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Original poster

Here we go again Woman arrested for sitting on a bench.

394 replies

MercyBooth · 10/01/2021 00:53

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9130133/Police-told-fine-Covid-rule-breakers-just-ONE-verbal-warning.html

OP posts:
RickiTarr · 10/01/2021 13:24

It’s called fomites @annevonkleve - google it.

PaddingtonsSister · 10/01/2021 13:25

If she was just stopping for a minute to get her breath she could have just given her details or moved on Why would you not?

annevonkleve · 10/01/2021 13:26

Exactly. It's ok to not be as polite as you would normally be if you are being accused by multiple officers of breaking a law which isn't actually a law. I would probably start off being polite but after being repeatedly told I had to move or that I was being unlawful I would probably become a little frustrated and irritable. Although it's all pure speculation of course as we have no idea how polite this women was

Yes. Although of course women aren't allowed to have opinions and if you disagree with "authority" you're being aggressive. Years ago I had a train ticket that didn't work and the guy on the barriers said "well you must have had it with your mobile phone". I didn't but I said "well it's not really fit for purpose then is it" whereupon I got "I'm going to call my manager because you are being aggressive" - code for "pipe down female person, you have no right to disagree with me". Anyway I told him I'd be delighted to discuss his aggressive attitude towards me with his manager. He opened the barriers.

I bet some police are like it too.

annevonkleve · 10/01/2021 13:26

@RickiTarr

It’s called fomites *@annevonkleve* - google it.
I don't need to google it, I am well aware of fomite transmission (or the lack thereof).

I think you need to google the information about the lack thereof.

annevonkleve · 10/01/2021 13:27

@PaddingtonsSister

If she was just stopping for a minute to get her breath she could have just given her details or moved on Why would you not?
I wouldn't give my details just because I'd stopped to get my breath! Are you completely mad?
loulouljh · 10/01/2021 13:28

How to alienate the public. Lesson one by the police.

Mustbe3ormorecharacters · 10/01/2021 13:30

The title of this thread is a bare faced lie designed to deceive and manipulate people’s opinions, mumsnet shouldn’t allow this to happen.

Funkypolar · 10/01/2021 13:30

Think the police are going to lose the public on this. I won’t be supporting them when they want more funding.

Oblomov20 · 10/01/2021 13:31

The woman handcuffed I simply can't accept that this is ok.

Goodbye2020Hello2021 · 10/01/2021 13:33

Yeh, they strolled over to her, asked her for her what she was doing, she said nothing and they handcuffed her.
That’s what happened. Of course it did.

itsgettingweird · 10/01/2021 13:34

I don't think the police are alienating the public.

I think they are highlighting how thick some members of the public are.

Instead of watching a 10 second clip actually spend time finding out what actually happened and why police were there and why they approached people.

cansu · 10/01/2021 13:34

Sitting outside on a bench in the cold is not where the problem lies. The problem lies in the government refusing to shutdown other parts of the economy. The government could get tough with employers who are still insisting that people come to work in offices when it isn't necessary.

Goodbye2020Hello2021 · 10/01/2021 13:35

The title of this thread is a bare faced lie designed to deceive and manipulate people’s opinions, mumsnet shouldn’t allow this to happen.

As is almost every tabloid headline. It’s the pits.

InsertRudeWord · 10/01/2021 13:35

Misread that as 'shitting on a bench'!

Goodbye2020Hello2021 · 10/01/2021 13:36

I think they are highlighting how thick some members of the public are

Instead of watching a 10 second clip actually spend time finding out what actually happened and why police were there and why they approached people.

THIS!!!

Oblomov20 · 10/01/2021 13:36

I found the police, particularly the police woman, very aggressive and .....power hungry? in the clip.

SOLINVICTUS · 10/01/2021 13:37

It's a very misleading article (as we might expect from such sources)
If we remove all the times the article uses the words:
Apparently
Allegedly
Seems to
Etc
It's not quite so inflammatory and clickbaity is it.
Gutter journalism at its finest.
Check your sources folks.

annevonkleve · 10/01/2021 13:38

@InsertRudeWord

Misread that as 'shitting on a bench'!
Well when the pp claimed you can catch covid from sitting on a bench I wondered if she thought we were all sitting naked on benches, or at least with bare bottoms.

Anyway those getting hysterical about people stopping for a minute while exercising would have been horrified at my behaviour this morning. I was running down a lane and the trees were covered in frost - it was very pretty so I stopped to take a photo. I wonder how many grannies I killed by doing that.

(there was nobody else around other than my running companion)

Goodbye2020Hello2021 · 10/01/2021 13:42

I was running down a lane and the trees were covered in frost - it was very pretty so I stopped to take a photo. I wonder how many grannies I killed by doing that.

Thousands. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Seriously though. There is no way this woman was handcuffed for ‘sitting on a bench’.

Funkypolar · 10/01/2021 13:44

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9129555/amp/A-English-lockdown-Met-Police-probe-officers-spotted-flouting-Covid-curbs-INSIDE-London-caf.html

The Metropolitan Police has launched a probe into officers spotted 'flouting' coronavirus curbs by tucking into breakfast inside a London café.

A passer-by caught several squad cars outside The Chef House Kitchen while servicemen sat inside at 9am, despite a ban on gatherings and table service.

Chocolatte21 · 10/01/2021 13:44

This is so wrong. The devastation caused by the virus is horrible and unfair. But destroying our basic human rights in an attempt to control it isn’t right. I can’t believe the number of people who think it’s okay that our state has criminalised basic things like sitting on a bench alone, seeing our friends and family, earning an honest living. The problem is a lot of people are okay with these measures because they agree with them at the moment. But they can’t see that this is a slippery slope and if it is allowed to
go on eventually the state will restrict and control things that they don’t agree with. And by then it will be too late.

SOLINVICTUS · 10/01/2021 13:52

If you read other news articles, she was part of a group of about 35 people taking part in a protest and when asked to disperse she was one of those who refused. There's video footage showing this.

Take your choice which version you want to believe.

mam0918 · 10/01/2021 13:55

I can understand if they stop people gathering/meeting/chatting on benches etc... but honestly the rule comes across completely ableist to me.

Not everyone is physically capable of going for long walks, jogs, runs etc... and not everyone has access to private gardens but they still should be allowed fresh air outdoors, even high security prisoners are entitled to that basic right.

Iheartmysmart · 10/01/2021 14:00

Phew think I’ve had a lucky escape! Had to sit on a bench earlier when out walking the dog. My sock had slid off inside my welly and was v annoying. Wiltshire Police here and they like to shoot people

islockdownoveryet · 10/01/2021 14:04

Of course it’s madness to be arrested for sitting on a bench and if it was me I’d query it too . You should always question authority but it depends how she did it . Was she polite or was she aggressive ? . There are 2 sides to this but I suspect it wasn’t a nice polite lady having a rest and politely asking the officer why so he arrested her .