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AS 'proceeds of crime' hearings go, today's example on page seven is not one of the prosecutors' finest.
These hearings, a fairly new weapon in the judicial armoury, are intended to make sure crime does not pay.
Where crooks have netted fortunes from their criminality, these cases are supposed to redress the balance.
The ill-gotten gains are meant to be sequestered on behalf of Joe Public and used for good works.
It was a shame then when all that the latest five villains in court were required to stump up was one pound each.
They were reckoned to have made 40,000 or so apiece from the mobile phones they blagged from a hijacked lorry. The poor driver was left shackled and shaken after the gang flagged him down in a decommissioned police car they had managed to buy.
But the court was told the robbers had no money left. Hence the paltry levy.
We expect they still managed to find the price of a post-hearing drink - no doubt toasting British justice.
Carnival time as the run hits town
THE best of luck to the 8,000 or so runners of all ages who will be pounding the streets of Sheffield on Sunday for the Great Yorkshire Run.
This event, organised by BUPA as our own version of Newcastle's prototype Great North Run, has doubled in size since it was started in 2007.
The 10 kilometre route for adults will largely follow a linear path along Penistone Road out to Hillsborough and back. But at the start and finish there will be some winding through city centre streets, bringing the event into the heart of our community.
You can expect a carnival atmosphere, with live bands playing on various stages set up along the way.
There will be a little disruption for traffic and public transport. A few roads will be closed for part of the day.
But that price is a small one for an event which will raise so much money for charity and put so much pride into the hearts of those taking part.
They all deserve a medal and the organisers will see they get one.
Monsters march in
YOU know how it is.
You don't see a monster from Doctor Who in Sheffield city centre for aeons, then half a dozen turn up at once.
There they were, in the Peace Gardens yesterday. The wrong place entirely, you might think, for the good doctor's warlike enemies.
Oods, droids, scarecrows and dreaded cybermen were all there. Busily spooking the public to promote the Dr Who Live show which is coming the arena.
Only the notorious daleks were missing. Defeated, perhaps, by the steps down from Pinstone Street.
Got a view? Leave a comment below.
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -2 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
