Man guilty of burning poppies at Armistice Day protest - but...

[Muppet]

...Emdadur Choudhury, 26, of Spitalfields, east London, was fined £50 for offences under the Public Order Act.

Just FIFTY POUNDS?! What a disrespectful punishment to past and present troops.
What do you think? Is this an appropriate penalisation? I think definitely not.

BBC Article
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[HotelUser]

They should have been charged a lot more than fifty pounds, in my opinion.

[-:Undertaker:-]

How low this country and its inhabitants have sunk, taking one another to court over one anothers opinions.

[alexxxxx]

the £50 fine is just a public order offense, i don't see how they can fine him for what they meant or what they said - but i should imagine that they are actually fining him for the physical burning of the poppies as it is a hazard, though its not entirely clear in the article whether its what he meant by it or the action itself.

[The Don]

Why should they fine him more than £50?

[HotelUser]

Why should they fine him more than £50?

It's disrespectful towards the very soldiers who fought for the safety of the country he's living in. I'm shocked that I'm pointing something out that's so rudimentary.

[The Don]

It's disrespectful towards the very soldiers who fought for the safety of the country he's living in. I'm shocked that I'm pointing something out that's so rudimentary.

I know why he shouldn't do it, but what are they going to do with the money?

I think it is frowned upon him doing this, and whatever crime it falls under, he should be punished for. If the crime fell into the £50 bracket, he should pay £50.

Obviously I don't agree with what the man did dave, but theres no special circumstances that should be given to make him pay more.

[GommeInc]

As far as I remember, he didn't cause a scene in the middle of the memorial activities. If he was being disruptive and started causing public unrest he would of got more, assuming he literally goes into the midst of the event and starts kicking people, but he didn't. £50 is probably for burning an object in the middle of a street.

That said, the man is a bit stupid burning a poppy which is a symbol of the freedom from oppression in the UK - if the war was lost he would of been shot dead, or not allowed here in the first place If he hates the war so much, make it worth while and burn symbols relating to Tony Blair - at least he'd get a better following.

[-:Undertaker:-]

It's disrespectful towards the very soldiers who fought for the safety of the country he's living in. I'm shocked that I'm pointing something out that's so rudimentary.

So if a neighbour is disrespectful you over a hedge dispute for example, you think that should go through the courts and end in fines?

[Niall!]

I thought you were all for the british way of life Dan, surely burning a symbol of british history is a bad thing?