4:00pm Monday 22nd March 2010
A BIKER who launched a campaign of abuse against a company which impounded his stolen motorcycle was spared jail after a councillor stepped in to plead his case.
Unemployed Michael Wheatley, 47, sent angry e-mails to the company, called Canute, after staff refused to release his bike unless he paid £150, a cost which later rose to £650.
Yesterday, magistrates took pity on Wheatley and spared him jail, after Basildon Tory councillor John Dornan spoke on his behalf.
Valerie Hughes, chairman of the bench, said Wheatley could otherwise have faced eight weeks in prison.
She said: “Having heard fully about this situation and your efforts made to secure the return of your motorbike, and the fact that outside agencies tried to mediate on your behalf, we find this an extremely unusual situation.
“You were a victim of crime, but you have created a situation for yourself and therefore you must be punished. We have been lenient in your punishment.”
The court was told Wheatley had his pride and joy – a white Honda 900 Fireblade – stolen from outside his home in Bodean Close, Pitsea, in November 2009.
The bike was later recovered by police and taken to a vehicle pound owned by the Canute Group in Albert Road, South Ockendon.
Wheatley, who had been laid off from his job as a courier, could not afford the £160 release fee.
After several attempts at negotiation with the firm, which included turning to the Echo for help, Mr Wheatley began sending abusive e-mails.
He made threats to various employees at Canute that he would take revenge, and he claimed to know where they lived.
Claire French, prosecuting, told Basildon Magistrates’ Court Wheatley sent 11 e-mails between last December and March this year.
But Wheatley, who represented himself, said he had been driven to send the e-mails because no-one would help him.
He said the loss of his bike meant he missed out on the chance to get another courier job, and as a result of that he lost his home.
Wheatley told the court: “I’m sorry it has come to this, but my life has been ruined for the sake of £150.”
The biker said he continued to send e-mails to Canute employees – despite receiving a police caution for the offence in January – because he wanted his plight to be heard about in court.
Wheatley, who has still not got his bike back, was given a two-year conditional discharge, but magistrate’s would not grant a prosecution application for costs.
A statement from Canute said the firm “reserved judgment” on the court’s decision.
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