This Is A Serious Problem

You will, no doubt, have seen in the national press reports of anglers being attacked in Lancashire. The secretary of the Specialist Anglers Alliance has sent the following letter to the Acting Chief Constable of Lancashire as follows;

Steve Finnigan
Acting Chief Constable
Lancashire Constabulary Headquarters,
PO Box 77,
Hutton,
Preston,
Lancashire,
PR4 5SB.

21st August 2006

Dear Mr Finnigan

It has been widely reported in the local and national press that a gang of thugs
recently attacked fly fishers at Bank House Fly Fishery at Caton, near
Lancaster.

According to reports a gang of about 30 men, carrying baseball bats and blocks
of wood, emerged from woodland before descending on the lake shouting "Sabs"
then proceeded to smash the anglers' rods, damage nearby cars and start fights.
Two fishermen were assaulted and a woman angler was punched in the face.

It has also been reported that at the height of the confrontation police called
in the force helicopter, an armed response vehicle and nine other vehicles. But
there were no arrests and the saboteurs escaped. Pc Duncan Thomas, the force's
wildlife officer, is quoted as saying that saboteurs are increasingly attacking
anglers and that "Both anglers and grouse shooting parties should be aware of
the threat to them and they should have contingencies in place to protect
themselves."

It has been an established fact for many generations that is what we pay our
taxes for. We pay taxes, the taxes pay for the police force and the police
enforce the law. Although for some reason this does not seem to be the system
in Lancashire. We would suggest that if a police helicopter, an ARV and nine
other police vehicles could not apprehend these criminals what "contingencies"
do you think anglers should put in place? And why should they and shooters
need to put any contingencies in place? It is the police forces responsibility
to enforce the law of the land and in this instance your force appears to have
failed.

We are sure that PC Thomas does sterling work as the force wildlife officer.
This however was not a wildlife crime. This was an act of criminal violence to
the person and property.
Why were the perpetrators allowed to escape?
What has your force done since the event to trace those responsible?
Can you assure us that in future anglers and shooters will receive the
protection from your force for which they pay?

Yours sincerely



Michael Heylin

[email protected]

We must assume that as they have an "Acting Chief Constable" the rest of the
Lancashire force are only "Acting" as well. They do not seem to be doing the
job we expect of police officers, but given the present climate why should we
expect anything more? You may care to write from your organisations asking similar questions of the
ACC. Michael Heylin Secretary SAA Fighting for anglers' rights - Join SAA today at http://www.saauk.org