Man who threw friendly snowball at policewoman charged with common assault.

SuperInfinity

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340755/Dean-Smith-threw-snowball-policewoman-charged-common-assault.html

'I had one snowball left in my hand and I threw it at the police officer as a joke. I was just having a bit of fun. And I thought nothing more of it.

'Three days later they came to arrest me for assaulting a PC. I was busy cooking in the kitchen, in my pyjamas. I saw the van at the front of the house and had no idea why it was there.

I ask you, do the police have nothing better to be doing that arresting people like this, harrassing them and hassling them? Jaysus. And think about how much they do this sort of abuse and nobody ever finds out about it. Would they ever go and solve a real crime ffs? Most police officers couldn't catch a cold during an Irish winter.

I think a big part of the problem are the new modern police systems where they're made document everything and told they're not doing their job if they didn't nab anyone. I get the feeling some of them want there to be trouble now. It's all fine and grand until the police are arresting you or someone you know over nothing.

chin_grin

No such thing as a "friendly snowball".

KeithM89_old

In fairness, if i saw him walking towards me id probably cross the street...

Kiera

Its called respect!

MGMTea

Is there such things as mean or angry snowballs ?

ringadingding

Chav

orourkeda

If there's any justice he'll do at 25 years in jail.

Dey took our jobs

Andrew42

chin_grin wrote: »

No such thing as a "friendly snowball".

No such thing as a friendly policewoman/female garda, they all seem to have serious issues.

bonerm

Nice prison tatoo on Deano there. I'm sure he was probably locked up for stealing toffees.

Coriolanus

Looks like a scumbag. Lock him up. Rape his dog. Shoot his mother.

Kiera

Andrew42 wrote: »

No such thing as a friendly policewoman/garda, they all seem to have serious issues.

That's bullshít! I've met a handful on knobs but most guards I've met are sound and very helpful!

HalloweenJack

I saw a couple of teen-aged girls getting in trouble with the guards last night for throwing snowballs.

Seriously, don't they have better things to be doing?

rusty_racer94

'' Don't bring the law into a snowball fight ''

Star Bingo

thats unfortunate eh! i once lobbed an orange which landed within the 20ft radius of a garda. got assaulted; resisted arrest on assault charges - went to Pats for a week. lovely.

orourkeda

HalloweenJack wrote: »

I saw a couple of teen-aged girls getting in trouble with the guards last night for throwing snowballs.

Seriously, don't they have better things to be doing?

They are absolutely correct.

Catch the little f*ckers early

lyverbird1

Kiera wrote: »

That's bullshít! I've met a handful on knobs but most guards I've met are sound and very helpful!

Well said Kiera - I guess some people just like to generalise instead of being fair...

davyjose

I'm sorry, but the weather is sh!te, everybody is miserable, it's taking me an hour more to get to/from work, and I'm not eight. Throwing ice in my face does nothing to improve my mood.

Fcuk off with your snowballs. Idiot.

bonerm

Star Bingo wrote: »

thats unfortunate eh! i once lobbed an orange which landed within the 20ft radius of a garda. got assaulted; resisted arrest on assault charges - went to Pats for a week. lovely.

I hope you spent the week improving your aim?

SuperInfinity

Kiera wrote: »

Its called respect!

And what about the fact that they have told the public not to make police complaints over getting hit by snowballs themselves?

One rule for the police officers and one for the public is it? Different standards? Why should they be "protected" from it if others arent.

And those snowballs could have been thrown maliciously, ie. large snowballs smashed into a person's face from 3 metres.

This guy was playing with his girlfriend and his son and he doesn't even know if it hit her. I severely doubt he was maliciously intending to cause her discomfort.

Respect? They deserve the same respect as any civilian... they're not above us. They should have the same rules as the public does when it comes to verbal abuse or physical abuse.

Scuid Mhór

snowballs are all fun and games until someone gets a shard of ice in their eye.

bonerm

Lucky for Deano he didn't try such japes in the US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMrhiBwF4MU

Kiera

SuperInfinity wrote: »

And what about the fact that they have told the public not to make police complaints over getting hit by snowballs themselves?

One rule for the police officers and one for the public is it? Different standards? Why should they be "protected" from it if others arent.

