'I don't regret painting Ainslie post box' (From Daily Echo)

commonsence wrote:
Ben was not born in Cornwall. Just goolged it and he was born in macclesfied Lanc. Report wrong !

killthrill wrote:
DOUBLE STANDARDS..IT'S OK FOR BANKSY?.

hulla baloo wrote:
Maybe I will come and paint his front door gold, see how he likes that.

insane saint wrote:
let him off and leave it gold. celebrate the Olympics and the best we can do is arrest someone who supports out boys and girls.

On the inside wrote:
"The owner of the Haven Cafe, Bar and Bistro in Lymington"

"Having bought two cans of spray paint earlier that day"

"He was driving home from work at around 1.30am when he drove past the post box and decided it was the right thing to do .."

He does not deserve much of a punishment but lets not pretend he acted on impulse. This was a premeditated act which has promoted his business. If he gets a £50 fine it will be the cheapest advertising he has had in years.

TheJoiners wrote:
Lock him up and throw away the key. This man is a menace and a danger to all Post Boxes in the south. If he ever gets out i hope hes put on the Letterbox Offenders list and if he ever touches another PO Box he is hung

acid drop wrote:

insane saint wrote:
let him off and leave it gold. celebrate the Olympics and the best we can do is arrest someone who supports out boys and girls.

and lymington police go and do some real policing, try catcghing burglars and muggers instead , oh i forgot a man painting a post box is easier to catch

Waiting wrote:
Nice gesture, but i'll bet his suppliers wish he had used the money to buy the paint to pay them!

vpharm wrote:
I wish the police were as enthusiastic at catching criminals who vandalise my land & who steal my goods.
As usual Lymington police want to collar the easy jobs & ignore major crime like thefts.
I stood on a man trap set by a criminal & SGT MASON said I was wasting his time when I called the police on the phone!
The problem is the likes of inspector JACKSON who cannot be bothered to free up resources to tackle REAL CRIME like thefts, assault etc!
Come on Hampshire police tackle serious crimes & NOT people who are patriotic!

A few years ago a DRUNK driver crashed into my motorcycle in new Milton in a public lay by. & the police refused to come out as they said it was a lay by & therefore refused to help! I think drink driving & leaving the scene of a crash is far more serious than a GOOD PAIN JOB on a post box!
Top man who painted the post box!

thankfully not a PO postcode wrote:
so they can immediately find someone who harmlessly paints a postbox but take days and four searches of a house to find a dead child ........ brilliant policing !!!!!

sarfhamton wrote:

TheJoiners wrote:
Lock him up and throw away the key. This man is a menace and a danger to all Post Boxes in the south. If he ever gets out i hope hes put on the Letterbox Offenders list and if he ever touches another PO Box he is hung

get him over to paint The Joiners as his community service.

ooo1uk wrote:

hulla baloo wrote:
Maybe I will come and paint his front door gold, see how he likes that.

Spot on.

If it's the thought that counts, I support him 100%....but those supporting what he 'did 'are missing a bigger point.

I'd quite like to honour our silver and bronze medalists as well, so how about I paint Mr Smith's his restaurant half silver and half bronze?

ooo1uk wrote:

hulla baloo wrote:
Maybe I will come and paint his front door gold, see how he likes that.

Spot on.

If it's the thought that counts, I support him 100%....but those supporting what he 'did 'are missing a bigger point.

I'd quite like to honour our silver and bronze medalists as well, so how about I paint Mr Smith's his restaurant half silver and half bronze?

NewForestNipper wrote:
What a joke! Rob Smith should be made an example of! Wont be long before every post box is vandalised and painted a stupid colour! The athletes who won medals have been rewarded with the medals. So why the need to paint a blooming post box??

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

NewForestNipper wrote:
What a joke! Rob Smith should be made an example of! Wont be long before every post box is vandalised and painted a stupid colour! The athletes who won medals have been rewarded with the medals. So why the need to paint a blooming post box??

To try and brighten up peoples lives, especially miserable people like your good self.

insane saint wrote:
let him off and leave it gold. celebrate the Olympics and the best we can do is arrest someone who supports out boys and girls.

Paramjit Bahia wrote:
This is the kind of attitude of some police officers that creates bad image for whole of the police, and people start tarring every police officer with same brush. Scarce police resources should be used for combating serious crime rather than trying to pick upon people like Rob Smith. It is the Post office which has started the trend of honouring British Gold medalists by painting post boxes, and even they have managed to paint one while the athlete concerned said that her home town is different. So Post office promised that they will paint another one as well. Post Office has also said that some boxes are waiting to be painted because of availability of resources. In that case this well intentioned man could actually have done them a free favour. In old days a decent Sargent or Duty Inspector would have told the cop involved to use bit of common sense, which may not be possible now, so police federation should be telling their member to stop and creating bad image for Fed's members by playing prat. Rather than refusing to comment on this episode, press office of Hampshire Police should have made a statement that whole thing was bit of over reaction and they have dropped the matter. After all if they really go to court, will the magistrates take it seriously? I doubt it. Well done Rob Smith, I often go to Lymington, your place will now get one more customer.

