I was coming out of Poundland and was sucking on my vaporiser. A couple of drops formed in my mouth as I was crossing the road I spat them out. Like a tongue spit, not a chest one.
So I get across the road and this bloke in uniform stops me. Excuse me sir I saw you spitting in the street. I'm like, did I? Yes sir I saw you spit. I asked him for evidence. Well its a busy road and about 6 buses and twenty cars had been over the spot. So he carries on with his thing. I must tell you sir that you are being filmed by my body cam. OK cool. I'm expecting to be told off for spitting.
He starts asking for my name and address, birthday whatever and I comply with everything. Here he presents me with a fixed penalty notice for £80 to be paid in 14 days. I was just plain shocked. I told him that exactly where we're standing they sell weed at night. Stabbings take place across the road quite regularly. Plus you've got people fly-tipping and dumping waste on the street. Litter, cigarette stubs and chewing gum all over the pavement. My droplets landed in the street. But no these blokes are on the case now. Spitting is littering. Hey I hate people spitting on the pavement and bus stops, or anywhere I have to walk around it. But my few drops surely isn't going to upset anybody?
I said to the bloke and his friend who joined in. Don't you think this is all a bit draconian? They didn't know what that meant. To be honest I was pretty much shocked. Being treated like a common street thug. I've obviously sent a lengthy email to the council about this. Hopefully the notice will get squashed. Otherwise I swear I'm taking this to court. Purely because they don't have any physical evidence. And they have me using the vaporiser on their body cam. I cooperated with them the whole time. Now I'll ask the judge if its reasonable to prosecute someone who spat a few drops of liquid off his tongue onto a disgusting street. This enforcement is surely aimed at gangs loitering on street corners and spitting in front of people? And leaving visible evidence behind.
These guys are on a par with parking police attendants whatever they're called. Going around meeting quotas so they can get their commission. £80 is a lot of money for me. I'd been on benefits for the past 6 months, after getting injured and losing my job. I've even had to ask for a voucher for a food bank. Fact is if you use a vaporiser you're going to get a few drops in your mouth, and you don't want to swallow it. No I should have spat into a tissue.
There's serious crime in this area, but no pick on the 42 year old lifeguard with no money. I'm taking this pic with to court to ask exactly how much damage I've caused. The highlighted area is where the drops landed. Nearly 18 years in the UK and this is my first fine. Joggers, football players, cyclists beware. Apparently its illegal to rinse your mouth in public now. Any thoughts on this, I'm quite stressed out.
I've been contacted by a representative and they are taking a zero tolerance approach to this issue. There simply is no excuse for spitting no matter what the reason. And they are relying on the witness statements from the officers, not actual evidence of the spitting. My action did no affect any person and was only visible to the two officers. As much as I tried to explain that it was a few drops from my tongue, the more aggressive the person became. I even asked her who was affected by my action. She claimed a child could have slipped on it, or I could have given someone TB. Well I should have been fined for crossing the road away from the zebra crossing. I surely hope that a child wouldn't cross there or inhale my TB infected saliva. There is no discretion involved here. Spitting is spitting. I asked if I spat out an apple seed if this was considered an offence. The answer is yes. Its littering. Be warned its fine to stab people in Wood Green, but don't spit out something distasteful in your mouth.
Goodbye then "@markstoned".
You chose the tag and posted it on your HoL profile.
Speaks for itself.
Looks like Mark Fleming has just deleted all his responses to other posters' comments, leaving only his original post. Hence it looks a bit odd now. Goodbye indeed, then.
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