And those snowballs could have been thrown maliciously, ie. large snowballs smashed into a person's face from 3 metres.

This guy was playing with his girlfriend and his son and he doesn't even know if it hit her. I severely doubt he was maliciously intending to cause her discomfort.

Respect? Ha.... a lot of these police officers consider themselves above the ordinary citizen.

They are above us when on duty as they are there to look after us not get belted out of it with snowballs! So yeah, show them some respect!

rusty_racer94

One of my friend got into trouble with the guards for '' Obstructing Traffic '' While walking on the double yellow line which was just 3-4 inches away from the wall in a tiny back-of-the-restaurant road.

SuperInfinity

Kiera wrote: »

They are above us when on duty as they are there to look after us not get belted out of it with snowballs! So yeah, show them some respect!

Nobody belted them out with snowballs. If an ordinary person is getting belted with snowballs, they should be protected under law as well. The same rules should apply. I don't see any reason why they should be offered more protection, it's not like you can just push/hit an ordinary member of the public.

Kiera

SuperInfinity wrote: »

Nobody belted them out with snowballs. If an ordinary person is getting belted with snowballs, they should be protected under law as well. The same rules should apply. I don't see any reason why they should be offered more protection, it's not like you can just push/hit an ordinary member of the public.

You're not getting the whole respect thing are you? :rolleyes:

JJJJNR

Throwing snowballs....

Down with this sort of thing. :rolleyes:

Saila

"I fought the law and the..law won.."

SuperInfinity

Kiera wrote: »

You're not getting the whole respect thing are you? :rolleyes:

All members of the public or police deserve the same respect and protection under law, why should public officials or officers be any different? If you want to offer police officers more respect, that's your perogative.

You also don't have to talk to police officers if they want you to. Only if they arrest and interrogate you are you obliged to say anything.

Kiera

SuperInfinity wrote: »

All members of the public or police deserve the same respect and protection under law, why should public officials or officers be any different? If you want to offer police officers more respect, that's your perogative.

You also don't have to talk to police officers if they want you to. Only if they arrest and interrogate you are you obliged to say anything.

What on earth are you spouting on about?

rusty_racer94

SuperInfinity wrote: »

All members of the public or police deserve the same respect and protection under law, why should public officials or officers be any different?

You also don't have to talk to police officers if they want you to. Only if they arrest and interrogate you are you obliged to say anything.

I agree with you!
A snow ball isn't gonna kill you, is it?
Just cope on with it!!!
Smile back or throw a snow ball back at them and thats all!
They shouldn't be so an*l about it!

Star Bingo

bonerm wrote: »

I hope you spent the week improving your aim?

was with the banger brigade that used to occupy the steps of central bank; zippy went around the side out of sight so its no surprise i missed. saw no garda til i was face down with a knee in my back.. a week of already overcrowded prison time, for that.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Kiera wrote: »

What on earth are you spouting on about?

What was that you said about respect?.

bonerm

Star Bingo wrote: »

was with the banger brigade that used to occupy the steps of central bank; zippy went around the side out of sight so its no surprise i missed. saw no garda til i was face down with a knee in my back.. a week of already overcrowded prison time, for that.

Are they the 14 year old EMO's who think Kurt Cobain is cool?

Kiera

Jaxen Muscular Racquetball wrote: »

What was that you said about respect?.

Read back and you'll see. He hasnt earned my respect.

Holybejaysus

Epic fail on the Joe Duffy type moral crusade, OP.
If that chav skanger threw a snowball at you, you would be on here whining about it. Guaran-fookin-teed.

Star Bingo

bonerm wrote: »

Are they the 14 year old EMO's who think Kurt Cobain is cool?

no; twas 1993. whats emo.. 2008 n beyond? more gorefest/lawnmower deth n the like

arybvtcw0eolkf

Kiera wrote: »

Read back and you'll see. He hasnt earned my respect.

lol..

Right Kiera.

Poor Uncle Tom

MEDIC.....Humour transplant needed stat....:p

CreepingDeath

Kiera wrote: »

That's bullshít! I've met a handful on knobs but most guards I've met are sound and very helpful!

Snigger

Kiera

Jaxen Muscular Racquetball wrote: »

lol..

Right Kiera.

Dont you have some dog walking/gym crap to do, Mairt?

