Man charged with Blackberry water fight plan in Colchester

Man charged with Blackberry water fight plan in Colchester

www.bbc.co.uk

A man has been accused of trying to start a water fight in the centre of Colchester in Essex.

The 20-year-old man from Colchester allegedly sent messages via a Blackberry messenger, said a spokeswoman for Essex Police.

He has been charged with the offence of encouraging or assisting in the commission of an indictable only offence.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Big-brother and the anti-fun police strike again!

Could this be because the police are worried that it would get out of hand and turn into a riot?

Or are they scared that the public will have the more powerful water cannon?

Seems like they are going a bit overboard actually charging him for trying to arrange a bit of fun.

What are your thoughts/views on this.

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Good for the police. With all of the other things going on right now, why risk it...

It amazes me just how many people use the "Blackberry" device in the UK. It almost seems the blackberry is the only smart phone they have. Do they have a market for other phones?

I would think that the population would think blackberries were not in style anymore because the gov is using the devices against their everyday lives.

If they are cracking down on messages of water fights, something is wrong.

Unless of coarse water fights is against the law.

And who said anyone could snoop on blackberry messenger service? Did the population vote to allow this? If so, my points do not matter.

People should get contract free anonymous Blackberries and start sending the police on a wild goose chase

That is ridiculous. Of course I thought it was ridiculous when they started arresting kids for starting food fights in a cafeteria. School is like a prison these days.

I don't know what is dumber, the police charging this person or the people that agree with them...

Well, he falls foul of the stupidity laws. Given recent events.

But one hopes he will be le t off accordingly. Though personally I'd shoot stupid people. It's for the best in the long run, beieve me

Originally posted by Redwookieaz

I don't know what is dumber, the police for charging this person or the people that agree with them...

Or the people doing dumb things?

No-one forces you to be stupid ......

Originally posted by wiredamerican
It amazes me just how many people use the "Blackberry" device in the UK. It almost seems the blackberry is the only smart phone they have. Do they have a market for other phones?

Of course there is a huge market for other handsets. The fact is using BB service is so much CHEAPER. Seeing BB having their own server with unlimited free internet and bb messaging, no other service can beat it in South Africa, I am sure it counts the same for Europe.

Maybe other cellphone companies came together to take BB out, cause they are losing big time

How the hell is organizing a bit of fun in the summer an "indictable offence!?" Hopefully this guy will have lawyered up and the Magistrate is worth his salt and throws the case straight out the door.

By even publicising the fact the BBM network is now being monitored the "authorities" are making a rod for their own back. Do they think people aren't smart enough to pick up a mobile under the radar? Purchase a pay and go mobile with cash, buy some credit, again with cash, use the phone for whatever nefarious deeds you see fit, for example organizing a freakin' super soaker fight then dump the phone.

Easy solution.

Don't use the damn Blackberries. What is so hard to comprehend about that? Why so much news of stupidity these days? If they watch it, they will come for you.......Damn simpletons, I believe that people need to quit whinning about the ignorant rules and laws and just avoid them all together........Unless you are addicted to your blackberry, then that is your problem.........,...,.....

Cell phones are the root of government terrorism. Don't you people see that? Oh, and they know what you type on your computer too

reply to post by LoverBoy


yeah, so, next time you want to send out a text to all your friends to come join you in the park for a picnic or a birthday party better hope TPTB dont come arrest you.

Originally posted by mustangill
yeah, so, next time you want to send out a text to all your friends to come join you...

Well in this case it was apparently 1000 people.
More like a flashmob, instant chaotic mess, than a few friends.

reply to post by Essan


It's just a water fight though man. It isn't death rays. Good clean fun yeah?

2nd

This policy of arresting people for things like 'water fights', sounds ludicrous but whats darker is that people's opportunity to work is being threatened by this knee-jerk reaction. Once you have even a caution it shows up and so many jobs demand a CAB check. Its almost as though its now government policy to marginalize as many people as it possibly can. Stupid because you take away someone's earning capacity and the state has to support them and their family. No one wins here. I don't remember voting for these tactics or the right of the government to spy on me. There's a fine line between Nanny State and dictatorship and its getting blurrier by the day.

Also does anyone else get the impression Cameron is trying to treat us all like we are some kind of kindergarten kids the head boy bullies.

Originally posted by Lynda101
This policy of arresting people for things like 'water fights', sounds ludicrous but whats darker is that people's opportunity to work is being threatened by this knee-jerk reaction. Once you have even a caution it shows up and so many jobs demand a CAB check. Its almost as though its now government policy to marginalize as many people as it possibly can. Stupid because you take away someone's earning capacity and the state has to support them and their family. No one wins here. I don't remember voting for these tactics or the right of the government to spy on me. There's a fine line between Nanny State and dictatorship and its getting blurrier by the day.

Also does anyone else get the impression Cameron is trying to treat us all like we are some kind of kindergarten kids the head boy bullies.

Ah David Cameron:

news.bbc.co.uk...

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show "we do things when we're young that we deeply regret".

Well David, lucky your privileged upbringing allowed this to be largely buried. Will the young people you're now calling to be flogged in public opinion have the same thing to say?

How about Nick Clegg? Unconvicted Arsonist...

www.dailymail.co.uk...

First, though, I want to know if this readiness to please means he'll confess to the unvarnished truth about an episode he once passed off as 'a drunken prank'. My understanding is that it was much more than that. It was arson, actually. He could have gone to jail, ending his chances of a political career before it had even begun. The property he destroyed, deliberately, was priceless.

Wait a minute! Aren't these the same two politicians calling for overly punitive sentences on people that did exactly the same thing they did?

People need to understand the background and context of situations like this before they pass comment on the few pieces of information which we have to hand about this story.

Here are four separate incidents which have happened in the last couple of years or so:

London Water Fight Turns Violent

Six arrested as mob water fight in park turns ugly in a flash

Frederick Moody stabbed to death after water pistol fight turned violent

Two public schoolboys arrested after 'midnight water fight ends with pupil being stabbed'

The first two stories involve a similar water-fight organised via social media, involving 1,000+ people. The fighting got a lot more serious than just a play-fight, and the police had to close off Oxford Street when trouble spilt out of Hyde Park.

On the face of it, a mass water fight seems harmless enough, and most of those involved are only having a bit of fun, but these things have a tendency to get rather silly very quickly, and can cause unnecessary problems for passers-by who are just going about their business.

Considering that this was supposed to be 1,000 people water-fighting in the centre of Colchester, then the police were quite right to take pre-emptive action here. If charged and convicted, I doubt the organiser will get much more than a slap on the wrist ( and rightly so ), but someone who encourages a public order disturbance does need to have action taken against him.

reply to post by PW229


Neat post with very interesting articles on both Clegg (whom I voted for ) and Cameron whose £1200 tail coat for boozing in an exclusive dining club at school beggars belief.

Its the hypocracy of our politicians and especially Cameron that gets you when you compare their antics when young to the kids of today.

What also irritates me is that we have already had the uproar about phone tapping and the riots seem to be some bench mark that means that from now on anyone's phone can be pried into by the police, this sort of action across the board is not acceptable. How does anyone know that extremely private messages, such as Charles to Camilla's famous one will not suddenly appear in a somewhat embarrassing place or some unscrupulous hard-up cop won't use this 'information' for blackmail?