Old-fashioned police order boy who defaced public areas and businesses with silly string and spray paint to clean up his mess with mop and bucket

• Police made the unidentified boy clean up the mess he created in King’s Lynn, Norfolk on Friday 

It’s the type of punishment associated more with Dixon of Dock Green – ordering a wayward youth to take responsibility for their actions and right their wrong.

But these photos of a teenager scrubbing pavements, benches and shop windows reveal ‘old-fashioned justice’ still exists in some areas.

The boy was issued with the short, sharp shock after he was spotted defacing public areas and business premises with silly string and spray paint.

Police officers apprehended him after a short chase and, instead of charging him with an offence or issuing a caution, told him to clean up the mess he caused in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.

The boy (pictured) was spotted defacing public areas and business premises with silly string and spray paint. Police officers apprehended him and he was told to clean up the mess he caused in King’s Lynn, Norfolk with a mop and bucket

Photos of the public comeuppance were then posted online by the county’s police force – triggering a wave of positive comments from people who called for more reprobates to receive similar treatment to shame them from committing other minor crimes.

One said: ‘Bit of old-fashioned punishment is good, taught us oldies to respect others.’

Another added: ‘Definitely the best action to take and would be good to see more of this type of thing.’

Other comments included ‘Great punishment. Hopefully make him and friends think twice about doing it again’ and ‘Why does this not happen more often? Love it!’

Some expressed concern about a minor being ‘publicly humiliated’ on social media, with one saying: ‘Bit degrading for him putting it on social media. Yh [yeah] punish him but putting it on Facebook is a bit unfair.’

But Norfolk Police defended its actions, saying the boy’s parents had readily agreed to the shaming.

Some expressed concern about a minor being ‘publicly humiliated’ on social media, although the boy was not identified and his parents agreed to the punishment

‘He has not been identified and we have not shown his face. We also had the agreement of his responsible adult before posting this update,’ they wrote in response.

The swift justice was issued last week after officers caught the teenager by the town’s Vancouver Quarter shopping centre.

The force wrote on its Facebook page: ‘This is how one teenager spent Friday evening in King’s Lynn after being spotted causing damage in the town centre.

‘He was seen spraying silly string and spray paint on shops and bins in and around the Vancouver Quarter and then tried to run away from officers.

‘He didn’t get far though and once he’d been caught by us, and admitted the damage, he was ordered to clean it all up.

‘As well as using our mop, brush and bucket to sort out the mess, he’s also been banned from coming in to King’s Lynn town centre without an adult for the next month.’

The county’s police force published the punishment on their Facebook page, triggering a wave of positive comments from people who called for more reprobates to receive similar treatment to shame them from committing other minor crimes

Dixon of Dock Green was set around a fictional London police station and often involved common-sense handling of people involved in petty crime by an officer who was familiar with the residents on his beat.

Main character PC George Dixon, played by Jack Warner, first appeared in the film The Blue Lamp in 1950 and then the hugely popular BBC series that ran from 1955 to 1976.

The teenager was dealt with under a community resolution, which gives low-level and first-time offenders the opportunity to admit responsibility and make amends for their crimes by paying compensation, taking part in a rehabilitation activity, or a ‘restorative justice’ meeting between the victim and offender for an apology.

However, earlier this year the Mail revealed grave concerns about the system after more than 1,000 sex offenders avoided criminal records in a two-year period by being allowed to apologise to their victims.

Norfolk Police said: ‘When an offender is identified, an informal agreement is made between the parties involved.

‘This could involve compensation, a letter of apology or clearing up graffiti and criminal damage.’

Last week the force handed out a similar punishment to a teenager who ran on to the pitch at a King’s Lynn Town FC match.

He was banned from home matches for three months and made to ‘carry out some cleaning at the stadium for a few hours’.

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