Police condemned over fruit caution

12 April 2012

A pensioner has criticised police for wasting resources after he was issued with a caution for picking wild berries.

Keen jam-maker Ian Blayney, 67, found himself in a sticky situation after police tracked him down and accused him of theft after a fruit-picking trip in September.

Mr Blayney, from Aylburton Common, near Lydney in the Forest-of-Dean, got into bother while spending a relaxing day strolling down the Macclesfield canal in Cheshire.

The retired engineer, had paused briefly to pick some rowan berries from a bush so his wife Bette could make jelly to put on their Christmas dinner.

But as he filled a bag with the bright red berries, unsuspecting Mr Blayney was accosted by a caretaker from a nearby building who said the fruit couldn't be picked as it was growing on private land.

Following a row with the caretaker, Mr Blayney, his wife and two friends left the scene. But the caretaker reported Mr Blayney to the police, who tracked him down using CCTV images of his car.

Two months later he was questioned by officers and issued with a caution for theft.

Speaking from his home Mr Blayney said the episode had been a complete waste of police time. He said: "I couldn't quite believe it when the police came knocking at my door. I did initially think it was a joke but nevertheless I had to go to the station where I was questioned about the theft of rowan berries.

"I admitted it straightaway, because I didn't want any more time or resources wasted on this episode. I was only picking a few berries, I didn't even know I had done anything wrong, but the way I was treated I felt like a serious criminal.

"Surely the police have better things to do than waste hours and hours of time on something as trivial as this."

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