Metal theft. The biters bit

[ARWadsworth]

So you have never met a Daily Mail reader then?

[charles]

[Snip]

in my school days (1950s), the Meter was a unit of length, too. We changed to the French spelling later - perhaps to make it easier for us to join the EEC? or was it when Concord became Concorde?

[The Grey Man]

Are you for real?

['Mike']

WRONG

I went to school in the 40's and the 50's. The Meter was the thing which measured the Gas or Electric used. (Some took the Penny or the Shilling) The Metre was the unit of measure.

Mike

[Ian Jackson]

In message , charles writes

Ecksully, I never EVER make the mistake I just made! What is needed is an intelligent spool choker which, when presented with words which have alternative spellings, asks "Do you really want to spell it this way?" Is there such a thing?

BTW, even though I was brought up with bushels and pecks, and rods, poles, perches, chains and furlongs, I have no recollection of us ever spelling the 39.37" metre as 'meter'.

[Bill Grey]

It may well be a gut feeling for many to feel they got what they deserved, and theft is a deplorable offence. We've left the days of "let the punishment fit the crime" long ago. Nowadays, owners of dangerous equipment such as high voltage overhead lines or underground cables, have to protect the offenders agianst their own stupidity. The Electricity supply industry near me had a primary substaton surrounded by an 8 ft high Lochrin fence. This wasn't enough to prevent thieves getting in to the substation, so coils of razor wire were installed inside the Lochrin fencing as were signs warning thieves of the presence of the razor wire!!!

Not only did the thieves die, but the families, presumably innocent, suffered a life long loss. This is the sad bit.

Bill

[ARWadsworth]

Thank f*ck for that.

[McKevvy]

[e-mail]...

Gotta disagree with you there. These scum committed not just a crime but a sheer act of utter stupidity on a level that beggars belief. How would you have felt if you were a passenger on one of the many trains that were held up due to this insane act? Not only that but there is also the cost of replacing the damage, the cos of the rescue crews time, the cost of lost service to the Train Operating Company. I have absolutely no sympathy at all but no doubt their thick gang friends won't take note and will be back to rob the network of more cables pretty soon. It's a pity that death was instant for those two loons.

McK.

[Tim Streater]

No, that's never been the case.

[Bill Grey]

Your contribution has resulted in your being kill-filed.

Bill

[Huge]

Not in my world. Stupidity is a capital offence.

[Steve O]

Look again at the fifth photo and you will see that there is some dried foam on a remaining unburnt piece of his red hat.

[larkim]

He's humane. How can you triumph in the death of these people? Do you know their backstories? Do you know if they'd done this before? Do you know if they were doing it because someone was threatening their children / wife / family? No, you don't. It sickens me when people gloat about the death of anyone. These men had the same human value as you and I. Even if there is no sob story behind their lives, they were just in it to make some quick money, and had no family that cared about them there is no reason to gloat.

"No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee." John Donne.

Matt

[tony sayer]

They know what there're doing, and they know that getting killed is a risk they take, but that doesn't stop them.

We had a comms site a while ago where they took SIX inches yes 6 inches of earthing braid, thats like what connects car batteries to the metalwork of the car in older vehicles.

What that was worth I don't know. Hardly worth the fuel to drive out to a lone hill top and nick just that. Fuel, I wonder where they got that from;-?...

[The Other Mike]

They bled to death because of the razor wire or did they somehow get past that?

[grimly4]

I can see that if you attended an American or American-funded/influenced school, but the metre was standard spelling in the UK back then.

[grimly4]

See that? That's a huge irony, that is. If the idle useless scum had put as much effort into doing something legit, they'd have been better off (apart from being not dead, that is) - ffs, going round knocking doors asking for tidying work, painting fences, car washing, window cleaning, bit of brain surgery on the side, anything to make a few quid.

[charles]

no - it was very British - but I suppose our physics text books might have been American - but I doubt it since they dealt with the cgs system (which the American had probably never hear of)

[Jim]

Ah the great God the Quid eh?

[Janet]

Well, we don't all take the same view on who are the scum tearing society apart.

Janet