UKC

NEWS: Mountain Rescue Charity Box Thief Caught on CCTV

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 mockerkin 28 Feb 2013
BBC radio has just announced that a man seen to steal an MRT charity box from an Ambleside pub was seen and the theft is shown online. Anyone know where? He is said to have stolen several boxes. People are being urged to expose him if you know him.

UKC EDIT: Now on the news page (with Video): http://www.ukclimbing.com/news/item.php?id=67873
 David Cowley 28 Feb 2013
In reply to Toreador: Unbelievable!!!! Can't understand the mentality of some people. If caught they should not prosecute but drop him off on a secluded summit with no map and minimal clothing with no support from MRT in bad weather and get him to make his own way off so he knows the consequences of his actions and the importance of mountain rescue.
 LaMentalist 28 Feb 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

Stupid man , would imagine he is pretty desperate but worthy of a good hard slap I'd say , imagine the shame he must feel or I hope he feels ? No sympathy though thats stooping pretty low . I'd rather go with out than stealing myself .

Can see this being solved fairly quickly with that & other footage .
 LaMentalist 28 Feb 2013
In reply to David Cowley:

I agree that would be a fitting justice/punishment I think , better still make him do it in his birthday suit the toerag .
In reply to mockerkin:

Utter shitebag. I'm generally not one to jump on the vigilante bandwagon, but I've made an exception,and posted this on Facebook. Hopefully it will get shared around.

I hope he is caught.
 DerwentDiluted 28 Feb 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

I'd like to think that poetic justice might involve him needing team assistance and him being treated by the team member whose enthusiasm for canulating more than makes up for his/her lack of ability and terrible eyesight, Packaged by the Crepitus Crunch Crew with super tight strapping and provided with analgesia by the team homeopath, evacuated by the Jolt squad over rocky ground pausing only to insert more Diazepam.

There's something particularly scummy about nicking charity boxes. Hope he gets named and shamed.
 Pete Potter 28 Feb 2013
In reply to mockerkin: This has been an ongoing problem with Llanberis MRT losing a number of collection tins from Pete's Eats over the years. I agree with the thoughts on poetic justice but as always the teams would go and do the rescue without question.
 colina 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:
for christs sake . how low can you stoop to steal charity boxes be it mrt or otherwise.loved to have caught him doing this.
 martinph78 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin: Whilst it is disgusting it is not "unbeliveable". Hate to say it but the box was just too easy for someone to take (as proved in the footage). I'm suprised it was actually left where it was on the bar.

Any boxes around here that are on the bar have a thin chain around them, those that don't are kept behind the bar or right next to the till.

Before the flaming starts, I am obviously not justifying what he has done in any way and if I'd been in the pub and seen him I'd have taken appropriate action. But the reality is charity boxes are chained up for a reason.

Surely he has to be caught based on that footage though.
 wilkie14c 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:
Lets not be too hard on him, it may turn out he didn't get enough cuddles when he was a baby or didn't have enough toys to play with....

cnut
 ti_pin_man 01 Mar 2013
thats really awful, I hope the guy is extremely desperate to do that, for the sake of humanity. its hardly the great train robbery nicking millions. he isnt going to any costa on his stealings!

in the footage the camera follows him? Does that mean somebody somewhere was monitoring him as he did it? Am I being thick?

 Mark Collins 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin: Having recently donated our wedding gifts to MR and RNLI, this saddens me more than ever. Nice pub though.
 Kemics 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

What's very strange is you'd never guess from his appearance. He seems quite smartly dressed for the sort of scag head i'd assume would be stealing charity boxes.
 butteredfrog 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Kemics:

Older than I expected too!
 John Ww 01 Mar 2013
In reply to blanchie14c:

