Friday 28 August 2009

"You There, With The Dog And The White Stick..."

"...it's all over for you chummy, you're nicked!":
A blind man who complained to police about cars parking on a pavement was arrested when he threatened to let down the vehicles' tyres.
Bloody hell!
Mr Duckfield, who became blind in December 1999, claimed police were not doing enough to tackle motorists parking illegally on pavements near his home.

He said he had repeatedly complained to officers about cars blocking his path when he went out of his house, forcing him and his guide dog to walk on a main road. Last week, after phoning officers and feeling he was getting no help, he went a step further.
He wrote to his MP? He actually went and damaged the cars? He went berserk, climbed a water tower and started shooting?

Well, hardly the latter, this wasn't Texas...
He said: "I said all right, if you're not going to do anything I'll do something myself, I'll let the tyres down and I'll write 'no parking' on the windscreen.

"I went to the door [and] locked the door. By the time I got 50 yards down my street there was a policeman running towards me.

"He told me he was going to arrest me because I had threatened to let tyres down and threatened to write on windscreens."
Oh, they had a policeman within 50 yards of his house, did they? Was he on his way to ticket the cars, perhaps?

Or was he on his way to have a word with some nuisance who kept phoning the police station, when suddenly all his dreams came true, and the suspect left his own house in a suspicious manner..?
Mr Duckfield said he was taken to a police station and held in a cell before being cautioned. (Ed: There was his mistake - he should have told them to shove it, and taken his chances with a magistrate...)

He said: "I thought it was absolutely disgusting. I came back here and I sat down and I almost cried but I thought, no, the temper took over me."
And in case you thought he was making too much of a fuss about this:
Mr Duckfield said the arrest meant he would no longer be asked to visit schools with his guide dog.
Nice...
Dyfed-Powys Police said the force had held a crackdown on illegal parking in Narberth last month. (Ed: Obviously didn't work, did it?)

A spokesperson added: "It is unfortunate Mr Duckfield decided to take matters into his own hands on this occasion."
How? By walking down his front path?

He didn't actually damage anything, did he?

Welcome to Labour's Britain. Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime - meaning the people who complain about crime...

10 comments:

neil craig said...

I'm sorry but I don't see the police had much option. Had he done as he said & it come out that he had told the police this was his intention they would have ben complicit. He could have said "It would be nice if somebody did let down their tires" which would have left it open.

JuliaM said...

Do you really think that the time they wasted arresting him, locking him up and cautioning him couldn't have been better spent on sticking tickets on the illegally parked cars...?

If for nothing else than the PR nightmare they now have?

The Filthy Engineer said...

It appears that you are now guilty before you commit a crime. I'm surprised he wasn't tasered to boot.

Anonymous said...

We have to keep the crazy blind off the streets. Any one of these zombies could walk straight into the path of my 911 turbo, which is difficult enough to control at 50mph. Worse still, the scrote could cause damage I might end up having to pay for. As for that stick of his - well I can tell you as a fully trained police marksman, I would have difficulty in distinguishing it from a table leg.

JuliaM said...

"It appears that you are now guilty before you commit a crime. I'm surprised he wasn't tasered to boot."

He will be next time. They are just waiting for that full-strength taser to be issued!

"As for that stick of his - well I can tell you as a fully trained police marksman, I would have difficulty in distinguishing it from a table leg."

Heh! :)

A Nation Of Shopkeepers said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
A Nation Of Shopkeepers said...

It's not the first time this type of incident has happened with Dyfed-Powys Police:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7659409.stm

I reported a youth committing criminal damage to a parked car yesterday (I've got to go and make a statement after work), I could have restrained him at the scene quite easily, but I would have probably ended up in the back of the polce van with him! It took 20 minutes for, (yup) Dyfed-Powys Police to send out a response, whilst I stood by the vehicle with my pooches getting soaking wet - the result, matey legged it!
All officers too busy spraying CS Gas in the faces of unruly pensioners or mewling toddlers no doubt.

The Happy Rampager said...

@ Neil Craig -

Which of course means that all the times they've been informed of louts attacing people, threatening people, and vandalizing property, and refused t do anything about it, then they have been 'complicit'. Right?

rob said...

The lowest of low hanging fruit...pick...target reached! It's the end of the month, people. The police have targets to reach, and a blind bloke on a completely non-threatening situation is a gift from heaven.

Plus, of course, another entry on the DNA database, just in case this "so-called" innocent man tries a bit of serial killing, or something

JuliaM said...

"...I could have restrained him at the scene quite easily, but I would have probably ended up in the back of the polce van with him!"

Yes, that was probably wise!

"@ Neil Craig -

Which of course means that all the times they've been informed of louts attacing people, threatening people, and vandalizing property, and refused t do anything about it, then they have been 'complicit'. Right?"


Heh! Good point...

"Plus, of course, another entry on the DNA database, just in case this "so-called" innocent man tries a bit of serial killing, or something"

If he keeps up the harassment of the police (translation: expecting them to do their job) he can always be referred to FTAC...