Prosecution for calling a lifeboat?

It's just a little bit more complex . They were apparently in breach of the Covid Regulations, and it may have been thought that this charge might stick.....

Police said they had travelled more than 60 miles from their Glasgow home to climb the mountain, south of Crianlarich. Current Scottish Government regulations limit journeys for exercise to a person’s local area, with guidance of five miles.
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pair-charged-after-being-rescued-from-beinn-a-chroin-following-60-mile-drive
 
I think we will find the police called their conduct culpable and reckless, but they are being charged with lockdown offences, nothing else.
I have run up there in trainers and shorts before, it's a piece of piss. You do not get arrested for being inadequately prepared or esxperienced, and the met teams are ALL volunteers. They can say naa, not going if they chose.
 
Greemble said:
I can see how it might be considered that their behaviour would put their rescuer in danger too.
However, such a prosecution will also deter people from calling for help when they need it.
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It seems to me - from press reports - that Mountain Rescue Teams are often willing to criticise on the record those they rescue, whil ethe RNLI never seem to do that. Perhaps witnesses from the MRT will add beef to the prosecution case.

I know a retired member of a cave rescue team in England. They seem to be even more ready to speak bluntly. On at least one occasion three trapped cavers were made to recite "We have been very silly little boys" to the entire rescue team before they were taken out.
zoidberg said:
It's just a little bit more complex . They were apparently in breach of the Covid Regulations, and it may have been thought that this charge might stick.....
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Yes. It's interesting that they aren't being charged under the COVID-19 laws. I posted in haste - my interest is really in whether this might give the police (and the CG?) a taste for prosecution. I have mixed feelings about that - as Greemble says it might deter calling for help but it might also deter some of the wazzocks from going out and then needing to call for help in the first place.
 
JumbleDuck said:
It seems to me - from press reports...
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...and we know how deeply informative & accurate they are. :p

But yes, the Mountain Rescue does have a reputation for saying exactly what they think of those they have to fetch - and usually in no uncertain terms.
I often think some join the MRT just for the fun of being able to complain about the wazzocks.

Not that I blame them, really.

Disclaimer: I once considered joining the Waveney Valley Mountain Rescue Team, but decided that they were taking it all far too seriously for my liking.
 
elton said:
No one ventures out with the intention of needing rescue. Everyone makes mistakes, with hindsight. So I don't believe anyone should be prosecuted for requiring recue. Also, a rescue that makes the news, is often a lesson for many others, and it's practical exercise for the rescue services.
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Exactly.
You can have something go wrong anywhere.
I don't know the nature of difficulty these people got into, but anyone can trip and twist an ankle or something. Anytime, anywhere.
I know someone who'd done some fairly serious climbing in his time, eventually broke his leg tripping over something in a health centre car park.

The flip side is that sometimes people should just admit they've done something silly which has contributed to their bad luck and just pay the fine and move on.
 
I think it is a deliberate charge, designed to make a point, politically influenced. The time frame sits at the height of Police Scotland’s exasperation at the volume of people in the National Park and surrounding areas. The Covid noise in Scotland, as demonstrated by Flying Goose, is all about how staying local is just advice and the police have no power to stop people going further. Hence, this charge makes a point that stupidity at this time will not be tolerated.

I don’t think it will translate into charges for “recklessly floating on a li-lo”. But who knows in these crazy times
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
I think it is a deliberate charge, designed to make a point, politically influenced. The time frame sits at the height of Police Scotland’s exasperation at the volume of people in the National Park and surrounding areas. The Covid noise in Scotland, as demonstrated by Flying Goose, is all about how staying local is just advice and the police have no power to stop people going further. Hence, this charge makes a point that stupidity at this time will not be tolerated.

I don’t think it will translate into charges for “recklessly floating on a li-lo”. But who knows in these crazy times
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This is a political point.

There is no distance law in Scotland at the moment. There IS guidance of 5 miles. The FM has talked of introducing a legal distance limit.

This is a shot across the bows to get people to stay local. If they don't and they continue to travel larger distances in larger numbers then there may well be a legal distance introduced in law.

What seems to have angered the FM is people flocking to "beauty spots" in large numbers. This one was just an easy target to make the political point that if you travel further you put people at risk. But it fails on that point because if the person had lived witin 5 miles of this "mountain" they still would have needed help but there would have been no prosecution.

Just all be careful. IF you choose to travel don't go somewhere crowded, or if you get there and it is expectantly crowded, go somewhere else.

If we are all sensible, don't go further than we have to, and don't gather in crowds we might get away without a legal distance limit.
 
would have been better to prosecute the fish murderers who left their trash strewn on the banks of the loch ( not so easy for plod tho , so they take the easy option ,, nothing new there )
 
Quandary said:
No need to risk the hills or even the ocean, get in the car head to Crow Road and join the queue then if you get your big mac before sunset you can head for Ikea and stand outside for the rest of the day.
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would that be " the " Crow Road , Lennoxtown or Crow Road , Jordanhill ?
 
LittleSister said:
Like perpetual motion and time travel, scientists haven't yet worked out how to deter wazzocks.
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The trouble with deterring, and a few on here would seem to prefer exterminating, wazzocks is that they're rather common.

Hands up those who've never been a wazzock. Just because you got away with it doesn't mean you weren't.

You with your hand up. You're a liar. Or worse, a Dunning Kruger wazzock.
 
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