To think criminals are very common?

😀

My son is just starting out and has heard some horror stories so he is cautious, but that’s no bad thing. He’s a natural law-abider, though. When he was at school he had some very rebellious friends and I did worry he’d get himself sacked just by association!

I mean I don’t disagree but you certainly would get an invoice/ reciept for work you’ve done that was paid in cash. Paying in cash doesn’t affect your proof of purchase!

What’s the Tesco thread?

Can someone link to it please?

I don’t refuse to pay cash I just don’t use that trades person. Firstly if they are happy to shaft HMRC they have no qualms about shafting you too. They’re not putting it through their books and you aren’t getting an official invoice so if they do rubbish work your options for complaining are limited, and secondly I’m a chartered tax advisor and would definitely be struck off if I agreed to such blatant tax evasion.

But hey, you do you. Who needs a taxpayer funded ambulance when you have a heart attack anyway? Scum.

I think this is sensible, but overcautious. I know a barrister who has been convicted of drink driving and one arrested for disturbance of the peace (which was actually a domestic incident but unclear what was going on, so could’ve been (was) abuse)

I know both through my BF, who was married to one of these men and predicted correctly their professional body would allow them to continue.

it seems quite common that the a type personalities that get people into amazing jobs are coupled with a darker side.

also I’m a chartered accountant and unless you’ve committed fraud or received a custodial sentence I can’t say it’s a big concern in my life. Certainly not using NT membership 😭 I’ve only had 1 speeding conviction though so not really pushing the barriers 😀

Yes, fair enough - I was commenting on friends and family, but of course, I meet lots of people and they might’ve done all sorts of things. So then I’d agree with OP that statistically we’re among crims all the time.

Well, I am related to a couple of fellas who were on the run for quite some time as convicted criminals, apparently. Never did hear what they were convicted of!

However, I also know multiple illegal drug users, no doubt some who deal, someone who was sacked for helping themselves to work's fuel, pub brawlers, far too many child molesters and sexual harassers, people who have nicked Christmas trees from the forestry lot, people who made 'special' chocolate brownies, drink drivers, shop lifters, insurance fraudsters, tax evaders and am not going to claim to be lily white myself.

I also lived behind the White Power, who were prolific drug dealers, and users, thieves and burglars, and wife beaters.

I'm a fairly middle class sort of a person. Although both sides of my family have some fairly interesting 'characters'. . .

Isn’t this just a six degrees of separation thing? My friends and family aren’t criminals (that I’m aware of anyway) but I do know of people who are criminals, some friends boyfriends/ex boyfriends, my husbands sisters ex was done for drink driving and assault, my mums friends ex husband got caught with hundreds of indecent images (he’s in prison now), someone my husband knows went to prison for fraud, a boy I went to school with went to prison for GBH.. these aren’t people I hang out with or even like, but I am connected to them in some way whether it be directly knowing them or indirectly knowing of them through other people.

So many people saying they don't know or mix with criminals- honestly, you'd never know if your neighbour, hairdresser or gardener had been convicted at age 16 of a minor offence like shoplifting.

I think there is a difference between people who have broken the law (eg underage drinking or sex, taking soft drugs, not correcting a supermarket bill if you are accidentally charged £1 for something that should have been £3 etc) and wilful criminality which I associate with knowingly inflicting your intentional illegal behaviour on others for your own gain or pleasure, such as burglary, drug dealing, bodily harm.

People choose to obey the law for many reasons, some disinterested and some definitely self-interested.

My son's a barrister and is absolutely scrupulous because he knows, in his profession (and after long years of training and exams) the very slightest thing would see him chucked out. He's a nice guy and very honourable anyway, but he's certainly not going to throw everything away through dodgy behaviour.

A friend was asked if he'd lend his NT card to another CF friend (who's always on the scrounge) and he refused. She thought he was being petty but as the said 'I'm a Chartered Accountant! I can't commit fraud, however trivial you think it is!'.

I don’t know anyone.

I agree dodging your tax isn't like being a serial killer or bank robber but it's still dishonest and fraudulent - and it's illegal - they are breaking the law! And harming all of us, especially the hard-working people who earn far less than them. It really does annoy me.

I remember over Covid, when small businesses were allowed to claim from the govt for lost earnings and this was based on their previous year's tax return. I heard there were a number of tradesmen who'd declared they'd only earned about 15K for the year....and they got their come-uppance.

I can well believe that! But I don't think they are blameless. These women should take some interest and have some knowledge of what their partners are earning. I suspect some of them turn a very convenient blind eye.

I live in a very MN middle class, nice area in Scotland and don't know anyone involved in crime.

I have a record but I don't see myself as a criminal over a stupid thing that happened when I was a teenager. But if I am one I'm the only one I know

Well no, I don't count trades unless they have a criminal record!
The one in three statistic actually have a criminal record. Honestly, you must know some of these people, how could you not? Also why the heck would they tell you?
As far as I know I have known very few personally - one affray, one common assault. And many more professionally. But really how would I know?. People don't broadcast this stuff.

You probably do know folk with a criminal record it’s not something that you generally brag about so unless you’re DBS checking new acquaintances as they come along yoto d never know.
I now own my own business and do a fair bit for charity and and I think a lot of folk now would be shocked to know that I had a minor conviction for assault on my record from 20+ years ago!
doing a bad thing doesn’t make you a bad person for life 👌🏻

I had dealings at work with someone who was convicted of murder a few months later. They were not in my social circle as a client and a boy I went to school with is a convicted rapist. One of the Mums at school is open about how she was in court a few times as a teen.

@ChicJoker I do not pay cash as well as disapproving of the black economy which evades probably more tax than the likes of Amazon and big corporations avoid tax that people on here bang on about I also like my points on my credit card. There is also a huge difference between tax evasion and avoidance which people struggle to grasp. People may not like big companies avoiding tax but if it’s not evasion then it’s legal.

Me too. Don't they even realise how galling it is to the majority of us who have to pay our taxes? And just selfish and un-public-spirited? It’s the conspiratorial way they wink and assume you don’t want ‘the taxman’ to get paid either!

They expect their health care and policing to be there for them…do they imagine the fairies pay for that? It’s as if to say to their customers: you stupid mugs can do the paying while I go in my 3rd cruise this year.

The reality is that nobody tells you what's really going on though. I've met wives and mothers of serious villains who really have no idea what is going on until the police are at their door. They believe the guys are making 5 star cruise money from roofing.

I’m not surprised. The amount of people who seem to be quite happy to pay cash for building work and thereby facilitate criminal conduct is incredible.

I took “pearl clutching” from the OPs first post.

and keep doing it as much as you like. It impacts noone, makes no difference to life - although it sounds like it gives you some marginal satisfaction feelings about your life? It’s meaningless in reality though. It’s not like anyone who doesn’t bang on about dumping imaginary criminal friends is a gangsters moll.

Literally.

You obviously haven't read the legislation.

Ehay don't you do that, then come back to me.