Latest news with #VanessaBrown
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Brickbat: Stealing My Own Stuff
In England, Surrey police arrested Vanessa Brown and held her in a cell for over seven hours on suspicion of theft after she took away her daughters' iPads to help them focus on schoolwork. She took the devices to her mother's house, where police tracked them following a report of concern for safety, treating the situation as a potential crime and even pulling one of Brown's daughters out of school for questioning. Brown described the ordeal as traumatic, criticizing the police for overreacting and treating her and her elderly mother like criminals. The next day, police confirmed the iPads belonged to Brown's daughters, dropped all charges, and lifted her bail conditions, admitting she had the right to take the devices. The post Brickbat: Stealing My Own Stuff appeared first on
Telegraph
14-04-2025
- Telegraph
Police should try solving actual crimes instead of arresting parents
I have lost track of the number of times I have stomped downstairs, unplugged the PlayStation, collected up any device I can see and bundled everything into a drawer, declaring that my children will not have access to them for the rest of the day/week/month/term due to the intolerable aggro they cause, especially now, during the school holidays. My youngest son recently spent at least an hour searching for the old iPhone he uses to listen to music before we eventually discovered it in a bag where I'd put it last time I did a device confiscation session. This follows one of my most pleasing memories of recent years, which was the time when my husband and I banned all screens – including the TV – for the entirety of the summer term after a particularly egregious fight between my two elder sons. After the initial outrage, and once they realised we weren't going to back down, all three of my children got on with it – and there was far less bickering and much more contented playing that summer than any other in living memory. My conclusion: taking away screens when your children are being horrible works, even if you're only banning them for 24 hours. So I was horrified to hear about what happened to Vanessa Brown last month. In March, Ms Brown, 50, was arrested on suspicion of theft and then detained, searched and banged up by Surrey Police for nearly eight hours after she took her daughters' iPads away in an effort to get her 16-year-old eldest daughter to focus on revision. She went to visit her mother in Cobham for a coffee, took the tablets with her and a couple of hours later had the plod knocking on the door to conduct a 'welfare check', before arresting her. There but for the grace of God, etc. Surrey Police has since apologised, and acknowledged its error. Yet this is not the first time police have massively overreached into somebody's private life lately: just weeks ago, a couple in Hertfordshire were arrested after complaining about the recruitment process for a new headteacher at their children's primary school in a class WhatsApp group. Last year, the Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson was investigated by Essex Police over a social media post; they later dropped the investigation. Meanwhile, police take up to 28 hours to respond to actual burglaries, with an average wait time of nine hours and eight minutes and response times delayed by 25 per cent on the previous year, according to the most recent data from 2022/23. In a truly Kafkaesque twist, four of the most senior policemen in England have just called for children under 16 to be banned from social media to protect them from the online violence, misogyny and extremism that is 'fuelling and enabling' crime. Take away the devices that give access to these platforms however, and it appears you might get arrested. Huh? Every parent I know grapples with the screen dichotomy of modern life. On the one hand, modern mobile technology is a useful tool: in phones, tablets and laptops we can access almost any information we need at the click of a button; we can connect to people around the world; we can listen to music, learn a language, practise for a test or heck, even – as I am doing right now on a train – write a newspaper column. On the other, mobile technology – and what it facilitates – is like crack for young developing minds. Limiting it is a no-brainer. A lot of parents go to desperate lengths to do this: confiscating devices like I did (and do); locking phones and tablets away in drawers; holding off as long as they can before giving their child a smartphone (my 14-year old still doesn't have one – an increasing source of tension in our house). The TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp went one further a couple of years ago and smashed her children's iPads after they broke her rules about screen time. And yet all we get from on high are hysterical responses to a TV drama that the PM keeps calling a documentary and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson calling for more male teachers to fix all of society's problems while seemingly unwilling to confront the deeper questions of why nobody – male or female – wants to go into teaching in the first place. The only thing they won't actually do is ban smartphones in schools – something that the leader of the country's largest teaching union called for this month – or devote grown-up, level-headed time and resources to analysing the real dangers of new tech on our children's brains. In a public health campaign, for example, that might help parents come up with a rational plan as to how to manage the tightrope walk of preparing our children sensibly for the adult world while not letting them run riot online. Instead, this Government recently watered down a private member's Bill that sought to introduce tougher controls on smartphone and social media use by children, and continues to prevaricate on an outright school phone ban. Grappling with this stuff is hard. It requires nuance and thought and time. And it shouldn't be just the Government's responsibility either – as parents we also need to learn to say no. But when we do, we need backup, not arresting.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Yahoo
