Pregnant mum fined for dropping fag end.

[Leekbrookgull]

Maybe someone can link it ? However just how sad can you get ? thesentinel.co.uk

 

[clippedgull]

MOTHER Limara Muncey has hit out at over-zealous council officials after being given a £70 fine for dropping a cigarette so she could tend to her daughter.
The 25-year-old, who gave birth to her second child yesterday, was heavily pregnant when an eagle-eyed council officer swooped on her while out shopping in Newcastle town centre on Friday.
Mrs Muncey insists she only put the cigarette on the floor "for a moment", along with her shopping bags so she could see to her three-year-old girl Allicia, who was complaining she was cold.
The mother-of-two suffers from a cracked pelvis and had been told not to bend by doctors, so asked her daughter to pick up the cigarette so she could find a bin to put it in.
But before it was picked up Mrs Muncey was challenged and given a fixed penalty notice.
Mrs Muncey, who lives in Warrick Street, Chesterton, said: "I had just been to order some flowers for my mum for her birthday and we were told to go back to the shop in 20 minutes so I went outside and bought Allicia an ice cream, but she was cold and wanted the toilet and started to get upset.
"My hands were full, so I dropped my shopping bags and cigarette so I could see to her.
"The next thing I knew a council warden pounced on me from nowhere and started reading me my rights.
"He could see I was distressed and struggling with my shopping and with Allicia but when I tried to explain the situation he wouldn't have any of it.
"I'd asked my daughter to pick up the cigarette for mummy but she was playing up and wouldn't do it. I wasn't going to just leave it there."
Mrs Muncey, who smokes five cigarettes a day, was given a £70 fine, reduced to £50 if she pays within 10 days.
But she has claimed she had not spotted any warning signs when she was approached outside Burton on the Ironmarket and has vowed to appeal against the fine.
Her mother, Sharon Barlow, aged 42, who lives in Pool Dam, Newcastle, said: "They were far too eager to fine her and didn't give her a chance to pick the cigarette up."
About 15 Newcastle Borough Council officers began issuing on-the-spot fines for littering on May 12, as well as carrying out their other duties.
Since then, they have given out 75 fixed penalty notices.
A spokesman for Newcastle Borough Council said: "Mrs Muncey dropped a cigarette on the ground and made no attempt to pick it up. She was then approached and given a fixed penalty notice.
Residents have made it clear that litter is one of the things they find most irritating, it makes the area look untidy and costs the council and ultimately taxpayers £1.5 million a year to clean-up.
"The council raises awareness of littering penalties to warn people and discourage them from dropping litter.
"We would rather not issue fixed penalty notices but have no alternative when people choose to break the law."

 

[Silent Bob]

If she was pregnant why was she smoking? :thud:

 

[clippedgull]

Now I have read it, serves her right.

Shouldn't be smoking whilst heavily pregnant anyway.

Also asking her daughter to pick up a lighted cigarette

edit: may not have been lit, but still not good to smoke whilst carrying a precious cargo.

 

[Fred Oliver - Legend]

bloody smokers! silly bitch.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

In Grimsby there is no option to pick up a discarded fag butt , a fixed penalty ticket is issued regardless as the littering offence has occurred. The council wardens will only pick out their victims if they know there wont be any trouble so ignore geezers built like brick shithouses and overweight women with tattoos. About 6 months ago they tried to give a ticket to a woman who had dropped a fag end on the pavement at the bus station , only to be told that she would lay both of them out if they didn't get out of her way - the two blokes bottled it needless to say.

 

[Fred Oliver - Legend]

surely we need to drop it first to put it out

 

[Garage_Doors]

surely we need to drop it first to put it out

Why ?

 

[beorhthelm]

that story is a load of bollocks. its also a vey sad state of affairs that she feels asking her child to pick it up is ok.

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Sorry to have to say this, beorhthelm it's true.

 

[vegster]

Well lets face it, nothing about Newcastle comes as a surprise surely ?

 

[Fred Oliver - Legend]

Why ?

you know why, drop it, put your foot on it, give a little twist, and voila fag out. unless im gonna put it in my pocket alight

 

[Garage_Doors]

you know why, drop it, put your foot on it, give a little twist, and voila fag out. unless im gonna put it in my pocket alight

like you would do in your home, ?

 

[Fred Oliver - Legend]

like you would do in your home, ?

no have an ashtray at home, havent seen too many of them round the streets lately tho, some on walls outside offices, but not in the street.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

no have an ashtray at home, havent seen too many of them round the streets lately tho, some on walls outside offices, but not in the street.

How about on top of bins? That way you can put them out AND bin them at the same time - genius!

That or you could live longer and healthier and give up? All smoking does is kill you, or your lungs, or both in the end. Public health lecture over!!!

As for that so called mother, she's an idiot, and i hope to whatever's up there that that baby comes out on term, and without serious cardiac / respiratory problems. If it does, then she should be done for child abuse. No messing about.

 

[Fred Oliver - Legend]

not all bins have ashtrays and i wouldnt want to put a lit fag in a bin, and actually i gave up today. so there!

 

[Stumpy Tim]

My first child is due in 4 weeks and we were recently given a tour of the Ward. As we came in, a woman came out. She was in between contractions and popped out with her kids to have a cigarette. Everyone was sickened just looking at her

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Sadly, we would be unable to use the legal route to stop smoking mothers and have to rely on human decency. It seems that some kids are fated to struggle from the word go.

 

[steward 433]

Sadly, we would be unable to use the legal route to stop smoking mothers and have to rely on human decency. It seems that some kids are fated to struggle from the word go.

What about pregnant women who are davised by their doctor and gynocologist to carry on smoking as it would be less harmful for the baby??

What should we do about them?

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

What about pregnant women who are davised by their doctor and gynocologist to carry on smoking as it would be less harmful for the baby??

What should we do about them?

Where on earth would it be acceptable for someone to carry on smoking during a pregnancy? I'd love to find a consultant AND a gynae saying that.