Too harsh, maybe…?

May 26th, 2009 § 0 comments

I reckon if Britain was still exporting it’s criminals to Australia, Thomas Payne would’ve been on the next boat out of here.

A 19 year old lad was taken to court and found guilty. His punishment? £50 costs, a 36-hour community order, which he has to do for three hours at a time for the next 12 Saturdays. Oh and he has to wear an electronic tag with a curfew from 8pm to 6am for the next four months.

What’s his crime? Is it Burgulary? Assault, maybe? Did he breach an ASBO, perhaps?

Not quite

A police charge notice said he had ‘intentionally and without authority or reasonable cause, caused sweets to be on a road, namely Lancaster Circus, in such circumstances that it would have been obvious to a reasonable person that to do so would be dangerous’ contrary to the Road Traffic Act.

The lad forgot to zip up his pocket when he dusted off down the road on his Yamaha DT175 and some mint imperials fell out.

They were just falling out of my pocket. Because of the time they followed me for they said I should have known.

Yes, he should’ve known, but he didn’t. Dropping some sweets isn’t worth community service and a curfew. It’s not just the big stories that erode confidence in and respect for the police. The punishment may be harsh, and the judge needs a word in his ear, but it should never have got that far.

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