General Chat

AoGG,
I'm glad you have written to paper about this. What kind of family have these children been brought up in? I'm appalled at just how cruel some people can be. I hope those responsible are caught and punished.
Many years ago (I was about 10 at the time) while running an errand for my mum, I came across 2 "bigger girls" kicking a carrier bag around. Being a nosey kid I asked them what was in the bag and to my horror they tipped out a hedgehog half dead and bleeding from the nose and mouth. Being an animal lover I attempted to pick it up at which point they turned their aggression and fists on me. Fortunately a neighbour who heard my screams came out to see what was going on and the pair of them scarpered. Despite this man taking the hedgehog to the local rspca the poor creature died from its injuries, something I have never forgotten.

Well done to your son. Taking cases like his to court is a waste of taxpayers money. If those idiots had caused the train to be de-railed many could have been killed.

Hello Ann .
poor bird how can children be so cruel .its the norm these days to have a mobile & take pictures of almost anything & post it on the net. they should check there phones as well as cctv & get the culprits . i feel sick to my stomach . . its horrible . Barbra

interesting Anne that you should mention about my son getting accused of assault - about ten years ago whil driving his train in the Cardiff area he stopped the train to apprehend some schoolchildren playing "chicken" on the line - he managed to catch one of them and handed him over to the transport police in full view of the train passengers - he was subsquently arrested later that day and charged with assault - the lad's parents had supported their son in bringing the charge. It took a year to get to court and the case lasted about two minutes when the judge threw it out!! it made every daily newspaper, national and local and the BBC too!


This is the report on the BBC website



A train driver charged with assaulting a boy who was trespassing on a railway track has described his ordeal in court as "ridiculous".
Valley Lines driver Phil Sullivan, 33, carried out an emergency stop and jumped out of his cab to make a citizen's arrest on the 15-year-old, who was playing "chicken" with friends on a line near Cardiff.




Phil Sullivan: Citizen's arrest

The court was told how he grabbed the teenager "by the scruff" and put him into his cab in order to take him to the police at the next station.

But Mr Sullivan, from Whitchurch in Cardiff, was subsequently arrested and charged with assault.

On Thursday, Cardiff magistrates cleared the driver of the allegation after hearing that he acted in the interests of public safety.

Clive Williams from the Rail Users Consultative Committee for Wales said: "Passengers and staff should not have to tolerate this kind of behaviour.

"It is unsafe for anybody to be on the rail tracks.

"There needs to be a drive to teach children against trespassing on the railway lines which should be fully backed by the police." he said.

Mr Sullivan - who denied assault - said the police were a "laughing stock" for bringing the case against him.

The court heard that Mr Sullivan had been driving a commuter train when he saw three boys playing a game of dare at a level crossing near Radyr.

Obscene gestures

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: "He pushed the gate against my chest. I was held by the throat and pushed onto barbed wire.

"He dragged me up the steps of the train through the driver's door and into a seat in the cab."

Giving evidence, Mr Sullivan said he had seen the boys playing "a dicey game" on the line.




The police made themselves a laughing stock by charging me - this case should never have come to court

Phil Sullivan, train driver
"I blew the horn but they just made obscene gestures," he told the court.

"I made an emergency stop which was frightening for me and the passengers. I went across to a boy on the side of the track. I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck."

British Transport Police questioned the boy but later released him without charge.

Speaking outside court, Mr Sullivan said: "The police made themselves a laughing stock by charging me - this case should never have come to court."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1249603.stm

nice photograph of my lad on this!!!

Quite a few years ago (about 40 at a guess) a young lad came to my door asking if I had some bread he could have as he wanted to shoot the sparrows. I gave him something - a very large and angry chunk of my mind. I presume it was an airgun or spud gun that he had but not sure.

Huia.

FIRST OF ALLWHAT WERE THEY DOING OUTSIDE SCHOOL
ALL CHILDREN WHO STAY EITHER FOR SCHOOL LUNCH OR SANDWICHES
IN OUR AREA ARE NOT ALLOWED OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL GATE,IF THEY GO HOME FOR THEIR LONCH THEY SHOULD NOT BE HANGING AROUND OUTSIDE.
WHILE AT SCHOOL THE PARENT HOPES THERE IN SCHOOL TILL HOME TIME
NOT PLAYING CRUEL GAMES

Well done to your son Ann for caring. I do hope it doesn't rebound on him with the child accusing him of assault.

What on earth goes on in these kids minds I will never know. I thought most children were animal lovers. Presumably a seagull is not worthy of love, possibly heard the parents referring to them as 'vermin' as people often do. Poor thing, and also what about the driver that killed it? Wonder how it affected them?

how awful the poor bird xx

fortunately my son too is very caring - especially with animals - he's a train driver and has on many occasions killed animals which has upset him enormously but he has no choice if they are on the line - however he has managed to save lots of animals too!! a number of cats owe their lives to him - he has managed to pick up at least three off the side of the track and get them rehomed - one with only three legs

he caught hold of one these "children" today and asked him how he would like it if he threw him in the road to let the cars run over him - he said the colour drained from the kid;s face - good!!! that child is lucky there were a lot of onlookers or I think my son would have "sorted him out"

Hello Ann....have'nt seen you on here for a week or so:o(( Other than being obviously very upset and angry about this story,l hope you're ok??

Oh my god Ann, this is bloody horrendous (excuse the language), bloomin good thing l did'nt see it l can tell you. Your poor son and family having to witness it.

Lets hope the Head/teacher does look at the cctv footage and does something about it and the parents do too and that the police get involved.

What sort of children would even think about doing something like this, let alone actually doing.....l'm speechless now and so sad!!

jude

I am sadly not surprised, it just follows on from all the times I have seen small children allowed to kick out at pigeons without a parent bothering, or throwing stones at anything that moves.

If I've done nothing else with my life, at least I have a son who is kind to animals and values them for the part they have in the whole, even ( especially lol) the creepy crawly ones .

What kind of homes do they come from if they can do this too!!

thats very scary behaviour for a 12yr old.x :-S

Just got this letter off to my local newspaper and have also contacted BBC Wales with the story - I am horrified, as I am sure you will be too


this sure takes some believing!!!!

On Thursday morning around 12.30 my son, his wife and her mother were travelling along the A470 [Manor Way- going north and when they reached Whitchurch lower school the came across a seagull in the middle of the road surrounded by bread. The seagull had already been hit by a passing vehicle and was just standing traumatised. My son stopped his car to rescue the bird when another vehicle hit it and killed it. Not an unusual occurrence really but this bird had been enticed on to the road by a group of Whitchurch schoolchildren aged around 12/13 who were standing at the roadside with a loaf of bread which they were breaking up and throwing in the road to the bird. At the same time some of these pupils were actually taking pictures of events on their mobile phones!!! This event had obviously been planned beforehand - what child takes a loaf of bread to school!!

My son collected the bird from the road and approached the children asking them what on earth they thought they were doing - they loooked rather shamefaced and legged it. A teacher - maybe the head[?] came along whereupon my son handed her the dead bird saying "your pupils did this" She was visibly shocked and said the area was covered by CCTV, so hopefully the culprits will be named and shamed

Now I am wondering what goes on in the minds of children to deliberately set out to entice a living creature on the road so they can film it being killed - do the parents know they have children who are capable of such cruelty? I doubt it. Perhaps the parents of children who attend the school need to find out if their children were involved in this sick event.

In my experience, people who are cruel to animals of any kind are also cruel to people

I trust the school will take appropriate action.