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Bradford on Avon boater 'will set fire to boat armed with garden fork'


booke23

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On 16/03/2023 at 23:05, MtB said:

 

I think you're right there. NBTA like having a Patsy which whom to beat CRT.

 

 

As this in the West Country, surely a Pasty?

I was going to ask if this was the same George who appeared in that film in which a young lade and her strngley-names son, Rover or some such, were evicted from the canal. I see from an earlier post that he is. In the film, which I think was made some five years ago, he had a somewhat weatherbeaten appearance, so I suspect that he may have further declined since then.

   What I do wonder  is, , if the young lady and her son, whose boat did move at least a bit, were evicted, how come George hasn't been? Is it because CART knew that the former, as a family unit, would have the right to be housed by the council (although I think they chose to move into a Dormobile instead)? On the face of it, this doesn't look like a fair application of the rules.

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2 hours ago, howardang said:

We sometimes watch the tv programmes about policing and we often comment about how most of the work shown seems to be predominantly social work and also frequently demonstrates how the public have little or no respect for the police which to my mind is a real contrast to my memories of how the police were regarded when I was younger. I can speak with some knowledge because my father was a reasonably senior police officer until he retired and I spent most of my formative years living at or very near to police stations until I left home to go to sea.

 

The modern police contrast greatly to my experiences of them in earlier times, and if some of the TV programmes showing them on duty are representative I am saddened by  how they are disrespected by some members of the public, especially by younger people.

 

Howard

 

 

Indeed, but ask yourself why that is -- a friend of my sons' (coloured, university graduate, good job) has been stopped by the police more times than he can count, my son (white, university graduate, good job) hasn't been stopped once. This has even happened when they've been out together... 😞

 

Under those circumstances, it's difficult to convince "the yoof" why they should "respect" the police, even if they're law-abiding citizens...

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7 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Indeed, but ask yourself why that is -- a friend of my sons' (coloured, university graduate, good job) has been stopped by the police more times than he can count, my son (white, university graduate, good job) hasn't been stopped once. This has even happened when they've been out together... 😞

 

Under those circumstances, it's difficult to convince "the yoof" why they should "respect" the police, even if they're law-abiding citizens...

 

The problem 'Yoofs' Howard was referring to are I suspect (if he watches the same programs as I do) are often white residing in sink estates where anti social behaviour is rife. The type of place where Fire and Ambulance crews get stoned or have fire works thrown at them if they attend incidents.

 

They just do it for the sheer hell of it, not because they have been victimised by the police.

 

I can understand young black men feeling victimised by the police (especially in London given the appalling reputation of the Met) but often it's stuff going on in the likes ex. mining villages in the North but these are different issues.

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2 hours ago, howardang said:

We sometimes watch the tv programmes about policing and we often comment about how most of the work shown seems to be predominantly social work and also frequently demonstrates how the public have little or no respect for the police which to my mind is a real contrast to my memories of how the police were regarded when I was younger. I can speak with some knowledge because my father was a reasonably senior police officer until he retired and I spent most of my formative years living at or very near to police stations until I left home to go to sea.

 

The modern police contrast greatly to my experiences of them in earlier times, and if some of the TV programmes showing them on duty are representative I am saddened by  how they are disrespected by some members of the public, especially by younger people.

 

Howard

 

 

 

 

I grew up in the sixties and seventies and, being somewhat hippyish and hairy, suffered considerably from police attention. They broke into my flat once and beat me up, stopped my car numerous times, pestered me walking the streets until I was in my thirties. When I got mugged while at college they held me overnight on a pretext although they already had the culprit in custody, for the sheer fun of being unpleasant to a student.

Respect has to be earned. The trouble is, you don't forget. They do a hard job, some of them. Most of them don't. I very much doubt much has changed - the evidence certainly points that way.

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On 16/03/2023 at 17:33, Mike Tee said:

C&RT should go ahead with their system to remove him - thems the rules, they are not in the mental health business so should leave that side of it to the experts. As for the twit, either he will go out in a blaze of headlines and smoke or will get housed by the local council. I know which one I’d prefer he did. Basically he has decided to be a parasite on the rest of us just because he can. Don’t know his age but he looks to be of pensionable age so is entitled to the same pension I get - pay your way and make do like I do.

