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York railway station bike thief sentencedYork station.PNG

York railway station bike thief sentenced

Mark Taylor stole multi-tool from Halfords two days after police stopped him at station
by Simon_MacMichael
Sun, Aug 07, 2016 23:00
10

A York man has been sentenced after police caught him trying to steal a multi-tool from a branch of Halfords - just two days after officers had taken a set of Allen keys, wire cutters and bolt croppers off him at the city's railway station.

It was the second time this year that Mark Douglas Taylor, aged 40, had been stopped by police in or near the city's railway station this year, reports York Press.

Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, told York Magistrates' Court that British Transport Police officers had seen Taylor "acting furtively” at bike racks at platform 1 of the railway station on the evening of 4 June this year.

Taylor was said to have told police: “It is pretty obvious what I was going to do.”

Police confiscated his equipment, but he was subsequently found trying to steal a multi-tool worth £29.99 from the Foss Islands Road branch of Halfords.

Earlier this year, he had admitted stealing a bike in Station Road and going equipped to steal.

Following the latest incident, he admitted a fresh count of going equipped to steal and one of being in possession of valium.

He was sentenced to 120 hours' unpaid work and 10 days of  rehabilitative activities and was told to pay costs of  £85 prosecution costs and an £85 statutory surcharge.

The court was told that Taylor had returned to taking drugs and stealing property after the break-up of a relationship and losing his job.

York
Bike thief
British Transport Police
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

Avatar
Stumps | 8 years ago
0 likes

robertoegg - after having spent nigh on the last 30 years dealing with these sort of people i can safely say its got bot all to do with a horrible upbringing, they are simply horrible nasty disgusting people who dont give a toss about anyone or anything as long as they are alright.

So mollycoddling or pandering to them isnt going to work and never will.

Avatar
Stumps | 8 years ago
0 likes

scum bag. I hope the drugs rot him from the inside out. no sympathy whatsoever.

Avatar
HalfWheeler | 8 years ago
0 likes

Fuckin 'ell, what a poxy drug to get addicted to...

Avatar
robertoegg | 8 years ago
2 likes

Ok, so here we see a bigger problem at large. Drug addiction and paying for that addiction. 

I can pretty much guarantee that this chap will have had a pretty horrible upbringing if he is seeking out hard drugs. What society should do if it wants to stop paying for this is a)provide help in terms of support from psychologists b)provide him clean drugs on prescription c)offer some apprenticeship (perhaps bike mechanics!) d)help to find permanent employment after the apprenticeship.

All of this would cost the taxpayer less in the long run. All of this has been shown to help in other countries (it actually worked in Liverpool for years through some loophole which was closed out recently. Addicts could go into a practice, get their drugs on prescription and continue to live their normal lives, holding down stable relationships and maintaining a permanent job. When this loophole was closed, the addicts returned to the street, they had to steal to pay the black market rates, they lost their jobs, their relationships, their lives).

What do you think?

1) I'm a crazy liberal

2) I should be burnt alive, with the addicts

3) By jove, it's so obvious - let's help those in need not persecute them

Avatar
harrybav replied to robertoegg | 8 years ago
0 likes

robertoegg wrote:

a)provide help in terms of support from psychologists b)provide him clean drugs on prescription c)offer some apprenticeship (perhaps bike mechanics!) d)help to find permanent employment after the apprenticeship.

Spot on, of course. though a & b are politically easier than c & d given the wider undersupply of those items.

Avatar
mike the bike replied to robertoegg | 8 years ago
0 likes

robertoegg wrote:

Ok, so here we see a bigger problem at large. Drug addiction and paying for that addiction. 

I can pretty much guarantee that this chap will have had a pretty horrible upbringing if he is seeking out hard drugs. What society should do if it wants to stop paying for this is a)provide help in terms of support from psychologists b)provide him clean drugs on prescription c)offer some apprenticeship (perhaps bike mechanics!) d)help to find permanent employment after the apprenticeship......

......What do you think?

1) I'm a crazy liberal

2) I should be burnt alive, with the addicts

3) By jove, it's so obvious - let's help those in need not persecute them

 

Another option, seldom explored by the authorities, is to give these people two chances and then, on the third strike, exile them to a remote island in the South Atlantic where they can prey upon one another to their hearts' content.  Persistent offenders, by definition, have no regard for society and might even enjoy the chance to be free of its constraints.  

Avatar
robertoegg replied to mike the bike | 8 years ago
0 likes

mike the bike wrote:

robertoegg wrote:

Ok, so here we see a bigger problem at large. Drug addiction and paying for that addiction. 

I can pretty much guarantee that this chap will have had a pretty horrible upbringing if he is seeking out hard drugs. What society should do if it wants to stop paying for this is a)provide help in terms of support from psychologists b)provide him clean drugs on prescription c)offer some apprenticeship (perhaps bike mechanics!) d)help to find permanent employment after the apprenticeship......

......What do you think?

1) I'm a crazy liberal

2) I should be burnt alive, with the addicts

3) By jove, it's so obvious - let's help those in need not persecute them

 

Another option, seldom explored by the authorities, is to give these people two chances and then, on the third strike, exile them to a remote island in the South Atlantic where they can prey upon one another to their hearts' content.  Persistent offenders, by definition, have no regard for society and might even enjoy the chance to be free of its constraints.  

 

quite right, Dad spent your youth sticking his hot sausage in your little mouth? Get over it mate! no, you can't? Well off to that island to burn in hell.... now that's a progressive society. Bravo.

Avatar
nowasps | 8 years ago
1 like

Going from workshop tools to a multi-tool. Even the thieves are making choices based on weight and aerodynamics.

Avatar
MikeOnABike | 8 years ago
6 likes

72 hours in the stocks. I think York still has some on public display.

Avatar
burtthebike | 8 years ago
2 likes

It's true: only the stupid get caught.

 

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