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I couldn't top laughing about the stupidity of the police actions. The father has his own right to punish his child as it his way of disciplin, not that i agree with it. But the police should try and combat serious crime such as people carrying knives around. Mark is right the person who made the complain should have been persued for wasting police time. Out of respect and courtesy i think the police should apologise to the father for keeping him the cell for 12 hours. I feel for the father the fact that he is being stoped in bringing his child up the hardway, teaching the consequences to his child only because he loves him and teach him that he is doing bad.

- Shabbir Yahiya, London, 18/11/2008 01:56
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this is just another example of police acting stupid. No wonder teenagers are so out of order today, fathers must be scared to smack their own children in case they finnish in jail. This is just a father in his right to punish his young child in a mild manner. The police had nothing better to do than to put in the cells a father for educating his son. I am sure that at the same time the drug dealers and burglars spent less than 12 hours in their cells. Shame on the british law.

- John Span, london, 18/11/2008 00:48
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Just when you cannot get the boys in blue to turn up for love nor money, lo & behold 4 turn up on what the common sense majority would regard as an outrageously inappropriate pretext, to put the well meaning dad behind bars overnight. What must his son take away with him to influence his later attitudes, not to mention listeners to this sorry tale of political correctness gone mad.

Julan

- Julian, bournemouth, 17/11/2008 18:44
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Does he live in Haringey by any chance?

- Linda, italy, 17/11/2008 18:32
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In light of the tragic circumstances of Baby P's death it seems that a balance needs to be struck between intervening in cases where there is a clear need and exercising a sensible degree of discretion. Our government has spent 11 years eroding personal freedoms and replacing individual accountability with collective inaction. It has branded all of us criminals of some kind and uses punitive measures to control us. We will no doubt soon be told that we are to be microchipped for our own safety. The police have become expensive bureaucrats driving around in German luxury cars. Our streets are patrolled by Community Support Officers with no powers of arrest. The majority of the population, generally law abiding, ends up dealing with mindless automatons who are more interested in meeting targets and filling forms than they are in improving things. A parent trying to discipline a child ends up being treated like a criminal while those who burgle, rob and are generally antisocial know how to play the game, stay on the streets and away from the justice system. I'm not sure what the answer is but it can't be what we have now because it clearly isn't working. Reading this article and being told that so many people fear our young makes depressing reading. Mr Blair and Mr Brown-you have done little to mend our country. Now that Mr Blair has moved on perhaps Mr Brown should do the same. He can fool people for only so long.

- Chris, London, 17/11/2008 18:25
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First the powers that be rail against the feral youth in society, the gun and knife culture of the urban youths, then they take away the god given right of every parent to discipline their child all in the name of child protection. Discipline is a form of protection a way of teching and directing behaviour, love it or hate it it worked in the past and still continues to work. As much as people rail against corporal punishment they did not have the same juvenile problems we have today. The youth then knew that if an adult saw you up to no good they would intervene, the local bobby could and would box your ears and that if you went home to complain to your parents you'd get seconds from them cause you were obviously up to no good! Not in todays world we've created a generation with no boundaries or inkling of what discipline means, children who have children themselves and then are unable to parent properly and know when to strike the right balance when disciplining and waiting in the wings the uber politically correct police helped along by their equally inept social services cronies who have been hobbled by the powers that be in Whitehall living in their equally divorced from reality bubble! Makes you wonder where common sense has gone, or whether there is any truth in the saying common sense is not so common !

- Common Sense Parent, Victoria, London, 17/11/2008 16:46
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This is over the top , he has a right to tell his son off and slap his bottom. There is a line between this and abuse !

- Tanya, Manchester, 17/11/2008 16:39
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Oh my god! Have we reached the point where the State controls every facet of our lives? This man should demand an apology and threaten legal action if he does not receive one. The Police should have enough common sense to not investigate every stupid allegation. The person who made the complaint should instead be pursued for wasting Police time.

- Mark, London, 17/11/2008 16:35
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Further proof our country is going cuckoo

- Robert Wilkins, Upminster England, 17/11/2008 16:21
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A modicum of discipline applied ...one busybody reports incident to the police and 4 cops are sent round to father's house.This is a police target for middle class victimization to help Govt Stats.Perhaps asking the 4 policemen to spend a few nights on the streets observing the no discipline theory via feral youths mugging ,fornicating and vomiting and you just have to weep.Labour - tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime - can you believe that soundbite is over ten years old !! Anyone seen any changes?Bottom line - we have to instil respect into people - this nanny state bollocking a father who has smacked his son's backside is not the way forward - criminals should be put into boot camp and made to work with victims of crime at the very least

- Dogzie, Copenhagen, 17/11/2008 16:18
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I'm just relieved the police don't have more important matters to address.

- Steve, London, 17/11/2008 16:18
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Sadly, this is another example of the state bullying parents into giving up their rights to manage their own childrens' behaviour. Society is best managed "bottom up":by the family.People can forget sorting out knife crime etc until this fundamental social necesity is rectified. Moreover, it's another example of how "the left", in an attempt to do good, are looking down the telescope the wrong way.

- William Preston, ENFIELD, UK., 17/11/2008 15:40
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This is disgusting D & C police should be forced to publicly apologise. This father seems to have been acting out of love for his son & I applaud him.

- Jo, Belgium, 17/11/2008 15:10
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What a stupid arrest. Why do we put up with this? The law belongs to US, the people, not to the police. The police are forfeiting their credibility and fostering hatred of their uniform by doing things like this.

- Neil, london uk, Airstrip ONE ., 17/11/2008 15:07
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Discipline a 7 year old and you have the child removed and spend a night in the cells; torture a 17 month old and you're left to get on with it until the child dies. Hmmm.

- Adam, London, UK, 17/11/2008 15:04
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So the 7 year old boy had a bunch of strangers invade his home, examine his bare bottom, then take him away from his home and place of security in a police car whilst the same people took his main protector away in another car and locked him up.

In other stories a senior policewoman is allowed to hit a fellow spectator at a children's football pitch, and in the story of real abuse where a child was battered to death, they failed to protect him.

I think they need some cohesive thinking in how they handle children.

- Roz, Chamonix, France, 17/11/2008 14:58
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