Pilot's daughter accused of assaulting youths

Kyt · Jul 8, 2008

Fighter pilot's daughter accused of assaulting youths - Telegraph

The daughter of a WWII fighter pilot has gone on trial accused of assault after tackling a group of 15 youths she believed had vandalised a war memorial.

Julie Lake, 50, claimed she was attempting a citizens' arrest when she grabbed one boy by the neck, threw another's BMX bike across the road and then punched a boy in the stomach, a court heard.

Magistrates heard four youngsters had deliberately ridden their bikes through newly-laid pansies at the memorial, which had been the target for vandals for several months, before yelling at Mrs Lake to provoke her.

The court heard a group of jeering youngsters gathered round her, threatening to kill her dog and shoot her husband before she struck out.

The 15-year-old boy who Mrs Lake grabbed by the neck told a court she grabbed him from behind outside a Tesco supermarket and told him he was a "dead man".

"I was sat on the bike facing across the road and from behind she grabbed me," said the boy, who denied causing any damage to the memorial. "She had her hands on my shoulder. I then turned round to see who it was, and she grabbed me round the collar, round my neck.

"I walked round a car and she started to follow me. I asked her what she was doing. She said I was a dead man and a marked man. She was quite aggressive and she was shouting."

He said Mrs Lake then picked up his friend's orange BMX, which he was watching as its owner shopped in the supermarket.

He said: "She picked it up quite high and she said something on the lines of 'see how you like having your stuff vandalised' but not those exact words."

Appearing by video link, he told North Avon magistrates' court that Mrs Lake, who accused him of riding his bike through flowerbed at the memorial, had "got the wrong person" and although he admitted the war memorial meant little to him, he said: "I wouldn't damage it, it's disrespectful."

He denied Mrs Lake was attempting a citizen's arrest, adding: "She didn't try to arrest me, she attacked me."

Mrs Lake, who was defended by the celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman, known as Mr Loophole, and supported by 30 British Legion members at court, denies two charges of assault, one of criminal damage and one public order offence last December near the remembrance cross in Mangotsfield, near Bristol.

Mr Freeman said it was the yobs, and not Mrs Lake, who should be punished and that they had found the altercation "highly entertaining".

He claimed that on the day the youth she grabbed round the neck had seen Mrs Lake get out of her car, ridden through the flowers and shouted "How do you like that? What are you going to do about it?"

He claimed the youths crowded round her, threatened to kill her dog and even shoot her husband.

The prosecution allege that the boys Mrs Lake assaulted were not the ones cycling through the flowerbeds.

Mrs Lake's grandfather, James Byrne, was an infantryman killed, aged 29, in the Western Front trenches of France during the First World War.

Her father William Byrne was an RAF pilot in World War II, and her husband Peter, 63, a retired airman.

The trial continues.
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Ferhilt · Jul 8, 2008

There are so many kids who have grown up with little respect for anything... I've had to clean graffiti off the telephone box next to my driveway several times in the last 2 weeks...

Kyt · Jul 10, 2008

Found Guilty

Daughter of WWII pilot convicted of assault after reprimanding teenager who 'vandalised war memorial' | Mail Online

The daughter of a Second World War RAF pilot who reprimanded a teenager who she accused of vandalising a war memorial has been convicted of assault

Julie Lake, 50, believed the 15-year-old was one of a number of youths who had damaged the remembrance garden in her village dedicated to those killed fighting for Britain.

But Mrs Lake was arrested after giving a boy, whom she believed to be the ringleader, a talking-to and a 'cuff round the ear'.

She tackled him after she saw at least one youth riding a BMX bike through freshly-laid flower beds.

Magistrates heard that when she grabbed his shirt collar, he said: 'That's assault'.

Mrs Lake claimed she was performing a 'moral obligation' following months of anti-social behaviour and vandalism at the memorial.

But weeks later she was arrested and yesterday was convicted of assault, criminal damage and a public order offence at North Avon Magistrates Court in Yate, near Bristol.

She was cleared of punching a 14-year-old in the stomach during the fracas.
Sentencing Mrs Lake to a 12-month conditional discharge, District judge David Parsons said she had shown a 'complete lack of self-control'.

She was found guilty of criminal damage for angrily throwing a bicycle belonging to one of the youths into the road, and shouting: 'Now you know what it feels like to have your property damaged'.

The judge rejected her claim the she was trying to perform a citizen's arrest and ordered her to pay £400 towards costs.

He said: 'I'm sure that having seen the damage to the flower beds, you simply lost your temper.

'I can understand you lost it, particularly because of your family relations in the war, and it is hardly surprising that you did.

'You reacted spontaneously, without thought for the consequences.

'You confronted the child with no plan in mind. The throwing of a bike into the road shows a complete loss of self-control, not the actions of someone executing a citizen's arrest.'

Before her arrest, Mrs Lake said she had become frustrated by youths vandalising the garden in Mangotsfield, Bristol.

She said: 'The memorial is a sacred place - it's like a grave. How dare these youngsters tarnish the memories of those who made a sacrifice for future generations?

'I've called the police and I've tried to talk to these kids but I've got nowhere.

'I lost my temper in frustration after two years of trying to get something done and immediately the police are after me. It's ridiculous.'

Mrs Lake's grandfather James Byrne was an infantryman who was killed, aged 29, in the Western Front trenches of France during the First World War

Her father William Byrne was an RAF pilot in World War II, and Julie's husband Peter, 63, a retired airman, also lost his grandfather in the 1914-18 war.

The trial - estimated to have cost taxpayers more than £100,000 - earlier heard how Mrs Lake was surrounded by up to 25 jeering youths by the memorial at the end of last year.

She told how the gang surrounded her, pushed her and shouted: 'You can't touch us, we're 15, we can do what the f*** we like.'

When the 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was questioned in court about the war memorial, he replied: ''It means nothing to me, I guess it's for some people who died in the war.'

Mrs Lake said after the hearing: 'I did this for millions of men and women like my grandfather, for whom a war memorial is the only grave they have.

'I did what I did because I believe it was my moral obligation to stand up for those men and women following years of vandalism at the memorial.

'I would like to say thanks for all the support I've received over the past few months which has meant so much to me.'

Lawyer Nick Freeman - known as Mr Loophole after he successfully had a number of celebrities cleared of driving offences - defended Mrs Lake for free following a massive public outcry when she was arrested after the incident.

Speaking outside court, he said: 'The authorities have been inundated with complaints from local residents and it is perverse and ironic that the only person arrested, charged and convicted is the one person who has tended the memorial over this period.

'This is consistent with a small minority of youths who are lawless and have no respect for others, for authority or for property.

'I don't feel that common sense has prevailed and that the protagonists who are responsible for the damage have yet to be questioned about their conduct.'

Members of the Royal British Region were in court to support married Mrs Lake during the four-day trial.

Former serviceman Reg Hall, 78, said: 'It's disgusting that the vandalism has been going on at the memorial for eight years and nobody has stopped it.

'Julie is a hero for trying to take a stand. We are all proud of her.'
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John · Jul 10, 2008

Three Cheers for Julie. It also shows that the LAW can be a pain in the butt sometimes.

:clapping::clapping:

Antipodean Andy · Jul 13, 2008

Not so tough now are they, the little baskets?

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