Police warn girl, 10, her chalk hopscotch grid on the pavement outside her home is criminal damage

Lilly-May Allen was playing with a friend on a grid she had chalked on the pavement in front of her home when a marked police van pulled up to warn he she could be arrested

Mail Online
May 9, 2013

A girl aged ten was told by police that she could be arrested for causing criminal damage – over a game of hopscotch.

Lilly-May Allen was playing with a friend on a grid she had chalked on the pavement in front of her home when a marked police van pulled up.

An officer warned the girls that using chalk on the pavement was criminal damage and they could be arrested for it, before driving off.

But the girls did not understand what they had done wrong and Lilly-May is now reluctant to play outside, according to her father.

After Lilly-May told her parents about the incident, they called the police to clarify the law, but officers refused to confirm whether drawing a hopscotch grid in chalk on the pavement was an offence – even though it washes away in the rain.

The girl’s father, Bob Allen, 51, who runs his own karaoke business, said: ‘The policeman said to her that what she had done was criminal damage and she could be arrested. He then drove off.

‘She didn’t come into the house for a while and didn’t tell us  straight away because she  thought I was going to tell her off for being naughty.

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[hat tip: Sylvain Henry]