My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc. at
home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very keen
gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or was
organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos it
says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a camping
weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt the
lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the person
involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take the
matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

"Kate Morgan" wrote in message
o.uk...
| My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc. at
| home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very
keen
| gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or was
| organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos it
| says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
| weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a
camping
| weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt the
| lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the
person
| involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take the
| matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(
|
| kate
|

It's criminal damage - she should contact the police - even if nothing can
be done a visit from the police would go a long way in making sure she/he
doesn't do it again!

"Angela" wrote in message
om...

"Kate Morgan" wrote in message
o.uk...
| My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at
| home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very
keen
| gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or was
| organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos
it
| says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
| weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a
camping
| weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt
the
| lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the
person
| involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take
the
| matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(
|
| kate
|

It's criminal damage - she should contact the police - even if nothing can
be done a visit from the police would go a long way in making sure she/he
doesn't do it again!


The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to prove
beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.

"Clive" wrote in message
...
| It's criminal damage - she should contact the police - even if nothing
can
| be done a visit from the police would go a long way in making sure
she/he
| doesn't do it again!
|
|
| The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
| beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
| any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
| a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.
|
|

That is not my experience with the police. I had someone causing me
problems and even though I had no hard evidence they went to interview her
and find out what she knew about the stuff that had been happening - it all
stopped from that point.

On 2009-07-01 09:36:26 +0100, "Angela" said:


"Clive" wrote in message
...
| It's criminal damage - she should contact the police - even if nothing
can
| be done a visit from the police would go a long way in making sure
she/he
| doesn't do it again!
|
|
| The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
| beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
| any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
| a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.
|
|

That is not my experience with the police. I had someone causing me
problems and even though I had no hard evidence they went to interview her
and find out what she knew about the stuff that had been happening - it all
stopped from that point.

This is what I was thinking of. If the police would interview several
of those 'possibly having information', including the obvious culprit,
the latter will be on a warning that their behaviour is known about.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"Clive" wrote in message
...

"Angela" wrote in message
om...

"Kate Morgan" wrote in message
o.uk...
| My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at
| home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very
keen
| gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or
was
| organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos
it
| says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
| weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a
camping
| weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt
the
| lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the
person
| involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take
the
| matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(
|
| kate
|

It's criminal damage - she should contact the police - even if nothing
can
be done a visit from the police would go a long way in making sure she/he
doesn't do it again!


The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.


Sadly that is my experience with police. I still think the matter should be
reported to the police though. It may be that they are already aware of the
person and this will help them form part of a 'bigger picture' and be the
incident that causes them to take action. It may be that the police decide
to 'have a word' in the ear of the person and the matter is dealt with that
way - I have known this to happen on occasion. It may be that the person
needs to be taken into care if this is the actions they take when in the
community - so again, this is another reason it should be formally reported.
'Limited intelligence' is not an excuse or reason to allow violent action to
be tolerated, and violent action is what has happened to the OP's
dauughter's allotment. Not being funny, but if a person 'limited
intelligence' or otherwise is allowed to have violent tendencies go
unchecked, it may result in the level of violence escalating. Plants trashed
one day can lead to animals trashed the next and upwards. It is a known
trend.

"Clive" wrote in message
...

"Angela" wrote in message
om...

"Kate Morgan" wrote in message
o.uk...
| My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at
| home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very
keen
| gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or
was
| organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos
it
| says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
| weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a
camping
| weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and burnt
the
| lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that the
person
| involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible to take
the
| matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(
|
| kate
|

It's criminal damage - she should contact the police - even if nothing
can
be done a visit from the police would go a long way in making sure she/he
doesn't do it again!


The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.

Would ringing the suspected offender up, and tricking them into *not*
denying that they did it and recording the conversation count as enough to
get the police to pay a visit to the offender?

On 2009-07-02 16:50:30 +0100, "john royce" said:


"Clive" wrote in message
...
snip

The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.

Would ringing the suspected offender up, and tricking them into *not*
denying that they did it and recording the conversation count as enough to
get the police to pay a visit to the offender?

It's illegal to record a phone call without telling your interlocutor
that you're doing so.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-07-02 16:50:30 +0100, "john royce" said:


"Clive" wrote in message
...
snip

The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence. If there were
any witnesses or CCTV or even an admission from the person this will be
a start. You think you know who it is, but proving it is another thing.

Would ringing the suspected offender up, and tricking them into *not*
denying that they did it and recording the conversation count as enough
to
get the police to pay a visit to the offender?

It's illegal to record a phone call without telling your interlocutor that
you're doing so.

illegal to who? Lord Keith Vaz recently recorded a private phone
conversation with Mayor Boris Johnson and made the contents publicly known.
Not so illegal then ?

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 1 Jul 2009 01:22:07 +0100, "Clive" wrote:

snip

The Police will only visit the accused person IF there is evidence to
prove
beyond reasonable doubt that he/she comitted the offence.

No wonder the solved crime rate is so low.

Maybe you are wrong.

