Suspects admit they robbed for kicks

By Chen Hong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-19 07:08

DONGGUAN, Guangdong -- A recent survey by the Dongguan intermediate people's court and Dongguan No 2 detention house showed that 12 percent of inmates in detention committed their crimes because it gave them a sense of excitement and accomplishment.

All suspects were charged of robbery and theft.

The survey covered 2,000 suspects and received 1,095 responses, Guangzhou Daily reported on Thursday.

It found that a majority of the respondents, 77 percent, were aged under 25, and 63 percent of them had only received a junior high school education.

Of the respondents, only 27 were women.

Most belonged to gangs, and the offenses were committed on streets, exits to highways, parks, and near hotels and banks.

About 38 percent said they resorted to robbery or theft because of financial difficulties, and 17 percent because they "fancied getting rich overnight".

The rest said they did it "just for fun, to impress their girlfriends, to upgrade their computers or to buy a mobile phone".

Court judges involved in the research said the responding offenders had offered ridiculous reasons, and were not aware of the consequences of their behavior.

Only about 53 percent of the suspects said they regretted what they had done. The rest had no regrets.

About 70 percent of the respondents in the survey said they felt "nervous, scared and hesitated" when committing their crimes, 15 percent were "calm" and 12 percent felt "excited, and felt a sense of accomplishment".