In the light of recent threads, may I express my deepest sympathy for this poor unfortunate soul - god only knows what hardships he's had to deal with in his upbringing. I think we should organise a collection on his behalf in order to ease the trauma he's undoubtably feeling due to having to drag a heavy collecting box across the urban blight of the Lake District - bank notes, cheques and Postal Orders only please.
 James90 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Pete Potter:
> (In reply to mockerkin) This has been an ongoing problem with Llanberis MRT losing a number of collection tins from Pete's Eats over the years. I agree with the thoughts on poetic justice but as always the teams would go and do the rescue without question.

yes im sure they would, but if recognised i would like to think that once of the mountain he might (if able to ) be frogmarched into the nearest police station.
 wilkie14c 01 Mar 2013
In reply to John Ww:
Very honourable suggestion sir, well done. On behalf of John and myself can I appeal to this lost soul to post his name and addess here on UKC so that we can nip round with the proceeds of said collection?

 jon 01 Mar 2013
In reply to blanchie14c:
> (In reply to mockerkin)
> Lets not be too hard on him, it may turn out he didn't get enough cuddles when he was a baby

Or too many...? know wha' I mean?
 frankbabs 01 Mar 2013
In reply to jon:

Cut his testicles off!!!
 Enty 01 Mar 2013
In reply to John Ww:
> (In reply to blanchie14c)
>
> In the light of recent threads, may I express my deepest sympathy for this poor unfortunate soul - god only knows what hardships he's had to deal with in his upbringing. I think we should organise a collection on his behalf in order to ease the trauma he's undoubtably feeling due to having to drag a heavy collecting box across the urban blight of the Lake District - bank notes, cheques and Postal Orders only please.

I have a £50 note waiting for this poor unfortunate guy right here - as soon as you find his contact details please let me know.

E
In reply to James90:

The police of course have the complete CCTV footage (a/c to the MRT Facebook and the YouTube of the incident) - I can't believe he won't be caught.
 NottsRich 01 Mar 2013
Was he wearing a disguise, or was he an actual bird watcher do you think?

I have purely optimistic confidence he will be found
 Dauphin 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

Proper sneak thief. Nice jacket technique. What a complete Kunt.

D
Chateauneuf du Boeuf 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin: I think people are jumping to the conclusion that this guy is some poor guy from the working class - hence all the class fueled - imaginative punishment suggestions. Now if he were I'd be the first to hold him up as a working class hero, stealing money from the middle classes, but frankly he looks like a bird watcher. I suspect this is not a crime motivated by the need to feed his family but instead, and escalation in the climbers vs RSPB battle. If I were a detective, that's where I'd look first. If I was a climber, I'd strike back and take a peregrine hostage 'till this guy was turned over.
 ThunderCat 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Martin1978:
> (In reply to mockerkin) Whilst it is disgusting it is not "unbeliveable". Hate to say it but the box was just too easy for someone to take (as proved in the footage). I'm suprised it was actually left where it was on the bar.
>

That does smack a bit of 'blaming the victim for the crime', to be honest.

 Dauphin 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Chateauneuf du Boeuf:

I think your jumping to the conclusion that anyone gives a flying f*ck which part of the demographic he hails from. If you can afford to motor up to the Lakes and sup in one the boozers you don't need the proceeds of an MRT box to supplement your not so meager crust.

D


 Redsetter 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin: looks old enough to need that to suppliment his pension....hope he slips on the ice

cheeky ***t
 Michael Ryan 01 Mar 2013

Anyone else feel uneasy about this?

Not that the person will get caught and should face punishment. Quite rightly.

But that an employee of a company recorded the business' CCTV footage (from a public place) on their phone then put it online.

Shouldn't the police have done that?

Isn't there some protocol to follow here?

Have any privacy laws been breached here?

Anyone with any expertise in this field here?

Mick
 martinph78 01 Mar 2013
In reply to ThunderCat: Maybe it does but that's the reality of the world we live in now.

Would you leave your phone and wallet unattended on a bar when you went to the toilet? If not I suggest it's not unbeliveable that this happened...

 Dauphin 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Mick Ryan - UKC and UKH:

No.

