To find the latest development in the Redhill 'abduction' case utterly unsurprising

[LikeDylanInTheMovies]

link [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-37212934]]

No child missing and police say there is no evidence to support the story. I guess the only novel factor in this case is that the van was black and not white as per usual in these mendacious stories that spread like wildfire amongst the gullible.

AIBU to hope that people will think twice before spreading 'blokes in white van (usually with optional eastern European accents) attempting to bundle a child into a white transit van on Facebook and to engage their critical faculties before believing such tales.

YANBU and what a colossal waste of police time and resources. FFS.

Look on the bright side, at least there wasn't a child abducted.

Yanbu. Waste of time and money.

YANBU and what a colossal waste of police time and resources. FFS.

Resources and time that could be used protecting actual children who a) actually exist b) victims of abuse.

Yabu if it makes people think twice about reporting something and don't, which then turns out to be genuine.

I kind of not surprised either. Don't know what kind of fuckwit would start a story like this though - maybe the same kind that would do it on Mumsnet. The world is full of strange and disturbed people

The same sort of fuckwit that spots a van near a school (with the ubiquitous Eastern European man) and posts a wild rumour on FB.

YANBU. massive eyeroll.

As soon as I heard this I thought it was a hoax.

Severe community service at a minimum for the idiot who lied.

Eh? It was all a hoax? Even the boy being abducted?

theres a big difference between someone lying and make up a story, and a genuine mistake - as we cannot know which is which, you are U

Severe community service at a minimum for the idiot who lied. - if it was a lie and not a mistake, then sure - however, i'd rather someone who was unsure reported rather than worried about mob mentality and didnt report it

heres a big difference between someone lying and make up a story, and a genuine mistake - as we cannot know which is which, you are U

If someone sees something they find concerning then of course they should report it to the police. However for a rumour like this to spread it needs thepeople who didn't witness anything to spread and embellish the tale. They are the people who need to take a long hard look at themselves.

He's been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, rather than wasting police time - which is interesting, Perverting the course of justice involves trying to prevent a crime being discovered or to prevent the arrest of the person responsible. Simple reporting a fictional event doesn't on its own meet that definition, so there may be more to all of this than meets the eye.

All very interesting considering "Supt Chris Edwards, of Surrey Police, said he was "completely satisfied" with the credibility of the witness." (from BBC News a couple of days ago).

I read that and wondered what that meant at the time.

However for a rumour like this to spread it needs thepeople who didn't witness anything to spread and embellish the tale. They are the people who need to take a long hard look at themselves.

Who did this?

The whole story was so odd, loads of my friends shared the story on FB as we are fairly local but I didn't think that it was legit tbh.

The police reported the incident to the public, as they did take it seriously and seemed to believe it was genuine.

If it had been a real incident, they would have needed the word spread quickly and to get as much publicity as possible as quickly as possible, in tracing the van and the child. You cannot blame people who didn't witness the event for sharing the information and getting the word out.

It is disgusting to make something up. There is so much fear around already. I was at the park with friends and dcs - a big park - the other day and one of the mothers of 2 girls maybe 11/12 told them "if someone you don't know talks to you, come and tell me". So if the girls hurt themselves or were stuck on the big climbing frame and a stranger stepped in to help. How would those girls feel? It was all parents with younger kids so the girls didn't appear to be in any danger.

Who did this?

Sorry I should have been clearer: I was referring to when bullshit rumours spread around facebook like wildfire with no factual basis.

Bit like the flip flops found on Camber sands requiring colossal rescue effort for some woman who'd left her shoes on beach
www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2016-08-28/swimmer-located-after-unclaimed-flip-flops-spark-alert/

I was expecting it to be a misunderstanding at first. But it was a bit dodgy when the black van driver was eliminated and suddenly there's another identical black van in the same area which the police can find no trace of

I just hope the Daily Mail don't use this as an excuse to bash the police with. They did exactly what they should have done.

Are we allowed to discuss/ speculate on this before charges are even brought?

At least that poor boy was never allowed to go to the toilet on his own. Doesn't bear thinking about!

Yes, we are allowed to discuss it. The issue of prejudicing any trial doesn't arise until someone has been charged.