This weeks "crime if we say so"
Discussion
Latest Bibiocy ; yet again, the kind of action that would be ignored if it happened to the public.
It is good to know that "but she broke the law and committed criminal damage. The law is for everyone and we are there to uphold it". Let's hope it starts happening to those of us who aren't coppers, and isn't just another example of the rules being used only when it suits them.
(From today's Guardian)
Here is some good advice: if you are 13, live in Kent and like throwing snowballs, make sure there is not a police car in the way.
Amy Hodges, from Ashford, may not have known this when she accidentally broke the rear window of a Kent constabulary vehicle with her snowy missile. She has paid the penalty.
She spent four hours in a cell, had her fingerprints taken, was obliged to give a DNA sample, and was given a formal reprimand when officers decided not to proceed with a charge of criminal damage.
Her mother, Theresa, who was in the cell with her, is furious."So my daughter now has a criminal record for throwing a snowball. What is the world coming to?
"She's not a bad girl at all and certainly didn't mean to break the window - she hadn't been aiming at it, just fooling around with friends.
"The officer involved should have established who she was and then contacted us. We would have paid for the damage and punished her ourselves. All this fuss for a snowball? It defies belief. Have they nothing better to do?"
But the Kent police spokesman was unrepentant. "A 13-year-old girl was arrested after a snowball was thrown at a moving car, smashing the rear window," he said.
"We consider this to be a dangerous action which could have had very serious consequences. We chose to reprimand the girl at the police station rather than charging her with criminal damage.
"We felt this was an appropriate way to deal with this incident."
He then put in the metaphorical size 12 police boot. "This might be a nice girl from a fine upstanding family but she broke the law and committed criminal damage. The law is for everyone and we are there to uphold it."
It is good to know that "but she broke the law and committed criminal damage. The law is for everyone and we are there to uphold it". Let's hope it starts happening to those of us who aren't coppers, and isn't just another example of the rules being used only when it suits them.
(From today's Guardian)
Here is some good advice: if you are 13, live in Kent and like throwing snowballs, make sure there is not a police car in the way.
Amy Hodges, from Ashford, may not have known this when she accidentally broke the rear window of a Kent constabulary vehicle with her snowy missile. She has paid the penalty.
She spent four hours in a cell, had her fingerprints taken, was obliged to give a DNA sample, and was given a formal reprimand when officers decided not to proceed with a charge of criminal damage.
Her mother, Theresa, who was in the cell with her, is furious."So my daughter now has a criminal record for throwing a snowball. What is the world coming to?
"She's not a bad girl at all and certainly didn't mean to break the window - she hadn't been aiming at it, just fooling around with friends.
"The officer involved should have established who she was and then contacted us. We would have paid for the damage and punished her ourselves. All this fuss for a snowball? It defies belief. Have they nothing better to do?"
But the Kent police spokesman was unrepentant. "A 13-year-old girl was arrested after a snowball was thrown at a moving car, smashing the rear window," he said.
"We consider this to be a dangerous action which could have had very serious consequences. We chose to reprimand the girl at the police station rather than charging her with criminal damage.
"We felt this was an appropriate way to deal with this incident."
He then put in the metaphorical size 12 police boot. "This might be a nice girl from a fine upstanding family but she broke the law and committed criminal damage. The law is for everyone and we are there to uphold it."
Her daughter has a criminal record for breaking a windo. That is criminal damage. She must have realised at 13 if she threw something a window it was likely to break!
If she had thrown the snowball at a shop window and it had broken, she would be in exactly the same predicament.
The mother is entitled to her opinion as anyone else is. If any motorist had suffered the same plight due to the ill conceived judgement of this stupid adolescent, then they would have been in a position to have her arrested.
Unfortunately for her on this occasion, it happened to be someone who knew the law, knew his powers and was able to apprehend her before she 'melted into oblivion without trace'!
If snowballs retained fingerprints then any other person suffering damage of this type would be dealt with by the Police in oreder to obtain a conviction or sanction detection and for the offender to be given the chance to make good the damage.
Attending the Police Station with such a report and a rapidly deforsting ball of ice as evidence and a shaky description of a training shoed yoof is not a lot to go on to effect an arrest for an arrestable offence.
The Mother should be ashamed of her reaction. She should be ashamed that her daughter has been involved in stupid games which could have been a lot more serious if the car driver had lost control.
13 year old girls need to be a little bit more sensible which should come from the way she is brought up.
I have 2 children of similar ages. They know that they should not do this sort of thing. If they do and get caught by the law or myself, they will be surely sorry!
If she had thrown the snowball at a shop window and it had broken, she would be in exactly the same predicament.
The mother is entitled to her opinion as anyone else is. If any motorist had suffered the same plight due to the ill conceived judgement of this stupid adolescent, then they would have been in a position to have her arrested.
Unfortunately for her on this occasion, it happened to be someone who knew the law, knew his powers and was able to apprehend her before she 'melted into oblivion without trace'!
If snowballs retained fingerprints then any other person suffering damage of this type would be dealt with by the Police in oreder to obtain a conviction or sanction detection and for the offender to be given the chance to make good the damage.
Attending the Police Station with such a report and a rapidly deforsting ball of ice as evidence and a shaky description of a training shoed yoof is not a lot to go on to effect an arrest for an arrestable offence.
The Mother should be ashamed of her reaction. She should be ashamed that her daughter has been involved in stupid games which could have been a lot more serious if the car driver had lost control.
13 year old girls need to be a little bit more sensible which should come from the way she is brought up.
I have 2 children of similar ages. They know that they should not do this sort of thing. If they do and get caught by the law or myself, they will be surely sorry!