Maybe Off Duty can comment on how much Police effort will be spent tracking down this master criminal.

Wild Wild West approach seems far better.

D
 Andy Say 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Mick Ryan - UKC and UKH:
>
> Anyone else feel uneasy about this?
>
> Not that the person will get caught and should face punishment. Quite rightly.
>
> But that an employee of a company recorded the business' CCTV footage (from a public place) on their phone then put it online.
>
> Shouldn't the police have done that?
>
> Isn't there some protocol to follow here?
>
> Have any privacy laws been breached here?
>
> Anyone with any expertise in this field here?
>
> Mick

Information Commissioners Office CCTV Code of Practice -

Disclosure of images from the CCTV system must also be controlled and consistent with the purpose for which the system was established. For example, if the system is established to help prevent and detect crime it will be appropriate to disclose images to law enforcement agencies where a crime needs to be investigated, but it would not be appropriate to disclose images of identifiable individuals to the media for entertainment purposes or place them on the internet. Images can be released to the media for identification purposes; this should not generally be done by anyone other than a law enforcement agency.
 Ridge 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Andy Say:
That's a code of practice, and uses terms like 'should not generally', which suggests it's pretty meaningless.
 Ridge 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Andy Say:
Forgot to mention, there have been numerous instances where the police have declined to take action, but people sticking things on you tube have changed their minds. A couple of recent assaults on cyclists captured on helmet cams.spring to mind.
 ThunderCat 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Martin1978:
> (In reply to ThunderCat) Maybe it does but that's the reality of the world we live in now.
>
> Would you leave your phone and wallet unattended on a bar when you went to the toilet? If not I suggest it's not unbeliveable that this happened...

If I leave my phone and wallet on a table and it gets stolen - I'm not to blame for it being stolen. The thief is to blame for it being stolen.

Should we extend the logic that all rape victims are to blame for having vaginas, or that the root cause of paedophilia is sexy kids?

Obviously, that's a fairly ridiculous and extreme example but shifting the blame anywhere nearer the victim and away from the perp is astonishing.

Stop making excuses for thieving scum.
In reply to mockerkin:

Why are CCTV photos always so shit? You'd think by now it would have been possible to get cameras that actually produced a recognisable image.

jcm
 Ridge 01 Mar 2013
In reply to johncoxmysteriously:
Taking mobile phone footage of a tv screen and posting it on you tube does tend to reduce the quality to some extent..
 Gone 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

Very sad. I volunteer at a Citizens Advice Bureau and we have collection tins to help fund our service in the interview rooms... Obviously you don't have to donate, the last thing we want would be to make it worse for those coming in with financial problems! But now we have been told that if we see anyone donating we should remove the box afterwards, because one or two of our clients have been stealing the boxes when the adviser leaves the room to look up information. I am not sure if these people see the irony in stealing from a service while it is in the process of helping them.
 martinph78 01 Mar 2013
In reply to ThunderCat: Now you are being stupid. Read my orignal post again.

"Before the flaming starts, I am obviously not justifying what he has done in any way and if I'd been in the pub and seen him I'd have taken appropriate action."

There is reason I lock my car and don't leave the keys in it, don't leave my bicycle outside the supermarket, or don't leave my phone and wallet on a pub table unattended. It's nothing to do with blaming the victim. It is to do with living in the real world, where people do commit crimes, especially opportunist crimes such as this one and those I have given examples of.

I have not made excuses for him or any other thieving scum. I have made an observation about how things are done differently here, and that may have prevented it happening.

Pretty sure they'll catch him from the footage and lets hope he gets a punishment that he deserves.
 ThunderCat 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Martin1978:
> (In reply to ThunderCat) Now you are being stupid. Read my orignal post again.
>

Please don't call me stupid. I really don't appreciate it and it's not a very constructive way of discussing an issue. Fair enough?

I said clearly it was a ridiculous and extreme example I was using.

