A man has been given a 1 year prison sentence for stealing ¥2 worth of electricity, after courts heard he wouldn’t work and stole the electricity so he could keep watching TV all day.
The man, a 46-year-old unemployed resident of Osaka, was found to have broken the cover of a plug socket in the corridor outside his apartment, which then attached a cable to in order to steal electricity.
Prosecutors painted an unfavourable picture of the man:
“He couldn’t be bothered to work and he failed to pay his rent and utility bills – he stole the electricity as he wanted to use his TV and appliances. He was warned by the janitor to stop it, but he wouldn’t listen. He hasn’t paid any compensation either.”
He succeeded in making off with 0.15 kilowatts, worth about ¥2.5. Charges of theft and property damage (for the socket cover) were subsequently brought against him.
Although a first offence, the court was disinclined to be overly lenient – the prosecution sought a 1 year prison sentence, and got it, though the judge suspended the sentence for three years in light of the circumstances surrounding the case.
The judge rebuked him for his worthless existence:
“You seem to have expressed an intent to live off of benefits in future. Please sort out your life.”
The court expressed the opinion that it might be meeting him again in future:
“He says work is too much hassle and intends to go on being unemployed, so there is a significant chance of him reoffending.”
Japanese courts and police often take a dim of electricity theft, although in this case it is perhaps rather understandable.
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Are these people idiots?!
You sent him to jail cause he won't get a job, now he's a ex-convict! He'll never freaking get hired anywhere now! Just one look at a resume and he'll be turned away! And then he'll just be back to his normal life with even less options!
Like any of those places would hire someone convicted of theft regardless.
Some people are stupid enough that they honest don't realize that.
Yeah... I pretty sure he can sort his life out in prison. Good job, judge.
2 cents of electricity and a $2 outlet cover ends up costing the state those thus the tax payers $30,000.
Good job indeed.
Learn your energy units. kW are power units not energy.
Pardon my French but that is completely fucked up.
Was the prosecutor and judge on crack or were their parents related?
Worse case it should have only been a civil case for damage of the socket cover.
If I was a judge I would have threw the case out and told the prosecutor to look into a new career since he/she obviously is not cutout for law enforcement and wasted the state's money.
I demand free electricity for everyone, so this will never happen again. As you can see people can't live without electricity nowadays. Although it's a shame he used it for something like a tv...should have been at least a computer or something more important instead.
Japanese justice at its finest. Lucky he wasn't a foreigner, or they would have shot him (after charging him with every unsolved rape in the city).
Japan is sure a strange country...
...I'm curious how much he would get if he would rape a girl - one month maybe ?
If it was a local, it'd be brushed under the carpet because the woman wouldn't complain to the police because of social pressure. If it was a foreigner who was raped, he'd probably get a medal.
But what if it's a gaijin rapist?
In the Philippines, so many squatters has too many illegal connection so that they have free electricity.
Lol Japanese laws...
Smoking weed and shoplifting 300 bucks worth of shit from a grocery store will get you less time.
So if I rub my feet off on a carpet, they're going to charge me for static electricity theft?
LOL, or probably comb your hair.
Is being a neet a sickness or a personal choice of lifestyle?
Justice.. Oh..-_-
are you fucking serious?
what a miscarriage of justice
This was an abortion of justice and the judge should be very ashamed of himself for not having the foresight to simply throw the case out.
Don't know if this has been pointed out yet, but what if the prison in question has TVs in the cells? >_<
No prison has that in each cell. It's prison.
and in the prisons where they are allowed tv (at least in the US anyway), the prisoners or their families have to pay for it and its related costs.
and considering he already couldn't afford it..
at least he wont have to worry to pay for any electricity, food, or water bills for a year
And now he gets to live for free a whole year, all paid by the government.
Damn I bet life is good.
With a 1 year sentence he is not going to jail if he doesn't have previous criminal records.
Even if he does.... a year in prison for stealing a VERY VERY little electric? Stupidity there.
Another reason to go and live in japan then...
If you are not a citizen, then you are likely to be deported right away.
Bingo
Free ride back to your home country
Especially if you hocked your return ticket for doujin in Akihabara.
I could go there and commit a minimum security jail worthy crime, just enough to get somewhere nice to live.
They might even teach me how to do origami and japanese theater.
Damn... when did the Japanese courts follow Texas law?
Sick as it is, welfare is far cheaper than prison.
Besides, in jail he'll get exposed to another type of "Minimal work" seeker... What'll they do when later he gets out, and seems to be able to pay all his bills, but like once or twice a year "Ices" somebody for the Yakuza and since he's "NEET" nobody suspects him?
Kind of reminds me of a 90s "Batman" cartoon where the gangster had an "Unlikely" hit man who was a super-phobic compulsive. Nobody thought he was a "Mafia hit man" and because he was always cleaning/disinfecting every doorknob he touched, left no evidence...
2 cents for running a tv is bullshit unless japanese utility bills cost 5 bucks a month. It should cost over 20 bucks a month to run a tv a normal amount of time, a lot more if he watched it "all day"
Reading fail?
He only stole it electricity for a day or less before he was stopped.
A neet is already like a recluse. Maybe this experience will help him to stay away from pc tv acc.
Law is HARD, but is the LAW
haha the judge pwn'd him!
Judge pwn'd himself with this turkey of a case on his resume.
I'm going with Cheerful on this
The worst sentence should have been community service for a month.
All victimless crimes should have non incarceration punishments.
No real cost to the state ,NEET does not get a record making becoming gainfully employed harder ,NEET does not get exposed to real criminals and becomes one,and the trash in the park gets picked up for free.
Lesson of all this?, don't watch TV, use a PC and download loli content so the judge would be on your side.
still, no electricity.
what's bail then, 1/2 a cent. crazy judge. waste of tax player's money
Indeed, he steals half a wat of electricity so as a reward they give him full electricity, books, and 3 meals a day for a year. Go justice system.
I wonder if everything was done according to his keikaku.
TL note: keikaku means plan
*gets shot*
Guess the justice system there never heard this:
de minimis non curat lex ("the law does not concern itself with trifles")
Conviction of ¥2.5 worth of electricity?
We've got white-collar crimes or worse out there and they go after ¥2.5 theives?!
“He says work is too much hassle..", but really, how much of a hassle is it for everyone involved in the trial?
Tax player? I'm one too, I hate that game.
Also nice subs in your avatar.
he didn't get sentenced to 1 year of jail time because how much he stole, but the intent to steal and the intent to steal again.
You could not steal much electricity with a typical extension cord as it can only carry 12 amps.
Since he was only running a TV and maybe a cable box it likely was just 200 watts or 2amps you probably loose more then that through phantom loads like all those chargers and game systems you left plugged in.
What he stole would only be a little more then 1 cent where I live.
Heck the library and some restaurants in my town let you recharge your laptop or phone.
In that case common law is bullshit. If you plan a crime but fail due to misfortune or incompetence, you should still get sentenced the same as if you succeeded.
That said, I think most lawyers would agree that the subject of this article has indeed committed actum reum.
(Before y'all start correcting me, that was the accusative. You can go back to sleep now, all is well.)
In Common Law, Mens Rea without proper Actus Reus means nothing.