Grand Theft Auto

I've just been watching World's Most Shocking Police Videos on Bravo. Mostly American pursuits usually ending up in a large pile of scrap metal and a felon slammed over the bonnet of a police cruiser.

What I find impressive with these American pursuits is the way the American cops prosecute offenders who drive recklessly or steal a vehicle.

Take for example a pursuit involving an 18 wheeler articulated lorry. The driver of this lorry had not one thought for the persons around him as he crashed through streets and smashed through police vehicles in an attempt to escape custody.

He piled onto a highway slamming into vehicles but was eventually stopped by a traffic jam ahead. What did this driver do? He revved up his engine and pushed his way through all the traffic to break through the other side to make his escape. There were cars pushed onto their sides, other vehicles roofs and driven over. The officers, justifiably started opening fire on the truck, blowing the tyres, shooting the engine till eventually it stopped. They wrestled the driver out of his cab and he was promptly arrested.

He was charged with assault on a public servant and got a prison sentence of

.....wait for it

TEN YEARS!

Now, imagine that took place in this country. The offender would have probably got a 2 year driving ban and 100 hours community service!

Our cousins across the pond deal with the punishment for these types of crime in a far more satisfying way than the way we do here!

Why don't we have the equivalent of grand theft auto in this country?

In my opinion, TWOC'ing isn't taken seriously enough by the CPS and the courts. The punishment for taking a conveyance without owners consent is so lame compared to the American version.

If you stole my car in America and drove it across state lines, not only would you get charged with GTA, you would also get charged with transportation of stolen goods! You would be held in police custody until someone paid a 4 figure dollar sum for bail and then face anything up to 10-15 years in a penitentiary.

If you stole my car in this country (assuming you were caught) you would be carefully placed into cuffs, booked into custody, interviewed, released on bail and probably never seen again!

If you did turn up for bail, the CPS would have probably lost interest in the case (assuming you managed to get an appointment!) and tried to find the easiest, the most crappiest charge for them to run with and they would have most likely dropped all the other charges because it was just too difficult for them to proceed with!

How the other half live eh?