Advice please. DS has broken a shop window!!

TAG

Thanks for that belfastgirl23,

I am quite chuffed at the way he's handled and accepted it. He's adamant that he will pay for it and has asked me for a lift into town tomorrow so he can do a bit of job hunting. He's done his CV tonight ready to take with him. Bless.

tylersbabe

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

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Well done on raising an honest son!

Agree with this well done to your son for accepting responsibility especially on what must have been a stressful situation for all involved.
good luck tomorrow

aliasojo

Accidents will happen to the best of us....but perhaps this is exactly why kids/teenagers should have more sense and NOT play with balls in built up areas near to shops and houses etc. It's an accident waiting to happen.

Having said that, despite the poor choice of playing area that your son and his mate made, he should be applauded for holding his hand up. I suspect a lot of teenagers these days would simply have done a runner.

As for the mate, liability is usually held by the person who does the act, not with whoever was beside him at the time so it's unsurprising the Police let him go home. It's notoriously difficult for them to make a case that would stand up in court, against another party as in this situation so most of the time, they wont even try.

I also (sorry if this view is unpopular) think it's irrelevant to this matter whether the window was toughened glass or not. The legalities of whether it should be or not is for a different argument. The fact remains, the shopkeeper had a window, now he does not. Even if it was weakened ....if your son and his mate were not playing silly beggers with a ball beside it, it would still be in one piece. The world is full of smashed windows because of kids (and Dads!) playing football, I dont see anything strange that a football caused this tbh.

I suspect that if you offered to pay the shopkeeper's excess (after first confirming the costs as said above) by instalments, and he didn't accept this and pushed for an arrest, he would be deemed as being unreasonable if it got as far as court. Even a judge cant get blood out of a stone if the stone really doesn't have it and instalments would be ordered anyway. :rolleyes:

Go and talk to the shopkeeper yourself and if he feels you are being reasonable and genuine then I cant see why he would have a problem.

I agree with the others that he made a mistake in holding onto your son, but in his defence, he must have thought the Police were going to turn up sooner than they did and I suspect he's no expert on these matters and thought the only way to get some sort of resolution was to make sure the lad didnt leave. After all, for all he knew, the lad could easily have lied about his details especially if he was now at the stage of wishing he's done a runner, lol. I'm not excusing the shopkeeper btw, I just think his actions were understandable.

I sympathise TAG, you're not the only parent who's been in this situation.

Paparika

Perhaps your son could work off his debt with the shop owner ....

aliasojo

real1314 wrote: »

Now a football that's been thrown doesn't often have enough force to break a decent glass window, and a small ball cetainly shouldn't imo. All seems a bit odd?

Just another thought...and I'm NOT suggesting this was what happened here, I'm just throwing something else into the ring...but most 15 year olds I've seen don't simply play 'catch' with footballs.

What they do usually do, is to start messing around and to lob the football at each other at hard and as fast as they can. Some will catch it to save themselves getting a dunt in the ribs....others will dodge it. That's why a ball thrown with a lot of force will obviously do more than just a ball thrown for another to catch.

Very rare for a teenager just to throw it nicely for another one to catch. (IMO)

OP...I just want to stress I am not saying this is what your son did. I AM saying that this is what a lot of teenagers do but their version of events in times of trouble like this...is to leave out the messing about bit and reduce it to playing catch/just throwing the ball. (Been there, done that .)

Anyway, good luck with whatever happens.

geri1965_2

I'm not sure there's any legal obligation on you or your son to repay the excess.

If you wish to do it on moral grounds, that may be another matter.

loftus

I'm pretty sure that the shop owner could launch a civil action in the small claims court to recover his loss if he was minded to. There is also a chance that the insurance company could seek to recover their losses.
Have you checked your home insurance policy to see if you have any form of liability cover outside of the home?
And I would also like to give credit to your son for his honesty - and to you for your parenting.

debs66_2

my POV based on the OP and a quick scan read of others' posts.

Your son broke a window in what can't have been a play area as it had at least one shop. i can't believe a simple game of catch had enough force to shatter a shop window. re the guy holding him there, if he was pinning him down or locked him in a cupboard, then that's one thing, but he was keeping him there until the police arrived, as he didn't know your son from adam and he could have been given any old name and address. think about it, a youth you do not know kicks a ball on your street and puts your window through. would you accept his answer for a name, or would you keep him with you until the police arrived...?

your lad does at least have a good sense of responsibility, as do you, but your problem is you don't have the funds, but that's not the shop owner's fault.

if it was my shop and you came in to speak to me, i personally would agree to a set of payment terms, so why don't you speak to him as honestly as you have to the people on this forum. could he even have a part-time job available for your son, so he can work off his debt?

this debt is your son's, although whether it is shared with his friend or not is something you need to find out by discussing it with them both, because as i and another have said, more force must have been used than just tossing a ball in a game of catch. the fact that he owned up shows he has a good sense of responsibility. working to pay off his debt is now the next step in his learning of obligations.

hope your week gets better!

geri1965_2

loftus wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that the shop owner could launch a civil action in the small claims court to recover his loss if he was minded to. There is also a chance that the insurance company could seek to recover their losses.
Have you checked your home insurance policy to see if you have any form of liability cover outside of the home?
And I would also like to give credit to your son for his honesty - and to you for your parenting.

Can legal proceedings be instigated against a minor (someone under the age of 18?) If not, are the parents legally liable for the actions of their children?

If the answer to the above is no, then the insurers will not pay out even if there is cover under the household policy, and the shop owner has no right of action.

I might raise this on the insurance board as I'm interested in other people's views.

rev_henry

geri1965 wrote: »

Can legal proceedings be instigated against a minor (someone under the age of 18?) If not, are the parents legally liable for the actions of their children?

If the answer to the above is no, then the insurers will not pay out even if there is cover under the household policy, and the shop owner has no right of action.

I might raise this on the insurance board as I'm interested in other people's views.

My understanding of it is that under 18s cannot be held responsible for a debt, HOWEVER their parents can be OR they can be held responsible for it once they reach the age of 18. Not too sure where I got that from but I definately read it somewhere. But this is another matter entirely as I think we have already established by general consensus that you/your son are morally if not legally liable. And you have also stated that your son wants to do the honest thing and pay the money out of his own pocket. Well done to him btw!