UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

[mightyjebus]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

or the justice system in the UK is under strain which causes delays and the door knocking had no bearing on a case that is at the sentencing stage?

I'm sure it's option 2.

[Bryan Mills]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

Wi know some of the people whose doors were knocked.

I'd be inclined to believe that Andy is singing like a canary in a particularly good mood on a beautiful day in an effort to make a bargain with the prosocutors etc.

[temp89]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

He's a thief, even though the ISIS stuff is BS.

Funny to see so many posters doing mental gymnastics to hand wave away the entire court system because it's a guy involved in their hobby.

[Roundel91]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

He's a thief, even though the ISIS stuff is BS.

Funny to see so many posters doing mental gymnastics to hand wave away the entire court system because it's a guy involved in their hobby.

Agreed. Stolen kit is stolen kit regardless and those who have pinched and knowingly handled it to sell on should be adequately punished.
Lets also not forget body armour, nvg's and flares are seen as attractive to criminal or terrorist organisations

[blytm]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

He got 2 years http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/cri...sman-1-7735476

[colinjallen]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

Not long enough!

However, he is probably safer inside than he will be when he gets out; stealing from the SAS is not really a very good idea.

[hotelkilo]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

i think housing him and feeding him for the next year or so is a complete waste of taxpayers money and resources

he should have been given a massive fine and some sort of house arrest, all of his business interests audited etc

these men are all seemingly non violent people who have made some rather foolish decisions, in the modern world of the internet, facebook etc the public shaming these men are receiving is gonna be with them for many years

they stole less than 50k worth of kit from an organisation that WASTES millions on a regular basis

what i find quite galling is that most people on this specific forum would give their left nut for some 'super dooper illicit gear from da army' but when someone is caught stealing they mostly want to throw the book at him

'let he who is without sin cast the first stone' i dont really do religion but this fits well here, especially as 'stealing from work' is seen as a rather commonplace event to most people.

i not saying that what these guys did was right or even excusable , i am not saying that they shouldnt be punished. what i am saying is that prison is expensive and should only be for the most dangerous people to society, which these 3 rather sorry looking fools are most certainly not.

not one individual will beneifit from any of these men going to prison, and if any of them have families it will be a disaster for many innocent people and of course by sending any of them to prison will only hamper that persons chances to pay back what is appropriate. im guessing that it will be quite long time before any of these guys handle stolen goods again

[seansamurai1]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

People don't seem to realise that the monetary value isn't the issue.
The issue is he had a system of steal to order setup that required someone to steal kit that falls into ITAR, OSA and restricted items brackets, he then sold it for profit to people abroad.
Essentially this guy had in some ways a black market dealership going.
It's also been going on far longer than 2 years.

At least when the MoD wastes money it's legal.

[Fizzy]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

i think housing him and feeding him for the next year or so is a complete waste of taxpayers money and resources

he should have been given a massive fine and some sort of house arrest, all of his business interests audited etc

these men are all seemingly non violent people who have made some rather foolish decisions, in the modern world of the internet, facebook etc the public shaming these men are receiving is gonna be with them for many years

He was made an example of, plain and simple!

The MoD Plod have been doing a 'lot' of investigating into stolen kit recently, paying visits to people, seizing items, so with Andy going away for 2 years (1 year custodial) it sends a strong message to anyone else. In many cases fines don't even come close to the amount of profit made from illicit dealings

they stole less than 50k worth of kit from an organisation that WASTES millions on a regular basis

It may have been less than £50k's worth of kit, but that's only what they could prove. I'm fairly sure there was more to it than that

what i find quite galling is that most people on this specific forum would give their left nut for some 'super dooper illicit gear from da army' but when someone is caught stealing they mostly want to throw the book at him

'let he who is without sin cast the first stone' i dont really do religion but this fits well here, especially as 'stealing from work' is seen as a rather commonplace event to most people.

There's a vast difference in asking your mate to swipe you a couple of pens and a pack of post-it notes for you to use, over stealing top of the line NVGs that you are then willing to fly half way across the world, to make a profit on. As Sean said, this is military grade, restricted kit, that would be sought after by just about any terrorist organisation (at least in terms of the NVGs)

[wolfen]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

You can justify all you want but at the end of the day he was a thief and he got caught and has been punished.
How much sympathy do we have for the guys who break into airsoft sites ?

Nige

[Dentonboy]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

Let's hope that no-one from Hereford was scratching around looking for key bit of something for an 'op whilst little Johnny was all sorted pew-pewing down his local site with a bundle of moody gear that he picked up from the site owner.

[hotelkilo]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

yes they are thieves, but they are businessmen and opportunists not bank robbers, so in this particular case i don't think a custodial sentence is at all helpful

i have very little sympathy for people who would break into an airsoft site, i certainly wouldn't send them to prison myself unless it was clear that they posed an actual risk to the public


all im trying to do is put this into perspective, these three hurt no one and no one was ever at risk from their actions

FOR EXAMPLE in the UK, if you get caught drunk driving for a 1st offence you can expect a 12 month driving ban and a fine. maximum sentence for this offence is 6 months in prison. between 200 and 300 people are killed every year in the uk by drunk drivers. what kind of signal are we sending to potential drink drivers..??


if these three had stolen actual weapons, ammunition etc then that would make them an actual danger to society at large and imo would be deserving of a prison sentence.

all they stole was high end gear from a huge organisation, no one got hurt, no individual lost their personal property.

in normal criminal proceedings the state can punish people in many ways with prison being the final and highest level of punishment.

i think that any custodial sentence in this case is the state being vindictive instead of dispensing justice, the punishment should fit the crime

look we've all done stupid sheeet in the past, personally im just glad that i learned from my mistakes before it all came 'on top'

ultimately they broke the eleventh commandment 'THOU SHALL NOT GET CAUGHT'

[colinjallen]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

They broke the 8th commandment: "Thou shalt not steal".

I am rather surprised that you do not see stealing items paid for by the money that you and I pay in tax as being worthy of a custodial sentence. Stealing restricted military equipment paid for out of tax revenue is something that I for one would see as being worthy of a custodial sentence; it is theft against every one of us.

[hotelkilo]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

the remark about teh 11th commandment was a joke

ITS A JOKE

stealing from the military is about as old as the military im thinking

would you imprison everyone who has stolen from the military if you could?

[Fizzy]

Re: UCAP airsoft owner admits to stealing MOD equipment

Again, there's a big difference in stealing a few rat packs to sell to your mate who goes camping, and having restricted military kit stolen to order over a number of years, that you then sell off in the Far East, wouldn't you say?

It would appear not?