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Issue No.12 Spring 2003
Joy
or Death
By
Aine Fox
At the beginning of
the eighties a social problem in urban Belfast was identified. That problem
was car crime - it involved youths stealing cars, not for use in terrorist
activity but using them for their own enjoyment. It was defined and known
widely as “joyriding”. The joy did not last long, if it did
ever give joy to anyone apart from those who where known as “joyriders”.
Statistics show that the activity was popular with predominantly young
working class males, although the offenders were not exclusively male.
It was not long before serious injury and fatalities were a consequence
of a night out combined with alcohol, drugs, and solvents combined with
attempting to control a stolen car at high speed through populated areas.
In recent years this activity has plagued areas of West Belfast and beyond.
Many intervention programmes failed to eliminate the problem and all measures,
including specific RUC car crime units, have failed to prevent such crime
rising. In 2000/2001 according to the Chief Constable's report only 11.4
% of car crime was cleared by investigations. That leaves a total of 9,570
unsolved offences. The clearance rate has decreased in 2001/2002 with
a mere 8.9% clearance - that leaves 10,639 thefts unsolved.
Many lives and families have been the victim of this activity, which is
now more widely defined as death driving with the perpetrators now known
as ‘death drivers’. Although the sentencing and criminal charges
often faced are mainly traffic offences, regardless of official charges
the drivers and passengers in these stolen cars have killed indiscriminately.
Families Bereaved Through Car Crime, a campaign that has set forward a
list of demands, primarily aimed at the perceived policy of soft sentencing
on car crime offenders. The campaign has actively lobbied government representatives,
their aim being to change the sentencing laws of these young ‘killers’
at large. The families have also been victims of these crimes, losing
loved ones and attempting consistently to have their ‘killers’
face justice. The campaign has been instrumental in mobilising local communities
to protest and gather in opposition to the “death drivers”.
As a youth worker and advocate for young people I find it hard to immediately
refer to these young people as ''killers''. They are from areas with sometimes
the highest deprivation rates and from backgrounds where they have to
deal with a variety of problems. (So why aren’t all young people
who find themselves in these circumstances engaging in this activity?).
For many years I have worked directly with young people participating
in this activity both within the community and within the juvenile justice
system. It is a widely agreed notion among many juvenile justice professionals
that the system fails both victims and offenders with the lenient attitudes
and sentences generally given to those involved in car crime.
Do these young people go out and steal cars with the intent to kill? Maybe
not, but when driving at high speeds in cars often filled beyond capacity,
inexperienced and often intoxicated drivers will make grave errors of
judgement resulting in injury and/or death. These young people are indeed
a danger to our communities. One could liken “death driving”
to walking around with a ticking bomb - sooner or later it will go off
and someone will get harmed or even worse, killed.
Young people have lost their own lives in this way as well as killing
others. The fact of the matter within these scenarios was explained in
a recent open letter in a local paper from a family who lost a young man
at the hands of “death drivers”.
No one accidently steals a car, and drives at high speed through crowds
of people, knock someone down, drive off and leave them lying on the road
to die, then burn the car.
This is indeed a familiar experience for many families (over twenty people
have been killed in this way). For the family of Debbie Mc Comb the Justice
System was failing them in their right to justice. Representatives of
Families Bereaved Through Car Crime met with and pressurised the Lord
Chancellor’s office in a successful bid to appeal that the charge
of “death by dangerous driving” be reinstated against the 20yr
old accused of killing 15yr old Debbie Mc Comb in a stolen car.
The Attorney General has the power under the 1998 Criminal Justice Act
to appeal such sentences through the court’s system. Although this
has occurred several times in cases of driving related charges in the
North many like myself will hope that the appropriate charges reinstated
will act as a precedent for those still currently seeking justice for
their loved ones.
The Criminal Justice System needs to reevaluate its stance in many areas.
The punishment must act as a deterrent to taking part in such activity.
If, however, the traditional route of our “Community Police”
shooting and systematically beating and maiming people has not been a
deterrent, then what will be?
It is here we enter a Punishment Vs Rehabilitation debate. Which is an
issue I believe for future writing.
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