A single man would be unlikely to be a high enough priority to be rehoused by the local authority - or even sponsored in a private rental flat.  As somebody has already pointed out although he is clearly an anti-social eccentric personality, he is not mentally ill in the sense that the authorities would intervene.  Probably best we all ignore him and his hysterical outbursts - including the local press - he will either float away or sink again.

 

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Call his bluff and hope that he does burn the boats. If he survives he is then an arsonist and is subject to arrest and punishment.  The max sentence for aggravated arson is life imprisonment.

Even a short term will enable C&RT to get rid of the boats and all his trash.

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3 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Call his bluff and hope that he does burn the boats. If he survives he is then an arsonist.

Are you sure? I would think that arson must involve other people's property, not one's own.

 

Some might say that he's been arson about for years, but I could not comment.

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I imagine if someone sets fire to a boat and it singes the grass on the towpath they could be pursued for criminal damage to the towpath.

 

Don't know if arson applies to ones own property though. 

Edited by magnetman
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9 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

 

Don't know if arson applies to ones own property though. 

It stands to reason that if I light a bonfire in my garden, that's not arson, whereas if I came into your garden and lit yours without your permission, that would be. But I'm not a lawyer and I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

 

   I seem to remember a cae mentioned here a year or two where local people set fire to an undesirable moorer's boat; in Lincoln, perhaps? That would certainly be arson, but I don't know what happened to them.

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7 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I imagine if someone sets fire to a boat and it singes the grass on the towpath they could be pursued for criminal damage to the towpath.

 

Don't know if arson applies to ones own property though. 

Arson does not apply to your own property but if the boats are considered to be seized under section 8 then they are not his property any longer.

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9 hours ago, Athy said:

Are you sure? I would think that arson must involve other people's property, not one's own.

 

Some might say that he's been arson about for years, but I could not comment.

 

Simple arson involves the property of someone else.
Aggrevated arson can include your own property.
https://www.adamlawsolicitors.co.uk/criminal-defence/arson/#:~:text=For offences involving “simple arson,property%2C including the defendant's own.

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It makes sense especially if there is a threat preceding the conflagration as it would indicate intent. 

 

I still think one would need something a bit longer than a "garden fork" to be able to stab at people from the boat. The reach is insufficient. A cabin shaft of around 8ft seems a more suitable implement. 

 

 

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None of you are about to take your boats down there, are you? You're all smug and far away, why are you so concerned about this?  Bradford on Avon is sadly populated by twits on boats and twits in houses in equal amounts. P.s whoever suggested closing the K&A... they'll just end up moored around your boat instead, what would you prefer?

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6 minutes ago, Floatyboat said:

Hello!  No. Yes.

I wish we had more members who expressed themselves so succinctly.

So, as you don't live there you obviously aren't a twit.  Does the boater in question fall into that category? It looks as if you have some personal interest in this story.

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It makes no difference where someone lives. If there is anyone, anywhere on the canals who is a nuisance and unlicensed the system should be able to deal with them and the boats. 

 

It is not acceptable for someone to be threatening waterways staff to the extent they have to get a restraining order. This should not be tolerated. Canals and towpaths are publicly accessible land. People have a right not to feel intimidated when using public amenities. 

 

 

 

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19 minutes ago, Athy said:

I wish we had more members who expressed themselves so succinctly.

So, as you don't live there you obviously aren't a twit.  Does the boater in question fall into that category? It looks as if you have some personal interest in this story.

 

A "twit" is the name for a pregnant goldfish, IIRC.

 

Hope that helps....

 

 

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1 minute ago, magnetman said:

It makes no difference where someone lives. If there is anyone, anywhere on the canals who is a nuisance and unlicensed the system should be able to deal with them and the boats. 

 

It is not acceptable for someone to be threatening waterways staff to the extent they have to get a restraining order. This should not be tolerated. Canals and towpaths are publicly accessible land. People have a right not to feel intimidated when using public amenities. 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of years ago a similar 'disturbed individual' attacked one of C&RTs staff.

 

River and Canal Trust chief executive Richard Parry has released a message about an incident that took place on the Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union Canal on Monday 26 April where a man was sadly killed.

 

“Sadly, one of our team died yesterday on the Grand Union Canal towpath in Aylesbury, in an incident which is the subject of a police murder investigation. This tragic loss is deeply distressing for us all. We are sharing the police’s appeal urging anyone with information about the incident, no matter how insignificant, to come forward and assist the investigation.

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