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Crime of the year: Police harass four year olds picking daffodils

Daff107 Over at The Guardian, there's a truly mind-blowing story about the case of two sisters, aged four and six, who swooped on by uniformed Police officers after being caught picking daffodils in a Dorset park.

Upon arriving, the two girls were given a stern talking to by Police officers which has now resulted in them being  too scared to visit the park again for fear of "being taken away by the Police".

While it's unacceptable that these two children were essentially vandalising a public park, this is an issue of poor parenting as opposed to one which requires rapid-response Police intervention.  It's a fairly sad state of affairs that the member of the public who reported the two girls to the Police didn't feel able to have a quiet word with the children's parents – but, hey ho, that's the world we live in.

What do you think?

Read the full story here.

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Big Brother Watch Posted in Home
  • http://www.archrights.org.uk Terri

    ‘Poor parenting’? Beware, that will come back to haunt you one day :) I shudder to think of the things my children did while my mind was wandering elsewhere… mercifully they reached adulthood without any of us getting a criminal record.

  • Peter Michaels

    It gets more stupid by the day, its a wonder that british people dont protest against such stupidity. They just let it happen and than wonder why it gets worse. Its like living in a madhouse, what’s wrong with some innocent little kids picking some flowers? We should encourage them to be more in nature anyway. Fi on you big brother.

  • Richard Craven

    This case would be best resolved by the parents of the children telling the police to fuck off out of it.

  • startledcod

    I am, and have been since the start, a supporter of BBW however the phrase you have used is, probably, the most crass since you started: “While it’s unacceptable that these two children were essentially vandalising a public park”. They weren’t vandalising a public park, essentially or otherwise, they were picking flowers. If they were late teens thenmaybe, just maybe, you could suggest they were vandalising a park but not at that age.
    Its a poor post. That said, police, per-lease. Heaven forfend that we lose this essential ‘frontline’ policing as a result of any cuts. ‘Stern talking to’ what as wrong with a gentle explanation of why these daffs were not there to be picked.
    Despair, utter despair.

  • zorro

    I think the police could just about handle that situation….God forbid that it had been destructive vandals, the police would probably have been too busy to deal….
    zorro

  • Chris

    When I was five I got a clip round the ear from a bobby for riding my bike with my brother sat on the handlebars. It didn’t do me any harm. I’m 61 now and I still remember it!

  • http://www.foundavoice.blogspot.com/ foundavoice

    I have to agree with the protests at the strict interpretation of ‘vandalism’. They were 4 and 6 years old and were just picking flowers. They probably had no concept that this could be wrong.
    Unbelievable.
    On the plus side, more and more petty examples of disportionate power can only turn more people against the state having such powers.

  • http://chartophylax.blogspot.com/ Nikos

    “While it’s unacceptable that these two children were essentially vandalising a public park”
    I totally disagree! They were picking flowers!

  • Rebel Saint

    My reaction was “over-bearing over-reaction” at first.
    However, I’ve now heard the other side of the story. The parents weren’t blissfully unaware of what their children were doing but blithely ignoring it. The children weren’t picking one or two daffodils but armfuls of the things. And people had approached the parents and asked them to take responsibility for their children, but told where to go by the parents. And the police didn’t swoop in on the children but went and spoke to the parents.
    To me it seems like members of the public were doing their civic duty of trying to get parents to take responsibility for their children.

  • http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/home/2011/03/crime-of-the-year-police-harass-four-year-olds-picking-daffodils-.html ollie

    What the suck has the country come to. i ahve never heard so much bull shit in my life!!! The facck that you say that it is vandalisum to pick so flowers… What the fuck is all that!!! They are flowers they were just picking them to give to ther mum or dad. Also, if the police had come across some ACTUALL vandils they would just walk past and they would blame it on the fact they had to be some were eles. The police is going down the shitter that they can pick up on CHILDREN AT THE AGE OF 4 AND 6 that they are doing something that is not going to harm anyone is diabloickal. As what childhood did the member of the public that told the police that CHILDREN were picking flowers have. He or She must have been from a real shit background!!!
    It just shows what the country has come to!!! Scaring little children to the pint that they are too terrified to go back to the park to play because they think the SO CALLED Police will put them in prision!!!
    The whole country should be complete shock about this!!! It is beond crazy now!!!! Picking flowers is vandalisum.
    The person who told the police about this needs to re-think why they are the planet in the first place. Your not here to stop people picking flowers your he to keep the humans population going not to act like a fucked up arrs hole. The police need to re think there so called policeing stratagey.
    1. you would not go and tell the children not to do. tell the parent so you dont scare the children to the point they dont want to come back.
    2. they need to be fighting real crimes not picking on little children that have been picking flowers!!

  • Gram

    I read that they were pulling armfuls of daffs up. The parents should have been spoken to. Get a grip guys. How would you feel if “travelling types” systematically removed all the council flowers and sold them door to door? “Lucky Daffs” anyone?

  • Purlieu

    I want 4-6 yr olds to pick flowers in our park.
    That’s why we plant them.

  • Richard Craven

    @Purlieu
    Well said.

  • john malpas

    Fagin and his paediatric pinchers no longer exists?

  • Richard Craven

    @ollie
    To an extent, I sympathize with the underlying sentiment, but your functional illiteracy and spittle-flecked delivery are really quite alienating. Stop swearing so much, try to write grammatical sentences, and use a spell-checker.

  • Richard Craven

    Spam, or just a weirdo?

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