Freedom to Protest?

spen666

12 year old boy organises protest against closing of youth club is interrogated at school by anti terrorist police without parent present!!!!!

Police sorry for questioning schoolboy over protest at David Cameron's officeNicky Wishart, 12, should have not have been spoken to without his mother present, Thames Valley police say


Nicky Wishart was threatened with arrest over the peaceful picketing of David Cameron's constituency office. Photograph: Virginia Phelps

Police have apologised for taking a 12-year-old boy out of lessons last week to question him about a planned picket outside David Cameron's constituency office.

Nicky Wishart, a pupil at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, organised the protest in an attempt to save his youth club and 20 others in the area from closure in March, a consequence of £4.2m of cuts in Oxfordshire county council's youth services budget.

Wishart set up a Facebook page with a 13-year-old friend to advertise the protest. It attracted more than 130 people, mainly children and young teenagers from surrounding youth clubs in the Witney area, where Cameron is the local MP.

Five days before the peaceful picket, the school was contacted by anti-terrorist police after they saw the page, according to Wishart's mother, Virginia Phelps.
Chief inspector Jack Malhi, Thames Valley police's local area commander for West Oxfordshire, said: "With the benefit of hindsight, it would have been far more appropriate to have made the inquiries from Nicky in the presence of his mother. I deeply regret and apologise for the impact that it might have had on Nicky and his family. I would like to reassure people that our contact with Nicky was primarily to make him aware of the risks and have an idea of the scale of the protest."

Despite the threat of arrest, Wishart went ahead with the protest last Friday. At the protest, he said: "The youth centre means loads to me. It's the only thing we have to do in Eynsham."

His mother said of the apology: "I really appreciate it because that's what you want. It can't be left up in the air. He [Malhi] phoned me and has invited me and Nicky to go and have a cup of tea with him. He went through everything and he was a really nice guy."

The headteacher of Bartholomew school, Andrew Hamilton, also apologised to the family for the incident.

On a separate no why was mother allowing him to use facebook underage

neiltb

on a related notte, why are anti terrorist police being used for preteen protests?

The police should be done with it and call them all anti terror police and roam the streets clubbing whoever looks at them funny.

Maybe we should install cameras in every house while we're at it.

Homer J

strange that they threaten to arrest a 12yr old with a placard, yet seem to do sweet fa to students causing criminal damage, violence etc.

bails87

Homer J wrote:

do sweet fa to students causing criminal damage, violence etc.

What rubbish! They weren't charging with horses, or using batons, or arresting people at the student protests then?

RichN95.

Why single out this twelve year old? Most twelve year olds would benefit from some fright tactics from MI5

StillGoing

Firstly, what is the source for this; more Facebook crap I presume? A juvenile can be interviewed at school without a parent being present if it is during school hours if a member of staff is present and with the parents consent. They can also be interviewed without the parent if the parent is likely to be a witness to the allegation or not appropriate to act. A 12 year old is just as able to cause damage etc as any adult. The days of 12 year olds being all sweet and innocent are long gone. Facebook doesn't show your real age, only what age you claim to be hence why it is the friend of the paedophile.