A criminal has been committed,


If only it were true! :~))

Spider



the police are there to
identify who committed the crime.
--

Martin

This is Bigal and before I retired I used to be a social worker (you can boo if you like)I worked with a whole range of peoples poblems - you could say from the cradle to the grave. Certainly one of the groups was people of limited intellgence and you cannot be sure how they will react to a given situation.
The information about this person is very limited -does he live alone, live with parents, live with a group, live with a partner. Are social services involved with him. The people he lives with might be very protective of him. He might show aggression very easily. Why was that particular allotment attacked? It might be jealousy, it might be personal, it might have random.
What I am saying is for gods sake do not try and tackle this alone or with a group. Do not confront him an any way. That is a job for the police who should be informed in the first place, and if necessary will contact a social worker who might know him. The other thing of course is how limited is limited intelligence? All that can play a part in a behavioural reaction, although high intelligence can still produce a vicious reaction.
PLEASE. PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL HOW YOU DEAL WITH THIS AND LEAVE IT TO THE PROPER AUTHORITIES.

On 2009-06-30 14:55:19 +0100, "Kate Morgan" said:

My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is
very keen gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her
allotment is or was organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am
telling you this cos it says the sort of gardener she is. However a few
days ago someone put weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after
being away for a camping weekend she found that someone had pulled up
all the plants and burnt the lot. She knows who it was but cannot
contact them, the fact that the person involved is of limited
intelligence makes it almost impossible to take the matter further. I
feel so sad for her :-(

kate

Kate, this is *awful* but she has to find something she can do about it
or it will just be repeated. If this person is as you say, do they
have someone they live with who could be approached? Should the police
be informed of what is, after all, criminal damage and asked to have a
word with ALL allotment holders so as not to point the finger at just
one if proof is lacking? She may know who it is but provinig it is
another thing. Can the allotment committee do anything to help her? I
am so sorry for her.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-06-30 14:55:19 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
said:

My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is
very keen gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment
is or was organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you
this cos it says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago
someone put weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away
for a camping weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants
and burnt the lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact
that the person involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost
impossible to take the matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

Kate, this is *awful* but she has to find something she can do about it or
it will just be repeated. If this person is as you say, do they have
someone they live with who could be approached?

my first thought as well. If the person is slow, do they have some
supervision or live in a community house, with family etc? If so, have a
word with the person who has authority or supervision. That should put a
stop to similar action befalling someone else. More than that, some
restitution might be possible or at least some sanction. Funny though,
gardening can be therapeutic for patients suffering mental illnesses. A
local group here has mental patients tending community gardens and
apparently the patients get a lot of enjoyment from gardening.

If your daughter is the sort of person who is able to turn the other cheek
(a big ask I realise), and the person with the mental illness is not
malicious but simply misguided, they might even benefit from being involved
in gardening and growing. A big step to take mind, though some people are
capable of showing that much compassion and understanding.

rob

"George.com" wrote in message
...

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-06-30 14:55:19 +0100, "Kate Morgan"
said:

My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc.
at home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is
very keen gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment
is or was organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you
this cos it says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago
someone put weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being
away for a camping weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the
plants and burnt the lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them,
the fact that the person involved is of limited intelligence makes it
almost impossible to take the matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

Kate, this is *awful* but she has to find something she can do about it
or it will just be repeated. If this person is as you say, do they have
someone they live with who could be approached?

my first thought as well. If the person is slow, do they have some
supervision or live in a community house, with family etc? If so, have a
word with the person who has authority or supervision. That should put a
stop to similar action befalling someone else. More than that, some
restitution might be possible or at least some sanction. Funny though,
gardening can be therapeutic for patients suffering mental illnesses. A
local group here has mental patients tending community gardens and
apparently the patients get a lot of enjoyment from gardening.

If your daughter is the sort of person who is able to turn the other cheek
(a big ask I realise), and the person with the mental illness is not
malicious but simply misguided, they might even benefit from being
involved in gardening and growing. A big step to take mind, though some
people are capable of showing that much compassion and understanding.

or, if the person is just a ******* and a nasty piece of work, why not
organise a delegation and go and face him down. Get a group of fellow
allotmenteers together, it could be their plot next, and pay a visit to said
vandal. Leave him in no uncertain terms that is he dares to repeat the
action again, or even if such action is repeated without direct evidence he
was involved, his life in your community won't be worth living. One
advantage of a small community is that some peer pressure can stamp out such
malicious activity. Obviously, don't be vigilantes or impeed the persons
rights to live their life peacefully and lawfully. Do however tell them
straight that unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated. Maybe, if
another allotment gets trashed them something he cherished might go the same
way.

rob

"Kate Morgan" wrote in message
o.uk...
My daughter has had her allotment ruined, she grows flowers shrubs etc. at
home and keeps the allotment for vegetables and soft fruit, She is very
keen gardener and competes at local flower shows etc. Her allotment is or
was organic and she grows herbs amongst the veg, I am telling you this cos
it says the sort of gardener she is. However a few days ago someone put
weedkiller all over the plants and yesterday after being away for a
camping weekend she found that someone had pulled up all the plants and
burnt the lot. She knows who it was but cannot contact them, the fact that
the person involved is of limited intelligence makes it almost impossible
to take the matter further. I feel so sad for her :-(

kate

Oh Kate, what a tragic waste. She must report this to the police. It may
be criminal damage, or it may be a hate crime. I am not fooled by the
'limited intelligence' tag; they knew what they meant to do .. knew what to
use to poison the crops and knew they could cover their tracks by burning
everything. Even if the police can't act against her suspect, they will
certainly file a report. This is not a useless tactic; it enables the
police to bargain more effectively for more men and resources. In her
place, I would report it to the police at once *and* have a chat with the
local SNT (Safer Neighbourhood Team); they may agree to include that area in
their patrol.

I am so sad for your daughter, and so angry that someone can destroy
another's work. Please try and persuade her to call the police.

Spider