Kathleen Jennings, the teenager who was prosecuted for putting her feet on the seat of a train, has been given an absolute discharge by Chester Magistrates’ Court.
You would think that the railway and the authorities who let the charge get this far would have far better things to be doing with their time than wasting both the time of the officials in processing this case, and more importantly the tax payers money.
This was summed up rather well by Chairman of the Bench Christine Abrams who said: "The bench is united in feeling while this may have been contrary to a by-law, Merseyrail should have a less draconian method for dealing with matters of this nature."
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5 people have spoken:
She should've been thrown off at the next stop and banned from using that train for a period of time. Why is everyone backing her when she broke the rules? You may think differently when you sit on a dirty seat...
Geees, a quick word from the ticket-guy would've probably made her sit bolt upright and apologise anyway. This zero-tolerance is a bad idea. It may have worked in New York but not here.
Geees. If the ticket-guy on the train had had a polite word with her, she probably would've sat upright and not put her feet on a train seat again. However, this ludicrous zero-tolerance policy is a nonsense. Maybe smashing a window may lead to more serious crimes, but putting your feet on a train seat, EVERYONE does that! Zero-tolerance may have worked in New York but it most certainly won't work here!
Rules are rules. The muck on the shoes of a pretty 19-year-old is just as contaminating as that on the thug's boots. Perhaps the latter will get the message of Miss Jennings's ordeal; and perhaps she was a soft target. She is still guilty of an infringement (an absolute discharge does not mean 'not guilty') and it is astonishing that no penalty was applied. The magistrate is simply rolling over in the face of the softly-softly approach to crime that is shown to be discredited by the tidal wave of antisocial behaviour that engulfs the UK.
A good point there Steve, but she was an easy target for them and I am sure a warning first off would have done the trick.
Had she refused to comply then fine arrest her.
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