Shocking Sight (boys stabbing a wheelie bin) (Lounged)

[James]

Interesting that you mentioned that the boys were white - nobody has taken you up on this. Hmmm.

[lenk]

James Wrote:

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> Interesting that you mentioned that the boys were

> white - nobody has taken you up on this. Hmmm.

Ooh, that?s another 8-pager, are we all up to it?

[Miss Miaow]

These boys were committing a criminal offence - it an offence to be in possession of a bladed article in a public place and as a member of the judiciary I can tell you that those who have a bladed article in a public place face an immediate custodial sentence particuarly if they are brandishing it in the street. So, I for one, do not take this sort of behaviour lightly and neither would the police.

[v_the_gelfling]

Worth reporting, illegal weapons and you said yourself that you felt uncomfortable walking past them...

[matthew123]

When they get bored attacking the wheelie bins what are they going to do next - go back to playing in the sandpit?

[AcedOut]

Was the bin ok?

[Jeremy]

lenk Wrote:

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> I made a fertiliser bomb when I was about 10 years

> old and blew up part of a playground. Should I

> have been locked up?

I do take your "boys will be boys" point... but don't necessarily agree with it. I wouldn't expect these kids to be locked up - but if they could be tracked down, I would expect the police to have a word with their parents and maybe give the kids a caution.

Huguenot Wrote:

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> It takes 10 minutes, for goodness sake.

Don't know if you've ever reported a crime, Hugo. It takes 10 minutes to make the call, but can take hours and hours to give a statement. A day off work if they decide to take it to court and they need you as a witness. It wouldn't stop me reporting a crime again, but it's far from trivial.

[cdonline]

I was just wondering, if you are not going to report it to the police, why you felt the need to tell this forum.

If they were attacking the bin in a frenzy, wouldn't it be in the interests of everyone to at least alert the authorities.

[Domitianus]

Let me ask a controversial question (or perhaps not controversial). In light of the black-on-black mass stabbing a couple of weeks ago on LL, would people's responses to this thread be different if the boys stabbing the bin were black?

[Monkey]

You can call/email Sergeant Duncan Jackson from the East Dulwich Safer Neighbourhoods Team in all confidence. Given the fact that several people witnessed what happened, the kids are unlikely to pick on you as they will not know which one of the witnesses came forward. Anyway, by calling the Safer Neighbourhoods Team, you are merely informing them of what happened, not giving a statement.

[red devil]

AcedOut Wrote:

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> Was the bin ok?

No, he's feeling rubbish...sorry ::o

[lenk]

Domitianus Wrote:

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> Let me ask a controversial question (or perhaps

> not controversial). In light of the

> black-on-black mass stabbing a couple of weeks ago

> on LL, would people's responses to this thread be

> different if the boys stabbing the bin were black?

no. Two boys stabbing a bin is still completely uninteresting, even if the boys had done it in fancy dress.

[Jeremy]

How about if they were dressed as clowns?

[lenk]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> How about if they were dressed as clowns?

I would clear the decks for a 192-pager.

[woofmarkthedog]

lenk Wrote:

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> Maybe we could have some sort of 'informant

> network', like they have in totalitarian

> societies.

>

> I would really enjoy living somewhere like that.

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Me too, I would like to be an informant on a network yes!

By the way it was LENK who said* that the police were lazy & dismissive

Comrades

W**F

( *well kind of )

[Louisa]

Kids carrying knives is not an issue to be taken lightly, the fact that year on year stabbings in the youngest age group of people has increased so dramatically suggests any suspicious activity involving any sort of weapon should immediately be reported.

Louisa.

[HAL9000]

cdonline Wrote:

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> I was just wondering, if you are not going to

> report it to the police, why you felt the need to

> tell this forum.

I would have no reservation in reporting the matter to their parents - if I knew who they were. I guess the next best thing is to alert any forum users with teenaged boys so that they can look out for knives. The two lads in question were approx. 12 to 15 years old - I'm not sure that reveals the full picture, though.

> If they were attacking the bin in a frenzy,

> wouldn't it be in the interests of everyone to at

> least alert the authorities.

I visited the scene today and examined the wheelie bin. It bears many fresh gouges and scratches where the blades slipped across the surface but there were no signs of actual penetration, surprisingly. Those green council bins must be very tough!

I've reviewed the law links posted above and at UK Knife Law: I cannot be sure about the blade lengths. I am aware that the mind often perceives a threat as larger than life so I may have misperceived the blades as being a little longer than they actually were. If the boys had three-inch bladed folding pocketknives then they are legal.

I still hold the view that a police report is not justified in this case.

My biggest concern is that my neighbours may be raising kids who think it's OK to behave like that - that is scary!

[Andystar]

Domitianus Wrote:

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> Let me ask a controversial question (or perhaps

> not controversial). In light of the

> black-on-black mass stabbing a couple of weeks ago

> on LL, would people's responses to this thread be

> different if the boys stabbing the bin were black?

Nope, it wouldn't have made a difference....

now what if the bin was black???

[Domitianus]

Maybe they were pretending it was Bin Laden?

[ayresc]

that post has made my day.

Superb!

[Loz]

Maybe they were pretending it was Bin Laden?

No, they picked an empty bin. So it was Bin Unladen.

I'll get me coat...

[SteveT]

Wheelie bins have rights too you know,..............ermmm and wheels.

[HAL9000]

More thoughts on this: The majority are for reporting the incident. Two are against.

Kids are programmed to emulate adult behaviour - that's how they learn to integrate into whatever type of society they happen to be born into. When I was a kid we played cowboys and Indians with toy guns and bow and arrows. My kids played with laser pistols and light sabres. Today's kids reflect today's society. They're just copying what they see around them - OUR society.

My report would be insufficient to guarantee proper identification. Look at the police and judicial fiasco surrounding the Damilola Taylor case (et al). The risk of yet another great British miscarriage of justice is simply too great given the current hysteria surrounding knife crime, especially in this area. A high-level decision to make an example in this case could lead to their lives being permanently blighted in what is rapidly becoming a corruption-riddled, authoritarian police state. A regime I no longer trust.

Their educational and career options would be limited. Their DNA would be entered into the national database. They could lose their liberty. They'd forever be suspects in the eyes of the police. And their travel options would be restricted. They would become second-class citizens in many respects - all for a few minutes of misguided horseplay.

Yes, it's shocking. But we created the society they were born into. We are the culprits - not them. Such issues should be addressed by our educational system at a fundamental level - not by the heavy hand of law enforcement as an after thought, in my humble opinion.

[ontheedge]

Horseplay I don't exactly see children carrying and playing with knifes in this climate playful especially whilst adults go about their business and doing nothing about it. You didn't suspect they had knifes they did have knifes surely intervention at this point would be far better than them using the knifes on a person in the future which would deprive them of all their liberty. A friendly word and caution I think at this point could be seen as adults taking responsibility. I don't quite get your point on how it become a case of another great miscarriage of justice.

[matthew123]

Anyone can pick up a knife and poke it in a wheelie bin a few times but 'frenzied stabbing attacks' strikes me as it would probably have been for the best if they'd been thrown in the back of a dog van and taken off to bostal for 6 months. Yes it might blight their future prospects but at the same time it would send a clear message through their school yard that this behaviour cannot and will not be tolerated. The fact they are white may even hit the headlines so that it wakes up a lot of other kids to the fact that carrying a lethal weapon is a criminal offense.

If we excuse this behaviour because of society where do we draw the line for other criminal offenses.