Idiocy...

[b308]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8579410.stm

I dread to think what would happen if some railwaymen get to them before the police do....

[headshot119]

Death would result I think. Idiots, two damaged 170s and a voyager. What posses these people?

[Deltic1981]

They should force them to be a fireman on a steam train for a nice long mainline run.

[ste234]

Or use them as firewood for the preserved railways. (the wood coming from inside the skull)

[wobblybob]

If the culprits are caught the first task should be to ascertain whether they understand the potentially deadly nature of their actions.

If they do: charge them with attempted multiple murder, or perhaps under anti-terrorist legislation.

If they do not: section them and detain them indefinitely in somewhere secure, such as Rampton or Broadmoor.

Of course that won't happen because the Crown Prosecution Service likes to work to tariffs and targets, with no interest in justice or public safety.

[HonestTom]

The kind of person who'd do this is basically a psychopath. There's no other explanation for this kind of vandalism - they know very well that it could derail a train, and they know those trains carry people. I'm with wobblybob on this one - if the fear of causing injury or death doesn't stop them, maybe the threat of a nice long stretch at Her Majesty's Pleasure would make them think twice.

[rebeltrucker]

Dip them in acid and throw them in the messroom....

[Zunnan]

We all know that this country is overrun with complete and utter scum (sense and decency forbids me from venting my true feelings), and that the authorities (I use that word in the loosest sense possible) only care about fiddling the descriptions of criminal activities to suit their targets. The odds are that even if they are caught (Highly doubtful, the area around that station is full of scum who'd do much worse given half the chance) all they'd get is a slap on the wrist, maybe a fine, some community service and a huge ego that they'd got one over on the law(again).

What I'd like to know is wheres the CCTV? The answer to that is probably hanging off their mountings after being bricked. If not I'd love to know why, in this day and age of overdone surveillance, a railway station is not provided with such equipment given the very public nature of the service provided and the type of complete idiots that usually use them for their own personal entertainment.

[rebeltrucker]

You cant CCTV the whole railway though. Whilst the second incident was pretty close to the station itself, the first was someway short of Wilnecote

[Zunnan]

I'm very familiar with the area, my company vehicle is officially based at the telephone exchange on Dosthill Road, all of 200 yards from the station. The only easy access points to the railway here are from the station itself or from a footbridge linking Mercia Trading estate and Cottage Farm Road, everything else is enclosed with 8ft galvanised fence. I can guarantee that the tyres will have been stolen from the dealerships next to the station and rolled down the Northbound platform ramp onto the track from the road rather than them actually getting on the track themselves. CCTV of the station access would probably have captured images of them if there were any in place, as it would have taken a considerable time to shift the tyres back and forth. Personally, I don't think it unreasonable that something such a station access and the platforms be covered by monitoring equipment, especially on unmanned stations like Wilnecote.

The incident further South with the concrete, pallets etc. I agree is much harder to police, but I know for a fact that Hanson have CCTV coverage of their premises. This is the likely source of the materials which found their way into the track, and probably the route onto the line too.

[sheep21]

senseless, absolutely senseless. Some people just dont understand the possible consequences of their actions, thankfully no deaths occurred. I hope the network rail reward offer brings forward some useful leads. These people deserve a custodial sentence if over 18... if under then possibly a short spell in a youth offenders institute to start with.
Of course, the Magistrates\Judges will see a much broader picture than we have on the lead up to this, why and whether any serious shows of contrition are made.

There are bad apples out there, quite afew to be fair but we are hardly overrun by it all, to be fair with the repressive & frankly disturbing laws we have been subjected to these past few years I feel our authorities are already quite authoritarian...

[b308]

They have got them, an 18 and 22 year old... They are doing them for Railway Obstruction, amongst other lesser things... as far as my colleagues and I are concerned (who regularly work this section at very high speed) it should be AT THE LEAST Attempted Murder...

I do not accept that they were not aware of the possible consequences of their actions... and until the courts send out a clear and unequevable message by handing down a strong sentance idiots like these two will continue to put YOURS and my lives at risk...

[UrbanHermit]

Just found this thread, and am deeply appalled. I think HonestTom got it right. From Wikipedia:

"The prototypical psychpath has deficits or deviances in several areas: interpersonal realtionships, emotions, and self-control. Psychopaths gain satisfaction through anti-social behaviour, and do not experience shame, guilt, or remorse for their actions."

How else to explain such behaviour? It's way beyond idiocy. Attempted murder? Manslaughter at the least, if anyone had been killed.

[b308]

I thought that attempted murder carried the higher sentance over manslaughter... if it is the other way round I'm with you!