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August 01, 2006

Children Arrested, DNA Tested, Interrogated and Locked up... for playing in a tree

From the land of the Magna Carta comes this story from The Daily Mail.

"To the 12-year-old friends planning to build themselves a den, the cherry tree seemed an inviting source of material.

But the afternoon adventure turned into a frightening ordeal for Sam Cannon, Amy Higgins and Katy Smith after they climbed into the 20ft tree - then found themselves hauled into a police station and locked in cells for up to two hours.

Their shoes were removed and mugshots, DNA samples and mouth swabs were taken.

Officers told the children they had been seen damaging the tree which is in a wooded area of public land near their homes.

Questioned by police, the scared friends admitted they had broken some loose branches because they had wanted to build a tree house, but said they did not realise what they had done was wrong.

Officers considered charging the children with criminal damage but eventually decided a reprimand - the equivalent of a caution for juveniles - was sufficient.

Although the reprimand does not amount to court action and the children do not have a criminal record, their details will be kept on file for up to five years. "

Honestly now is crime so low in England that this really worthy of police attention? You can't make this stuff up folks.

The dangerous criminals involved shown here.

Via an STR reader in England. Thanks to Alan L.

Posted by Ali Massoud at August 1, 2006 11:20 PM

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