A student and an unnamed accomplice stole over £6,000 from Games Workshop to fuel a Warhammer addiction.
The Carlisle, in Cumbria, based local newspaper News and Star was full of unsympathetic comments from readers when Geek Native noticed the story.
One reader, That Chap for Sligo, supported the decision to suspend the sentence but attacked the hobby, saying;
Not sure if you’ve ever been told this, but prisons are full. Which convict are you going to release to send this lad down for stealing some plastic dolls, and are you happy to spend 500 a week to keep him inside?
Community Payback would have been a much better option. As would, “Get yourself a girlfriend.” 24 years old and playing fantasy games. I despair.
The sentence given out by the Magistrates was for 16 weeks in custody but suspended for a year, a compensation fine of £1,286 at the rate of £5 a week and ten days of rehabilitation. The suspension means the student will probably avoid jail if he reforms in that time and pleases the Court.
That Chap wasn’t done, though, adding,
And in one move he has made himself unemployable until his sentence is spent, is permanently disqualified from any post requiring Enhanced DBS clearance (*), and almost certainly he will be refused a visa for foreign travel, including to Europe from next spring.
Still, good to se the old ‘mental health’ card played again.
(*) Late edit – He’s reading Biomedical Sciences. Any career in medicine or biomedicine that might involve visits to hospitals or contact with patients will certainly require an Enhanced check. So that’s his degree wasted. Idiot.
However, the news article paints a more sympathetic picture and while it notes that the pair stole from the store several times, that the student admitted his role was arrested.
The prosecutor admitted;
Prior to this, he was of good character.”
A probation officer, who had interviewed the student, told the Court;
As his addiction to the game grew so did his stealing from the store. He is ashamed of what he has done but he didn’t know how he could take the items back… he tried to stop himself, but he didn’t know how to.”
He’s suffered depression from the age of 10 due to bullying at school and at 15 he developed PTSD due to bullying and assaults.
The defending lawyer added the student had fallen out with his parents, had been unable to secure a student loan, and had no money whatsoever.
Via News and Star and picture by Anne Nygard.
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