Nanny has managed to turn us into a nation of snoopers and spies, if the story about Pauline Palmer is anything to go by.
Mrs Palmer, a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator, for reasons best known to her decided to keep a close watch on her neighbour Brian Collins for the last 3 years.
By the phrase "close watch", I really mean "close watch". Mrs Palmer kept a diary of Mr Collins's activities details included:
- his garden hot tub sessions with women
- when he had sex in his bedroom
- Mr Collins telling two lady friends to "get your tits out"
- details of women who stayed overnight
- the fact that male visitors wore baseball caps
- registration numbers of visitors' vehicles
- listening to conversations and noting them down etc.
The result of her actions?
She managed to persuade Colchester Council, her local council, to serve a noise abatement order on Mr Collins, even though his other neighbour said she had never heard any noise.
Mr Collins was fined £100 for breaching the noise abatement order, and faces a further bill of £365 in legal costs after failing in an appeal.
Most of us would conclude that Mrs Palmer was "taking things a bit far". Essex Police, on the other hand, think that she is great and awarded her "Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator of the Year" in January.
Welcome to Nanny Britain, where neighbours are encouraged by the police and state to spy on each other.
Ghastly!
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Sorry typo.
ReplyDeleteShould have read "shunned"
We always complain about the likes of Syria and China being authoritarian regimes. I wonder if the Swedish press would say the same about us!
ReplyDeletePerhaps all her neighbours should spy on her?
ReplyDeleteOne has to wonder if Mrs. Palmer didn't take such an all-encompassing interest in Mr. Collins romantic escapades due to the lack of any such excitement within, as it were, "her own sphere."
ReplyDeleteJust a thought . . .
What a wonderful human interest story. So glad Mrs. Palmer got her just acknowledgement and reward. She is an inspiration to us all.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how different the situation would have been had the spy been a male and the spied upon, a female.....I suspect the spy would have been prosecuted for stalking.
ReplyDeleteTonk,
ReplyDeleteyou are correct re stalking.
To my view (not that I am a lawyer), given that Mrs P has presented a detailed analysis of all of her neighbour's activities over 3 years; she has, in effect, provided evidence that she "stalked"/"harassed" him.
To this end, I would summise that if her neighbour wanted to bring a charge of stalking/invasion of privacy he has enough evidence (provided by her) to make the charge stick.
However, I am not a lawyer:)
Be a government informer. Betray your friends. Fabulous prizes to be won.
ReplyDelete'Kinell.