Bit of a Caerfuffle at Caernarvon...

Seems a bit of overkill (sorry). Granted that flares can be dangerous but they are not firearms and 20-30 police must have denuded the rest of N Wales of law and order. When I was a lad (Harumph) the matter would have been sorted out by 2 Bobbies with night sticks.

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A few years ago a football supporter was killed in North Wales when someone fired a flare across the stadium so I guess that could be a reason for North Wales Police being a bit jumpy when flares are being fired off by a person of unsound mind.

I've got a shrewd idea of who this is but I'll check my facts thoroughly before saying anymore and landing myself at the wrong end of a libel case.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://"www.nwcc.info">North Wales Cruising Club</A>
 
I've just watched the local news which featured this so called incident and from what I saw it sounds like the police did get the wrong end of the stick. They thought the man had stolen the yacht and it turned out he was a co owner! There may be more to it yet though...

It reminds me of the man hunt for the guy who'd taken his family on holiday a couple of weeks ago and his subsequent arrest and release when he marched in to a police station to report the fact he wasn't missing. He was even reported as trying out a tent with the family in the back garden the week before he went missing.

Maybe police round here invent incidents to make their lives more interesting...

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://"www.nwcc.info">North Wales Cruising Club</A>
 
I shall fire one at a member of your family. I bet you would like an armed response team assembled then. A flare in the wrong hands IMO is a firearm.

Just my opinion.

What I do not understand, given limited information though, why didn't the lifeboats just peel off and leave him to it, or did the police commandeer them?

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If he really did fire a flare AT them then its an entirely apropriate response. . In fact, the response is a good example of a controlled containment without escalation. A flare Is a lethal weapon as has been said. Most countries would have taken him out as he stepped ashore or before even (if he did actualy fire it At them and it was not just incompetence - a guy I know fired one in distress and managed to just miss a fisherman on the pier! - Lack of familiarisation with his safety gear was the cause, - mind, it certainly attracted the attention of the fisherman! So I suppose it served purpose)

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What I find really strange is that the Holyhead lifeboatmen appeared to know nothing about the flares and the police response. In the interview they gave they said he apeared to be a competent yachtsman who did eveything they asked to the letter, used the VHF in a proffesional manner and was extremely polite and grateful.

Did the guy who nearly hit a fisherman on the pier get arrested by 20 police?


<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://"www.nwcc.info">North Wales Cruising Club</A>
 
Liverpool Daily Post reports some odd behaviour from him prior to setting out from Conwy (Including wanting to swim out to his yacht on its mooring) This was sufficient to raise local concern and report to coastguard who then informed Llandudno lifeboat. Also apparently he told Holyhead lifeboat crew it was his first time he had sailed. All seems a bit strange,possibly related to mental health issues.I agree it is very odd that holyhead lifeboat were not informed of his behaviour with theflares (which he was apparently firing off erratically throughout the trip.

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If the unfortunate guy HAS been detained under the mental act, as reported, then he must be quite ill. MHA detentions can only happen in fairly extreme cases nowadays when a person is regarded as a serious danger to himself or others, and then at least 2 doctors must agree to the detention. And even if a person is that ill, he can still sound quite normal and rational - some of the time.

But "Police disguised as Lifeboatmen...." whatever next?


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