I appreciate you're not making excuses for him, but using the fact that the box wasn't nailed to the floor as a mitigating factor sends out the wrong message entirely. He stole money.
 ThunderCat 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Martin1978:

> Pretty sure they'll catch him from the footage and lets hope he gets a punishment that he deserves.
>

At least we can agree on that...
Chateauneuf du Boeuf 01 Mar 2013
In reply to ThunderCat: You both seem to be leaping to somewhat extreme examples to make your point. Then daring each other to talk of people who steal in more extreme terms. Suffice to say there is a difference between leaving the keys in ones idling car while you do yer shopping and putting a charity box on a bar. And similarly between suggesting people have better security and blaming rape victims

Stealing from charity is something of a taboo, not many people steal charity boxes, therefore there isn't a great need to excessively secure them
 Indy 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

I fully understand the anger and revulsion at this theft especially from a forum such as this but would urge people to wait until the perp is caught and the full story is available. My judgement on this is slightly clouded by the fact that a very good friend spent time in prison for a not dissimilar offence. On the face of it it all looked cut and dried but dig a bit deeper and my mate was having to cope with a huge amount of personal stress alone and his actions were a cry for help. I don't want to come across as an apologist but let's here the full story before we linch him.
 Indy 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Indy: lynch/linch
Chateauneuf du Boeuf 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Indy: Here, here. And also hear before we lynch. Having said this I still think the RSPB have questions to answer.
 Indy 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Chateauneuf du Boeuf: I blame Google.... autocorrect on iOS is so much better!
 martinph78 01 Mar 2013
In reply to ThunderCat:
> (In reply to Martin1978)

> I appreciate you're not making excuses for him...

>...Stop making excuses for thieving scum.

Doesn't read that way to me but hey, I made my position clear enough.



No further discussion to be had from me.
 martinph78 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Chateauneuf du Boeuf:

> Stealing from charity is something of a taboo, not many people steal charity boxes, therefore there isn't a great need to excessively secure them

Unfortuantely it goes on more than you'd think, hence why boxes are chained up. Maybe because other instances aren't so widely reported/youtube'd it doesn't seem like it, but knowing charity box collectors and publicans I'm afraid I know that it does happen. Not as often now that the boxes are chained up or behind the bar, but some places have boxes removed because they keep going missing.



Now for my second disclaimer of the thread:

This does not mean I think it acceptable or the fact that it happens more often makes it anymore right or that I some how blame the victim/charity/publican/supporter/stress/economy/other mitigating factors.
 danm 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

NEWS FLASH!!!!

A police spokesperson has announced that a suspect has been remanded in custody under suspicion of theft. The accused, known locally as Finch Patterson, is a Brigade Leader of the Badger Liberation Front. In a statement, Patteron's lawyer claimed that his client "had been sett up".
 ThunderCat 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Martin1978:
> (In reply to ThunderCat)
> [...]
>
> [...]
>
> >...Stop making excuses for thieving scum.
>
> Doesn't read that way to me but hey, I made my position clear enough.
>
>
>
> No further discussion to be had from me.

What, except for the next bit you posted?



 Tall Clare 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

South Lakes Wild Animal Park were reporting the theft of a collection box from their Sumatran Tiger enclosure over the weekend. I'm sure I've read about another charity box theft in the area in the last week too.
 ThunderCat 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Tall Clare:
> (In reply to mockerkin)
>
> South Lakes Wild Animal Park were reporting the theft of a collection box from their Sumatran Tiger enclosure over the weekend.

Now that takes balls...those tigers can really shift themselves when they put their mind to it.

 Enty 01 Mar 2013
In reply to mockerkin:

The NSPCC bottle full of 5p's was chained to the bar in my local.........30 years ago. Not a new phenomenon.

E
In reply to Enty:

> Not a new phenomenon

It's common; as is robbing the copper (is it copper?) off war memorials. Depressing, but there we are.

jcm

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