Does crime really pay?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Mar 2005, 15:38

Don't know about you guys, but IMO the BBC's decision to pay a burglar (Brendon Fearon, Fred Barras' accomplice) £4,000 for an interview is disgusting.

They shouldnt allow him to profit for his activities

By doing this they are showing crime really does pay, whatever the rights and wrongs of Tony Martin killing Fred Barras (he was leaving, not entering, but just what would you do if you were him, and scared?) He was said to be furious at the news Fearon would be paid for the interview, in the forthcoming drama-documentary about the Tony Martin case.

Does the usual BBC defence of "Its in the public interest" hold water? I'm sure the programme will be biased in some way, not necessarily objective. On the other hand drama can get people thinking about issues in a way normal news cannot, its' done in a more accessible way.

Everyone, your thoughts?

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 05 Mar 2005, 16:09

It's outrageous that the BBC are paying a criminal scumbag this money.

Crime DOES pay.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 05 Mar 2005, 16:28

Everyone, your thoughts?

I think... I'm gonna kill a few people in the street and then call the BBC and ask for more money than Brendon. :shock:

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 05 Mar 2005, 17:04

I think it is disgusting what the BBC are doing. Definitely setting the wrong image.

In general, if you are good at it, crime most certainly DOES pay. A lot more than working in a normal job does, that's for sure.

Sometime I think that if I didn't have such a conscience and a good judgement on what is right and wrong, I'd possibly resort to crime as it' can be more lucrative than a nomral life!

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 06 Mar 2005, 23:00

Just look at our goverments. Corruption is happening at a large scale everyday, 'mistakes' by politicians and goverment-people hardly ever get punished, we actively support a wrong war, and the wrongfull emprisonment of alot of muslims that were pretty much taken of the streets at random, and held in a place where they're tortured, plus ofcourse the insane amount of ridiculous taxes and special taxes the goverment uses to rob us blind (at least they do here in Holland) ...

Yeah crime seems to pay very well if you're the goverment.

On a smaller scale, it reallyd epends on what kind of crime. You can certainly get rich by dealing illegal software and movies etc, as they hardly every go after the criminals that do this kind of thing. Robbery and stealing etc has a much smaller chance of building a career on...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Mar 2005, 14:50

This was discussed on Question Time last week (top programme btw) and they all agreed it's wrong to profit from crime. They were specifically talking prisoners getting paid for books, they agreed it's okay to publish books but the prisoner won't get money for it.

It maybe in the publics interest but that doesn't make it right he should get paid.

Yi-Long wrote:You can certainly get rich by dealing illegal software and movies etc, as they hardly every go after the criminals that do this kind of thing.

They certainly do. It's just not very exciting to read about. Although I agree they rarely do in Asia, if ever.

The laws against copyright in Thailand for example aren't worth the paper they're written on.