Metal theft. The biters bit

[Steve O]

You forgot about hospital equipment, ventilators in the home, etc. The OP obviously doesn't realize that power cuts can kill people.

[hugh]

In message , Andrew Gabriel writes

Shit happens

[Ophelia]

lol

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Power cuts can and do happen without cables being nicked. If that power is essential, backup should be provided.

[Frank Erskine]

Hospitals always (?) have standby alternators, but what about, for example, renal dialysis machines used in private homes? Or all these type of things battery powered nowadays? Indeed, are such things used at all now? :-)

[Mike Barnes]

"Dave Plowman (News)" :

There was a case recently where it was the operating theatre's backup power supply cable that got nicked. Fortunately the loss was quickly discovered but operations still had to be cancelled.

[Halmyre]

Perhaps he's stupid enough to be standing on the trapdoor when he pulls the lever, falls through, and breaks his neck.

-- Halmyre

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If home dialyse - or anything else like that - is such that it must be carried out at a specific time, it would be sensible to have a standby source of electricity.

Despite all the bile spouted here, you're more likely to have an 'ordinary' power cut than one caused by cable theft.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

What if it's caused by poor maintence or ineptitude? Would you hang the person responsible too?

Then let the law deal with it.

[whisky-dave]

It's not the electricity that is stolen, it's the cable carrying it. Imagine you go home to find someones ripped out yuor twin and earth from your CU. having a gernerators to hand won;t sovled all your problems, and it takesd time to replace the infra structure, and if there;s any fried bodies around someone has to scoop that up too.

For the average consumer supply, yes but to be affected by cable theft.... it goes on more than you think.

A friedn that works for socail servicesw had someone turn up with a 'melted foot/ankle where they tried to pull a cable out, he was homeless and believed mentally ill, this was a day after, he hadn;t been to a hospital or any medical help he turned up at soup/help 'kitchen'. He was sent/foirced to hospital in the end.

=A0 London SW

[®i©ardo]

Or the "Hand of God", as in this instance.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If it's a twisted outlook on life hoping a petty thief doesn't get killed for whatever reason I'm happy to be 'twisted'.

Those who want the ultimate penalty for such things rarely stop there, given the chance. But then you're obviously too thick to work this out.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well you are supposed to hope for an epiphany and for him to become a saintlike member of society selflessly serving the needs of others until a perfect humanist socialist society ends all poverty and unhappiness.

Sadly if he doesn't have that epiphany, the greatest good for the greatest number is often achieved by ensuring he doesn't get to do anything ever again.

In essence the dichotomy is between the idealised notions of human kind espoused by bourgeois thinkers, and the reality on the ground of the human being as he is found to be.

In this case burnt to a crisp through ignorance, venality and incompetence.

The hunter gather lifestyle has always had its won natural selection if something poisonous was gathered or something lethal was hunted.

QED

[John Williamson]

I've been staying out of this until now, but I agree with that.

The penalty suffered here (As in the original pictures of cooked people) wasn't for the attempted theft, it was for ignoring, whether knowingly or not, the dangers involved in tampering with the laws of nature. Unfortunately for some, the laws of nature show no mercy, and are not subject to appeal. I can't check in this case now, as the pictures have been "moved or deleted", but all the access points to high voltage installations I've seen have warnings on them stating something like "High voltage electricity kills". Here, at least, there are also fences to keep out those who can't read, but not those who can't take a hint. Even the razor wire mentioned elsewhere won't keep a determined wrong-doer safe.

If they'd had the sense to try it with a wire that wasn't lethally live, or taken the right precautions, they'd be alive today, and possibly, if they'd been caught, paying whatever penalty the system deemed appropriate. Like the many people stealing phone wiring in this country.

[Bill Wright]

It's more likely that you'll be killed in an accident than murdered, but that doesn't reduce the seriousness of murder.

Bill

[charles]

while that might be true - in the 40+ years wwee've lived here our phone service has never failed due to a fault. (OK, in the Great Storm the overhead line failed since a tree branch fell onto it. Yet, 3 times last year we lost service because of cable theft.

[®i©ardo]

Your attitude seems to be: "F*ck the thousands of innocent people who potentially suffer because of attacks of wanton vandalism and theft such as these, it is far better that they do so than the guilty be punished in any way - even if it be by their own stupidity".

How dare you have such contempt for society - a contempt at least as great as those who commit such acts. The potential outcome is no different to planting bombs amongst innocent civilians by the IRA.

I have nowhere suggested an "ultimate penalty" for them, but merely pointed out that they have been the architects of their own destiny with their inability to use what little they had by way of brains, doubtless overridden by sheer greed. As such I cannot bring myself to grieve over their departure from this mortal coil.

Spare me the humbug, please. if you wish to see them as martyrs at the hands of society, then, sad to relate, that is your problem and yours alone.

[Cynic]

Do you seriously believe that any sensible person would arrange things so that their very life depended on the mains power not failing over a protracted time? If so, perhaps they are more eligible for the "Darwin award" than the people in question.

All electrically operated life-support machines invariably have an alternate power source that will switch in automatically in the event of a mains failure. Perhaps it will be a battery that will only last an hour or so - in which case there ought to be a small generator or some other contingency plan available for use in the event that the mains is not restored in time. Quite a number of non-deliberate events can cause power failures that last for several days - or in extreme cases several weeks.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You seem to love making things up as I've never even implied that thieves go unpunished.

There is no one potential outcome - it depends on circumstances. Tell me, are you a headline writer for a tabloid? You seem to see things in a black and white way.

You also should consider the difference between setting out to kill someone and the possible result of a simple theft. But it's probably too hard for you.

[The Natural Philosopher]

That of course depends on whether you judge things according to motive and responsibility, or results....

"A rattlesnake ain't reponsible fer bein' a rattlesnake, but ah puts mah heel on em jess the same if I catches un around ma chillun"

Faced with a definitely deprived individual waving a loaded gun, are you going to have a social philosophical discussion, or just fire first...