Is this sentence over the top considering what some people get away with ?.

[orangeman]

Christmas squatter is jailed for six months



A homeless man who squatted in a Belfast apartment over Christmas to escape the freezing weather has been jailed for six months.



Robert Lewandowski, 29, used keys he had stolen weeks earlier to move into the south Belfast flat once a woman who lived there left for the holidays.

The Polish national was said to have taken nothing during a four-day stay.

Belfast Magistrates Court heard the woman who lived in the flat and the police were sympathetic to his plight.

He used a stove, watched television and cleaned up after himself.

Lewandowski pleaded guilty to theft and wrongfully taking possession of the property at Tates Avenue between December 24 and 28.

Belfast Magistrates' Court heard on Wednesday that he had been sleeping in apartment block communal areas after losing his home and job earlier this year.

'Stole keys'

He stole the keys after spotting the door to the flat lying open and went in after a party on 5 December.

A lawyer for Lewandowski, of no fixed address, said he had left the property exactly as he found it.

He told the court that when the woman and her partner returned to find him there the defendant did not try to leave.

The solicitor said his client was apologetic, but had only gone in on Christmas Eve when temperatures were down to -10C.

"He let himself in to keep out of the cold. For four days he used the TV and stove to heat some food," he said.

"He didn't take anything, and he had four days and ample opportunity to effectively clean the place out," the solicitor added.

But after Lewandowski waived his right to a pre-sentence report, the district judge said his theft and wrongful entry was without justification.

He was jailed for two terms of six months each to run cocurrently.

He also agreed to fix bail pending a planned appeal, although Lewandowski was not released as he had no suitable address.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

It all depends on his previous record. On the face of it, it is a very harsh sentence.

[ONeill]

Is it the first sentence? Fairly banal.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

Is it the first sentence? Fairly banal.

Fair point, I only skim-read it and had missed that. Appears to have been a degree of pre-meditation. His record will still have been the crucial factor though.

[dec]

Is it the first sentence? Fairly banal.

All the sentences seem fairly innocuous. From the thread title I was expecting some hideous Joycean run on yoke with made up words and random punctuation.

[haranguerer]

6 months board? I'd says hes happy enough. Judge knows what hes at.

[The Iceman]

I don't know if it is harsh at all.
He stole keys, broke into her house. Being homeless or cold or hungry doesn't mean you live above the law of the land.

If he had wrecked the place and/or cleaned it out the sentence would have been more I think.

[magpie seanie]

Yeah, he deserve it. He is the real criminal, not the bankers, estate agents, politicians, developers..... A great society we live in.

[orangeman]

Yeah, he deserve it. He is the real criminal, not the bankers, estate agents, politicians, developers..... A great society we live in.

+1


The boys that caused the economy to collapse, that wreaked havoc throughout Ireland and beyond are still sitting in their big houses with their big pensions still intact and no prospect of even being interviewed by the authorities. This poor bugger gets 6 months for stealing a set of keys and living in it cos he lost his job and the temepratures fell to minus 20.

It's some society that we live in alright.

Where's the compassion that is preached by some on here ?.

[Tyrones own]

Yeah, he deserve it. He is the real criminal, not the bankers, estate agents, politicians, developers..... A great society we live in.

+1


The boys that caused the economy to collapse, that wreaked havoc throughout Ireland and beyond are still sitting in their big houses with their big pensions still intact and no prospect of even being interviewed by the authorities. This poor bugger gets 6 months for stealing a set of keys and living in it cos he lost his job and the temepratures fell to minus 20.

It's some society that we live in alright.

Where's the compassion that is preached by some on here ?.

The fact that we're all ultimately responsible for our own actions takes the middle
right out of both points made above!

[Lawrence of Knockbride]

maybe i'm missing something TO but i don't think anyone's saying he's not responsible, he did plead guilty. but the judge was responsible for the sentence. you don't think it was harsh?

[angermanagement]

Since when have the courts and the police been so efficient to get a man arrested, charged and sentenced within a week. Harsh enough sentence considering what the young fella in omagh got for robbing and murdering his granddad.

[DirtyDozen12]

This is the greatest thing that could ever happened the guy, surely 6 months in jail is better than living on the streets???

[orangeman]

Yeah, he deserve it. He is the real criminal, not the bankers, estate agents, politicians, developers..... A great society we live in.

+1


The boys that caused the economy to collapse, that wreaked havoc throughout Ireland and beyond are still sitting in their big houses with their big pensions still intact and no prospect of even being interviewed by the authorities. This poor bugger gets 6 months for stealing a set of keys and living in it cos he lost his job and the temepratures fell to minus 20.

It's some society that we live in alright.

Where's the compassion that is preached by some on here ?.

The fact that we're all ultimately responsible for our own actions takes the middle
right out of both points made above!

Look at the title of the thread again. The guy pleaded guilty and I'm sure was expecting some punishment. 6 months in jail seems harsh to me compared to what some people have received for much more serious offences. The guy that killed his father in Omagh got 12 months.

6 months for squatting. 12 months for murder/ manslaughter of a 78 year old man ? There's something not right about this.

[Dougal Maguire]

Did someone not remind the judge about this story from a couple of years ago?



WE'LL HELP FROST BITE GIRL; Support for Oksana after losing her legs.

Link to this page
Byline: Ann Gripper

OFFERS of help flooded in yesterday for the homeless Ukrainian girl who lost both her legs to frostbite.

Destitute Oksana Sukhanova, 23, lost her limbs after she slept rough for two weeks over Christmas.

Yesterday, she asked her interpreter at Belfast City Hospital to thank everyone who had sent messages of sympathy.

She said: "I would also like to thank the many people who have passed on good wishes for my recovery and made offers of help and support.

"I am aware there is a great deal of interest in my situation and I ask that I have the time and privacy to make progress."

Oksana had been living with other foreign workers in Ballymoney, Co Antrim, but moved out before Christmas. After living on the streets during the holiday cold spell, she returned to seek help.

Two women called police and ambulances to a house in Ballymoney at 11pm on New Year's Day. Paramedic Tom Herrington took Oksana to the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Co Derry.

He said: "She was very quiet and seemed very calm but was in a very unkempt state. She had been wearing trainers all that time and they were soaked right through. I've never seen anything like that in 26 years in the service

"I don't normally get too emotionally involved but my heart did go out to her.""

Hospital staff have written to Oksana's mother to say they will raise the money for her fare. One nurse said: "Oksana hasn't been able to tell us much because she is shocked and in deep depression. A letter was the only way we could get in touch."

McKeown Fine Foods, the company in Ballymena, Co Antrim, where Oksana had worked, said it was shocked to hear of her plight.

In a statement, the company revealed Oksana had refused its offer to pay for flights back to the Ukraine when she finished working there. It added: "We did everything possible to encourage Oksana to return home."