A very senior detective told me once that a person had two choices if they found an intruder in their home - a) Nothing b) Kill the intruder and take his body to the town dump. His point was that capturing the intruder and calling in the police was not really a good option. The bad guy, and his buddies, obviously knew where you lived as a result of his visit and it was highly unlikely that you would be testifying in court against him. Criminal prosecutions often rely on witnesses. No witnesses, no conviction. Even the dumbest of thugs can work this out. And if they can't, their lawyers can. Believe it or not there are lawyers out there who only care about getting their clients off. Where I went to high school it was widely believed that some local lawyers contrived to make sure that the local thugs got to know the addresses at the top of witness statements. Eventually, many witnesses contact addresses were given as care of the local police force. But the fact is that the local thugs or their families went to high school with the witnesses or their families and already knew where to find them. One of the biggest problems was that the lawyers and Sheriffs or Judges tended to live in nicer areas than the rest of us and didn't have to survive having the thugs as neighbours. I've always found that the communities where these thugs live are far less understanding and forgiving than the courts tend to be. They have equally shitty lives but don't steal and maim. I can only imagine the disappointment of all involved when the cops did persuade some people to stand-up to one of the most notorious thugs only for the Sheriff to suspend sentence so that the bad guy could pursue a supposedly promising music career. I would have been a little happier if the Sheriff had offered to let the thug move into his home until the music career took off. Why should only the thug's neighbours be put in jeopardy because the Sheriff wanted to take a risk? And did I mention that I think that lawyers whose clients are arrested for offences committed while on bail should share a cell with them until the case is dealt with? I would anticipate a drop in both bail applications and crime.