequences.

I blame all the do gooding pc liberal types. I remember teachers at Park House that would have put the fear of god into some of these 'gangster wannabes' that regulalry blight our lives. Unfortunately teachers of that ilk are no longer tolerated in our 'pc society'.

Posted by: Bloggo Jun 18 2009, 10:45 AM

You know it really doesn't matter who is to blame at this stage. It is totally unaceptable for innocent people going about their day to day business to have to fear some yob putting a gun to their head.
What does matter is how he is dealt with now.
If you don't want it to happen again then lock him up for a long time. The same goes for those who carry knives.
Time for some strong deterents I think.

Posted by: Bill1 Jun 18 2009, 10:49 AM

Naming, shaming and putting their picture into the public domain is a very good move that's been made in this case too.

Posted by: AmieB Jun 18 2009, 11:18 AM

I totally agree

Posted by: GMR Jun 18 2009, 11:20 AM

Yes, that is a start. If that doesn't work, however, stronger methods must be used.

Posted by: TallDarkAndHandsome Jun 18 2009, 11:52 AM

I would like serious Jail terms for the serious offenders.
I would also like to see some of the serial offenders for crimes such as shoplifiting, burglary etc be made to wear Orange Suits and be made to sweep the pavements and roads of Newbury. Community service where we can all see them for what they are.

Posted by: GMR Jun 18 2009, 11:58 AM

I am with you; we've got to show that crime doesn't pay. We must punish and humilate those that wish to step over the line.

Posted by: Simon Jun 18 2009, 12:00 PM

TD&H, i love the idea of shaming these people in orange jump suits, but you know the goody goody PC brigade will argue its against their human rights!!!!

I also went to Park House, and there were certain teachers there that helped me learn respect, right and wrong, but their tactics would not be allowed today.

I am a better person for being tought these values and thank those teachers for everything they did. School should be about more than just learning from books.

Posted by: AmieB Jun 18 2009, 12:05 PM

Schools have no control anymore, the teachers are powerless to do anything.

Posted by: Bloggo Jun 18 2009, 12:22 PM

Isn't it bad that so many of us on this forum and nearly everyone I talk to about how soft our justice system is and yet the Government won'recognise that there is a real problem that effects us all and continues to be lenient on crime.
I don't get it!!!

Posted by: Andrea Jun 18 2009, 12:34 PM

What really bothers me is that many kids know that if their parents or teacher do something they don't like, they can call child protection services or something.

I grew up with no discipline, purely because I didn't need it. If I ever did something wrong, my parents wouldn't ground me or take something away, they would talk to me and show me where I did something wrong and would tell me not to do it again. I wish I knew the secret to why that worked for me. My parents weren't the most stable and we had little money, but the one thing that they did was show to us everyday that they loved us and would do things for us just because they thought it would bring a smile to our face. Although I know this would only work for certain people as I turned out balanced but my older brother is a bit more troubled.

In conclusion, I do believe that family life has a strong influence on how someone turns out, but for some people it's just their nature to be a certain way.

Posted by: Andy1 Jun 18 2009, 01:24 PM

Couldn't agree more. I had a lot of respect for my teachers, whose names oddly enough suited them. They were strict but fair.

The sad thing is, there are more kids doing good than bad out there, it's just not headlinng news

Posted by: GMR Jun 18 2009, 01:27 PM

I also read that his sentence was only 2 and a half years.... he'll be out in half that time. His sentence doesn't reflect the seriousness of his crime. He should have at least got 10 years and no chance of early release..

Posted by: Jacklets Jun 18 2009, 02:19 PM

What ever his reasons were for doing it, I'm glad he received a custodial sentence as clearly it must have been a terrifying ordeal for the shopkeeper.

But also glad to read in yesterday's report of the "lovelorn teenager" that it was decided to give him a conditional discharge and nothing harsher than that. Guess most of us have at one time or another been a tad drunk and emotional, maybe not to quite the extent he was, but all the same - he had clearly been having a bad time and his own words - was simply behaving like a bit of a prat!

Posted by: Simon Jun 18 2009, 03:06 PM

2 and a half years for armed robbery??? Whether the gun was real or not the boy was using it as if it was a real gun and the poor shop keeper thought it was a real gun. He will be out in a year with good behaviour so what will stop him doing it again straight away?