Police should try solving actual crimes instead of arresting parents
I have lost track of the number of times I have stomped downstairs, unplugged the PlayStation, collected up any device I can see and bundled everything into a drawer, declaring that my children will not have access to them for the rest of the day/week/month/term due to the intolerable aggro they cause, especially now, during the school holidays. My youngest son recently spent at least an hour searching for the old iPhone he uses to listen to music before we eventually discovered it in a bag where I'd put it last time I did a device confiscation session. This follows one of my most pleasing memories of recent years, which was the time when my husband and I banned all screens – including the TV – for the entirety of the summer term after a particularly egregious fight between my two elder sons. After the initial outrage, and once they realised we weren't going to back down, all three of my children got on with it – and there was far less bickering and much more contented playing that summer than any other in living memory. My conclusion: taking away screens when your children are being horrible works, even if you're only banning them for 24 hours. So I was horrified to hear about what happened to Vanessa Brown last month. In March, Ms Brown, 50, was arrested on suspicion of theft and then detained, searched and banged up by Surrey Police for nearly eight hours after she took her daughters' iPads away in an effort to get her 16-year-old eldest daughter to focus on revision. She went to visit her mother in Cobham for a coffee, took the tablets with her and a couple of hours later had the plod knocking on the door to conduct a 'welfare check', before arresting her. There but for the grace of God, etc. Surrey Police has since apologised, and acknowledged its error. Yet this is not the first time police have massively overreached into somebody's private life lately: just weeks ago, a couple in Hertfordshire were arrested after complaining about the recruitment process for a new headteacher at their children's primary school in a class WhatsApp group. Last year, the Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson was investigated by Essex Police over a social media post; they later dropped the investigation. Meanwhile, police take up to 28 hours to respond to actual burglaries, with an average wait time of nine hours and eight minutes and response times delayed by 25 per cent on the previous year, according to the most recent data from 2022/23. In a truly Kafkaesque twist, four of the most senior policemen in England have just called for children under 16 to be banned from social media to protect them from the online violence, misogyny and extremism that is 'fuelling and enabling' crime. Take away the devices that give access to these platforms however, and it appears you might get arrested. Huh? Every parent I know grapples with the screen dichotomy of modern life. On the one hand, modern mobile technology is a useful tool: in phones, tablets and laptops we can access almost any information we need at the click of a button; we can connect to people around the world; we can listen to music, learn a language, practise for a test or heck, even – as I am doing right now on a train – write a newspaper column. On the other, mobile technology – and what it facilitates – is like crack for young developing minds. Limiting it is a no-brainer. A lot of parents go to desperate lengths to do this: confiscating devices like I did (and do); locking phones and tablets away in drawers; holding off as long as they can before giving their child a smartphone (my 14-year old still doesn't have one – an increasing source of tension in our house). The TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp went one further a couple of years ago and smashed her children's iPads after they broke her rules about screen time. And yet all we get from on high are hysterical responses to a TV drama that the PM keeps calling a documentary and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson calling for more male teachers to fix all of society's problems while seemingly unwilling to confront the deeper questions of why nobody – male or female – wants to go into teaching in the first place. The only thing they won't actually do is ban smartphones in schools – something that the leader of the country's largest teaching union called for this month – or devote grown-up, level-headed time and resources to analysing the real dangers of new tech on our children's brains. In a public health campaign, for example, that might help parents come up with a rational plan as to how to manage the tightrope walk of preparing our children sensibly for the adult world while not letting them run riot online. Instead, this Government recently watered down a private member's Bill that sought to introduce tougher controls on smartphone and social media use by children, and continues to prevaricate on an outright school phone ban. Grappling with this stuff is hard. It requires nuance and thought and time. And it shouldn't be just the Government's responsibility either – as parents we also need to learn to say no. But when we do, we need backup, not arresting. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Gulf Insider
