The Daily Mail reports that three 12-year-old children were caught climbing a tree on public land (and breaking some loose branches to build a clubhouse).
Their shoes were removed and mugshots, DNA samples and mouth swabs were taken.Questioned by police, the scared friends admitted they had broken some loose branches because they had wanted to build a tree house, but said they did not realise what they had done was wrong.
Officers considered charging the children with criminal damage but eventually decided a reprimand – the equivalent of a caution for juveniles – was sufficient.
Although the reprimand does not amount to court action and the children do not have a criminal record, their details will be kept on file for up to five years.
Reader comment:
Jay pointed out this news story about the incident:
"Superintendent Stuart Johnson, operations manager at Halesowen police station, said: 'I support the actions of my officers who responded to complaints from the public about kids destroying an ornamental cherry tree by stripping every branch from it'"
Incidentally, most DNA swabbing methods aren't really an invasive procedure, and no less scary than having your finger prints taken. They've been a part of standard processing in all police detainments in the UK because of 'public outcry' and claims that they could have been stopped some high profile child abuse cases if 'the police had known who they were'. It's vaguely hypocritical of the Daily Mail to be complaining about something they were partially responsible for in the first place.
Basically, a case of a pair of young yobs being caught vandelising a public park, and being run through the 'system' to give them a shock before being let of with a warning.
