"Property slump saves £180k criminal from prison sentence"

Spotted by Former Tory in Bridging & Commercial:

A man who stole £180,000 has been spared jail after blaming the housing slump on his failure to repay court-ordered compensation, according to reports in the Daily Mail. Dean McEvilly [sic], 38, from Burnden in Greater Manchester was convicted of thefts last year, and in October was ordered to pay a proceeds of crime court £50,000 or spend 18 months in jail.

However, McElvilly has now been reprieved after blaming the downturn in the property market, saying his house has depreciated so much in value it wouldn’t fetch enough money. As a result, the magistrates have lowered the amount to £38,000 and given the father-of-two an extra three months to find the money.

McElvilly’s solicitor Anthony Shimmin defended McElvilly, saying he had tried to sell his home through a local estate agent but to no avail. Mr Shimmin said he had received two cash offers of £40,000 but had refused them as it didn’t meet the original debt. He added: “This is not idleness on his part, he has been trying to sell it.”

To summarise, they are even re-writing criminal law to suit the Home-Owner-Ist agenda.