Afternoon:
11°c
With a single dessert and just two glasses of wine our bill was kept in check - but the effort of doing so was not much fun
Mother of a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan accuses Gordon Brown of disrespecting her son's memory by misspelling their surname in a letter of condolence
More...
Mother who stood up to foul-mouthed teens finds SHE is the one thrown in the cells by police
Last updated at 23:07pm on 25.03.08When Sue Pearson heard a group of teenage girls swearing and shouting abuse on the street, she did what any right-minded mother would do. She went out and told them to be quiet.
So she was astonished when police turned up at her home and arrested her for assault instead of reprimanding the children.
An officer told the 45-year-old that one of the girls had accused Mrs Pearson of grabbing her arm and planned to press charges.
Scroll down for more...
Law-abiding: Sue Pearson, who feared she would be jailed
Despite her protestations of innocence, the mother of seven was held in a police cell for 16 hours, had her fingerprints and DNA taken and was eventually hauled before the courts.
But on the first day of her trial, magistrates threw out the case after hearing there was no evidence Mrs Pearson had done anything wrong.
Yesterday she criticised the police and justice system for launching the prosecution against her.
"I did nothing wrong but was put through five months of hell simply because I dared to stand up to these yobs," she said.
"The police should be out arresting real criminals, not innocent people like myself. But it is the way this country is going. The rights of the victim are second to those of the perpetrators."
Mrs Pearson's ordeal began in October last year when she was visiting her sister, Shirley, 46, at her home in Bootle, Liverpool.
Shortly after 7.15pm a group of four teenage girls, aged between 14 and 15, started shouting abuse and making rude gestures at the bedroom window of Mrs Pearson's 16-year-old niece, Michaela.
The girls had previously fallen out with Michaela over a boy. Disgusted at their behaviour, Mrs Pearson went out to remonstrate.
A scuffle ensued in which Mrs Pearson suffered injuries to her wrists, while a 15-year-old girl suffered scratches to her arm.
Mrs Pearson, who has never been in trouble with the police before, returned to her home in nearby Netherton after the situation had died down.
But she was shocked when the police turned up to arrest her just before midnight. "They read me my rights and said I was supposed to have scratched this girl," she said.
"My stomach just sank to the floor. I was thrown in a cell overnight. I was terrified. I was shaking and vomiting and crying.
"They charged me and I was convinced I would go to prison and lose my children. That was my worst fear."
Magistrates at South Sefton court threw out the case earlier this month after it emerged the scratches on the girl's arm could have been caused by someone else. Mrs Pearson's solicitor, James Murray, said: "Bringing this case was political correctness gone mad.
"Mrs Pearson is a law-abiding citizen who did what anyone of us would do if we saw children misbehaving on the street.
"But the police immediately took the side of the children involved - they did not give Mrs Pearson any credit for her good character."
Chief Inspector Stuart Ellison, of Merseyside Police, said the force was duty bound to investigate all alleged assaults.
He added that statements had been taken from the parties involved and the evidence was presented to the Crown Prosecution Service.
A CPS spokesman insisted there had been "sufficient evidence" to proceed with the case and that the prosecution had been "in the public interest".
Reader views (28)
She should ask for her DNA back, which has been stolen by the state and will be used against her. This kind of phoney "law enforcement" is nothing other than an excuse to compile a comprehensive DNA database. We will soon be required to be compulsorily micro-chipped.
- Neil, London, UK
When there's no fear of consequences there's no constraints on the youngsters who are testing their limits. The kids have a right to protection, yes, but that should include protection from themselves too.
There are NO rights that cancel out the rights of others though. That's something kids are not being taught in a politically correct environment that encourages manipulation.
- Rm, Irving
Sums up the sick, perverted society we have become.
- Chris Neave, London UK
The niece in the bedroom appears to have been the first victim of harassment and also to have been able to identify the perpetrators.
Nothing in this story actually claims that the Police took no action against the four teenagers. Why do so many of the comments assume that?
- Alan Griffiths, Forest Gate, London
A newspaper should set up a fund to take civil actions against the police and cps in cases like this - let's have a few judicial reviews - maybe then the politicians would start protecting the innocent.
- Tony Gee, London
Then English have gone barking mad. I'm leaving.
