DS (17) arrested last night for stupidly recording videos in an abandoned building!

[SongbirdSienna]

DS (17) and a few of his friends were arrested for burglary last night due to stupidly being where they shouldn’t, an abandoned building, recording stuff for Tik Tok!

I thought he was staying at his friends house, he’s stayed over before without any incident, so I went to bed around 11pm. I woke at 5am with two missed calls at 3am! It was the police stating he’d been arrested. I couldn’t call the number back and having never been in this situation before I didn’t know how to get in touch with the police at that station. Luckily I managed to get hold of DS who said he was been driven home in a police car.

Officer who dropped him off explained that DS had been de-arrested with no charge. Said DS was extremely co-operative, nothing else found on the lads, just a really stupid thing to do!

Obviously I’m livid and extremely upset/embarrassed with DS, not only for wasting police valuable resources but by being somewhere he shouldn’t be, plus it could have been really dangerous!

As he’s been arrested will he now have a police record? Could someone please tell me how to check.

He won’t have a police record. He has effectively been given words of advice.

At the most he might have it filed as an intelligence record but he won't have a criminal record or anything. He wasn't charged, and he didn't have a formal caution so no harm done.

If he continues doing this and became a nuisance the intelligence record might be looked up by police to see what the pattern was and gather an overall picture, but there would have to be a policing purpose to do so.

If he applies for a job that needs a DBS check it won't show up.

Also you can arrest someone on suspicion of burglary, but to prove it was burglary there has to be evidence that they a) entered the building as a trespasser b) with the intention of stealing, doing criminal damage or to inflict GBH.

If he entered only to make videos, then he has simply trespassed on private property, which is a civil matter not a criminal one. Hence he was dearrested.

Hopefully a lesson learned for him!

I think it will be detrimental for various visa applications that ask have you ever been arrested and notably USA ESTA.

ESTA only wants to know if you have been convicted.

Honestly you won't have a problem! It won't show on his record and to be honest it was a bit stupid but not as bad as you may be feeling right now! X

He may have been arrested on suspicion of burglary but if he did not take anything (or intend to) or cause any damage, there is no criminal offence.

Definitely not the case https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/ask-the-police/question/Q683#:~:text=The%20USA%20have%20a%20visa,arrest%20resulted%20in%20a%20conviction.

Plenty of people do apply for them regardless and the chances of it being discovered are minimal

So reading this, would this apply to DS, even though he’s been de-arrested?

Thanks everyone for your replies so far.

I’m really hoping this is a wake up call for him.

The officer who brought him home was actually really lovely, which made a shitty situation a little more bearable.

From what I've read and it's only a quick Google, de-arrested means the record of the arrest is wiped clean, so I would not declare being arrested under these circumstances, as there's no record of it, but I could be wrong!

No charges, no caution, no record, just a wake up call that somethings cannot be done

I've noticed videos and photos online that people make of the inside of abandoned buildings. Often because they look a bit spooky. Is that what your ds was doing?

De-arresting is a formal legal process which cancels out the arrest, it’s entirely different from being arrested and released without charge

I think it's called urbexing- urban exploring.
There are websites dedicated to them, but contributors obvs hide their identities

Raising teenagers can be a hairy business. I know there are a lot of people on MN with sporty, Oxbridge bound kids, but for the rest of us their are a whole series of scrapes to get through ( or worrying they have no social life at the other end of the scale) My son is a bit older now has a full time job, a great girlfriend and socially acceptable hobbies. But some of the stuff he got caught up in or has later confessed to have aged me about 10 years! Thank god for the decent copper.Good kids ( who have stable upbringing and good school records) still do very stupid things. Hopefully he has learnt a few lessons.

Yes 🥴

That’s the word, urbexing!

Thank you, I’m really hoping this has shocked him so much that he won’t do anything like this again…..🙏🏻

“Urban explorers” have been doing this for a couple of decades. Bebo/Facebook/MySpace started it off a bit with people posting videos of themselves going through abandoned buildings. Now it’s happening on TikTok. Idiots.

"Raising teenagers can be a hairy business"

Ain't that the truth. Mine is 14. Five more years of teenagehood to go. Wish us luck 😱

OP, am glad it seems your ds' situation is resolved without too many consequences. May social media be damned to hell!

I’ve been looking at Tik Tok since DS was escorted home, not quite believing how many people do this! 🙄

@SongbirdSienna if they were just doing the exploring and vids ect, then its called urbex or urban exploring, and under uk law tresspass is a civil offence unless of course its obvious they broke into the abandoned building etc

He won’t have a criminal record. And FWIW, I think urbexing (sensibly, without causing damage or risking danger) is cool! Although I suppose abandoned buildings could be dangerous which is where the main worry comes in.

I did it when I was younger. My dad did it as a kid, got caught and hurt his backside escaping by sliding down the roof. As a kid my uncle blew up a school shed, stole his parents’ car and crashed it. We’re all really upstanding, sensible members of society now! Your son will be fine!

Urbex is quite a big thing on YouTube. I watch a lot of videos. They quite often get challenged by security or police.
As long as your DS hasn't caused any damage or stolen anything then it's not burglary. It's civil trespass. The Police lawfully arrested him on SUSPICION of burglary, then de-arrested him when it was apparent no criminal offence has been committed. He won't have a criminal record.

I got caught doing this.
I'm employed. I have a house. I have kids. I have left the country for holidays umpteen times. All will be good