JJJJNR

rusty_racer94 wrote: »

They shouldn't be so an*l about it!

heh heh heh, you said 'anal'

Aldebaran

He is the most evil man who has ever lived.

Andrew42

Andrew42 wrote: »

No such thing as a friendly policewoman/female garda, they all seem to have serious issues.

Well, by that logic, then my sister-in-law has serious issues. Honestly couldn't say a bad word about her.

10belowzero

Nevore wrote: »

Looks like a scumbag. Lock him up. Rape his dog. Shoot his mother.

, hell i'd pop a cap in his ass , hell momma , n'd i'd rob his tv remote , n pop a cap in it's ass

davetherave

If I threw a friendly punch at a Guard I'd expect to be arrested under Section Two(at least), Non-Fatal Offences Act.

What is the difference between me throwing, for example, a glass bottle and a snowball at a member of the Gardai. In both cases I have knowingly aimed and fired a projectile at the person and both are going to impact on him/her.

If the PC did throw a snowball back at him she would have, likely in the times we are in now, found herself at the end of a police brutality/harassment claim and the guy would have had claims in against any authority figure he could find.

Monty Burnz

Kiera wrote: »

They are above us when on duty as they are there to look after us not get belted out of it with snowballs!

Did I fall asleep and wake up in Nazi Germany? This is a republic - nobody is above us.

Jesus Christ.

Irish Guitarist

However, if the CPS decides to drop the charge the defendant will receive a caution and will not have to appear in court again

'If they do decide to caution me I expect an apology for wasting all this time.'

That's a pretty stupid thing to say to a national newspaper. The police know now that if they drop the charges he'll be looking for an apology.

As far as I'm concerned throwing an object at anyone is assault. A 'friendly' snowball isn't any different than an 'unfriendly' one. I doubt it was actually meant as a joke anyway. He probably said to his girlfriend "watch me hit this pig" before he threw it.

Monty Burnz

davetherave wrote: »

If I threw a friendly punch at a Guard I'd expect to be arrested under Section Two(at least), Non-Fatal Offences Act.

What is the difference between me throwing, for example, a glass bottle and a snowball at a member of the Gardai. In both cases I have knowingly aimed and fired a projectile at the person and both are going to impact on him/her.

If the PC did throw a snowball back at him she would have, likely in the times we are in now, found herself at the end of a police brutality/harassment claim and the guy would have had claims in against any authority figure he could find.

That's fair enough, but I presume if I go to the Gardaí and tell them that someone threw a snowball at me, they would take it equally seriously? Or are we operating different laws for different people? (well, we've already seen that with the Fianna Failure bailout for developers, but that's another story)

Overheal

Anybody see the Christmas episode of the Office last week? Snowballs are terrifying. They can traumatize people.

Did I fall asleep and wake up in Nazi Germany? This is a republic - nobody is above us.

Jesus Christ.

When you go to work you have a Superior; your elected officials, while elected by the people, are Superiors. In the same fashion Gardai are given legal powers beyond that of a citizen and should accordingly be treated with a modicum of respect. In all my years thats all it takes. Give them that and you will be given that same level of respect which then causes them to be just as respected as you. It's a subtle concept, but its worked for me. In doing this I've joked around and been joked around with a few beat cops.

I don't think I would have opened by hitting them with a snowball though

krudler

davetherave wrote: »

If I threw a friendly punch at a Guard I'd expect to be arrested under Section Two(at least), Non-Fatal Offences Act.

What is the difference between me throwing, for example, a glass bottle and a snowball at a member of the Gardai. In both cases I have knowingly aimed and fired a projectile at the person and both are going to impact on him/her.

If the PC did throw a snowball back at him she would have, likely in the times we are in now, found herself at the end of a police brutality/harassment claim and the guy would have had claims in against any authority figure he could find.

Seriously? a bottle and a snowball are comparable now? ones a deadly weapon ones just frozen water that disintrigates on impact, 4 year olds have snowball fights, if youre a guard thats going to be "impacted" by getting hit by a snowball you shouldnt be in the line of duty,simple as.

Sofa King Great

Look at the guy, he isn't some kid who threw the snowball at the police woman to engage in friendly banter. He clearly did it to antagonise the police woman.