Assault with a cocktail sausage

A 12-year-old boy apparently got into an argument with an elderly neighbour, the youngster retaliated by throwing a cocktail sausage, which hit the pensioner on the shoulder.

Instead of simply giving him a severe ticking-off, two police officers arrested the terrified boy, put him in the back of a squad car and locked him up in a cell.

He was then hauled before a court and charged with common assault. A judge criticised police and lawyers yesterday for bringing the case, which has already cost thousands of pounds in taxpayers' money.

District Judge Tim Devas told the youth court where the boy appeared: "I was brought up in the era of Just William. You may not remember it but this incident sounds similar.

"Clearly there are certain things that should be done with a 12-year- old and you shouldn't be bringing them into the court system unless it's absolutely necessary. If he has done what was suggested it is very bad behaviour. But is it in the public interest to prosecute a 12-year-old boy who threw a sausage?"

He has urged the Crown Prosecution Service to reconsider whether to prosecute.

The alleged incident is said to have taken place on August 11 in Wythenshawe, Manchester, when Michael Deegan, 74, was walking home from a pub. He claims that after a disagreement the boy threw the cocktail sausage, which hit him on the shoulder.

The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons and pleaded not guilty, said: "It was only a small sausage from a picnic we'd been having. I shouldn't have done it but he was going on at me like he usually does so I just threw it."

His mother described the case as a 'ridiculous waste of time and money'. She said: "He was worried sick that he was going to be sent to prison. He was absolutely terrified. I am furious at the way the police over-reacted in the first place and was shocked when he was charged with assault and given a court date.
"My son has learning difficulties and attends a special needs school, so explaining this to him was not easy. He was panicking quite badly and I had to reassure him that he wouldn't go to jail."

Oliver Gardner, defending, said: "It's crazy - they are criminalising children.

"Where is the discretion or logic on the police's behalf when they charge a 12-year-old with assault with a cocktail sausage?