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Sculpture goes up in smoke
12:38pm Saturday 28th June 2008
Comments (31)
A COMMUNITY artwork created by school children has been torched.
Pupils at South Marston Primary School worked with artist Andy Frost to build the Carecrow sculpture at the Great Western Community Forest, at Oxleaze Wood.
But the pupils were devastated this week to hear that their hard work had been vandalised, when it was set alight on Wednesday night.
Head teacher Alison Lowe said: "It is really upsetting.
"They all really enjoyed working on making the Carecrow.
"It was such a great opportunity for them to get involved in creating something for their environment and now it has been destroyed.
"I know they will all be very upset about it.
"The children only recently made a podcast of a walk from the school down to Oxleaze Wood and back again, passing the Carecrow.
"It hasn't even gone onto the Great Western Community Forest website yet and it will have to be re-edited."
Community forest field officer Patrick Norris said: "I think it is quite heartbreaking what has happened for the children more than anything. Everyone at the school put their hearts and souls into the project.
"The whole community, mums, dads and everyone took part to interpret the artist's ideas.
"The sculpture was funded through a budget allocated to the Great Western Forest from the council.
"In total it could be around £20,000 worth of project work up in smoke."
Swindon rural south beat manager PC Tony Miles said: "This fire has been reported as arson.
"It is a wooden sculpture, but it has huge sentimental value, particularly to the children from South Marston school.
"It happened at about 10pm on Wednesday, June 25. It is a completely rural area, although there is a footpath.
"The police are investigating, but there are not likely to be a great deal of witnesses because of the secluded location."
Lucy Keating, 10, a pupil at South Marston Primary School, said: "I'm quite gutted really. I can still smell the smoke; it's all black and crumbly.
"We finished it last July and it took us weeks and weeks to make.
"We had a big school celebration with a cake and a picnic, it was fun.
"We all feel really sad now."
Rhianna Wichall, nine, another South Marston Primary School pupil, said: "I'm really upset.
"We spent a long time drawing pictures of it and making it. It looks horrible now. It looks like coal and you can still see drops of petrol on it."
Anyone with any information about how the Carecrow was destroyed should contact PC Miles on 08454087000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.
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Captain Sensible, Near Swindon says...
12:58pm Sat 28 Jun 08
who dat?, says...
1:37pm Sat 28 Jun 08
Funny , we never seem to get quotes from B'Anned Wagon or the Minister for Britishness in these stories!!
As for these :
WORDS FAIL ME!
A TEENAGE thief who broke into a village church three times to steal collection boxes has been forgiven by parish vicar the Rev Sally Wheeler
AND
HOW MUCH DOES THIS COST? WHY IS NOT HELD AT THE NICK?
Speeding course hits home hard
By Jeremy Grimaldi
"Option B serendipitously stated that by committing myself to a Speed Awareness Workshop I would be able to avoid three points on my licence, but would still have to pay £60 for the chance to spend three hours in a room learning about what a rubbish driver I am
When I arrived at the Hilton, in Lydiard Fields, and sat down in my seat I thought this programme would be dubious at best."
Donkey, Swindon says...
2:41pm Sat 28 Jun 08
These people who write on this angle are almost as boring as reading the farcical reports that crime is on the decline!
The unfortunate thing is that had the Conservatives been in power all this time, although we cannot compare like for like, the situation of wanton vandalism would still be similar ... sub-human nature is losing the command of knowing right from wrong, not just in the unlikely event of being caught, named and punished.
These days general respect through all walks of life have been eroded ... whether a Tory or Labour Government is in charge, it is people, society, which has lost it's way, and at the bottom of the pile comes these low-life types who have no respect for themselves nor the ones they are actually hurting so badly.
I shall get lambasted for not joining the bandwagon of Government bashers, Big Frontier Mc calls me 'the victim', and we all know that's cr@p ... far from it ... this ain't a political matter, it's a concern of common decency of the individual and not the 'daring, peer pressure evil acts' that accompany the bravado of, for example, a complete fool with a box of Swan Vestas!
Incidentally, Brown didn't light the match, he was at home cr@pping himself after the latest election result!
roy bezzant, swindon says...
