Children Arrested, DNA Tested, Interrogated for Playing in a Tree

[Lemur]

This story amused me, and I thought I'd bring it to the Org. After all, with the Middle East unpleasantness, it's nice to consider a simpler problem involving three children, a cherry tree, and a DNA test. (What exactly is wrong with you Brits?)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Children arrested, DNA tested, interrogated and locked up... for playing in a tree

By KHUSHWANT SACHDAVE, Daily Mail 22:27pm 23rd July 2006

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.

Although the reprimand does not amount to court action and the children do not have a

criminal record, their details will be kept on file for up to five years.

The parents of the children, who all live in Halesowen, West Midlands, say they are angry with police for treating their children as hardened criminals and accused officers of over-reacting.

The three, who have never been in trouble with the police before, were described as well-behaved and placid by their parents.

Amy's mother, Jacqueline, said her daughter was left so traumatised by the police action last month she refused to sleep in her bed for a week.

Miss Higgins, 37, an office manager, added: 'Amy was scared bucketloads to be locked up in a cell knowing murderers and rapists have been sat in the same cells. The police action was completely unbalanced. These were children playing in a tree.

'The information taken by the police will be held on record for five years and Amy is worried it could affect her going to college or university.'

Sam's father, Nicholas, 52, said: 'The children did not deserve to be treated in the way they were. A simple ticking-off by officers would have been sufficient.

'The children didn't realise they were doing anything wrong, they didn't deliberately set out to damage the tree.

'Sam's eyes were swollen and red when they let him out of the cell as he had been crying. He is a placid child and has never been in trouble before.

'When I got the phone call from the police to say Sam was in custody I thought he'd done something-like steal something from a shop. I couldn't believe it when he said all he had done was break some loose branches off a tree.

'To detain them, DNA them and treat them that way was simply cruel and an over-reaction by the police. Generations of children have played in that tree and my son and his friends won't be the first to have thought of building a tree den.'

Mr Cannon, who said Sam had difficulty sleeping shortly after the incident, has written to the police to complain about the action taken.

Superintendent Stuart Johnson, operations manager at Halesowen police station, said: 'I support the actions of my officers who responded to complaints from the public about "kids destroying" an ornamental cherry tree by stripping every branch from it, in an area where there have been reports of anti-social behaviour.

'A boy and two girls were arrested and received a police reprimand for their behaviour.

'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.'

Rod Morgan, chairman of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, said the police action appeared to be unnecessary.

'It's my opinion that too many children are being criminalised for behaviour that could be dealt with informally by ticking them off and speaking to their parents.'

[Don Corleone]

Actually, it would appear Brittish police are taking a bad page from the playbook of their American counterparts... .not amusing at all.

This school of policing comes from Rudy Giuliani. Essentially, the police will lock you up and charge you on even the most minor of offenses... spitting in public, jay-walking, whatever. Then, when they need somebody to charge later, hey, you're a habitual offender. Notice the key term 'anti-social behaviour'. Translation: as far as the police are concerned, next time they need to round up youths, these three are the 'usual suspects'. Give me a freakin' break.

Somebody should have told Superintendent Stuart Johnson that this is a tactic American police use in heavy crime areas only, basically to have a pre-made history on visitors to crack dens and the like, not to brand everey last youth in small hamlet as a habitual offender.

[UglyandHasty]

Talk about a powertrip !!! That's sick, scarring children like that !

[Duke John]

Puh! I think I was 6-8 years or so when I was picked up by the police. My brothers and a few other kids were playing around a "dam" in a little stream. Police came and told that we shouldn't be doing that as it clogged up the stream or something. This particular dam we hadn't made, but it was reason enough for the police to put us in the police van and drive us to I don't where.

Somehow my dad caught hold of this and stopped the van and we were let out. Can't remember the exact details, I thought it was quite an experience, but according to my dad I was crying all along. We did get a little an excursion to the police station afterwards to make it up, so it was all good for me in the end. Over the years we continued to make tons more dams

[English assassin]

Possibly non UK readers are wondering why the children were DNA tested. Well, its not because the police have been watching too much CSI Miami. No, in the UK, if you are arrested, the police can take a DNA sample. Then, even if you are completely innocent of any offence (as opposed to being a dangerous tree damaging 12 year old) they can keep the sample for ever.

Ah, the UK, beacon of liberty.

Actually, this sucks, in the technical legal sense. Below 14 to establish any criminal offence, the prosecution has to prove the child knew what they were doing was seriously wrong (ie not just naughty). And:

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.

Doli incapax, my dear Plod.

Therefore no criminal offence, and there should have been no caution. No offence at all means no arrestable offence (and I would suggest no grounds for the police to reasonable assume an offence had been committed), therefore no power of arrest, and an action for wrongful arrest.

My advice: sue their asses.

Edit: further advice: I should stick to public law. The oh so liberal labour government abolished doli incapax in 1998. That's right, left leaning kids, the police can now bang up 10 year olds thanks to you. Can't have any of that centuries old legal protection getting in the way of Tone's modern Britain can we. Nice work.

[caravel]

Allow me to wave my rolled up Daily Mail repeatedly while gurning somewhat menacingly...

Yea, seriously it is a stupid overreaction, but then if it was kids breaking the trees, and nothing was done, you'd have a whole lot of similar people complaining that "vandals" were getting off scot free...

The coppers probably went after an easy target, as usual, such as picking on drivers with dirty numberplates etc, etc.

[InsaneApache]

Well plod will have a lot of time on his hands, what, with not being allowed to chase theives, muggers et al in case one of the little dears hurts himself whilst running/riding away.

My veiws on Bliar and his repressive government are well known in the backroom. Suffice to say, now that the chickens are coming home to roost, the mask has slipped. But hey, the Yanks love him. One can only hope the swine buggers off to the USA when he is prised out of power.