From Derb: three English children were jailed and DNA tested for playing in a tree and breaking some branches.
"To the 12-year-old friends planning to build themselves a den, the cherry tree seemed an inviting source of material.
"But the afternoon adventure turned into a frightening ordeal for Sam Cannon, Amy Higgins and Katy Smith after they climbed into the 20ft tree - then found themselves hauled into a police station and locked in cells for up to two hours.
"Their shoes were removed and mugshots, DNA samples and mouth swabs were taken.
"Officers told the children they had been seen damaging the tree which is in a wooded area of public land near their homes.
"Questioned by police, the scared friends admitted they had broken some loose branches because they had wanted to build a tree house, but said they did not realise what they had done was wrong.
"Officers considered charging the children with criminal damage but eventually decided a reprimand - the equivalent of a caution for juveniles - was sufficient."
The children were traumatized, but the oh- so- sensitive police are unrepentant. A quote from a spokesman:
"West Midlands Police deals robustly with anti-social behaviour. By targeting what may seem relatively low-level crime we aim to prevent it developing into more serious matters."
Derb rudely wonders: "Why were these children left unsupervised? Why weren't they off at a Sensitivity Awareness camp, like normal kids? Or at home busily studying for exams? Or playing some nice game like Tug-O-Peace?"
Sigh. MEGA sigh.
5 comments:
Tree climbing a crime...!
I wonder if Pluvi and Darren are destined to be the last of England's young naturalists?
I'm going to risk sharing a poem circa 1991: I'll post here.
I don't know...I live in a country where a guy can hurt and abuse children and spend a few months in jail and get right back out and do it again.
I love Canada...except for that.
To think that a child can be roughed up by the cops for breaking a tree branch. This isn't preventative medicine. It's fear mongering.
wow... that's really bad. I'd have been in the pokey for most of my childhood if my hometown had been that backwards. Nobody'd better do that to my kids here. (BTW, this is Anna from Magdalena passing by to say Hello!!)
Our town still seems to be a place where you can raise kids as kids- yours, Omar's, ranch kids, Navajo kids all.
I am happy to see you here-- please check by often. Between the three of us we manage to keep new material coming regularly. We don't see many Magdalenians-- though Phil Grayson -- are you reading this, Phil? -- has promised us an occasional European letter when he gets settled.
Cute pic!
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