4:05pm Sat 28 Jun 08
Dick-Turpin, Swindon says...
4:09pm Sat 28 Jun 08
Frontier(s), says...
4:27pm Sat 28 Jun 08
It amazes me that you continually claim that law and order is nothing whatsoever to do with the government, when, in reality, they are the ONLY organisation that's ultimately responsible.
In case you hadn't forgotten, it's illegal for normal citizens to take the law into their own hands.
Feral children born to feral and uncaring parents. What we are seeing now is the result of 11 years of social engineering and the outcome of a welfare state that funds and encourages the very type of erosion of respect that Donkey talks about.
Why would you care about anything or anyone when you know your housing is paid for, your money comes rolling in, you get whatever you demand whenever you want it and generally know that the rest of society scurries round trying to pick up the pieces of your actions and nobody will put you in prison?
Donkey, if you can't see that the way this country has declined over the past decade is largely due to ineffective government then you may as well keep voting for them, becauase you have clearly lost the ability of reason and rational thought.
firemansam, swindon says...
5:44pm Sat 28 Jun 08
SHEEPHEAD, SWINDON says...
5:50pm Sat 28 Jun 08
If there was a party that would improve things i would vote for them.None of the choices we have will sort it out.It needs a firm hand and real punishments.
The problem is the parents who are not bothered what their kids are doing.We should be taking the parents to court as well.Then flogging the lot of them.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
6:09pm Sat 28 Jun 08
PaulD, says...
6:29pm Sat 28 Jun 08
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
7:04pm Sat 28 Jun 08
waybackthen, sn25 says...
10:08pm Sat 28 Jun 08
waybackthen, sn25 says...
10:36pm Sat 28 Jun 08
A GINGER, South Marston says...
8:39am Sun 29 Jun 08
Now I realise that the society that we live in has deteriorated badly,but I still have a photograph of the sculpture ,right then boys and girls of South Marston School get designing the "PHOENIX" to replace "CARECROW"
Frontier(s), says...
12:03pm Sun 29 Jun 08
waybackthen wrote:It's not a secret.
One more thought before bedtime, have you ever asked your democraticly appointed MP, "Who appoints the police chiefs and the magistates and judges?, because it seems to me these are the people who dictate policy. Good night.
The government, via the Home Office, appoint the Lord Chief Justice (head of the courts) and all senior policemen.
Therefore it's the government that's ultimately in control of law and order - especially as they're the ones who create the laws in the first place.
As for why the Tories may do better, one good reason springs to mind: they have a policy to introduce minimum sentences for certain crimes, rather than the current maximum sentences.
The problem with maximum sentences is that they sound 'tough', until you realise that nobody ever gets the maximum sentences and that there's actually nothing to stop judges letting criminals off altogether, as they frequently do.
Minimum sentences will mean judges will be forced to punish criminals appropriately and will not be able to play social workers any longer.
Can't wait.
SHEEPHEAD, SWINDON says...
12:51pm Sun 29 Jun 08
This is a goverment problem but one which no party will cure with their soft policy's.Remember poverty creates crime and we have had, and will have more poverty under the the Tory's.
Frontier(s), says...
1:23pm Sun 29 Jun 08
The Brown took over, with Blair as the PR man, and look what happened: they enjoyed the good times (that had been gifted to them by the struggles the country HAD to go through under the Tories) and then squandered it all away on their lunatic social engineering programmes.
Look where we are now: unemployment actually higher than under the Tories (no, 4 million people on 'incapacity benefit' doesn't fool anyone), record public and government debt, schools and the NHS in collapse, law and order simply ignored, petrol prices (which is mostly tax) at their highest levels ever, mortgages virtually unobtainable... the list goes on.
I'm no fan of the Tories but you can't ignore history and they certainly can't be as bad as what we have currently.
Labour have been in power far too long. They are arrogant, deluded and incapable of running the country any longer.
Time to move aside and let somebody do the job properly.
SHEEPHEAD, SWINDON says...
2:23pm Sun 29 Jun 08
Back to the main point this is about the yob culture that has existed for a number of years.Remember Football yobs in the 70's,80's and 90's.Race riots in the 80's.Vandalism has been a problem for 40+ years.This has all got worse over the years through Tory and Labour control.Dont tell me any party today will sort it they wont.