Paramjit Bahia wrote:
This is the kind of attitude of some police officers that creates bad image for whole of the police, and people start tarring every police officer with same brush. Scarce police resources should be used for combating serious crime rather than trying to pick upon people like Rob Smith. It is the Post office which has started the trend of honouring British Gold medalists by painting post boxes, and even they have managed to paint one while the athlete concerned said that her home town is different. So Post office promised that they will paint another one as well. Post Office has also said that some boxes are waiting to be painted because of availability of resources. In that case this well intentioned man could actually have done them a free favour. In old days a decent Sargent or Duty Inspector would have told the cop involved to use bit of common sense, which may not be possible now, so police federation should be telling their member to stop and creating bad image for Fed's members by playing prat. Rather than refusing to comment on this episode, press office of Hampshire Police should have made a statement that whole thing was bit of over reaction and they have dropped the matter. After all if they really go to court, will the magistrates take it seriously? I doubt it. Well done Rob Smith, I often go to Lymington, your place will now get one more customer.

IronLady2010 wrote:

OSPREYSAINT wrote:

NewForestNipper wrote:
What a joke! Rob Smith should be made an example of! Wont be long before every post box is vandalised and painted a stupid colour! The athletes who won medals have been rewarded with the medals. So why the need to paint a blooming post box??

To try and brighten up peoples lives, especially miserable people like your good self.

How does painting a post box brighten up peoples lives? It's a criminal offence and the Police should act accordingly.

We cannot simply choose which Laws apply when it suits us.

It's almost over now anyway, back to reality!

wilson castaway wrote:

insane saint wrote:
let him off and leave it gold. celebrate the Olympics and the best we can do is arrest someone who supports out boys and girls.

Id like to see a union jack postbox..

Scrutinizer wrote:

Paramjit Bahia wrote:
This is the kind of attitude of some police officers that creates bad image for whole of the police, and people start tarring every police officer with same brush. Scarce police resources should be used for combating serious crime rather than trying to pick upon people like Rob Smith. It is the Post office which has started the trend of honouring British Gold medalists by painting post boxes, and even they have managed to paint one while the athlete concerned said that her home town is different. So Post office promised that they will paint another one as well. Post Office has also said that some boxes are waiting to be painted because of availability of resources. In that case this well intentioned man could actually have done them a free favour. In old days a decent Sargent or Duty Inspector would have told the cop involved to use bit of common sense, which may not be possible now, so police federation should be telling their member to stop and creating bad image for Fed's members by playing prat. Rather than refusing to comment on this episode, press office of Hampshire Police should have made a statement that whole thing was bit of over reaction and they have dropped the matter. After all if they really go to court, will the magistrates take it seriously? I doubt it. Well done Rob Smith, I often go to Lymington, your place will now get one more customer.

Well I for one will make a point of NEVER visiting this publicity-seeking idiot's bar anytime soon - if ever! He had absolutely NO right whatsoever to deface a Royal Mail post box. If the Royal Mail want to do something like this, well presumably they have the right and actually I, personally, don't have a major problem with that kind of legitimate very occasional expression of patriotism. But regarding this particular guy's action; what for example if some paint had got onto the post inside and ruined important correspondence, maybe a medical appointment letter or something of similar significance? No, it was d*mn arrogant of him to come out with stuff like: " “I don’t regret it because it wasn’t done out of malice and I really didn’t think the Post Office would mind." Well they - and others who have to use post boxes, like myself - DO mind, pal!

Scrutinizer wrote:

Paramjit Bahia wrote: This is the kind of attitude of some police officers that creates bad image for whole of the police, and people start tarring every police officer with same brush. Scarce police resources should be used for combating serious crime rather than trying to pick upon people like Rob Smith. It is the Post office which has started the trend of honouring British Gold medalists by painting post boxes, and even they have managed to paint one while the athlete concerned said that her home town is different. So Post office promised that they will paint another one as well. Post Office has also said that some boxes are waiting to be painted because of availability of resources. In that case this well intentioned man could actually have done them a free favour. In old days a decent Sargent or Duty Inspector would have told the cop involved to use bit of common sense, which may not be possible now, so police federation should be telling their member to stop and creating bad image for Fed's members by playing prat. Rather than refusing to comment on this episode, press office of Hampshire Police should have made a statement that whole thing was bit of over reaction and they have dropped the matter. After all if they really go to court, will the magistrates take it seriously? I doubt it. Well done Rob Smith, I often go to Lymington, your place will now get one more customer.

Well I for one will make a point of NEVER visiting this publicity-seeking idiot's bar anytime soon - if ever! He had absolutely NO right whatsoever to deface a Royal Mail post box. If the Royal Mail want to do something like this, well presumably they have the right and actually I, personally, don't have a major problem with that kind of legitimate very occasional expression of patriotism. But regarding this particular guy's action; what for example if some paint had got onto the post inside and ruined important correspondence, maybe a medical appointment letter or something of similar significance? No, it was d*mn arrogant of him to come out with stuff like: " “I don’t regret it because it wasn’t done out of malice and I really didn’t think the Post Office would mind." Well they - and others who have to use post boxes, like myself - DO mind, pal!

For pity sake wrote:

acid drop wrote:

insane saint wrote: let him off and leave it gold. celebrate the Olympics and the best we can do is arrest someone who supports out boys and girls.

and lymington police go and do some real policing, try catcghing burglars and muggers instead , oh i forgot a man painting a post box is easier to catch

Perhaps they should go out "catcghing" poor spellers and throw the book at them....