A 23-year-old man who admitted that he wouldn’t have set fire to some bins in Newport if he had known CCTV cameras were watching him has been handed an 18-month community order.
Josef Wilkins, 23, of Trafalgar Road in Newport pleaded guilty to arson when he appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court today (Tuesday).
Prosecuting, Lauren Stone, told the court that on the evening of the 25th August 2023, Police were alerted to a bin fire in Newport Town Centre.
Having extinguished the blaze using a small fire extinguisher, they were immediately alerted to another fire – this time in a public use bin on St James’ Street just outside Wight Mountain bicycle shop.
Police noticed a man down a nearby alleyway and approached him, the male seemed very intoxicated. When asked by Police if nearby CCTV would show him near the bins at the time they burst into flames, Wilkins replied saying ‘I wouldn’t have done it if I knew that there were cameras watching me’. The 23-year-old was arrested and taken to Newport Police Station.
Wilkins was jailed for 6 months back in November 2022 after he went on a spate of burglaries simply because ‘he was bored’.
Defending, Oscar Vincent spoke about the severe learning difficulties that Wilkins has and that in a recently completed report it was discovered that Wilkins had an IQ of 52 – the lowest score ever seen by the practitioner who carried out his assessment. He added that despite the challenges facing Wilkins he was making good progress and that his life was more structured following support from his family and the relevant services available to him.
His current community order – which was imposed back in April after the 23-year-old was sentenced for numerous offences including attempted burglary, possession of a knife and racially aggravated harassment – was revoked and a new one was issued.
This new community order was issued for a total of 18 months with a demand that Wilkins complete a total of 40 rehabilitation activity days. He was ordered to pay compensation of £301.36 to Island Roads for the damage caused to the bins.
Seems like what would really help him is a bit of assisted alcohol abstinence (prison)
Feeble excuse, a crime is a crime.
Firebugs are a danger to everyone!
An IQ of 52, yikes. That’s an average 12 year old. But there are a lot of 12 year olds that can function without resorting to burglary or arson and the same is true of plenty of adults who might not be that bright.
It’s not an excuse to make life miserable for others.
You would hope the structures and family support talked about here do work, because the short prison sentence didn’t.
IQ of 52 is average for local inbred islanders.
And yours, unfortunately, is lower than 52… so sad!
And how does that compare to non local inbreds?
For someone who is quick to shout about other people’s opinions, you are very quick at judging everyone who lives on this island and tarring everyone with the same brush.
I’m sure there is a terminology for people who do that….
Hardly. The island population is renowned for incredibly low academic standards, which are the worst in the country. Even kids from deprived inner city areas perform far better.
The Isle of Wight is made up of people from all over the UK, and as many people who now live here came here to retire, the academic standards do not apply. In short not all of us were born here nor educated here, but this is where we now call home. Just don’t tar everyone here with the same brush, your name isn’t exactly a well known caulkheads name is it.
What a stupid response. People who retire here will obviously not go to school here, and thus they will not be academically evaluated. The vast majority of the people born here are “locals” and their performance in the school system is way below that of the rest of the country. That is a sad fact. This is common knowledge and it may be due to the very poor standard of schools on the island (blame the couldn’t care less council) or other factors.
Talk about a stupid answer, “the vast majority of people born here are locals” Everyone born here is a local.
I think we both know what “local” means to island people 😉
So not the brightest individual! Mindless vandalism…
Should he have been sentenced in the criminal courts? Does he have the ability to understand exactly what has happened.
Yes he completely understands. I’ve known him personally and he does these things because he can. He knows there are no consequences. He’s been offered support in the past and has been in and out of supported living in various places.
Hopefully he never reproduces. What a waste of oxygen, with that type of criminal history he needs throwing out of a plane over the South Pole. We do not need these orrible people living near us.
weird guy, he once asked me to keep an eye open so he could steal some alcohol in the co-op. naturally i let the staff know.
This is absolutely ridiculous. This absolute pond scum keeps getting away with all of these crimes because they claim it will have “a negative effect on his mental health” if he is imprisoned. Complete jokers. Put him in prison and teach him a lesson! He’s never going to learn if you keep giving him a slap on the wrist… corrupt system.
Being thick is no excuse for criminality. 5 year olds know right from wrong…