Vengeful cyclist who slashed nearly 2,000 tyres is jailed
By Lesley Richardson
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=512250
17 April 2004
A cyclist who slashed almost 2,000 car tyres in a 10-day spate of
revenge attacks on "inconsiderate motorists" was jailed for 16 months
yesterday. Ashley Carpenter, 37, targeted the tyres of 548 cars, lorries
and vans parked in Christchurch and Bournemouth, causing damage worth
£250,000.
He launched his one-man campaign after a car nearly knocked him off his
bike and another drenched him by driving through a puddle, Bournemouth
Crown Court heard.
Carpenter, of Walpole Road, Boscombe, in Dorset, left his home on his
bicycle at night in December, 2003, armed with a sharpened screwdriver
and randomly punctured 1,728 tyres as a warning to drivers.
Recorder Stephen Lennard said the five weeks Carpenter had already spent
in jail would be taken into account so he would serve half the sentence
and be released on licence.
Mr Lennard said the damage had cost £97,000 in tyre repairs alone, not
taking into account hotel bills and alternative methods of transport
needed by the victims of the crimes.
Carpenter, who is unemployed, had admitted eight charges of criminal
damage asked for 540 other offences, to 497 vehicles in Bournemouth and
43 vehicles in Christchurch, to be taken into consideration.
He was arrested in January after police analysed footage from CCTV and
found a sharpened screwdriver in his flat.
Robert Grey, defending, had described Carpenter as "very much a loner"
and "socially inadequate". He said Carpenter lived alone, had no
children, no relationship and no close friends. "He had not been able to
discuss his frustration with others. He perceived a number of incidents
of inconsiderate driving by motorists towards him. He says that twice he
was nearly knocked off his bike by motorists and on another occasion he
was subjected to verbal abuse by passing drivers."
"Things built up and came to a head when he lost control."
Rebecca Reef, a spokeswoman for the AA, said outside court that
pedestrians have legal protection against inconsiderate drivers and did
not need to resort to criminal damage to "get even". She added: "Had Mr
Carpenter gone to the police after he was splashed, the driver could
have been fined £2,500 and received up to nine penalty points for
driving without due care and attention."
"If a driver ignores a cyclist and causes them to fall off or be
injured, if they drive in a manner which causes that, they can get a
£5,000 fine and five to 10 points on their licence."
The pedestrian or cyclist would need witnesses or CCTV footage to back
the claim, she said. Vehicle owners were also obliged to declare who was
driving at the time of any alleged incident. "This serves as a helping
hand to cyclists and as a warning to drivers who think it's a laugh to
go through puddles that they are actually risking a fine."
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: "We all work and live in the
community and we shared the feelings of worry and concern as more cars
were damaged night after night."
====================================================================
What a twisted dick. It sounds to me that he got off rather lightly in
the circumstances.
"Had Mr Carpenter gone to the police after he was splashed, the driver
could have been fined £2,500 and received up to nine penalty points for
driving without due care and attention."
Yeah, right. Get real! The police would have mounted an immediate
investigation and left no stones unturned! What planet is the AA on?
Just like if I complained to the police about cyclists ignoring red
traffic lights!
Archie
|
