Large Scale Central

Gypsey thieves strike my burg

General Discussion
#1

Last tuesday night [2nd October] at about 2312hrs, a 90m/100 yard section of 1000 pair telephone communication cable was stolen by being hauled out of the ground by quad bike and pick-up truck about a mile from where we live here in rural Cambridgeshire. A further 860m - that’s over half a mile, was irrepairably damaged in the theft. The cost of repair is around $1/4M - for about $350 worth of scrap copper wire.

A total of seven villages and hamlets, with over 1500 phone lines, was cut off from the national telecom network including, of course ALL emergency services, as well as the internet.

The only method of phone communication was by cell-phone.

IT TOOK THE NATIONAL TELECOM COMPANY UNTIL LATE FRIDAY AFTERNOON TO BEGIN TO GET THEIR ASSES INTO GEAR.

It is now late monday afternoon, and we have just got reconnection - but over 300 families and businesses are still not connected.

The thieves are what we call ‘travellers’ or gypsies. They make life miserable for everybody who comes into contact with them, whether they are farmers whose land is squatted on by these parasites, or local councils whose public land is similarly treated by these people who pay no taxes of any kind, but expect to be treated just like the ordinary folks they treat as a source of revenue. They leave behind huge cleanup bills for tons of scrap and excrement and other traces of their living, and it usually necessitates landscaping to cover their signs of occupation. Last year they entailed a local council with a cleanup bill for almost $750K after a three-week sojourn during which the local petty crime figures went through the celing. as indeed they did on the last occasion of their visitation.

Any gyppo coming to THIS village will be shown the road out.

tac, back on line and seething.

#2

A while back thieves were stealing the metal safety rails right off the freeways down in Cailifornia. How they were able to remove them quickly enough not to get spotted I don’t know. I believe they were caught eventually when they tried to sell some to an honest scrap dealer.

It used to be that thieves would steal anything not nailed down. Now it’s thieves will steal anything, period.

#3

TAC:

I can really empathize with your position.

When I lived in England during the 1970s, our British company had their headquarters and factory at the Thamesmead Industrial Estate southeast of London. As this was a new industrial development, there were few buildings and lots of vacant land waiting for development.

There was a large gypsy encampment just outside our back door. A filthy, foul smelling place with lots of really rough looking inhabitants and many children that were subject to obvious abuse. Our firm was under constant siege, with anything not locked up and under 24 hour guard being immediately taken. We also suffered random acts of vandalism that were apparently connected to any reporting of thefts.

I was the Works Manager for a short while. When I complained to the landlord, the developer and the local council about the gypsy situation, they treated me as if I was from a different planet. It was clearly explained that these ‘people’ had every right to be there and that I needed to adjust my thinking.

The firm was eventually sold to a German company. They of course decided to consolidate operations to Germany, so were moving out of the English factory. They made the mistake of leaving a couple of loaded lorries parked by the factory with no security guard for either the trucks or the factory. This solved the problem of having to move all those heavy tools and equipment across the channel. The gypsies emptied the factory building too!

I have never understood the mentality that one group of people seem to be exempt from the social contract and laws that the rest of us live by.

We do have similar groups called ‘gypsies’ or ‘travelers’ here in the U.S., but without so much ‘official’ protection as the gypsies in the UK. They mostly make money ripping off folks by doing driveway paving or roofing jobs where used motor oil is applied.

On the metal theft front, the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in Sonoma County (just south of my abode) ‘lost’ (as in stolen) a truck carrying a spool of large diameter copper wire last week. Still no trace of it. The metal thefts in the N. California area now include metal bleachers from school stadiums, public light standards, metal fencing, and virtually anything that looks to contain metal.

A young man was recently electrocuted at a closed Air Force radar station just a few miles away from my home. He broke in and was trying to remove some copper wire, but didn’t realize the power was still on. His family says they will sue the government for leaving an “attractive nuisance”. He is probably worth significantly more to them dead than he ever would be when alive! Most of my neighbors consider his death a form of instant justice.

Happy RRing,

Jerry

#4

They are without doubt a plague of scrounging and anti social bastards who think decent ppl are fair game for thier nefarious activities.

I cant write here what I think of them the useless thieving scum.

#5

We have the same parasites around here. We call them the Federal and State Government. Worthless bastards.

#6

Come on now, Ric. That’s just not fair. That’s is a clear insult to worthless bastards.

#7

We have them here too. They are well entrenched in this community…travelers NOT! :frowning: And they have their influence on the government. The government tried once to put the Gypsies down but wound up getting sued for millions of dollars. The Gypsies won. When the patron of the local clan died he recieved more media attention than a war hero.

#8

Ric Golding said:
We have the same parasites around here. We call them the Federal and State Government. Worthless bastards.

#9

Ken Brunt said:

Ric Golding said:
We have the same parasites around here. We call them the Federal and State Government. Worthless bastards.

Hey what’s happening down there? I thought that you voted for all those positions, right down to the dog catcher.

#10

I have to admit their are some things I do we could learn from the Islamic Justice system…

What do they do with theives?

#11

Hans-Joerg Mueller said:

Ken Brunt said:

Ric Golding said:
We have the same parasites around here. We call them the Federal and State Government. Worthless bastards.

Hey what’s happening down there? I thought that you voted for all those positions, right down to the dog catcher.

We get the best gummint money can buy. And we get the gummint we deserve.

#12

Maybe their Darwin genes will kick in and they’ll try taking down some high voltage lines for the aluminum !