News: 1591704976

Not much sympathy. Torching 4g over 5g fears is as stupid as thinking organic matter can be beamed digitally.

But.. Eh, he's not all bad. He targeted Vodafone!

Just goes to show that, very occasionally, someone can be right for *all* the wrong reasons...

It's a shame they cant or wont give these muppets some additional appropriate extra punishments. Add on that he's banned from the internet (since hes proven that hes a gullible idiot that can be talked into doing violent stupidity, removing him from the internet is for his own protection) or owning a phone that can use data for the next 10 years (since he was quite happy to take away other peoples data access). Maybe he would then actually get on and do something with his life.

The wrong person is in prison, it should be Zuck, Jack, or Sundar. But they get to continually target yet more nonsense at yet more muppets until they finally do something stupid like this one has ("Like this nonsense? Here's more!") and pocket billions in ad revenue for it. That's legal.

Gullibility is no excuse.

Yes there should be sanctions against networks that allow this garbage to propagate and the Z-listers as accessories before the fact.

But what do we do about the schools that are failing to teach critical thinking?

Er, governments really don’t want their populations to be capable of critical thinking - Particularly those that rely on populist propaganda to stay in power...

But what do we do about the schools that are failing to teach critical thinking?

I'm about this guys age, and much as I deplored the standard of teaching of that era, there's that old adage about leading a horse to water but being unable to force it to consume.

and definitely not at 47! :)

While it's not a bad idea to give the incompentents extra time to pass their 'skills' onto the prison population, I would against rewarding competence in criminal endeavours.

So you know something from your own scientific investigations into the subject? (URL to your publication) or are you just believing what you have been told? same as the mast-burner

>>(URL to your publication)

Uh-oh "research it". The perennial cry of the YouTube/TalkRadio obsessed conspiracy-theory enthusiast who's grasp of science is pseudo at best.

Add on that he's banned from the internet

Difficult to do that when Government and Commercial services are now increasingly only available through digital channels.

/joke

Three years in jail for burning the wrong mast - OK sure, it was stupid but maybe he should have just told the court that he was doing it to check his eyesight?

The mast was just a little issue really when compared to burning an entire country by being stupid and worrying more about your popularity than peoples lives.

So you let this guy off because someone else did something worse?

Three years in jail for burning the wrong mast

Yes, three years may seem a little harsh for the crime of being a stupid fuckwit, but unfortunately longish stretches like this are necessary 'pour décourager les autres' (apologies to Voltaire for the manglement.)

Well, the original post was a joke, but it's interesting how "pour en-(ou de-)courager les autres" never lands on the peripatetic amateur ophthalmologists. (Who were also meant to be discouraged from their activities.)

Some fans of blind-driving in the house tonight I see! Mind that wall.

(Or maybe they were trying for the upvote, I guess the buttons are quite close if your vision is blurry.)

It's the one on the left. Maybe try squinting a bit? There's a title attribute if you're using a screen reader.

three years may seem a little harsh for the crime of being a stupid fuckwit

Nope!

I am quite surprised at the length of sentence. I used to go out with someone who nicked £150,000 from a charity and got way less time.

Not long enough, in my opinion, considering he probably put emergency calls and lives at risk. Ten years seems a nice round figure to me.

17 downvotes! I guess there's a lot of Anti 5G people here.

"Whitty pled guilty on May 18 via video link from HMP Altcourse — a Category B prison in the Fazakerley area of Liverpool — where he was warned a custodial sentence was inevitable"

Good, and I hope this case is widely publicised so that other ill-educated conspiracy theory vegetables get the message that they will go to prison if they set fire to phone masts and thereby recklessly endanger lives.

The problem is, this just reinforces the conspiracy in the heads of the feeble minded.

"See! Deep State is trying to silence us by locking us way."

These imbeciles do not reason or accept empirical evidence. They will see conspiracy in everything.

Sadly, there is no vaccination against stupid.

I heard that an injection of bleach protects against stupid....

"Sadly, there is no vaccination against stupid."

And, if there was, they wouldn't get it, so...

Its ok they don't need to inject it, just wash their food in it and drink it like the loyal Trumpettes.

Oh, it's all in wording. You need to say "Injection of bleach CURES stupid."

21 Amazing Alternative Uses for Bleach! #17 Will Astound You!

Perhaps the judge should have pointed out that the entire rumour is a cunning government plot to get the gullible to self-identify so the NHS doesn't waste resources treating them when they go down with coronavirus.

As with all sentencing - longer durations do not necessarily imply deterrence against the crime.

Good, and I hope this case is widely publicised so that other ill-educated conspiracy theory vegetables get the message that they will go to prison if they set fire to phone masts and thereby recklessly endanger lives.

Means little to the rag merchants, bloggers, video bloggers, amateur publishers and 'conspiracy gurus' egging them on.

Three years free board and lodging courtesy of HMG - bad but it could have been worse, I seem to remember that in previous times, sabotage of vital infrastructure in times of emergency could carry a suspended sentence (assuming the police/army failed to shoot him at the time).

Is that what they used to call hanging in those days?

Possibly.

I'm more fond of the phrase "A short drop and a sudden stop" as popularized by a certain mouse-eared movie about pirates in a tropical island...

popularized by a certain mouse-eared movie

I'd rather hang the mouse.

high pitched unfunny vermin*.

* Harsh? It's my inner child striking back over countless cartoon time disappointments.

people are not currently supposed to be roaming and most people in the UK already have landlines.

But there are a significant number who no longer have landlines - especially were the associated "broadband" does not offer a (needed) speed advantage than mobile data.

I have a land line, but it is only used when "Microsoft", "insurance claim providers" and others call offering me "help". I have never given the number to anyone and never use it to make calls as the costs are much higher than the "unlimited minutes" on my mobile contract - if it was available through my ISP, I would opt for a "data only" line.

I would question your significant number of houses without a landline, do you have any evidence to back up your claim?

One swift Google later:

From [1]Statista , 22% of households don't have a landline, 3% have an incoming only landline.

[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/386778/share-of-calls-enabled-landlines-in-uk-hoseholds/

Simple demographics - basically no-one under the age of 30 would have a landline. So that's at least 16% of UK households. I reckon in the 30 to 45 age group it depends on whether renting or owning. That might amount to another 15% of households.

On a comprehensive sample of my relatives who I contact regularly by phone tthere are only 3 who I would consider phoning on their landline - and all 3 are over the age of 70.

And no pedantry about 'broadband' being a landline

Whilst I technically have a landline there hasn't been anything plugged into it for many years.

In fact the "master socket" is currently located in the garage.

I'm sure I'm not alone, but am equally sure that a significant number of people have forgotten what phone numbers are for... Everything is done by contact searching nowadays.

Gone are the days when we used to know dozens of people's numbers by heart.

Maybe could be sentenced to an OU physics degree.

Oh, steady on!

But dont we want him to learn something?

Force him to dress like a 1975 OU physics lecturer on release or is that too cruel?

with his grades linked to his parole

It always surprises me that there remains this calibre of stupid in the wild. This Scouse muppet, the flat Earthers and such like - can't we just throw them in the Mersey and wave the off as they float off into oblivion?

Sail the Flat Earthers south until they fall off the edge, that's what I say.

"(C)an't we just throw them in the Mersey and wave the off as they float off into oblivion?"

What, you don't have laws against intentionally polluting the waters over there?