He’s Certainly No Knight of the Round Table!
A 21-year-old man, Leon Jones, was recently jailed because he violated a suspended sentence. The sentence originated from a Bingo theft last year of nearly $25,000, taken by Liam Knights. Jones will call the young offender institution home for the next eight months. He and Knights hopped a plane to Amsterdam after the theft. They came back broke.
Knights was incarcerated immediately for a sentence of 15 months in the youth offender institution. Before the theft, Knights was a treasurer at Gala Leisure Ltd., where he had access to large amounts of cash. Both he and Jones pleaded guilty March 13, 2011. The two spent the Bingo money on hotels and marijuana in Amsterdam during their trip, which lasted weeks. They were arrested at a UK airport after returning from Amsterdam.
Jones originally had a 9-month sentence, which was suspended for 18 months. He was under supervision and instructed to complete 100 hours of work, albeit unpaid. He worked a little under half the hours, and ditched many supervision appointments. In addition, Jones is responsible for an assault. He bloodied the nose of his victim and cut his cheek after punching him in the face. The victim was pushing a shopping trolley when he was accosted by Jones, who ran away after the assault.
Assault or Retaliation?
His attorney said Jones was only along for the ride to Amsterdam. The assault was retaliation because the man attacked Jones first, his attorney claimed. The judge said Jones had committed a serious theft. In the first round of hearings, Jones said he realized the crime was a stupid thing to do. The court acknowledged both boys showed remorse for the theft.
The money was stolen from Knights’ employer. He took cash from a safe and more cash from the office. Knights also wrote an apology note. His actions were caught by security cameras. A judge said Knights abused the trust his employer had in him. Court records revealed both boys were well behaved prior to the incident. They were homeless and hoping to enlist in the army. Apparently, the boys had tried to turn themselves in while in Amsterdam, but police there said they were wasting their time.
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