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Man jailed after admitting 30-plus bike thefts in Sussex

John James Smith used bolt-cutters to steal bikes from railway stations and colleges

A man who admitted stealing 34 bikes worth more than £21,000 in Brighton and Hove and nearby towns has been jailed for 30 months at Lewes Crown Court.

Sussex Police say that John James Smith, aged 32 and of no fixed address, used bolt-cutters to steal bicycles from bike racks at railway stations and educational establishments over the course of a year.

In March this year, he was handed a criminal behaviour order but was caught stealing a bike just three days later.

Smith pleaded guilty to the bike thefts as well as to possession of cannabis and breaching an earlier suspended sentence for stealing a bike.

Sentencing Smith on Friday, Judge Christine Laing QC described his offending as "deliberate, flagrant and repeated."

She continued: "I'm dealing with over 40 offences. You stole bikes that were very important to the people who owned them, either to get them to work or to college –  causing everyone involved stress as well as financial loss."

The court heard that Smith used bolt cutters to steal bikes from BHASVIC college in Dyke Road as well as Brighton, Preston Park and Eastbourne railway stations between June 2017 to and July this year.

PC Andrew Newman of Sussex Police commented: "This was a series of impactive crimes that effected many people.

“Smith stole bikes that were very important to the people who owned them and they were their form of transport of get them to work or to college.

“His actions caused his victims stress and financial loss.

"However, this result a clear message that bike theft can result in a substantial prison sentence," he continued.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

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bechdan | 5 years ago
1 like

or arabian style, you steal, you loose a hand, preferably by bolt cutters

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Christopher TR1 | 5 years ago
0 likes

He'll be back to his usual ways as soon as they let him out. Better to garotte him & hang a sign around his neck, like in the old pictures of wild west horse thieves.

That'd learn 'im.

Avatar
Mybike | 5 years ago
5 likes

Easier to kill a cyclist. Then to steal his bike

Avatar
OnTheRopes | 5 years ago
8 likes

30 months for theft, I have no argument against that, but when people kill by driving they often don't even get a custodial 

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