- Cuddly Duddly, Cuffley UK
And was the complainant arrested for wasting police time? After all "magistrates threw out the case after hearing there was no evidence Mrs Pearson had done anything wrong".
- Peter, NY, USA
Is it any wonder that the British people hate the police and the CPS. This cannot go on. The CPS needs to be disbanded. It only ever prosecutes innocent people and it had brought the whole criminal justice system into disrepute.
- Anthony, London
The criminal class has won again.
- Trunk, US
CPS = Criminal Protection Service.
- Sir Les, Norf London
This proves we are slowly losing all rights against yobs or criminals, the politically correct sect will kill this country. Why oh why was this lady arrested? Its the yobs who needed to be arrested for foul language but I doubt if this will ever happen.
- Ken Murray, Brentford England
The police strike another blow for the yobs, well done, and don't forget to keep punishing the innocent and the people who try to stand up for what is right!
- Brian, Wiltshire
What a surprise. Not. Far easier to arrest a middle-aged lady than a gang of screaming teenagers.
- Squiz, Islington
I hope that some one is going to consider taken action against the person making the allegations and the complete TWERP who took it to court.
Why would any one spend 16 hours in custody for this I guess the custody officer might have some questions to answer as to why they didn't ensure that the arresting officer had acted in a professional manner and listened fully to both accounts. I hope that the lady concerned will consider taking action for wrongful arrest.
- Mike Melbourne, Bedford England
It is little wonder that people have no respect for the police any more.
It seems that the general public is having to do their job for them and when people do act to stop unruly behaviour it is they who are arrested.
We hear daily reports of serious incidents where the police fail to attend. If they want to regain the respect of the public they will have to do far better than this.
- Mike Kimmins, Bexley, Kent
And the police wonder why decent people don't want to have anything to do with them any more. You try and do your bit and the next thing that happens is you're carted off down the cells and DNA sampled. What a wonderful justice system we have, it makes China look quite good by comparison.
- Andrew, Cambridge
It was of course far easier and less hassle for the police to arrest Mrs Pearson. If they had tried to arrest, or even speak to the youngsters, they would have been subject to accusations of police brutality.
- Patrick Griffin, Dalston
Says it all about many of the present politically-correct police. They need to put their brains in gear. No wonder kids think that they can get away with anything. They can!
- Phil Jones, London UK
How could this prosecution be in the public interest? The police and CPS involved should all be fined to cover the cost of the case going to court.
All involved in this 'prosecution' should be ashamed of themselves.
- Nick, Bedford
And this is why our council tax is so high.
Complete waste of time and money
- Stuart, Luton, UK
Welcome Mrs Pearson to Modern Britain, where the guilty Go free and the Innocent get Arrested, Finger Printed and DNA taken and kept forever.
But they do say - if you are innocent you have nothing to fear, I now wonder if this is true?
- Tony, London
I saw a gang of yobs trashing some newly planted trees breaking one of them in half but I just carried on walking and did not report this incident to the police. I think it is just not worth the hassle helping the police so now I just walk on by if ever I see any trouble or vandalism. The police are no longer the protectors of the innocent and certainly not our friends, all they want is an easy life and your DNA.
- Stephen D., London England.
Only in Britain. Thank God I left...
- Mick Read, Peachland. BC.
Quite unbelievable. This lethal cocktail of incompetent police work and chav teenagers running our streets doesn't bode well.
- David, London, England
what do you expect from the City of (victim) Culture 2008? She was probably lucky not to get shot by a 12 yr old...
- Richard, london, England
Yet another example of why today's police service is held in almost universal contempt by the law-abiding public. They are very good at arresting middle-aged mothers and children in school playgrounds, but not much good at anything else.
And this is the lot who beg for our support when they ask for another whacking pay rise. Pay rise? How about a pay cut until they start delivering something that resembles a service to the public.
- David, Cambridge, UK
New Labour
Tough on Crime, Tough on the Victims of Crime.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
What sort of treatment does she honestly expect? We live in a country that no longer rewards honest decent people who work, pay their taxes whilst trying to better themselves. The rot that is at the heart of this defunct Government has spread to all parts of the UK.
- Fly, London, UK
