UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

So anyone from the UK here care to less us know about what's happening with your judicial system? YOBS!

Daughter of WWII pilot convicted of assault after reprimanding teenager who 'vandalised war memorial'

By Luke Salkeld

The daughter of a Second World War RAF pilot who reprimanded a teenager who she accused of vandalising a war memorial has been convicted of assault.

Julie Lake, 50, believed the 15-year-old was one of a number of youths who had damaged the remembrance garden in her village dedicated to those killed fighting for Britain.

But Mrs Lake was arrested after giving a boy, whom she believed to be the ringleader, a talking-to and a 'cuff round the ear'.

She tackled him after she saw at least one youth riding a BMX bike through freshly-laid flower beds.

Magistrates heard that when she grabbed his shirt collar, he said: 'That's assault'.

Mrs Lake claimed she was performing a 'moral obligation' following months of anti-social behaviour and vandalism at the memorial.

But weeks later she was arrested and yesterday was convicted of assault, criminal damage and a public order offence at North Avon Magistrates Court in Yate, near Bristol.

She was cleared of punching a 14-year-old in the stomach during the fracas.
Sentencing Mrs Lake to a 12-month conditional discharge, District judge David Parsons said she had shown a 'complete lack of self-control'.

She was found guilty of criminal damage for angrily throwing a bicycle belonging to one of the youths into the road, and shouting: 'Now you know what it feels like to have your property damaged'.


The judge rejected her claim the she was trying to perform a citizen's arrest and ordered her to pay £400 towards costs.


He said: 'I'm sure that having seen the damage to the flower beds, you simply lost your temper.


'I can understand you lost it, particularly because of your family relations in the war, and it is hardly surprising that you did.


'You reacted spontaneously, without thought for the consequences.


'You confronted the child with no plan in mind. The throwing of a bike into the road shows a complete loss of self-control, not the actions of someone executing a citizen's arrest.'


Before her arrest, Mrs Lake said she had become frustrated by youths vandalising the garden in Mangotsfield, Bristol.


She said: 'The memorial is a sacred place - it's like a grave. How dare these youngsters tarnish the memories of those who made a sacrifice for future generations?


'I've called the police and I've tried to talk to these kids but I've got nowhere.


'I lost my temper in frustration after two years of trying to get something done and immediately the police are after me. It's ridiculous.'


Mrs Lake's grandfather James Byrne was an infantryman who was killed, aged 29, in the Western Front trenches of France during the First World War


Her father William Byrne was an RAF pilot in World War II, and Julie's husband Peter, 63, a retired airman, also lost his grandfather in the 1914-18 war.


The trial - estimated to have cost taxpayers more than £100,000 - earlier heard how Mrs Lake was surrounded by up to 25 jeering youths by the memorial at the end of last year.


She told how the gang surrounded her, pushed her and shouted: 'You can't touch us, we're 15, we can do what the f*** we like.'


When the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was questioned in court about the war memorial, he replied: ''It means nothing to me, I guess it's for some people who died in the war.'

Daughter of WWII pilot convicted of assault after reprimanding teenager who 'vandalised war memorial' | Mail Online

The police do nothing about the kids vandalizing a memorial but insist on arresting the woman who was trying to do something about it.

Maybe the kids are right: they can't be touched; they can do whatever they want without consequences. If that's the kind of society the Eurotrash want, then they deserve the homegrown terrorism that is going to result.

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"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

I see no problem at all here, a woman got angry and attacked a person abotu whom she knw nothing, certainly there was no evidence of a crime having been committed by that boy. So she has rightly been convicted and should think about her actions more carefully. A real problem British society has, along with some youth violence and anti-social behaviour, is the demonisation and criminalisation of any teenager, especially boys by the media and this is represented in the actions of local governments and local people. Most teenagers behave respectfully and well but stories like this disregard that and just take the easy road of attacking the teenagers and assuming this woman is right because her father was a WW2 pilot.

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There was no evidence that that boy did anything other than ride his bike through a flower bed, I hate vigilates and people taking justice into their own hands.

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

If they did it they deserve more than a clip on the ear, but the thing is the women appears to have not known. Still though, a warning would probably have suffieced.

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Well, it says that "She was cleared of punching a 14-year-old in the stomach during the fracas." and that she was, "found guilty of criminal damage for angrily throwing a bicycle."

So it looks like she wasn't found guilty of assult, like the original charge (but then media always only cares about charges, and not convictions).

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Set your destination with your heart, get there with your mind.

"The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

I know, i didn;t say she was found guilty of assault. I think a police caution would have been appropraite rather than take it to court at all.

But, if the kids did as she claims, and that is doubtful then they deserve more than a punch in my book.

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Viva Fidel

"If there ever was in the history of humanity an enemy who was truly universal, an enemy whose acts and moves trouble the entire world, threaten the entire world, attack the entire world in any way or another, that real and really universal enemy is precisely Yankee imperialism"

"North Americans don't understand... that our country is not just Cuba; our country is also humanity"

Absolutely ridiculous. The woman is sick of some punks trashing a memorial which she has an emotional attachment to and the police won't help, so after two years she loses her temper and punches one. I find that completely understandable, and probably justifiable. Now, it says that she wasn't sure that that boy was one of the ones responsible, so I believe she could have been out of line there, but still. Come the **** on.

@Levi:
About the demonization of teens in Britain. Now, I don't follow British news much so I can't comment on if that's true or not, but passing off all the dumb **** that some fifteen year olds do simply by saying "media demonization" is rather idiotic, to put it bluntly. Teenagers are almost inherently stupid. This includes everyone, even you and me! We're not as bad as most, but don't try to tell me you've never done anything stupid.

Some teens let their stupidity run rampant, and ride dirt bikes through war memorials. The Huey Helicopter memorial for those who died in Vietnam, up near where I used to live, got spray painted several times. Once it was painted all over with penises. Don't try and tell me that was done by a forty year old or a girl! The police never did anything about it. If I'd caught one of the punks in the act and I thought that I was big enough to take 'em, I'd do the exact same thing that woman did.

You Brits are getting soft, Levi. Sometimes the right thing to do isn't to ignore **** like this, but just go out and grab the idiots, punch them in the gut, and take them to the police. At least let them know that **** like vandalism won't be tolerated, because if you don't let them know that, they'll do it everywhere they can get away with it.

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- The Declaration of Independence

Oh COME ON!!!!

She should be charged with assault. I am sick of people thinking they are above consequence.

If I saw and was sure someone was vandalizing a memorial, I would give them a good pop.

And if i was arrested I would plee guilty and face my judgment. It is part of the decision. If you decide to break the law face the consequence.

Don't wine about justification. You made the choice, face it.

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"Don't wine about justification. You made the choice, face it."

Depends upon what type of wine you are talking about. (^: