tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120384823779407001.post7141301903744823311..comments2024-01-25T04:51:35.289+00:00Comments on The Defence Brief: A day in the youth courtDefence Briefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06385869501459309601noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120384823779407001.post-5722762884199589822016-12-26T18:48:44.846+00:002016-12-26T18:48:44.846+00:00The police were not forced to charge her, anymore ...The police were not forced to charge her, anymore than the CPS were forced to proceed. It is not inevitable that every civil servant will fall back on 'just doing my job' justification. Some civil servants are capable of taking a step back and working in the greater public interest, even if it means a box remains unticked. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2120384823779407001.post-4554117909834476232016-12-24T13:52:24.879+00:002016-12-24T13:52:24.879+00:00This does not surprise me at all. I am an accredi...This does not surprise me at all. I am an accredited Appropriate Adult for the area in which I live. I am tired of the number of occasions where I've been called to custody to support a scared young person whose only 'crime' was to fight with a parent/step-parent or cause minor damage to the house in which they were living. <br /><br />On one occasion I was called on a Sunday morning to a young person who'd been arrested the previous evening for throwing a mug at a wall, and hitting a door so hard that they'd slightly damaged it. The young person had been banged up all evening in a cell next door to someone who'd been shouting all night that he was going to kill himself and anyone he came into contact with. (I ended up dealing with him as well - but that's another story). <br /><br />When the young person came out to talk to me, they were so distressed and terrified it quite broke my heart. The custody staff had been brilliant with the young person and had given them as much support as they possibly could, and the police officer dealing with the case made no secret that they thought that this was a dreadful thing to happen and that the young person shouldn't have been arrested.<br /><br />So, why were they arrested? Because of a national policy that states that for every domestic violence call, someone has to be arrested. It's a waste of money, of time, it's distressing for the young person arrested, the police think that it's ridiculous and, from what I can gather, see it as an encroachment on the discretion of the constable. <br /><br />It's bonkers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com