Policing thought not physical harm and damage to property

A boy has been prosecuted by the CPS for calling a child in the playground the "n word" and "Paki". Read what the judge has to say though.

Judge Finestein said he thought prosecuting the youngster was "crazy" and urged the Crown Prosecution Service to reverse its decision.

He said: "Have we really got to the stage where we are prosecuting 10-year-old boys because of political correctness? I was repeatedly called fat at school. Does this amount to a criminal offence?

"This is political correctness gone mad. It's crazy. Nobody is more against racist abuse than me but these are boys in a playground. This is nonsense."

He did not condone what was supposedly said but doubted the defendant understood bin Laden or al-Qa'eda and said there "must be other ways of dealing with this apart from criminal prosecution".

He added: "In the old days the headmaster would have given them a good clouting."
It was wrong for children to have racist views, he said, but he was "anxious to avoid the criminal conviction of somebody so young".

Addressing the boy's parents, he said: "I'm not blaming you, kids hear these things, but to refer to people as Pakis or refer to their race or religion is wrong."

He told the court: "This is how stupid the system is getting. There are major crimes out there and the police don't bother to prosecute. If you get your car stolen it doesn't matter, but you get two kids falling out because of racist comments - this is nonsense."

How right he is.