Steve Walker wrote:
> Graham Murray wrote:
>> "Steve Walker" writes:
>>
>>> nikeshoes wrote:
>>>
>>>> Driving on the pavement is an offence
>>>
>>> Not if a police officer is asking you to clear the road
>>
>> Surely you only have to obey *lawful* instructions from a police
>> officer, and an instruction to do something illegal is not a lawful
>> instruction.
>
> That's certainly arguable, but I'd suggest that in practice it's not a
> viable stance. Some examples :
>
> - You're in a major motorway pile-up, but fortunately not injured. A
> police officer asks you to leave your wrecked vehicle in the fast
> lane, and walk along the the motorway a few hundred metres to a
> casualty clearing station. Walking around on motorways is normally a
> crime, but a good citizen would comply.
>
> - You see a police officer struggling to arrest an armed bank robber.
> The suspect drops a firearm during the struggle, but it remains
> within his reach if he can manage to break free for a moment. The
> Police Officer asks you to pick it up and keep it safe until
> reinforcements arrive. Possession of an unlicenced firearm is
> normally a crime, but a good citizen would comply.
> - You are working on a computer when you find appalling pictures of
> child abuse. You ring the Police and they ask you to hold onto the
> computer for 10 minutes until they can get there to seize it, and
> specifically if anyone else (even it's lawful owner) asks for it you
> are to refuse to hand it over to them. Possession of child
> .ography is normally a crime, but a good citizen would comply.
>
> I think there's a range of commonsense situations like this, where
> the law has to be sensibly interpreted.
You are relying on someone else to use their judgement. I wont risk ruining
my life, my employment and my marraige by relying on the Police to not
prosecutre me for one of the scenarios above.
Gaz
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