A man was fined for refusing to move his car out of the way of firefighters who were trying to reach an incident in Laindon.Hurrah! Offender named and shamed?
Oh, no. It’s all so unfair, you see. He should never have been in court:
But Clarence Kingston, 72, who pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction, believes he should never have been taken to court in the first place.So, a case of mistaken identity? No, no. Nothing like that.
He just thinks they were totally unreasonable in asking for access to investigate a possible fire!
Basildon Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday how fire crews were called to an incident in Mellow Purgess Close, Laindon, last month. Mr Kingston failed to move his car when the firefighters wanted to put a ladder on his driveway to get into the flat above his property, where a smoke alarm was going off.And his reason? Well, it was inconvenient, wasn’t it?
Speaking after the case, Mr Kingston, who is disabled and went into court on his mobility scooter, said: “I think the fine is extremely unfair and I cannot believe it has come to court.
“We have so many alarms going off round where we live, I didn’t think anything of it.
“Then, out of nowhere, at 9.30pm we had all these firemen banging on our front door.
“It wasn’t even quiet, and it seemed they were all being over the top for no reason.
“My wife was just about to go to bed and I didn’t want her to have to go out and move the car for no reason.”She wasn’t asked to move the car for ‘no reason’, she was asked to move the car because there was a fire alarm in progress!
And in case you were wondering if Mrs Kingston is mortified by her husband’s selfish, truculent attitude, oh no! She’d rather her neighbours had their door hacked down than anyone attempt to delay her beauty sleep!
Marilyn Kingston, 58, who is her husband’s full-time carer, added: “I had just got home from bingo and I was just getting ready to go to bed when we heard all this commotion outside.
“After we told the firemen they could have got into the flat by breaking the door of the flat down, which was surely the easiest route in, we had about six police officers on my husband who arrested him.
“There wasn’t even a fire. It was just that someone had left the oven on in the flat above us. It was ridiculous.”Altogether now! ‘Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours…’
11 comments:
Complete TOSSER !
Not sure it was in the publics interest here to put a 72 year old disabled man through court.
He acted in a abhorrent manner not caring if his neighbors flat was on fire, however why were the firemen doing arguing over this ? If it was important either go through the door, or moved the car themselves - wasting time convincing someone to move their car is joke.
So we have Police officers, Fire Brigade, Judges, clerks, lawyers, court time all wasted on refusal of someone moving a car - for a false alarm, that could have been dealt with in others ways.
British Policing, where common sense leaves and jobsworths rule.
It's interesting to think that, in an alternate universe somewhere out there, another Mrs Kingston may be bewailing the fact that her disabled husband was burned to death in a fire caused by an oven left on in the flat upstairs.
That said, I agree with anon that there is an element of overkill in the reponse. I'm reminded of the best parenting advice I ever heard:
'never threaten to do anything you aren't fully prepared to carry out'*.
I suspect the attitude of Mr Kingston and his charming wife led the police into threats of arrest and subsequently prosecution which, once made, had to be carried through.
*(The book then goes on to give an excellent example: 'so if it misbehaves at the zoo, do avoid saying that if it does it again you will throw it to the lions'.)
Classic consequence of too many alarms going off.
Before you all blame the guy, maybe consider how many times he's been spammed for hours by someone's malfunctioning alarm?
You still amaze me where you find all these.
"Marilyn Kingston, 58, who is her husband’s full-time carer, added: “I had just got home from bingo and I was just getting ready to go to bed when we heard all this commotion outside.
“After we told the firemen they could have got into the flat by breaking the door of the flat down, which was surely the easiest route in, we had about six police officers on my husband who arrested him.
“There wasn’t even a fire. It was just that someone had left the oven on in the flat above us. It was ridiculous” ..
I'm assuming then that we'll be spared the anguished beating of breast, rending of garments, gnashing of teeth and screeches for compensation from Mrs Kingston ..
When someone, either by accident or stupidity obstructs the passage of the Ambulance going to assist her disabled husband ?
British Policing, where common sense leaves and jobsworths rule.
I think you will find that even though Police compile the evidence, the CPS have been responsible for prosecuting. For the last 27 yrs at least.
Whatever the news paper report may have said, it seems that the Fire Brigade thought that this was a serious matter..
"Not sure it was in the publics interest here to put a 72 year old disabled man through court. "
I'm happy to fund this one.
"...threats of arrest and subsequently prosecution which, once made, had to be carried through. "
Indeed. Yet, they probably felt they had little other choice.
"Classic consequence of too many alarms going off.
Before you all blame the guy, maybe consider how many times he's been spammed for hours by someone's malfunctioning alarm?"
Wouldn't you want the alarm stopped then? By the....errr, firemen who turned up?
"You still amaze me where you find all these."
There's seemingly no shortage. Sadly.
"I'm assuming then that we'll be spared the anguished beating of breast, rending of garments, gnashing of teeth and screeches for compensation from Mrs Kingston ..
When someone, either by accident or stupidity obstructs the passage of the Ambulance going to assist her disabled husband ?"
Would be nice to think so, wouldn't it?
Nice. But futile.
"Whatever the news paper report may have said, it seems that the Fire Brigade thought that this was a serious matter.."
Indeed it was.
"Before you all blame the guy, maybe consider how many times he's been spammed for hours by someone's malfunctioning alarm?"
Wouldn't you want the alarm stopped then? By the....errr, firemen who turned up?"
In theory, yes. In practice, all that happens when you call the cops over any kind of alarm is that you waste your time and money because zilch will happen. Nor will the council do anything about the noise pollution.
Been there, done that, bought the earplugs...
Let's empowers disabled people to live as independently as they choose.
Disability Kingston
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