Sadly, despite trying to do good, Mr Higgins fell foul of Sustrans the charity that owns the footpath.
Sustrans had health and safety concerns over the homemade bench and, following a complaint to the police by Sustrans, Mr Higgins ended up being questioned at his local police station in Whitehaven, Cumbria.
He has now been told that he could be charged with the theft of the old fence, for you see he used the old fence to build the bench.
Mr Higgins is quoted by the Mail:
"I am worried sick that what I believed was a good deed for everyone in the village is going to end up with me having a criminal conviction.Mr Higgins had already asked Sustrans to replace the broken-down fence. However, he took matters into his won hands when his dog (Nell) became impaled on a rusty spike.
I have nothing to hide, I admit I did it. But never did I imagine anyone would be anything but happy. I’m finding it hard to sleep at night and am worried about the future."
Sustrans spokesman Eleanor Roaf said:
"Health and safety is really important to us and we ask that people talk to us before doing anything on our land to avoid any risk to the public. We are waiting to hear whether the police wish to press charges."Errmm, was it not Sustrans that brought the police this in the first place?
Therefore Sustrans should simply tell the police that no crime has been committed.
Sustrans, well deserving Prats of The Week!
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Clearly plod has nothing more important to do, and Sustrans certainly deserve this award. Maybe some of their top people should be impaled on a rusty spike too.
ReplyDeleteWell what he did was illegal and he as so many in modern britain is the meddling jobsworth. He did it not out of community spirit but simply as it was adjacent to his garden and the apparent impaling of his dog ( which he had a photo of against said fence prior to his removal of it... so a pre-meditated story ), the cutting down of trees and converting to a "bench" were a sort of a guilt offering and totally out of order. Sustrans weren't aware he'd taken the fence I think thats why there was police involvement but why did the story end off on look north.... could only be Mr Higgins. He's planned his stunt well instead of going through the correct channels and getting the fence removed correctly as that was the crux of most of this, I'm sure sustrans would have worked on the fence issue with him. Sustrans like many organisations have their faults, theres always the odd fool in organisations, but they have created a good network of traffic free routes for walking, cycling etc. A place for all to enjoy fresh air and get exercise, which is what we should be doing. Also remember people give up their free time to clean up paths etc, they're mostly volunteers unlike so many who moan about the state of things, do nothing, and don't join or form organisations/pressure groups who can legally bring about change. I personally hate authority, government , councils etc, theres a lot of costly time wasting by civil servants, but you contact people first to put your idea forward before taking it upon yourself to trespass and steal. As an ex-copper I'd have thought he'd know that... but thats assuming he was an honest policeman with integrity. We all know that wearing the uniform doesn't make you a decent moral citizen. The metal fence looks to be legacy of the disused railway line and could have been dealt with more professionally by Mr Higgins. He should have left everything else alone, if he thought the path was a mess then sadly looking in the mirror will give him a much bigger job to work on.
ReplyDeletecrap
ReplyDeleteHe should of reported Sustrans to the RSPCA, this is a vicious organisation that spends an awful lot of money on minor infringements of the law. Impaling a fluffy dog is a nasty crime.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there was nothing to stop Mr Higgins putting a fence along his own boundary like most homeowners tend to have, as the railway wall/fence adjoining his property doesn't belong to him otherwise there'd be no discussion of the events that happened. He is responsible for looking after the well being of his dog... it isn't a nanny state. If there had been no fence there I'm sure he would had his own put in place within his boundaries.
ReplyDeleteWith the name "sustrans" sounding like a testosterone injection I think the muppets residing in their ivory tower head office have been injecting themselves with too much of the stuff.
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