Sunday, November 8, 2009 -12:52 PM - And you thought the old East German 'Stasi' was bad!

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news

Police secretly follow mother

after hearing her reprimand

children

A mother who threatened to smack her children while out shopping was secretly followed home by an off duty policeman and was later questioned by officers.

The 34-year-old woman, who has asked to remain anonymous for the sake of her family, was also warned by social services that she could face further action and that a file on the incident is being kept on record.

Last night, charities criticised the police's action as "disproportionate" and pointed out that parents in England and Wales are allowed to smack their children.

Friends of the woman, who works in a bookstore and is married to an aeronautics expert, said that she had been left distressed by the ordeal.

Shopping in a supermarket in Woolston, Southampton, the woman's children, aged 11 and 4, were misbehaving, provoking her to warn them that they would "get a hiding when they got home". She claims she did not actually smack them afterwards and says that, while smacking is used as a form of punishment in their home, it is not something she often does. However, an off duty policemen who had been standing near her in the supermarket followed her on the 15 minute journey home and then reported the incident to Hampshire Police's child protection team.

It was not until six weeks later that she was visited at her home by two officers and quizzed on how often she smacks her children. The pair also gave her parenting tips. They suggested that she should use a 'naughty step' or withdraw treats as a more effective form of punishment. A month later, she received a letter from Southampton social services saying that her behaviour had raised concerns over the children's welfare.

Kim Wills, information officer for Southampton council's Children First department, wrote:

"I am writing to inform you that we have received information on 24th September 2009 from Hampshire Police advising of concerns for ------- and ------ regarding an incident on 6th August 2009 where the children were chastised in public."

The letter stated that Children's Services would not be taking further action "at this time", but told her that the information would be kept on record.

A spokesman for the department said that the incident would be held in their files until her children leave school, which could be up to another 13 years.

While it is a crime to smack children so hard it leaves a mark, mild smacking is allowed as "reasonable chastisement". Friends of the woman describe her as a good, patient mother, who is loved by her children. They said she had been upset by the police's questioning and shocked to learn that she and her children had been followed home.

A spokesman for Hampshire Police defended the action of its officers, arguing that the manner of her reprimand had caused alarm.

"An off-duty officer reported to our child protection team an incident involving a women in Woolston, Southampton who they saw chastising her children.

"It was not an ordinary telling off and because of what the woman said and the way her children reacted to it, it gave our officer reasonable grounds for concern for the children's welfare and they may be at risk of physical chastisement."

The spokesman added: "We followed this up as you would expect any police force to do, especially when it comes to the safety of children.

"Officers from the team spoke to the woman later at her home about the concerns and passed the details of the case to social services as is normal practice in such cases. No further action was deemed necessary by us."

The mother denies that there was anything extraordinary about the way she scolded her children, and said that they were simply upset because they do not like being reprimanded.

A spokesman for Care, a social welfare charity, questioned the need for the police's action unless there was a clear indication that she was going to beat them.

"One fears that it was a wholly disproportionate response to a threatened smack informed by the destructive and censorious views of those opinion formers who refuse to make a distinction between smacking, which can actually be very helpful, and beating which is a serious crime," he added.