We have looked at the major areas of law; now see if you can spot
them in this well-known story.
You are about to publish this story as a crime story,
but first you must read through then list the potential legal implications of
reporting this. The source is: unknown eye witness.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named
Goldilocks. She went for a walk in the
forest. Pretty soon, she came upon a
house. She knocked and, when no one
answered, she walked right in.
At the table in the kitchen, there were three
bowls of porridge. Goldilocks was hungry.
She tasted the porridge from the first bowl.
"This porridge is too hot!" she
exclaimed.
So, she tasted the porridge from the second
bowl.
"This porridge is too cold," she said
So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.
"Ahhh, this porridge is just right,"
she said happily and she ate it all up.
After she'd eaten the three bears' breakfasts
she decided she was feeling a little tired.
So, she walked into the living room where she saw three chairs. Goldilocks sat in the first chair to rest her
feet.
"This chair is too big!" she
exclaimed.
So she sat in the second chair.
"This chair is too big, too!" she whined.
So she tried the last and smallest chair.
"Ahhh, this chair is just right," she
sighed. But just as she settled down
into the chair to rest, it broke into pieces!
Goldilocks was very tired by this time, so she
went upstairs to the bedroom. She lay
down in the first bed, but it was too hard.
Then she lay in the second bed, but it was too soft. Then she lay down in the third bed and it was
just right. Goldilocks fell asleep.
As she was sleeping, the three bears came home.
"Someone's been eating my porridge,"
growled the Papa bear.
"Someone's been eating my porridge,"
said the Mama bear.
"Someone's been eating my porridge and they
ate it all up!" cried the Baby bear.
"Someone's been sitting in my chair,"
growled the Papa bear.
"Someone's been sitting in my chair,"
said the Mama bear.
"Someone's been sitting in my chair and
they've broken it all to pieces," cried the Baby bear.
They decided to look around some more and when
they got upstairs to the bedroom, Papa bear growled, "Someone's been
sleeping in my bed,"
"Someone's been sleeping in my bed,
too" said the Mama bear
"Someone's been sleeping in my bed and
she's still there!" exclaimed Baby bear.
Just then, Goldilocks woke up and saw the three
bears. She screamed,
"Help!" And she jumped up and
ran out of the room. Goldilocks ran down
the stairs, opened the door, and ran away into the forest. And she never returned to the home of the
three bears.
Area of law at risk of breaking
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Reasons why / punishment or defence
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Crimes reporting can do :
Defamation:
- She can sue you for liable or anyone else with the same name. (give a specific detail age etc)
- Check with police before publishing
- Accusing of a crime with no proof.
Contempt:
- Proceedings are active if a warrant for her arrest has issued - you must check this.
- She appears to have committed several crimes and is on the run.
- Check age as if she is under ten she cannot be charged with a criminal offence
- Punishment - up to 2 years
Child Anonymity:
- If she is under 16 she cannot be named (neither can baby bear)
- She can only be named if she is on the run
Sexual Offences:
- She slept in baby bears bed which means there may be offences under the SOA
- So baby bear gets life long anonymity. The parents cannot be named as it could lead to the parents finding out
Child protection:
- She may be vulnerable and subject to care order or may even ward of court. Check with social services.
Conclusion:
- No names of any bears, nor addresses, nor goldilocks name or ID details or allegations of what she did. (This is based on eye witness account, if it was police it would be different).
