Merseyside Fire and Rescue service were called to Bedford Park last night after reports of a large fire.

They arrived to find the old sports pavilion well alight. The building was totally destroyed in the blaze. Arson is suspected as a group of youths were seen in the vicinity before the fire started.

Anyone with information is asked to call Merseyside Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Bedford Park fire remains pic.twitter.com/FuGH4LP2Mt

— Roving-eye (@rovingsouthport) April 19, 2018

There should be a curfew on all youngsters under the age of 18.

Mobile phones should be confiscated from them.

Anyone out after a certain time should be made to do community service at weekends.

Bring back the stocks so we can throw things at the little *******s.

Ahh kids in the park climbing trees and flying kites in total safety and without a care in the world playing 9 hole putting golf at dusk while the old duffers and children seriously competed together on one of the towns finest kept crown green bowling pitches before it got too dark to see the way to the local bustling pub at the entrance that had the swings and slides where the parents would nip in for an hour leaving us children playing outside with crisps and lemonade.
With the park keepers hut and the workshop/storage area having that special smell of wooden sheds with petrol lawnmowers in them that still had fresh cut grass on the blades where you could buy a ticket to play tennis on any of the well maintained courts within the special netted area. Another entrance of the park boasted a park keepers house overlooking a fantastic busy nursery for new mums and toddlers all within the proud park that started out as sand dunes, I only have to close my eyes and look over my shoulder to see Big ears the parky frantically peddling after us on his sit up and beg bicycle chasing us kids off the hill shouting "I know who you all are, I know your parents", and he did, everyone knew everyone.

Anyway its all gone now.

Great times Mick sadly missed

Why are some Kids so destructive nowadays?

Is it lack of discipline at home and at school?

Originally Posted by pedoja

Why are some Kids so destructive nowadays?

Is it lack of discipline at home and at school?

Yep and no fear of any consequences in the unlikely event of being caught.
I wonder how many people who saw youths in the area have contacted the police with descriptions.

"But we've got no facilities..." We need the birch, borstal and National Service.

Originally Posted by pedoja

Why are some Kids so destructive nowadays?

Is it lack of discipline at home and at school?

It was areas like this that gave everyone something to do, somewhere to push a pram to or for kids to meet friends and make new friends, there were more daisies in the grass and the crossbars on the goalposts were higher ( I was about 7 or 8 then and they must have lowered the crossbars in the last 50 yrs as I can reach them now ) and the mysteries of the white dog poo to ponder. Time and again I see the phrase community centre whether it be to do with a fire station or church or some other boring location where I imagine old ladies sit in chairs and play cards or look out of the window while they keep warm for the day. The real local community centre was the Portland hotel where at some point in the week and especially weekends most of the actual community would appear and bond together for business or pleasure or both. There were pigeon clubs, darts and dominoes teams, raffles, sales days, pool tables, Christmas clubs, coach trips out and lock ins after the partygoers have left the function rooms upstairs. I have never seen a place so packed at Christmas or new years eve, maybe it was the free whiskey or sherry on the door or there were more people then than now but a true community centre in all respects across the board that place was. The bell has gone, put another half in this glass and get it from the vaults its pennies cheaper, ill just have time to drink it before the pub closes for a couple of hours and wander the walk home across the park.

The area was well planned and functioned well for people of all ages, little did we know at the time that we were living in a true community with a real centre to it.

The answer seems quite simple to me...

If a child under 18 is caught breaking the law one or both parents are charged as if it was them..

I think we would see a sudden improvement in parental control and accountability...

After all if your dog bites someone they don't take the dog to court...

Thinking about it repeat offenders are 'put to sleep'....I will go with that analogy ....win win...

Originally Posted by candid camera

There should be a curfew on all youngsters under the age of 18.

Mobile phones should be confiscated from them.

Anyone out after a certain time should be made to do community service at weekends.

Bring back the stocks so we can throw things at the little *******s.

The parents are as bad as them. There not bothered what there up to as long as there not at home.

Originally Posted by roughjustice

The answer seems quite simple to me...

If a child under 18 is caught breaking the law one or both parents are charged as if it was them..

I think we would see a sudden improvement in parental control and accountability...

After all if your dog bites someone they don't take the dog to court...

Thinking about it repeat offenders are 'put to sleep'....I will go with that analogy ....win win...

That is an excellent idea, there is a general lack of discipline in the home and the abysmal parenting skills of some “parents” who mainly come from broken and dysfunctional homes themselves creates this problem. Additionally there is no effective punishment for vandalism.

Nobody seems to care anymore. Ages ago I saw some youths breaking into a property in Ainsdale. I called the police and then videoed the youths. The police came but the owner decided not to press charges do the police tried to follow where they had darted off to to have a word but they'd long gone.
I then uploaded the video onto the forum here but because I'd put an exclamation mark in the title no-one could read the post.
I did ask admin to correct this so that others could see the video and hopefully identify the culprits but that didn't happen either.
These kids will continue and their crimes will get worse as proven here while no-one seems to stand up to them.
My original post was under the heading feral rats if anyone at Qlocal HQ can be arsed.

Their parents are probably the ones who burnt down the old Bedford Park nursery 25 years ago. Vulnerable buildings have attracted vandalism for decades. Schools used to bear the brunt but have vastly improved their security in the last couple of decades.

Originally Posted by roughjustice

The answer seems quite simple to me...

If a child under 18 is caught breaking the law one or both parents are charged as if it was them..

I think we would see a sudden improvement in parental control and accountability...

After all if your dog bites someone they don't take the dog to court...

Thinking about it repeat offenders are 'put to sleep'....I will go with that analogy ....win win...

Totally agree, I have thought about this for a while now and have come to the conclusion that both the kids and their parents should be tagged and a curfew put on them. Their parents would soon sort them out if they couldn't got to the pub when they wanted.

Originally Posted by salus.populi

Their parents are probably the ones who burnt down the old Bedford Park nursery 25 years ago. Vulnerable buildings have attracted vandalism for decades. Schools used to bear the brunt but have vastly improved their security in the last couple of decades.

The big difference between now and days gone by is this -

Now - get told not to be naughty boys by the Police on at least two occasions then, be brought before the Court and given a Referral Order. This involves sitting in front of a panel of three doddery old people and be told off again, ordered to write a letter of apology whilst signing up to some sessions of 'talking about your problems'. After that be brought before the Court again and be given a Community Punishment Order. This one is a killer - this involves lounging about with your chums in a hi-viz vest for several hours a week. After that be brought before the Court, again, and given more hours to lounge about in a hi-viz vest. I think the system then either - imposes a fine which will never bew paid or - just throws up it's collective hands and says sod it!

Then - told off once by the Police after which, be brought before the Court and given a hefty fine that had to be paid. After that - brought before the Court and given a custodial sentence in a Detention Centre for either three or six months - these were run with harsh military discipline and involved compulsory PT, work and education. If the lesson had still not been learnt then Borstal was the next stop. This was another custodial sentence of between nine months and two years - again run with military discipline involving work, PT and education.

The question is - present these two scenarios to the 'young rascals' and which do you suspect would have a deterrent effect and which would have them rolling in the aisles with laughter, hardly able to believe their luck?

Even if the short, sharp, shock treatment didn't work on a few - at least they were safely tucked up away from decent folk whilst being prepared for a career of recidivism.