What i say is a lot more strict.If the offenders are put straight into prison for a minimum of 1 year do it.If it is Refugees that cause it send the offenders back to where they come from.I woul be happy to pay more tax to make our steets safe for all.
As for the idiots that keep smashing bus stops up lets all go around and smash their houses up.
Frontier(s), says...
2:38pm Sun 29 Jun 08
Yob culture has always existing, yes, but did you know that in 1996 there was not one single under-18 year old stabbed to death in London? Last year there were 25, and this year will see even more.
Yob culture has always been around but there's no doubt at all that it's now far worse and more violent than ever before.
And interest rates will not suddenly rise to 15% just because the Tories gain power. Interest rates have little to do with governments, even less now that the Bank of England set them.
While interest rates in the US and Europe remain relatively low, they'll remain so here also.
And the only reason people can 'afford' more now is down to debt, pure and simple. It currently runs as an average of 173% of annual salaries for every single family in this country. That's the only reason the vast majority of people can 'afford' things.
Personal and national debt was not even remotely comparable under the Tories.
Blair and Brown built their three election wins on debt... and now it's come back to haunt Brown. It was only ever a matter of time.
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
3:02pm Sun 29 Jun 08
waybackthen wrote:Hmmm thought provoking way back then...
You're right mum (is the word) as usual. I was a kid once in Walcot of all places. we had behavior parameters which we always tried to stretch, and we did. So it will go on, kids being an extention of their parents will go one step further, but in which direction, who knows?
Mine are forever testing boundaries and trying their luck! Sadly for them, I do not chose to ignore it and step on it. I am "mean mum" and don't care lol.
Regarding appointments of senior judges etc, do they appoint out of obligation, or because it makes good sense to appoint such a person in that role? Seems to me there are too many favours up there.
I think we need some real people, who live in the real world at the top of the chain. Instead of these upper class ignorants who don't have a bloody clue. Labour seems to have as many of these now as the conservatives do.
Frontier(s), says...
3:16pm Sun 29 Jun 08
It's very easy to believe that all criminals are poor unfortunates that just need a guiding hand when you've got millions in the bank and have personal security and CCTV protecting your home and family.
Only last week we had a Labour MP telling everyone they 'shouldn't be so miserable'. That they said that as unemployment continues to rise and living costs now far outstrip pay rises just shows how out of touch they really are.
mumstheword: judges are appointed in England by the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).
Of course, this organisation is put together and funded by the government...
Until we move to a system of locally elected judges and police chiefs, nothing will improve because there is absolutely zero accountability at the moment.
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
3:57pm Sun 29 Jun 08
Until we move to a system of locally elected judges and police chiefs, nothing will improve because there is absolutely zero accountability at the moment."
I quite like that idea, who would people vote for in Swindon?
I quite fancy my local councillor Mavis Childs as a judge, she makes good sense,lives in the real world and has spent many years living in our town. Hmmm... Andrea from the Dome would be a good judge too. The kids would not dare re offend, she is way too scary to be up against lol! Of course I think Robert Buckland would be an excellent judge, a man of sound mind. Come on, who do you know in Swindon who would be good in these roles?
Oh dear me! What was this thread about?! Mechanics! Sorry we are talking politics here and I have gone way off track. Plead insanity?!
Frontier(s), says...
4:58pm Sun 29 Jun 08
At the moment a judge can release a criminal, watch that criminal go on to kill someone within days and NOTHING comes of it. The judges are never, ever held responsible for any decision they make.
On the odd occasion there are appeals over sentencing but they're few and far between.
My belief is that we would see far harsher sentencing for so called 'minor' crimes if we moved to accountable/elected judges. This, in turn, would soon see a reduction in all crimes.
It's not rocket science. In every experiment, from New York to Liverpool, zero tolerance and stiff sentencing have proven to reduce crime.
As it stands, we are ALL responsible for the current rising levels of crime because we keep voting in a government who have done nothing, whatsoever, to tackle the problem over the past decade.
