Urgent help needed!

[Katie72]

Two weeks ago whilst my 13 year old son was out hunting Pokemon, they ventured into a small forest area. My next door neighbours son was there on his own do my son went and asked if he was ok. Whilst he was with him the lad from next door was using a stick to put holes into a battered piece of tarpaulin. My son picked up a stick and absent mindedly put it in a hole that was already in the tarpaulin. This was witnessed by 3 of his friends.
A few days later we had a visit from the police saying that my son had been named as causing criminal damage to the tarpaulin as well as my next door neighbours son. He said he wanted to just take statements and then get the cost of new tarpaulin split between the lads - approx £25 each, rather than a full investigation. Apparently the tarpaulin belonged to a man with autism.
my husband walked to where the tarpaulin was and saw that there was already lots of tears etc in it, but it was also on public land, he spoke to this man and he said it was public land but the man said no-one has said anything to me for 8 years so I'm using it.
Underneatht the tarpaulin was a home made type of irrigation system and water was running next to electric etc.

what do I do? Surely my son can not be charged with criminal damage to something on public land, that he thought had been dumped.
The officer is coming back later to get my sons statement.

really need your help.

Thanks in advance.

[wales01man]

Re: Urgent help needed!

If you park your car on public land and I think its dumped can I damage it and you would not do anything?
Let him pay up and learn a lesson

[Snoopy1948]

Re: Urgent help needed!

First thoughts on this one is why are the police getting involved in this trivial matter and on the back of 'evidence from others'. It seems to me that there may be more to the need to complain here than just the pettiness of the offence.

I have recently been speaking to our local police about a driver smashing into our car lift door ( my apartment block has underground parking ) and asked if it could be reported as criminal damage. They said it would be seen as an accident and there was almost certainly no intent. Perhaps the question here is was there any intent from these boys to cause damage? It's difficult to comment further without actually seeing the tarpaulin and ascertaining if it was recognisable as having some function and value. And the facts are a tad vague, I have to say.

In the absence of that, and agreeing with what has already been said, perhaps this is just a bit of old fashioned policing with the intention of making the boys pay a modest price for their error.

[charitynjw]

Re: Urgent help needed!

To claim adverse possession requires minimum 10 years usage, I believe. (or is it 12 years.......more than 8, anyway)

[des8]

Re: Urgent help needed!

...and why are the police looking into the cost of a NEW tarp?
IF (I srtress IF) recompense needs to be made it should be only for the replacement cost of a second hand already tarp already suffering from wear, tear and gradual deterioration.

And if criminal damage isn't there something about"mens rea" required? As Snoopy comments ?intent

[wales01man]

Re: Urgent help needed!

Have to disagree with you Des a punishment now IE paying compo may make the boys think next time as I wrote to OP if it was your Tarp would you let it go I would expect something a donation to a charity or something .
We all did stupid things when we were young some stopped at that others went on to worse things

[des8]

Re: Urgent help needed!

Agree with you in principle Wales, but in this case Plod seems to be acting rather like RLP!

[wales01man]

Re: Urgent help needed!

Old fashioned plod scare the sh..out of them

[charitynjw]

Re: Urgent help needed!

Have to disagree with you Des a punishment now IE paying compo may make the boys think next time as I wrote to OP if it was your Tarp would you let it go I would expect something a donation to a charity or something .
We all did stupid things when we were young some stopped at that others went on to worse things

Hmmm.....
Some years ago, my brothers & I were playing on public land; we came across an old car which looked as if it had been abandoned. We had a look around the vehicle, then went home.
Later that evening police came to my parents' house; apparently, someone (most definitely not us) had set fire to it.
But as we had been seen near it, we were in the frame.
The police were told by my father that we could not have been responsible for the arson, but more importantly he told them to investigate the possibility that someone was looking to 'pin the blame' in order to get criminal damages or maybe an insurance payout.
We heard no more.........

[wales01man]

Re: Urgent help needed!

Someone set fire to the car we would all expect the police to question anyone seen hear it

[Openlaw15]

Re: Urgent help needed!

Two weeks ago whilst my 13 year old son was out hunting Pokemon, they ventured into a small forest area. My next door neighbours son was there on his own do my son went and asked if he was ok. Whilst he was with him the lad from next door was using a stick to put holes into a battered piece of tarpaulin. My son picked up a stick and absent mindedly put it in a hole that was already in the tarpaulin. This was witnessed by 3 of his friends.
A few days later we had a visit from the police saying that my son had been named as causing criminal damage to the tarpaulin as well as my next door neighbours son. He said he wanted to just take statements and then get the cost of new tarpaulin split between the lads - approx £25 each, rather than a full investigation. Apparently the tarpaulin belonged to a man with autism.
my husband walked to where the tarpaulin was and saw that there was already lots of tears etc in it, but it was also on public land, he spoke to this man and he said it was public land but the man said no-one has said anything to me for 8 years so I'm using it.
Underneatht the tarpaulin was a home made type of irrigation system and water was running next to electric etc.

what do I do? Surely my son can not be charged with criminal damage to something on public land, that he thought had been dumped.
The officer is coming back later to get my sons statement.

really need your help.

Thanks in advance.

You son has a defence, that in his view he need not have believed it was 'property' for purposes of the term under the Criminal Damages Act 1971. He simply believed it was owned by no person and was therefore derelict material on public grounds, ie rubbish, or fly-tipping etc. He has still committed the act and intention as the damage was caused by his recklessness actions. Tell your son to avoid using the 'term' property if he is interviewed by the police. If your son had damaged the material (tarpaulin) first and his friend had further damaged it later, his possible defence may have been to argue his original damage has disappeared (causal link broken).