Plotloss said:
Indeed, packed ice, what swines.
Nail 'em up I say, nail some sense into them.
Kids? Fun? Not on your nelly...
Ever been smacked in the side of the face by an iceball plotless?
Ever had your car pelted by 'kids' having a bit of fun?
I bet I know how you would react if the same thing happened to you
You would probably stop, open your door, get out and wave at the children, laughing that they had accidently broken your window but "heh", they're just kids having a bit of fun, never mind because if I go and ask them kindly they will empty their piggy bank at my immediate request and unbegrudgingly pay the £200 to get the damage repaired when you are guided to the door opened by the ever so understanding single parent on income support!
Thats really funny then eh plotless?.
Just like many things in life, they are fine happening to everyone else as long as it is not you!!!
Bad day?
The copper had to pay for the damage did he?
This wasnt at all a completely criminal waste of tax payers money was it?
FFS get off your high horse, it was kids playing around and unfortunately some damage occurred.
Thats it.
Its stories like these and the apple eater that are doing the Police service no favours AT ALL. Carry on with preposterous measures such as these and you see how quickly the public are willing to help.
Its entirely unjustifiable unless you are complete barmy.
The copper had to pay for the damage did he?
This wasnt at all a completely criminal waste of tax payers money was it?
FFS get off your high horse, it was kids playing around and unfortunately some damage occurred.
Thats it.
Its stories like these and the apple eater that are doing the Police service no favours AT ALL. Carry on with preposterous measures such as these and you see how quickly the public are willing to help.
Its entirely unjustifiable unless you are complete barmy.
1. She must have thrown it F-ing hard to break a toughened window.
2. How would you feel if it was your car she damaged?
3. Maybe 4 hours in the cells was a bit over the top, but I bet she won't do it again and nor will her friends.
4 What will her view of the police be now? Fear or derision? You tell me.
2. How would you feel if it was your car she damaged?
3. Maybe 4 hours in the cells was a bit over the top, but I bet she won't do it again and nor will her friends.
4 What will her view of the police be now? Fear or derision? You tell me.
Plotloss said:
Indeed and the copper would have had a quiet word and you would have gone to bed with a sore ear and a sore bum no doubt.
But then the government have outlawed that...
You're absolutely correct..Plotless...it's a pity that such things can't go on...at least not openly.
As for the girl's punishment that was actually handed out.......sounds about right. The chances of 'accidentally' breaking the window of a car with a snowball must be 100000:1
Thankfully it was a police car and the government will pay for another window. You can bet if it was your car; her parents wouldn't be coughing up the money for a replacement. Instead you would have had the old things of "Kids are kids"...or "Weren't you ever young?"..
The article isnt clear on whether it was a formal caution or a warning.
The key point though is that she didnt throw it AT the car, it hit the car.
In a scenario where a Police Marksman takes a shot that say ricochets and kills an innocent should that marksman be tried for murder?
Of course not, it would be an accident, just like this...
The key point though is that she didnt throw it AT the car, it hit the car.
In a scenario where a Police Marksman takes a shot that say ricochets and kills an innocent should that marksman be tried for murder?
Of course not, it would be an accident, just like this...
Plotloss said:
The article isnt clear on whether it was a formal caution or a warning.
The key point though is that she didnt throw it AT the car, it hit the car.
In a scenario where a Police Marksman takes a shot that say ricochets and kills an innocent should that marksman be tried for murder?
Of course not, it would be an accident, just like this...
Criminal Damage= Intentionally damage or act recklessly...
Formal caution or warning? Same thing...nowadays for juveniles anyway...they get a reprimand for minor stuff, then a warning, then a court appearance...
(It can be court first if the offence warrants it)
Plotloss said:
Bad day?
The copper had to pay for the damage did he?
This wasnt at all a completely criminal waste of tax payers money was it?
FFS get off your high horse, it was kids playing around and unfortunately some damage occurred.
Thats it.
Its stories like these and the apple eater that are doing the Police service no favours AT ALL. Carry on with preposterous measures such as these and you see how quickly the public are willing to help.
Its entirely unjustifiable unless you are complete barmy.
Who do the Police help?
Themselves?
Policing is not a popularity contest if you hadn't worked it out by now!
Frankly if the public give up helping the Police, who will it hurt?
There will always be Police!
You know that if this happened to you, you would be furious and expect something to be done!
You are one of lifes complainers from my experience of reading your posts when things you do not particularly like or understand do not go your way!
I know from previous experience of your posts, that had you had your window broken and gone to report it with the scantest of details and the Police had shown no interest, the resulting post would have been exactly opposite to the one you have placed on here! That is a fact.
Its not a question of being on a high horse.
People only generally help the Police when it actually suits themselves because of a problem that hthey personally have! The rest of the time they don't give a flying f
k about anyone else! For your information, the officer did not have to pay for it himself! We all did!
It was Circa £200 of money that could have been spent on something else other than replacing that window because of a misguided 'bit of fun'!
It was not a waste of money. An offence had occurred. It is the job of the police to investigate crime.
People like you run the Police down because they fail to get a grip on convicting people for offences. When they do, people like you criticise them for doing what you say they should be doing!
Get a life and a grip on reality Plotless and think of someone else other than yourself for a change!
Plotloss said:
The key point though is that she didnt throw it AT the car, it hit the car.
How do you know ? Obviously she claims it wasn't deliberate, in the article the police claim it was deliberate.
I'm struggling to understand how you can throw something "accidentally" that breaks the window of a moving car. I know girls are usually bad at throwing straight
but that's just ridiculous. >> Edited by outnumbered on Friday 4th February 16:50
Maybe Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff