What Do You Do When You See Kids About To Throw Bricks At Your Boat

[Tinhare]

We almost had rocks thrown at us just after we exited Wast Hill and halfway towards Kings Norton bridge last week. A group of four I'd say 12 yo, came down the towpath and I dunno but you could just tell they had trouble on their minds. Three of them passed us but the fourth one held back a bit as he raised the hood on his spray jacket to cover his face. Obviously he is an old hand as he then can't be photographed. Anyway I kept an eye on all four and turned around just in time to see one of the three put is arm down from a throwing position. The hooded guy ended up walking on knowing I knew what they were up to.
A rock was eventually thrown but by that time we were to far away. So it would seem a camera is not always helpful.

So, I was thinking of getting one of these (see below) filling it from the black water tank and then let rip in reply

[Gazboatman]

We almost had rocks thrown at us just after we exited Wast Hill and halfway towards Kings Norton bridge last week. A group of four I'd say 12 yo, came down the towpath and I dunno but you could just tell they had trouble on their minds. Three of them passed us but the fourth one held back a bit as he raised the hood on his spray jacket to cover his face. Obviously he is an old hand as he then can't be photographed. Anyway I kept an eye on all four and turned around just in time to see one of the three put is arm down from a throwing position. The hooded guy ended up walking on knowing I knew what they were up to.

A rock was eventually thrown but by that time we were to far away. So it would seem a camera is not always helpful.

 

So, I was thinking of getting one of these (see below) filling it from the black water tank and then let rip in reply

That filled with some of that smart water. Might not prevent an attack, but would certainly give the old bill something to go on, in catching and punishing these little scrotes.

[Laurie St Lyon]

 

Sometimes approaching a situation like this, you get a kind of feeling .... is this green, amber or red alert... is it just bored kids messing around( and agree it is usally easier to deal with younger children), or is it the older teenagers showing off, peer pressure to their mates ectera.. we only ever had a few Red alerts... from grown men about to lob bricks /bottles at us from a bridge grr... as we approached i would then shout.. ' give us a break we are on the dole and the owner of the boat is paying us to deliver it'... maybe we were just lucky, but they never chucked owt at us and even on once occasion lol asked us ..how they could get similar work.

Have to agree with Tree you need to get a feel for the situation. Of course I have years of experience, HM Forces, Private security then in Law assessing people and situations. But the point is to always have a fall back plan. Do not put yourself in a situation where you cannot get out of it.

 

Engage in conversation but do it before you are on top of them and have a mobile ready.

Of course by all means take pictures if you think they are not kids who can be talked round. However, be prepared to duck inside to avoid a cracked skull!

If you get a "real red alert" feeling then call the police. But also askyourself can I stop the boat? Can I reverse while the police come?

 

Always think Defensively. If you train yourself to do so and think "What would I do if...?" You condition your mind to automatically analyse situations and you will learn to react automatically to a dangerous situation. Both faster than conscious thought. This is the development of "instincts" that can save you in all sorts of places and situations. You learn to trust that instinct. It saved my neck more than once and not heading it got me hurt!

 

Of course there are more good kids than bad but it never hurts to be careful.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Laurie St Lyon

[Laurie St Lyon]

A kid threw a biscuit at us today. Does that count as a serious assault?

 

No, merely that he was crackers!

[Orca]

 

A couple of days later another lump of the same parapet was dropped from a bridge 50 yards away - except this bridge went over the M5 motorway and the bricks went through the windscreen of a lorry. The driver was killed (actually by having a heart attack at the shock, apparently) and of course the area was then swarming with police, TV crews, newspaper reporters, etc. If the police had bothered to take notice of our incident, the following day's events might have been prevented.

I remember that and it certainly isn't isolated! Similar incident on the M3 about 10 years ago when a Driver of a Ford Motor Co artic got a full paving slab through his windscreen from an overbridge. He still managed to pull his truck onto the hard shoulder and stop, before dying soon after from horrific chest injuries. Similar on the A45 at Wellingborough around 4 years ago, some local 'youths' threw metal bars and other scrap building site ephemera from an overbridge in the path o a Bernard Matthews artic (as I recall), killing the 65 year old Driver near instantaneously.

 

I'm always wary of people who stand on motorway overbridges right in the linear path of the Driver, you just never know what's coming next. I always change lanes, out of the 'direct hit' approach. Kids who stand on overbridges and do the 'horn pull' emulation (signifying please sound your horn) worry me the most. Of course, most - if not all - the fatal incidents on the roads have occured at night, and it's just near impossibe to know who's standing on those bridges at 3, 4 or 5am in the morning ( the most vulnerable times imo). A scary occupational hazard, for both truck and train Drivers. The latter are subjected to some horrendous suicide incidents, with people throwing themselves under trains, or even off bridges. I remember seeing the residual carnage created from the suicide of a woman who had thrown herself off a motorway bridge in Germany, in front of a 38 ton truck about 15 years ago. I was only about 15 or 20 mins behind that happening.

 

If I saw a bunch of 'youths' wandering down the towpath with bricks I wouldn't do any different if I was doing 4mph on the boat. Just carry on. If they threw the bricks, I'll take the loss, but chances are it ain't going to kill me. If they were on a canal overbridge I would just arrest motion and pull to the side if I saw them early enough, unless they appeared last minute and dropped something nasty on you. Even so, on the roads or rails, chances are it will be brutally different...

Edited August 9, 2013 by Orca

[Guest]

I remember that and it certainly isn't isolated! Similar incident on the M3 about 10 years ago when a Driver of a Ford Motor Co artic got a full paving slab through his windscreen from an overbridge. He still managed to pull his truck onto the hard shoulder and stop, before dying soon after from horrific chest injuries. Similar on the A45 at Wellingborough around 4 years ago, some local 'youths' threw metal bars and other scrap building site ephemera from an overbridge in the path o a Bernard Matthews artic (as I recall), killing the 65 year old Driver near instantaneously.

 

I'm always wary of people who stand on motorway overbridges right in the linear path of the Driver, you just never know what's coming next. I always change lanes, out of the 'direct hit' approach. Kids who stand on overbridges and do the 'horn pull' emulation (signifying please sound your horn) worry me the most. Of course, most - if not all - the fatal incidents on the roads have occured at night, and it's just near impossibe to know who's standing on those bridges at 3, 4 or 5am in the morning ( the most vulnerable times imo). A scary occupational hazard, for both truck and train Drivers. The latter are subjected to some horrendous suicide incidents, with people throwing themselves under trains, or even off bridges. I remember seeing the residual carnage created from the suicide of a woman who had thrown herself off a motorway bridge in Germany, in front of a 38 ton truck about 15 years ago. I was only about 15 or 20 mins behind that happening.

 

We have had a spate of this on the A19 near us recently.

 

I would love to get inside the head of someone who thinks it's a jolly wheeze to drop a heavy object into the path of a fast moving vehicle. If the 'aim' is correct you are almost certainly guaranteed to seriously maim or kill somebody. It has got to be one of the most stupid and irresponsible things anybody can do in the name of 'fun'.

 

Quite what goes through somebodies head when they are doing it is completely beyond me.

 

It's like the idiots who try to distract pilots landing aircraft using laser pens.......what the hell is that all about?

[MHS]

Does anyone know this girl?

 

I can think of many ways that she could help me.

 

 

[Doorman]

Does anyone know this girl?

 

I can think of many ways that she could help me.

 

I know her, she's the local enforcement officer around these parts. That's why we never suffer from overstayers, they've either moved on or found a room somewhere to cuddle up to her! :-)

[rubblequeen]

I think that what gets to me is the fact that we are vulnerable and in many ways there is little we can do in way of retribution. Ie the law is hardly interested they might get an ASBO at best.and If we take it into our own hands (which I don't think is a good idea) how far can we realistically get away from them when they come back later for revenge and you are moored up.

 

It's the same when on a bicycle you get abuse and stuff thrown but what can you do except end up feeling totally powerless and wronged.

 

I used to work with people with learning difficulties, very vulnerable people and almost daily picked on and abused.

 

So why are there so many youngsters (well into their twenties also) that act in what is a cowardly way because they know they are virtually untouchable? Meanwhile we are left with our fantasies about what we would like to do to them.