In fact, their only response over the last few years has been to instruct courts to jail even less criminals because they've forgotten we paid them huge sums of tax with which to build prisons - which they used to prop up other areas of the economy and so have run out of prisons spaces.
The word 'hopeless' doesn't even come close to describing the situation.
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
5:37pm Sun 29 Jun 08
At the moment a judge can release a criminal, watch that criminal go on to kill someone within days and NOTHING comes of it. The judges are never, ever held responsible for any decision they make.
How accountable should they be do you think? Judges are only human and would make mistakes occasionally. It happens in the medical profession. Would it get to the stage like it has with doctors and nurses where they simply cannot always do their job properly for fear of being sued by victim or criminal?
Political correctness and sue culture don't work in my opinion, how would we get around this with elected judges?
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
6:08pm Sun 29 Jun 08
My answer is yes I think they would, but only as a temporary fix. Elected judges would mean more people in prison which would therefore reduce crime rates. But, it has been proven that the longer somebody is in prison and the more times, the less likely it is that they will break the pattern of crime and more likely they are to repeat offend. So swings and roundabouts. However, I take on board your point of accountability. I am still pondering this one and will be for a while.
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
8:22pm Sun 29 Jun 08
yeti, swindon says...
10:01pm Sun 29 Jun 08
dont do crime then no problem.cause misery and trouble, then they should be given a lethal injection.
Frontier(s), says...
10:16pm Sun 29 Jun 08
A person who has been to prison should never want to go back. In fact, they should be less likely to break the law again than somebody who has never been to prison.
But, what happens? Prisons are made so pleasant that for many people it's actually quite a nice option to their outside lives.
Until prisons are made to be places that people never, ever wish to go back to we will NEVER break the circle of crime no matter who the judges are.
Whilst people are pretty much happy to return to prison, it's not a deterrent and therefore can only serve the purpose of preventing further crime by removing criminals from society.
How accountable should judges be? Well, I believe that when they release, or bail, criminals who then go on to commit murder or rape within mere days of being released - they should lose their jobs.
We cannot allow judges to risk normal people's lives just so that they can play social worker. And don't fall for that other left-wing trick about 'rehabilitation'
The only one person who ever gets anything out of rehabilitation is the individual criminal themselves - and it's worrying about them, rather than the victim, that's got us into the mess we're currently enduring.
This country is already overpopulated - and it's getting worse. We really do not have any societal need to rehabilitate serial serious criminals (not that they ever truly can be rehabilitated IMO).
Mumstheword, Walcot says...
10:30pm Sun 29 Jun 08
I totally agree. Let's make prisons an unpleasant place, sod the human rights bill! I agree with you there.
Frontier(s), says...
11:32am Mon 30 Jun 08
At the moment, a judge can release ANYONE on bail and parole boards can use their 'expert' skills to decide when to release convicted serious criminals.
They will claim to believe the person won't re-offend.
When that person does re-offend, they simply shrug their shoulders and that's that.
Now, what I am proposing is much, much fairer.
Let's have a situation where if a criminal let off by a judge, or let out by a parole board, goes on to commit the same serious crime again within one year of them being released, the judge and parole board responsible should lose their jobs.
Now, what's interesting with that is that you can bet your last penny that judges and parole officers will shriek, 'But how can we know if they'll re-offend? It's not fair'
Well, that's my whole point. If they can't be sure and aren't willing to gamble with their own jobs - why the hell should they be allowed to gamble with other people's lives?
The irony is that their very reasoning for why this shouldn't become law is the very reason it should become law!
Reanna Wichell, foreground, with fellow pupils and community forest field officer Patrick Norris at the site of the sculpture
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WTF?, Swindon says...
12:47pm Sat 28 Jun 08
When are the police going to get a grip and, more to the point, when is this pandering to criminals by the courts and government ever going to end?
The disastrous experiment has FAILED. You do not stop crime by getting into bed with criminals!
Zero tolerance now seems the only way that we might ever be able to pull this country back to something approaching an acceptable state.
Of course, with the current criminal lovers in government it'll never happen, even though they keep increasing our taxes in order to 'protect' us.
Why are we continuing to allow criminals to run riot? The rest of society suffers whilst the worthless scum simply do as they please.