To report this guy to the police

[bagpuss90]

Just been speaking to my mum , her and my dad are both in their 80s . Both enjoy walking nowhere too challenging. Anyway she told me they were out walking yesterday and accidentally wandered into someone’s land. Dads not great at reading maps. She told me the land owner was very verbally aggressive and threatening towards them. Told them if they didn’t turn back he’d he’d kick their arses off his land . Dad apparently tried to ask for directions and got sworn at. Told them if they did it again they’d wish to god they hadn’t. Mum was quite upset. Okay they shouldn’t have been there. But AIBU in thinking this is really no way to speak to an elderly couple and totally OTT ? Should I report him ?

I've spoken to mum and dad again. It defiantly wasn’t a farm . It was a house with a large piece of land with a path through it at the edge. There was a parallel path which apparently they should have taken . Mum said nothing posted to say private land. 100% not a farm tho

Surely your parents would have contacted the police if they considered it necessary?
Theyre capable adults able to make decisions?

My parents are fiercely independent 80 year olds- love their walks, bike rides and holidays and would be fuming if I went over their heads like this!

Im sure your mum just wanted to retell the story. Is she wanting you to take this to the police?

^This. My DM is 83 and is currently working for her Christian charity in West Africa, where she will be based until the end of next month. She spends 2 months each year there (though not during Covid). I would never presume to speak for her!

Just because your parents were upset by the incident, it doesn't mean that they would want you to go over their heads and report it to the police. If they do want to report this man to the police themselves (and yes, he does sound like an unpleasant bully), then by all means support them in doing so.

This. Fucking right I'd report if it was my mum and dad. Prick.

@AlwaysFoldingWashing In what way were they in the wrong by getting lost? Have you never got lost? I don't know about you but when I get lost I expect people to point me in the right direction. Then I apologise for bothering them and I expect them to say: "It's all right. I could happen to anyone."

It works the same way with me when people make mistakes and I help them.

The police are very busy but they should also be very interested in a young man threatening a harmless couple. Whether they have time to investigate is a different matter but they should for all our sakes.

Hi, not read whole thread but do report it to local police. I reported something similar (there was a footpath in the field I was in but I strayed from it and the farmer came over and told me to leave in a rude way). The police said I did the right thing to let them know and went to the guys house and spoke to him about how to deal with trespassers. Trespassing isn’t a crime but verbal harassment is a public order offence and it’s part of what the police are there for. No one should be threatened-and I bet the guy will think twice about being an arse if he gets a knock on the door from the police

theyre unlikely to press charges/do a full investigation as no cctv and that probably wouldn’t be in the public interest. But it would be easy for the police to follow up on as they know where the guy lives, so report the exact address online to the local police and they may well go round there and have a word with him and take him down a peg or two/give him a shock (well worth the police time in my opinion). The police i reported a rude landowner too also said it’s good to have it on record as usually not an isolated incident

Fuck me. Now we have people saying perhaps OP's parents don't want her to alert the police.

I don't even know them but if I knew where this person who threatened them lived I'd tell the police to let them know someone who has committed an offence - using threatening words and behaviour - might need a little guidance in the interests of community harmony going forward.

"Fatuous"? Maybe, fatuity being arguably in the eye of the beholder.

"Disingenuous", though, I challenge. (Albeit not to the extent of conspiring to harm you; some challenges are intended peaceably, as I suspect you well know.)

Allow me to add my voice to those pointing out that the OP's parents did nothing wrong, contrary to what several pp have claimed or insinuated.

Self-claimed 'ownership' of public goods leads to much warping of moral sensibilities, in my experience; the 'owner' of that land had no right to treat those people as he did; to tell such bad people they do wrong - yes, forcibly to tell them this - is to do good. That is what I recommended; I stick by that recommendation.

In MNland I wonder if people think there is a dedicated police officer taking MN-referred calls to report things that aren’t crimes or even problems. I hope there is 🤣

Can't you use reasonable force to remove a trespasser though? OK kicking their but may have been a bit out, but only a bit. None of this would have happened if they'd just left as soon as they found out.