14-04-2025
- Gulf Insider
Mother Arrested, Held In Police Cell In UK, For Confiscating Her Own Daughters' iPads
A mother was arrested and jailed for seven hours after she confiscated iPads from her own children because she wanted them to concentrate on their homework. Vanessa Brown, 50, a history teacher was arrested & held for seven-and-a-half hours by @SurreyPolice for stealing 2 iPads. They were at her mother's house, who was also questioned. She had taken them away from her two daughters so they could concentrate on their homework.… — David Atherton (@DaveAtherton20) April 11, 2025 It's the latest insane story of police overreach from the backwards UK, where stabbings are just an everyday occurrence and robberies are not even investigated, but people saying mean words about the 'wrong' things are thrown in prison. Now responsible parenting is the target. The LBC report notes: History teacher Vanessa Brown, 50, spent seven-and-a-half hours in a custody cell on March 26 this year, following a claim she had stolen two iPads which were traced to her mother's house in Cobham, Surrey. Yet it transpired that the two devices belonged to her daughters, and Ms Brown had merely confiscated them to encourage them to focus on their schoolwork, a fact Surrey Police has now acknowledged. 'I find it quite traumatic even talking about this now,' Ms Brown recalled. 'At no point did they [the officers] think to themselves, 'Oh, this is a little bit of an overreaction for a moment, confiscating temporarily her iPads and popping over to her mum's to have a coffee'. It was just a complete overreaction. It isn't made exactly clear who reported the iPads stolen, but it seems to have been the ex-partner of the woman. Every day we see examples of utterly terrible ex husband reported the mother of his children for stealing their daughter's first thought of any thinking police officer should be this is not a police should have been made robustly clear to… — Howard Jones (@hjoneshojo) April 11, 2025 In any case, why on Earth did police waste their time on this? Isn't there enough actual crime to deal with? Surely this is a dystopian novel. — Danishova (@Danishova) April 11, 2025 The police also prevented the woman from speaking to her own children following the accusation. They also pulled one of the children out of school for questioning. Click here to read more.
The Independent
11-04-2025
- The Independent
Mother ‘held in police cell for seven hours after confiscating daughters' iPads'
A teacher has said she was held in a police cell for seven-and-a-half hours after confiscating two iPads that belonged to her daughters. In an interview with LBC, Vanessa Brown said she has suffered sleepless nights as a result of the incident on March 26, after a claim that she had stolen the devices. The 50-year-old said she had confiscated the tablets to encourage her daughters to focus on their schoolwork, which was later accepted by Surrey Police. Ms Brown said she was taken to Staines police station where she was searched, had fingerprints and custody shots taken before she was held in a cell. Police also sent officers to her children's school and pulled her daughter out of class regarding the matter, she added. The force tracked the iPads to Ms Brown's mother's house in Cobham, Surrey. She told LBC: 'I find it quite traumatic even talking about this now. 'At no point did they [the officers] think to themselves, 'Oh, this is a little bit of an overreaction for a moment, confiscating temporarily her iPads and popping over to her mum's to have a coffee'. It was just a complete overreaction. 'It was thoroughly unprofessional. They were speaking to my mother, who is in her 80s, like she was a criminal.' Upon her release, Ms Brown's bail conditions meant she was unable to speak to her daughters as they were connected to the investigation while police continued their enquiries. A spokesperson for Surrey Police told LBC they were originally alerted to the potential theft by a man in his 40s and officers attended a property 'where the occupant was questioned about the iPads and denied any knowledge of their whereabouts'. They continued: 'However, a tracking device on the iPads showed that they were at the address and a 50-year-old woman from Cobham was arrested on suspicion of theft. 'A search was then carried out using post-arrest powers and the iPads were located. 'The woman was subsequently released on conditional bail while further enquiries were carried out. 'The police bail conditions included not speaking to her daughters, who were connected to the investigation, while officers carried out their enquiries. 'Following these enquiries, officers discovered that the iPads belonged to the woman's children and that she was entitled to confiscate items from her own children.' Of police's handling of the incident, the mother-of-two said: 'They were able to send a police car with police officers to my children's school, they were able to send another police car or two to arrest me… I know people are making reports of thefts, of assaults and very violent crimes in and around our neighbourhood – and they're not getting a response for days. 'I cannot get to the bottom of why (my arrest) was done in such a quick turnaround – maybe less than an hour. 'All these police cars and police officers going into an address over a completely false report of a theft.'
