BARKING MAD !

Don't bark at dogs!

But that simple piece of amusement didn't amuse two policemen who had been called to a group of youths reported as being abusive, of whom Kyle Little was one.

Kyle had just been warned by the officers about his behaviour and was walking away when he saw the two dogs, and "growled" at them.

Although the dogs owner, Sunita Vedhara, made no complaint about Little's behaviour, the two police officers, Sgt Douglas Johnston and Pc Daniel Peacock, decided, with no evidence whatever, that his behaviour had caused her "distress" and promptly arrested him ! (Full story here)

Kyle Little was charged and, convicted in his absence at a magistrate's court, was fined £50 with £150 costs under the Public Order Act for causing "harassment, alarm or distress" to the dog's owner, despite her not making a complaint !

Contrast this ludicrous farce with the case of Jamie Webb, a dangerous street thug who beat a man unconscious but who the CPS refused to charge with GBH, because the victim refused to make a statement !

However Kyle Little appealed, and at Newcastle Crown Court he won his case, at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of £8000, although the CPS claimed total costs involved in the case were only £500 !

A CPS spokeswoman said: "The case was proved in the absence of Mr Little at the magistrates' court but our lawyer at the Crown Court decided that there was insufficient evidence to support the charge and the CPS did not oppose the appeal at the Crown Court."

At the appeal Judge Beatrice Bolton said: "...I think growling or even barking at dogs does not amount to a section five offence even if a defendant has been told by the police to curb his language."

"Are you going to be convicted every time you do something someone else doesn't like?..the law is not an ass."

The law may not be an ass but when the police arrest a man for barking at a dog, the only conclusion we can come to is that the policemen themselves are - well - barking mad !

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