runaway lovers

[flipnflap]

how long can they keep themselves hidden? surely they need to go out in search of food and other things? or are they being looked after by someone? hate to say it, but i've not got a god feeling this will end well. you?

[pusskin]

Is there any updated links to the story of them both going on the run? x

[joggerjayne]

I suppose we can't expect the French police to be helpful, because ...

They have no committed any offence in France.

There is no evidence that they have committed any offence in the UK (the News reports say they have run off ... not that they had engaged in intercourse).

He has not kidnapped her, because she merrily went along with him.

They are just "missing persons" ... except they went missing because they chose to do so.

So ... why are we wasting the time of the French police, who have crimes to solve?

You see the problem?

[bibblebub]

People on tv have said (so it must be true) that he'll be charged with abduction.

[joggerjayne]

The videos didn't look like someone being abducted. Is that just a device to encourage the French to cooperate?

[ummmm]

She's 15. She's easily manipulated. That's why we have laws to protect young people.

[joggerjayne]

But is it an offence to influence or manipulate a 15 year old?

I'm not saying this is MY view ... I'm just not surprised that the French are awkward.

If an Iranian couple who were married to other people came to the UK and Iran asked us to arrest them because adultery is a capital offence in Iran and they wanted to execute the woman, would we help?

No, because that is inconsistent with our laws.

Well, our law is inconsistent with French law.

[joggerjayne]

ps. The French don't consider a 15 year old to be a "young person"

[rockyracoon]

As Barmaid (I think) has said, she thinks he could be charged with abduction as he has taken her out of the country without parental consent, she is a minor. A European Arrest warrant has been issued for Forrests arrest, so there must be something they can charge him with.

[jd_1984]

If they are both alive, well and together - they wont stay hidden for long. The story is high profile in this country and in France. However once in Calais, you could be in several countries within a day

[joggerjayne]

If the French raised their age of consent to 25, would we devote our (rather stretched) police resources to help them to track down 22 year olds who came to the UK.

[sandyRoe]

A European Arrest warrant has been issued for him. The net will be starting to close.

[joggerjayne]

Maybe there should be a reward.

[ummmm]

//If the French raised their age of consent to 25, would we devote our (rather stretched) police resources to help them to track down 22 year olds who came to the UK.//

Now you're just being silly.

[sandyRoe]

The Sun could offer one. They're big on family values.

[joggerjayne]

Why silly?

The question of the French not helping turns on the question of a discrepancy between the ages of consent in each country.

You think it's silly for us to worry about 22 year olds.

The French think it's silly for us to worry about 15 year olds.

Far from being silly, my example illustrate the French psyche, and the reason why they did not leap into action.

[ummmm]

You're talking about the French changing their age of consent. It's an invalid argument.

It's not just the fact that she's 15, it's the fact that he's her teacher. We don't send our kids to school for them to be seduced by their teachers. If the seduction came from her then he should have resisted.

[emmie]

ummm i totally agree, he is a teacher at her school, and whether the French have some antiquated law about 15 year olds, he has committed an offence here. They could be anywhere, think what her parents are going through. His father has even been on the news asking for them to get in touch, so he knows his son has done wrong. Aren't we supposed to be protecting our young people, like the wretched case in Rochdale, which seems to have stirred up a hornets nest.

[rockyracoon]

Children nowadays have so much privacy that it's hard for parents to protect them, this case in particular, the mother didn't know about the relationship until they couple had done a runner, the local authority knew, the school knew and the police knew, how come no one spoke to the mother, it's bordering on ridiculous.

[joggerjayne]

But ummmm, the fact that he is a teacher is a MORAL argument, not a legal argument.

I'm talking about why the French are not being helpful.

[emmie]

because they never are ^^