Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Girls picking daffodils in park were stealing, says councillor

Three young girls were reduced to tears when police accosted them for picking daffodils in a Poole park. Officers told the parents of the girls - Sienna, four, six-year-old Olivia and India, 10 - to move on or they could be arrested for theft. Jane Errington, mother of Olivia and step-mum to the other two girls, and her partner Marc Marengo were left fuming at the "heavy-handed" response.

But Councillor Peter Adams, who said a family member of his had reported the incident, said taking the flowers amounted to stealing and the behaviour was "unacceptable". Mrs Errington and her family, from Lilliput, were enjoying the spring sunshine at Whitecliff on Sunday morn¬ing.



She said the girls had brought over some flowers and the family was then approached by the officers. "The girls had just been picking flowers in the sunshine and were left crying their eyes out," said the mum.

"They say they don't want to go back to the park now because they are scared of the police. It seems stupid for the police to be called to deal with this - surely taxpayers' money can be better spent than watching some girls picking flowers?" Whitecliff is a council-owned park and therefore removing property from it is technically classed as an offence.

6 comments:

  1. It's not good the girls were frightened, but obviously someone had to teach them picking flowers in a public park is not OK. When you vandalise flowers that are there for everyone's enjoyment, does it matter whether you take them with you afterwards or just leave them there to rot? Of course a mother defends her children, but her outraged excuse making is irritating.

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  2. What a pack of little horrors. Unless they planted the flowers of course it's stealing.

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  3. Anonymous7:06 pm

    DOn't worry folks, picking Daisies in the Summer will be theft next - Oh and be careful when the council have mowed the grass, you walk it out of the park, be prepared for the Park Police to feel your collar.

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  4. Morons who don't teach their children anything make me so angry.

    Daffodils are bulbs. If you pick them, they won't grow back. They're not a perennial or a weed like dandelions or daisies. So, technically, yes... the girls were stealing. The parents don't seem to be willing to teach them anything, so that leaves the police. If these whiners didn't want their girls to be frightened, they should have taught them about respect for property before they left the house.

    I know an avid gardener who lives next door to kids who used to pick flowers from her garden. Most likely, the reason it eventually stopped was because they got older and grew the brains their parents obviously lacked.

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  5. Barbwire4:03 am

    What's the matter with the mother? Certainly the 10-year-old should know better, even if the mother doesn't.

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  6. Anonymous7:23 pm

    christ leave the kids alone 4 god sake, any kid in a park will pick flowers when they see them i used 2 do it when i was a kid, god can u no do anything right in this world at the moment.x u have every right 2 complain.x

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