Christmas Treat for Crime-Stopping Kids

/, News/Christmas Treat for Crime-Stopping Kids

Christmas Treat for Crime-Stopping Kids

A Yorkshire judge has ruled that three young ankle-biters be awarded an extra present each for their part in bringing down a nefarious hoodlum who made off with the funeral savings of an elderly lady. The sprogs not only raised the alarm when the bandit fled the scene of the crime but also picked him out of a police line-up and gave evidence in court which helped to bury the sucker.

Tis the season to be neighbourly

The trio of nine-year-olds were able to catch the thief after noticing his own pre-school rugrats unattended on the street. The perpetrator Robert Franklin had spent an extended period of time casing the joint, before changing into different clothes and leaving his own children outside the house in order to make himself seem more innocent.

When the nine-year-olds approached the younger kids to make sure they were okay, Franklin bolted from the house with the octogenarian’s bag in his possession. He quickly stuffed it into his toddler’s stroller and marched away with his children, but the savvy nine-year-olds were wise to his game.

They informed one of the neighbours of his suspicious behaviour, who then promptly alerted the police. As Franklin has a track record of house burglaries, the fuzz pulled him in to stand in an identity parade and one of the brave nine-year-olds was able to finger him as the culprit. All three of them went on to give evidence in court, which helped to sway the jury and land Franklin with a five-year stint in the slammer. There’s every chance he would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those pesky meddling kids.

One good deed deserves another

In recognition of the children’s quick thinking and remarkable pluck, presiding Judge Paul Batty QC ordered that each of them receive an extra gift from Santa Claus.

“Anyone who witnessed the case could not fail to be impressed by the actions of these youngsters,” he decreed.

“Something should not only be said but also done to mark their actions, not only in saying what they did to alert adults and thus to this defendant being arrested but also having the courage to come to court to give evidence in the impressive way they did. Cheques will be sent to the parents so that each of them could receive an additional Christmas present.”

In addition to the £50 windfall that each child will receive, the judge also offered to stage a ceremony inside the courtroom in the event that the children would like to receive their reward in the flesh.

Safeguard your Christmas this year

While stories like this highlight the gift-giving spirit of Christmas, they also underline how opportunistic thieves can ruin the festive season if they are successful in pilfering stolen booty. There could be nothing worse than waking up on Christmas morning to find a burglar has made off with all of the presents under the tree.

There’s an easy way to prevent such a nightmare scenario. Home security systems can work wonders in not only deterring crime from happening in the first place but also convicting wrongdoers if disaster should strike. At Blackburn Alarms, we have a whole host of intruder alerts, CCTV cameras and access control systems to increase safety and give you peace of mind. To find out more about how we can help secure your home or workplace, get in touch with us today.

By |2016-11-28T09:56:55+00:00November 28th, 2016|CCTV, News|0 Comments

About the Author:

Leave A Comment

GET A QUOTE