What could I have done ?

DanTribe

DanTribe

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 Jan 2002
Messages
5,675
Location
Essex
Visit site
I was sleeping aboard on a swinging mooring with the hatches open and was woken at dawn by people talking. I saw two people paddling a dinghy and thought perhaps they were making an early start and had lost their rowlocks. After a few minutes they paddled to the next yacht and I heard one say " perhaps this ones got a radio". I phoned 999 and kept watching until they went to a 3rd yacht. I didn't think the police would arrive very soon and didn't want to let them continue, so I rowed over to them. They saw me coming and we had a sort of Benny Hill chase but I soon caught them and asked what they were up to etc.
During this interview it dawned on me that I'm on my own, in the middle of the river at 4 am with two hostile youths. I took their photo, which they were not pleased about, and told them to follow me to a jetty to wait for the police. This they declined to do!
I thought about a citizens arrest but I've no idea what that really means.
What should I have done?
The police arrived surprisingly quickly and if I'd known I may have tried to hang onto them a bit longer.
 
Not much more than you did to be honest. Unless you're John McLane or Rambo on the quiet.

You did your best and by the sounds of it got a pic of them so it's down to the Police now.

It would of been very easy for the two lads to have you out of your dinghy etc.

Good on you for trying though.

EDIT - Where abouts was this? I've alreadly had some conversations with the Police over some stuff on the Blackwater.
 
You done it dead right. Well done. Don't think you should have tried to detain them - in fact you probably did not have any 'right' to make an arrest. Your 'invitation' to them to accompany you to a jetty was fine and the limit of what you could and should have done. Presence of mind to take a camera/phone with you was brilliant.

I'm giving you 10 out of 10.
 
Dan, if it wasn't so serious, it would be comic.
Last time we had someone raking the boats on mooring at Rice and Coles, they pinched my Canary Yellow dinghy to do the raiding in, rather than an anonymous white blob. Dinghy recovered, fingerprints taken, perps get their collar felt.

I hope they get caught.
 
I think you are INCREDIBLY brave.

When you hear of people being stabbed to death for trying to protect their own car from theft or vandalism I think you are borderline bonkers to intervene when someone else's radio is being eyed-up.

Calling the police and taking the photo more than fulfilled your civic duty in my view. I would have done this very quietly hoping not to be seen or heard.

Don't get me wrong, I admire what you did and am pleased it all went as well as it did. But there are some reall nutters out there and it might have gone horribly wrong.

Thankfully it didn't, you're safe and your neighbour still has his radio.
 
Kudos to you. We were boarded by a couple of youths during the night in Tidemill yacht Harbour, I hadn't the guts to follow them once they'd jumped off the boat. Think you did the right thing.
 
Well Done, but what a pity they didn't climb aboard one of the boats, you could have nicked their dinghy!!

Where were you??
 
Last edited:
Excellent stuff! As has already been said, what a shame that the little scrotes weren't actually on board a boat and you could have taken the dinghy away...still hopefully a positive outcome with the photo ID!!

Where did this happen?
 
Well Done Dan

Malcolm told me on Saturday morning there had been some kids trying to break into yachts during the night.. I didnt realised that you had foiled their cunning plan....

I did foolishly leave a spinnaker snatchblocks on the rail and noticed one was gone when I tried to put up the cruising chute en route to the Orwell on Saturday...Maybe that was too tempting for them and they grabbed it as they passed Vamoose. If you hear from the Police that they have the miscreants banged up, and they have recovered the swag can you let me know as there might be a snatchblock of mine amongst it.

Well Done You..
 
Vamoose said:
Malcolm told me on Saturday morning there had been some kids trying to break into yachts during the night.. I didnt realised that you had foiled their cunning plan....

I did foolishly leave a spinnaker snatchblocks on the rail and noticed one was gone when I tried to put up the cruising chute en route to the Orwell on Saturday...Maybe that was too tempting for them and they grabbed it as they passed Vamoose. If you hear from the Police that they have the miscreants banged up, and they have recovered the swag can you let me know as there might be a snatchblock of mine amongst it.

Well Done You..
Click to expand...

Can we divulge where this is? I think it would be useful for folk to know.
 
Thanks for all the re-assurances.
Lets keep this in proportion, it wasn't a major crime syndicate, more like a couple of lads on a spree.
I did think afterwards that I might have been a bit hasty chasing them but I wasn't at my sharpest at that time in the morning.
The police may be going to investigate this so I won't give exact location but it's the river Crouch.
 
Well done, Dan. There's not much more you could have done.

There's no such thing as a 'citizens arrest' Everyone has the power to arrest anyone who is committing or has committed an arrestable offence and to use 'reasonable force' (a subjective test) to do so. The police have additional powers to arrest someone who is about to commit an arrestable offence and to arrest on suspicion.

Seeing as there is no evidence to say that these youths had or were committing an offence you couldn't have arrested them anyway. Yes, I know it's obvious what they were up to but knowing and proving are two entirely different things. That's the rules.

Maybe if you'd cought them in the act of breaking into the boat but is it fair to let someones boat get damaged?

BTW, which end of the Crouch? I had a dinghy nicked of my mooring at Hullbridge a couple of years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top