![\"Add](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2009\/02\/24\/article-1154405-03A5C11C000005DC-39_468x323.jpg\")
collect dust in an obscure part of the church secretary’s office.<\/p>\nI’ve always wondered what use church meeting minutes were; no-one reads them, no-one is interested and they usually collect dust in an obscure part of the church secretary’s office.<\/p>\n
But now, all that has changed. Alma Harding has shown us the way: they are a weapon to be wielded against unruly vandals.<\/p>\n
Here we have yet another vivid demonstration of Mr. Bumble’s hypothesis<\/a> by the aberrant British legal system<\/a>, ever vigilant in its enduring quest to prosecute the innocent and exonerate the guilty:<\/p>\n Alma Harding was walking home after a church meeting when she saw three teenagers kicking a ball among the flower beds she had planted on the village green.<\/p>\n After months of petty vandalism in the area, it was the last straw for the arts and crafts teacher.<\/p>\n She called to the group, remonstrating with them, but was alarmed when they approached. One swore at her, calling her a ‘******* fatty’, magistrates heard.<\/p>\n In fear, the 63-year-old lashed out with the church minutes she was carrying, and caught one of the boys, a 13-year-old, on the cheek. She scurried home, upset, and that might have been the end of it.<\/p>\n But the boy and his mother went to police and yesterday Mrs Harding, who sings in the church choir, was convicted of battery.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If this happens again, in addition to swatting them Alma should sing at the malevolent louts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve always wondered what use church meeting minutes were; no-one reads them, no-one is interested and they usually collect dust in an obscure part of the church secretary’s office. But now, all that has changed. Alma Harding has shown us … Continue reading