But the warning sign, which read: “Polite Notice: There is nothing of value left on our premises… It’s already been taken… By Thieving F*cking Bastards,” landed him on the wrong side of the law after police received a complaint about the language it used. Mr Jagger said: “They were out in less than 10 minutes to [warn] me, but when I phone and a proper crime has been committed, it’s days. I think it’s disgusting, I really do.”
Police told 50-year-old Mr Jagger, who has suffered 10 burglaries or attempted burglaries since he moved to his home four years ago, that he would be arrested if he did not remove the sign. But Mr Jagger said the sign was there to stay until the perpetrators were found. “I said I would make it more appropriate by removing some letters, but it’s staying where it is,” he said.
A police spokeswoman said it was a public order offence to display language if it caused harassment, alarm or distress. She said: “The householder was given sufficient time to remove the offensive language and warned that if it was not removed they would be liable for a fixed penalty notice. No further complaint has been received.” There have so far been no arrests made over the burglaries.
5 comments:
Here we are again. Plod taking the easy option. I'll wager none of the burglaries suffered by Mr. Jagger have resulted in a prosecution, yet he is threatened with one within a few minutes of putting the sign out. I can understand the problem with the language, but surely a friendly word would have sufficed. Or, here's a thought, had the utterly incompetent and useless West Yorkshire police done their jobs properly in the first place, there may have been no need for the sign.
" I'll wager none of the burglaries suffered by Mr. Jagger have resulted in a prosecution"
Probably because, and stop me if I'm going too fast, they don't know who stole his stuff?
Whereas in the case of the sign, finding out his address is a bit easier in terms of deduction
"Probably because, and stop me if I'm going too fast, they don't know who stole his stuff?"
Probably because, and stop me if I'm going too fast, they haven't even tried. At most, they filed a report and forgot about it.
The point, Mr Pedantic, is that law-abiding citizens are being harassed and threatened over silly signs while criminals run rampant without even a posture of resistance from the police. Got it now? Perhaps I need to use smaller words, yes?
I agree with Patty O'heater. The police are useless, at least here in Sydney, Australia they are. They attend a crime when it suits them, not when it suits you. I feel sorry for this man.
"...they don't know who stole his stuff?"
In some parts of the world, police actually have this thing called an "investigation" where they use modern forensic technology to find clues; or they check around to see who might be using stolen tools and supplies on a construction job site?
The Queen be needin' a new Sherlock Holmes, it seems...
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