Joyrider avoids jail for stealing penny-farthing to ride home on Christmas Day and then selling it to POLICE on eBay

  • Robert Bastin stole old bike to get home after drinking with his brother
  • Bastin, 20, then listed the penny-farthing on eBay and sold it for £75
  • Defence lawyer claims it was harmless and 'quite Dickensian' 

By Chris Paine

Published: 12:37 EST, 3 April 2014 | Updated: 13:27 EST, 3 April 2014


Robert Bastin's defence lawyer said the jobless labourer spotted the old-time bike and thought it 'looked like a good idea'

Robert Bastin's defence lawyer said the jobless labourer spotted the old-time bike and thought it 'looked like a good idea'

A 20 year-old-man has avoided jail for stealing a penny-farthing on Christmas Day and riding it home – 14 miles away.

Tipsy Robert Bastin nicked the old-fashioned bike from the garden of a house in Honiton, east Devon, and pedalled all the way back to Exeter where he was living at the time.

A court heard he had enjoyed a Christmas drink with his brother when he realised he could not get home on and was stranded.

After making it home, Bastin then decided to sell the £350 penny farthing on eBay - but it was the police who 'bought' it as they investigated the theft of the old-fashioned bike.

Defence lawyer Peter Woodley told Exeter magistrates court: 'He was trying to get home.

'He had had a Christmas Day drink with his brother and it looked like a good idea. But a penny-farthing is not the easiest thing to return to its owner.

'He was in drink. He saw the back wheel sticking out of a bush, bizarrely not the larger front wheel. He pedalled it to Exeter. At that time of year, Christmas night, no one noticed. It was quite Dickensian.

'Stupidly he tried to sell it.'

Jobless Bastin put it on eBay two weeks later and it was the police who 'secured' it for £75 and returned it to its owner, Dale Trott.

He accepted the bid and insisted on cash and the 'buyer' collected it from his home. He was nabbed and the bike returned to Mr Trott.

Bastin pedalled the penny-farthing all the way home - 14 miles to Exeter - and found it when he spotted the BACK wheel sticking out of the bush in the garden of a house in Honiton

Bastin pedalled the penny-farthing all the way home - 14 miles to Exeter - and found it when he spotted the BACK wheel sticking out of the bush in the garden of a house in Honiton

Bastin did not say whether he rode the penny farthing along the main A30 dual carriageway between Honiton and Exeter.

But he was also in trouble for taking a motor bike along the same road and going through a red light and No Entry sign as police tried to stop him.

 

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Bastin, of Honiton, Devon, admitted stealing the old bike which he did while on bail for other offences. He also admitted to aggravated vehicle taking on December 6.

Exeter Magistrates Court heard that Bastin was riding a much more powerful Kawasaki motor bike at 5am on the A30 near Exeter airport at speed - 68mph in a 50mph zone.

Prosecutor Philip Sewell said police saw his and he was riding in an 'erratic manner and was wobbling'.

Bastin did not say whether he rode the penny-farthing along the main A30 dual carriageway between Honiton and Exeter

Bastin did not say whether he rode the penny-farthing along the main A30 dual carriageway between Honiton and Exeter

Bastin was answering other charges at Exeter Magistrates Court, including aggravated vehicle taking on a speeding motor bike

Bastin was answering other charges at Exeter Magistrates Court, including aggravated vehicle taking on a speeding motor bike

HISTORY OF THE PENNY FARTHING

The penny farthing was one of the first ever bikes manufactured when it was introduced in 1870. 

The bicycle received its name due to its distinctive wheels which resembled Victorian penny and farthing coins.

It was invented by James Starley and was unusual because the pedals were fixed directly to the front wheel.

The penny farthing had solid rubber wheels and a very high centre of gravity - making it very unstable and difficult to ride. It also did not have brakes or suspension.

Production eventually ceased in 1878.

A new version of the historic bicycle was developed by Hawks Cycles in 2004. It features steel caliper brakes and a modern steel alloy frame costing £150.

Police did not pursue him because they felt it would be unsafe to do so, but he was trapped when police found his clothes and DNA from his motor cycle helmet that he wore.

Mr Woodley said the aggravated vehicle taking offence happened at 5am when the main road was 'relatively clear' but said it was not the 'worst case of excessive speed' or dangerous driving.

The solicitor said: 'He went out for a drive and used the bike.

'He wasn't familiar with it and wobbled a couple of times.

'He rode through a red light and a No Entry sign at excessive speed – but it was a quiet time of day.'

He said the jobless labourer was not coping with life over Christmas after losing his job and splitting up from his partner and young child.

'He had no money and was not thinking straight,' said Mr Woodley, who added that Bastin was stressed and 'acted impulsively and stupidly'.

The JPs gave him an 18-month community order with supervision and thinking skills programme.

He was banned from the roads for 18 months, ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work and told to pay £75 to compensate the police for the penny-farthing.

On another charge of aggravated vehicle taking, the court heard Bastin was riding a powerful Kawasaki motor bike at 5am on the A30 near Exeter airport at speed - 68mph in a 50mph zone

On another charge of aggravated vehicle taking, the court heard Bastin was riding a powerful Kawasaki motor bike at 5am on the A30 near Exeter airport at speed - 68mph in a 50mph zone

Comments (8)

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Theft is HARMLESS? Ok, then the lawyer should allow me to steal his method of transport and see if he still believes it to be HARMLESS.....

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Out of work -- but always money to drink with, eh? Always money to buy smokes and lottery tickets. Funny how that works.

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LOL

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If he can ride a penny farthing whilst drunk, he deserves a job in the circus. This story made me laugh.

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Yes, have to say, though it's wrong, I was kind of impressed by that aspect of the story!

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Even a fool would know that this rotten young man stole this bike to sell from the word go and probably transported it home in a van of sorts. What idiot would ride that distance on such a bike?

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The JP's an idiot - another soft touch. Why did the guy need a lawyer anyway - suppose this was legal aid, clearly a waste of tax payers money.

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9/10 for sense of humour to the Lawyer... A step down (or UP, I suppose!?) from the motorbike, at least!??! A cheap sentence, at least... If you PUT A FOOT WRONG AGAIN YOU'RE GOIN' DARN M8

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