Oo'er missus...tis time for another "Prats of The Week" Award.This week it goes to Horsham District Council, and Sussex police.
For why?
Well it seems that John O'Sullivan, a sweet shop owner, has upset said local council and police by putting up joke newspaper billboards.
Mr O'Sullivan, who owns the Candy Box in Horsham, was visited by police after the council complained about that the billboards were offensive.
Here are some examples of the "offensive" headlines:
- "Crawley Girl Gives Birth To Pitbull"
- "Local Youths Abduct UFO"
Nothing wrong there eh?
Indeed not!
However, when Mr O'Sullivan displayed a headline criticising the expenses scandal ("MPs: What a load of....") local council officers visited his shop and threatened to take him to court unless he removed the posters.
A police officer then visited to say he could be arrested, and be saddled with a criminal record.
Mr O'Sullivan was also given a written notice threatening prosecution under Section 5 of the Public Order Act, which legislates against anyone causing alarm, distress of offence to the public.
Horsham District Council said:
"We can confirm that the council has received recent complaints about what has been written on the A-board outside the shop.
As a message posted there was considered to be potentially offensive, a street scene officer from the council asked for its removal."
What, by the way, is a "street scene officer"?
Is this a real policeman, or one of the plastic ones?
Anyhoo, here's why this is bollocks (oops maybe they will come for me now!), it was only one poster which has been superseded by others. The "offence", if indeed anyone really was offended, has long since past into the dustbin of history.
To threaten Mr O'Sullivan with arrest is OTT, and an absurd waste of police resources.
Horsham District Council and Sussex police, well deserving "Prats of the Week".
BTW, Horsham is of course a Tory council.
Here's David Cameron's email to tell him what you think: camerond@parliament.uk
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ReplyDeleteYet another step along the road to the suppression of free speech. BTW I think a "street scene officer" is council bullshit for a plastic policeman.
ReplyDeleteNanny must control every aspect of thought and speech. Nanny must appease her various 'rights' groups as well. None must be offended in any shape, form or fashion, lest the person making the comment be tarred 'phobic'of anything from homosexuals to muslims - if that means the end of free speech, well Nanny (and her 'liberal'supporters) never believed in it anyway.
ReplyDelete"Street Scene Officer" how his pigeon chest must swell with pride as he struts down the street in his ill-fitting hi-vis vest. "Stand back folks, I am a STREET SCENE OFFICER AND I HAVE ATTENDED ALL MY CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE STREET SCENE SITUATION COURSES AND GOT A SHINY STAR in each."
ReplyDeleteWell, of course they have to victimise people who have committed no offence, don't they? If they didn't, they would have to attend to actual criminals, who might not be so cooperative as the "culprit" in this case.
ReplyDeleteIf our "Boys in Blue" (More like boys in black paramilitary uniforms but Hey Ho) have time to pursue such silly incidents and cases, it must mean they have completely rid our streets of all real crimes such as robbery, assault, drug dealers, gun and knife crime...Well Nanny says they have doesn't she?
ReplyDeleteIt is stories such as this that really looses public support for our once respected police force, who have now become little more than the military wing of the Labour Party...
I would love to know what a street scene officer is too....My own local Nanny has Town centre gateway champion....Waste Csars etc etc.....I wonder if we could compile a list of stupid non jobs with silly meaningless titles that Nanny gets us all to pay for.
Looks like a straight up free speech issue. His property, he should have the right to put anything up he likes.
ReplyDeleteTrying to curtail property rights as well as free speech. Sounds "commie" to me.
Debbie, free speech in the Old Country is being rapidly eroded. Trouble is, the Brits just don't care they are far too interested in watching strictly come ice dancing on ice and Big Brother the celebrity version on ice for all I know.
ReplyDeleteTonk, that's right having rid the streets of crime, chav scum and junkies mugging old ladies and thus allowing us to live in Neu Labor's socialist utopia where respect for the law and all citizens falls like a soft rain from the sky, the old bill can now turn to the more serious issues such as stifling free speech and 'hate crime.'
ReplyDeleteSo, man asked not to have the word shit up outside his shop, the rest being entirely made up.
ReplyDeleteHave i got this right?
"Trouble is, the Brits just don't care they are far too interested in watching strictly come ice dancing on ice and Big Brother the celebrity version on ice"
ReplyDeleteI would like to point out that sentence should read "some Brits" or probably even more accurately "most Brits" but not "the Brits".
Typical
ReplyDeleteA friend who is leaving her council flat because she has found somewhere better to live has had two letters sent to her saying she is in arrears of 5p for her garage rental - which the council want repaid - she asked how they would like payment?? Wouldn't mind but she's paid her rental by direct debit!!
Jobswoths the lot of them!!!
Speenzman, you are right to make that correction. I think "most" would accurately sum the situation up.
ReplyDeleteYours most humbly corrected,
Gen Sherman.
Ken,
ReplyDeleteJust a thoughts about all these Conservative councils ....
.... are there any Labour councils left?
I'm sure there must be a few LibDem councils that will eventually come to the forefront of such stories, though maybe their pals in the MSM manage to avoid such things becoming public knowledge.
Street Scene Officer.
ReplyDeleteTop of my search via Google came this. Not sure if Google offere a NEWSPEAK translator. Possibly not so you will have to try to work it out for yourselves.
http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9FCA2755-FF6B-401D-89EF-9DFDD2B8C15D/0/StreetSceneOfficerJobDescription1207.pdf
Are we all in some sort of Truman Show?
Well done Ken for finding these stories, these people have forgotten who voted them into position and pays their damn wages!
ReplyDeleteGot another one over at -
http://panopticonuk.blogspot.com/2009/07/locked-up-for-playing-football-with.html
haha this made me laugh "Section 5 of the Public Order Act" why? because if you watch Street Crime UK you know that when the police say "you are being charged under..." it will be followed by "section 5 etc etc
ReplyDeleteIt seems that 'section 5' was created to arrest someone if you can't think of anything else to arrest them for.