OP said her dad asked him for directions and he continued to behave aggressively. But I suppose two octogenarians are an easy enough target for prick like that.

They ca t just turn up and search anything without good reason. Getting cross and being rude to an old couple would not warrant such a search

DH and I are keen walkers and we've had abuse many times from landowners when we've been on the footpath! Never reported it to the Police but have reported it to the department at the Council who deal with public rights of way.

I think your parents need to chalk this one down to experience but maybe the could contact the dept at the Council who deal with Rights of Way and tell them they don't think the official path is very clearly marked as they got lost and maybe they could check the waymarking so others don't suffer the same fate.

I'm surprised a keen student of law such as you doesn't remember it is a crime under the 1986 Public Order Act to cause fear, alarm or distress@TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl.

It's quite a useful charge when dealing with anti-social behaviour and would warrant a man in his 20s shouting at a couple in their 80s being given a talking to at least.

The police are well aware of it because it was brought in to stop pickets bothering them after the miners' strike in 1984 but has other applications if they can be bothered which I am sure you also know.

Do you not agree with me that an an aggressive man threatening harmless members of society is something the police should be looking into?

I wasn’t aware I was a student of the law @limitedperiodonly unless I have a whole career I didn’t know about.

OP’s parents trespassed on private land. This pisses farmers off for good reason. The farmer was angry. Lesson learned. Why do we infantilise elderly people? My grandad recently died nearly aged 90 and I never treated him like some delicate flower who couldn’t ever be told off. He wouldn’t have wanted that.

So your parents trespassed on private land, were repeatedly told to leave, but instead persisted in loitering and causing a nuisance to the landowner.

Have you considered reporting them to the police? Because their persistent disregard for the law appears to be the source of the problem here.

Speaking to anyone like that is abhorrent regardless of age but it's very curious that you have such strong faith in the police despite all evidence of the contrary.

They ca t just turn up and search anything without good reason. Getting cross and being rude to an old couple would not warrant such a search

@notthisagainforest you are mistaken. The police can turn up for a chat if they suspect an offence under the 1986 Public Order Act such as causing fear, alarm and distress which this clearly was. It's a very useful catch-all..

You are right that they can't search premises without a warrant. But why would they need to do that if they just wanted to offer friendly guidance? However they can easily get one if they have grounds to suspect wrong doing in the course of their visit.

There are quite a lot of things the police can do if they have a mind to and often they do if people tell them and they have time. In my experience most police officers see their job as stopping trouble before it escalates and people, including them, get hurt. That makes sense, doesn't it?

The police must get very frustrated when people who don't know what they are talking about say things to discourage people from talking to them.

I don't understand why people do that. Do you?

JudgeRudy · Today 18:50

Can't you use reasonable force to remove a trespasser though?

No. It's not a criminal offence and it only becomes aggravated trespass (a criminal offence) by doing something else at the same time. Vandalism, theft etc.

Are you sure you read the OP? What law exactly did the parents disregard? And how were they being a nuisance/causing a problem? An old couple getting lost and asking for the way back to the path isn’t a crime/doesn’t mean they deserve to be victims of abuse

You don't speak to elderly people like this especially because it was an honest mistake. Your poor parents. Please tell them that they know there are terrible people out there and that landowner is one of them.

I wasn’t aware I was a student of law unless I have a whole career I didn’t know about.

@TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl I am so sorry. I assumed that since you confidently insisted this wasn't a criminal offence - it is - you must have forgotten that bit of your legal training. Do you have no legal training? That shocks me.

Like many things it is probably best dealt with by a chat with the local police. In my experience, though busy, the police should be prepared to get round to it if only because early intervention stops things escalating and causing more work for them in the long run.

Trespass is a civil matter and nothing to do with the police so I am not sure why you mentioned it. Neither is your relationship with your grandad. Precious though I imagine it was.

Jesus they were not repeatedly told to leave ! They apologised-Jesus people on here make it up as the go along. And once again-it was not a sodding farm

nosyupnorth
please read my posts again!!