[PaddingtonBear]

Don't fantasize, do it. I moor in a boatyard next to a 'bad boys' residential unit. About 3 months ago one of them started throwing bricks and flower pots at my boat. I leapt out and would have killed him if i could have got at him only to see his two 'keepers' standing watching him. I then started on them only to be told that they are not allowed to touch him as they are not trained. I then went to the yard owner who used to be a social worker and he said "Gosh he has been very naughty hasn't he" and went to talk with the bad boy who by this time was making extreme threats to all and sundry, his two keepers then asked me to call the Police as the only way of resolving this issue. By this time I was back in contact with the 'yoof' who was threatening me personally with his brothers who were apparently a well known gang in Birmingham ( or so he said). I shewed him that I did not give a toss and called him over to the fence. He came quietly and we shook hands with me saying "Now fuck off and behave your self" and he did! and came back later to say sorry. The moral of this story I believe is that there are many ways to skin a cat and the form a fairy ring approach might work for some but in other cases some form of fronting up is required to try and get their 'respect'. The staff said he had been a changed boy since although I doubt it will be long lasting as he had got away with it too long. He reminded me of Daley Thompson the athlete who when he was young was in care and a right little bastard, very much a handful, fighting, running off and stealing buses. Someone local (Mid Sussex) fronted him up and look at the result.

Edited August 9, 2013 by PaddingtonBear

[billS]

Does anyone know this girl?

 

I can think of many ways that she could help me.

 

 

 

Oy - that's my Granny

[pquinn]

Don't fantasize, do it. I moor in a boatyard next to a 'bad boys' residential unit. About 3 months ago one of them started throwing bricks and flower pots at my boat. I leapt out and would have killed him if i could have got at him only to see his two 'keepers' standing watching him. I then started on them only to be told that they are not allowed to touch him as they are not trained. I then went to the yard owner who used to be a social worker and he said "Gosh he has been very naughty hasn't he" and went to talk with the bad boy who by this time was making extreme threats to all and sundry, his two keepers then asked me to call the Police as the only way of resolving this issue. By this time I was back in contact with the 'yoof' who was threatening me personally with his brothers who were apparently a well known gang in Birmingham ( or so he said). I shewed him that I did not give a toss and called him over to the fence. He came quietly and we shook hands with me saying "Now fuck off and behave your self" and he did! and came back later to say sorry. The moral of this story I believe is that there are many ways to skin a cat and the form a fairy ring approach might work for some but in other cases some form of fronting up is required to try and get their 'respect'. The staff said he had been a changed boy since although I doubt it will be long lasting as he had got away with it too long. He reminded me of Daley Thompson the athlete who when he was young was in care and a right little bastard, very much a handful, fighting, running off and stealing buses. Someone local (Mid Sussex) fronted him up and look at the result.

agreed.

[Orca]

Does anyone know this girl?

 

I can think of many ways that she could help me.

 

 

Don't think I've sen a .30 Cal Browning with that barrel tooling.

Nice pic though!!!!

 

 

 

 

It's like the idiots who try to distract pilots landing aircraft using laser pens.......what the hell is that all about?

That happened to me whilst driving through deepest, darkest Fenland early one morning about 3 years back. I had just pulled out of a farmyard and about two miles down the road a car coming the other way shone a fairly thick, green laser beam up into my cab, driver's side at eye level. I ducked and thankfully avoided any 'facial contact'. They meant it though; how can you not mean harm doing that!??!

[Wanted]

All this talk of ASBO's is no longer valid, they were scrapped in May last year.

 

Personally, I blame the (adult) Parents.

[junior]

Does anyone know this girl?

 

I can think of many ways that she could help me.

 

 

 

That's Lady Muck isn't it?

[Tiny]

I saw some yoofs on a bridge who ducked down as the boat in front approached - then jumped up, leaned over and gobbed on the steerer. When we got there I got in first a chucked my 'to hot to drink' coffee in the gobbers face. Beneath one of the high bridges in Brum we noted a load of 'still in their boxes' vacuums in the water. Luckily they were in long before we passed. On the Warrington arm we tried the camera trick and the yobs (actually in PT kit with teachers on school grounds) stood on the canal bridge and hurled stones while swearing at us. We sent the photo to the headmistress who replied that the thowing stones at bargees was simple self expression but she got the girl who swore to write us a grovelling letter of apology as swearing was not allowed on school property. When we contacted them the education authority said the head was very self important and they constantly got complaints about her but they could not get rid of her. They had tried.

[MHS]

 

Oy - that's my Granny

Lucky chap, your grandad!

