The Times went to town on how the officer nicked the lad after heshouted "w*****s" at a police van and made an obscene gesture. The12-year-old was found guilty under the Public Order Act of causing"distress". He was given a six-month conditional discharge.
But the verdict was overturned by the High Court last week when judgessaid it would be "most surprising" if Richards, a mature officer, wasleft emotionally scarred.
There may be a case for step-by-step coaching to harden recruits. Itshould start with names like "poo-face", before taking it up a gear andfinally unleashing hard-core swear words. Maybe then our bobbies will beable to cope when a child says a naughty word.
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