Saturday 6 December 2008

Cambridgeshire Paper Boys Are Spies!

yes you have read it correctly! Cambridgeshire County Council used the controversial Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) to spy on eight paperboys thought to be working without permits. It sent undercover council officers to lurk outside a Spar in the village of Melbourn and take notes on the movements of the boys. The evidence was used in a criminal prosecution of the shop's owners for employing five of the boys without the correct documentation, the result? due to a paperwork mix up the shops owners Mr. and Mrs. Solankis were found guilty of failing to comply with a bylaw and now have a criminal record. They were given a six-month conditional discharge. All the boys concerned were between 13 and 16. Other than not having the correct paperwork, they were working legally, in other words the boys were not being exploited but working within all laid down guidelines, it is warm comforting feeling that if you are a resident of Cambridgeshire your council is so flush with money it can employ an army of Stasi, the East German secret police to make sure you get your papers on time, when a bit of common sense would have been just as effective!

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