A mother spoke of her disbelief today after she was arrested and detained at a police station for five hours for refusing to return a cricket ball which she claimed had damaged her car.
Lorretta Cole says she was trying to teach her neighbours' children a lesson after the ball repeatedly landed on her property. She retrieved the £3.99 ball from the front of her home in North Baddesley, Hampshire, and refused to give it back when the father of the children asked her to. Mrs Cole, 47, was then visited on three occasions by police who tried to persuade her to return the ball and warned her that that she faced being arrested if she refused. She was interviewed at Lyndhurst police station and was detained for five hours while she was questioned and had her photograph, DNA swab and fingerprints taken. Following the interview, Mrs Cole was bailed to return to the police station on August 3 pending advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.'I couldn't believe it,' she said afterwards. 'I asked the police if I gave the ball back, could I be given a reassurance that they speak to the parents. I wasn't given an assurance and it was left at that.'A Hampshire police spokeswoman said officers visited Mrs Cole three times in a bid to have the ball returned but on each occasion Mrs Cole was 'obstructive' and refused. (Daily Mail)