[Mick and Maggie]

All this talk of ASBO's is no longer valid, they were scrapped in May last year.

 

No the name changed to Anti Social Boaters Order - you get one issued automatically when you join the IWA.

 

Check it out here: http://the-onion-bargee.blogspot.co.uk/p/asbo.html

Edited August 9, 2013 by Mick and Maggie

[Ships Cat]

To be fair, they got rid of the ASBO's because it took six months to apply the blasted things so the kid had forgotten all about it. They're formulating something more immediate now.

 

Near us, there's a 13 yo girl with two, and they make not a jot of difference. I have one police incident number relating to her on my desk and I've only lived in this house for a year. She and others throw stones at my house - I just video them, take dates and notes, and when a window goes I'll call again under the incident number and get them properly done. I'm not the only one, mind.

 

When I was a kid, such a person would have gone to a police run boot camp for a two week holiday in the summer hols. Complete withdrawal of privilege until you earned it. It worked, the kids who came out were sh*t scared of going into prison and behaved themselves.

 

You have to catch them young.

 

I have dragged kids back to their house by the collar several times, for throwing things at me on my bike. They invariably run home, and I invariably catch up with them by the garden gate. They always look terrified, I have no idea why. Is it being chased down? By a woman on the edge of middle age? Or what will happen inside when I'm gone? I don't care, I pass these kids all the time and they've stopped chucking stuff at me. Result.

 

I know one thing, when I get a boat it'll have CCTV. And I'll never be the one to start it ... and I may well share it with a very large GSD!

[Burgiesburnin]

I want to hurt you and will do as soon as you have given me the reason to works for me.

[Guest]

Well anybody reading some of the posts on here would think our waterways have degenerated into a cess pit of violence and hostility.

 

 

CCTV on a boat.....????

 

Jeeze..........

[Lockie Junior]

I had begun to get that impression Martin. However I know that the vast majority of boaters (on the Trent at least) are happy, cheerful and helpful.

 

Lockie.

[Doorman]

So why are there so many youngsters (well into their twenties also) that act in what is a cowardly way because they know they are virtually untouchable? Meanwhile we are left with our fantasies about what we would like to do to them.

Because of an equal amount of liberal minded Woolley headed 'do gooders' who only wish to pat them on the back and ask them nicely not to do it again please. We've suffered their alternative system of approach to thugs and vandals and it doesn't work.

 

I wonder how many of those involved and caught during the Tottenham riots will re-offend after being dealt with in the way that followed the chaos and destruction in the capital?

Edited August 9, 2013 by Doorman

[Doorman]

On the Warrington arm we tried the camera trick and the yobs (actually in PT kit with teachers on school grounds) stood on the canal bridge and hurled stones while swearing at us. We sent the photo to the headmistress who replied that the thowing stones at bargees was simple self expression but she got the girl who swore to write us a grovelling letter of apology as swearing was not allowed on school property. When we contacted them the education authority said the head was very self important and they constantly got complaints about her but they could not get rid of her. They had tried.

 

I would find this story incredible if it was not for the fact that my daughter's headmistress (at her private school) was equally out of touch with reality and equally short of brain cells. What chance do our children have if they are governed at school by idiots such as these.

 

After witnessing an influx of chav parents driving past the orderly queue of cars each morning to drop their little darlings off in their Chelsea Tractors and completely ignoring the protocol of waiting patiently to pick them up later in the day, I decided to withdraw my daughter from this overpriced and under performing school.

 

When sat in the headmistress' office explaining my reasons for removing my child from her establishment and stating that her standards of intake had plummeted to a new low, she simply declared that she saw no problem with the drug dealer types as they all dressed well in their designer suits and high street skirts. She didn't appear too distressed that their offspring were also trying to push drugs amongst the pupils either!

 

I was never comfortable with sending one of my three children to a private school when there were perfectly good state schools in the locality. Ironically, my son who attended such a school, went on to gain his degree whilst the privately educated offspring went on to become an absolute pain in the backside!

Edited August 9, 2013 by Doorman

[dekker]

I have just been talking to a boater who tells me that carrying a catapult and threatening to fire back has stopped him being stoned on a number of occasions.

 

Has anyone got an opinion on this defence strategy?

 

What could be the consequences of carrying or using this weapon?