THIS IS THE BLOG OF COLIN JONES, RHYL TOWN COUNCILLOR: BODFOR WARDl
The opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own and not the views of the town council.
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One of Rhyl’s best-publicised residents is David Archer, known locally as ‘Archie’, who was recently convicted of his 299th offence which was stealing a bottle of champagne from Marks & Spencer in Llandudno.
His ineptitude as a thief seems never to have led him to try some other profession. He is said to have spent in small instalments the equivalent of two life sentences behind bars. The cost to the public in terms of police resources, courts, prison, probation, rehabilitation and other services, must be gigantic.
Some commentators may seize upon his case history as evidence that ‘prison doesn’t work’. I would say that prison does work because when he is behind bars he is unable to commit offences against the community.
What would you do with the Archers of this world?
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WED 30th OCT 2009 UPDATE: This week The Visitor newspaper reported that Mr. Archer has been jailed for 12 weeks for attempting to steal a Cancer Research collection box from a pub in Colwyn Bay. It was his 318th conviction.
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TUE 29th DEC 2009 UPDATE: In yesterday’s Daily Post, Dan Beavan reported that Mr. Archer had been convicted of 321st offence: stealing two bottles of whisky. He was ordered to spend a day in jail and pay £85 costs.
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| David Archer - photo from Daily Post |
TUE 7th MAR 2017 UPDATE: David Archer (pictured above), now with nearly 400 convictions under his belt, has been sent to jail for a further 16 weeks and fined a further £115.
It would be a mistake not to send him to jail; the
mistake is letting him out.
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