TikToker Mizzy thought filming himself walking into someone’s home and running off with someone else’s dog was just harmless pranks. The authorities thought otherwise and fined him £365.
Metro readers were on the side of the magistrates – although one did say that the 18-year-old had the excuse of his youth on his side, something Just Stop Oil protestors at Chelsea Flower Show did not. Is that a fair comparison? And was a £365 fine enough?
Elsewhere, one (not that) elderly reader replied to a previous writer to say that, far from being ignored, he was always offered a seat on the train, while another said the debate about house-building had failed to mention the number of empty houses that could be used.
Today’s mixed mailbag also includes student-driven immigration, Boris Johnson’s alleged lockdown-breaking at Chequers and two more contenders for the greatest acts to come out of Leicester. Much to discuss!
Let us know your thoughts in comments.
■ So-called TikTok prankster Mizzy was fined £365 by magistrates after filming himself walking into someone’s home, running away with someone else’s dog and ripping up library books (Metro, Fri).
The unemployed 18-year-old, real name Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, said: ‘I am my own person. I am legally an adult now. Ican do what I want.’
A message for – as I’d rather refer to him –Dizzy: no, you can’t go around doing what you like. One day you will understand but you are barely out of nappies, after all.
At least he has the excuse of gullible youth on this side. The Just Stop Oil jokers throwing the paint around at the Chelsea Flower Show ought to know better.
‘Society is collapsing around us,’ one of them whined. You’re damn right it is, sunshine.
Dec, Essex
■ Yes, Mizzy, is right when he says UK laws are ‘weak’. Our laws are pathetic. And he’s also right that the worse you are, the more people will like you and follow you on social media.
He’s unemployed but probably makes a lot of money being a total twit on social media. How is that fair? We have to work an honest living just to make ends meet. The law needs to change!
Sam, Nottingham
■ Mizzy is typical of today’s criminals. Why would they treat their neighbours with decency and respect, when the UK laws are so weak that such criminals step out of court and are allowed to further publicise their bad behaviour?
Our judicial system seems to encourage criminals to carry on regardless, while the rest of humankind looks on in horror.
Angie, Redhill
■ If this young man is unemployed, maybe give him some community work instead of a fine as the fine is only coming from the taxpayers (via, I presume, his benefits). And maybe TikTok should have tighter rules.
Lizzie, Chelmsford
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■ Whatever your views on the protest at the Chelsea Flower Show, please be aware that the orange material thrown is not paint, as constantly reported, but biodegradable cornstarch.
Jean, Lancashire
Some young at heart readers are often offered a seat on the train
■ I was interested to read Hassan’s views on commuters being too stuck on their phones to give up seats for the elderly (MetroTalk, Fri).
I travel into and out of London on the Elizabeth Line and am often offered a seat by a younger person or ‘nodded’ into one by another younger standing passenger.
I am always grateful but sometimes refuse, depending on what sort of day I’ve had!
John (Aged A Mere 69), Billericay
There are other ways to be considerate on the train
■ A plea to fellow commuters – those with dirty shoes on seats, owners with their dogs on seats, non-collapsible bikes taking up space, people vaping in the carriages of Tubes and trains, those not using headphones to watch or listen to their programmes or music, those relying on their limited range of swear words to communicate – people, can you stop and have some respect for others and, above all, yourselves, please! Thank you.
Kerry, London
Labour should convert existing empty houses for our housing crisis
■ Further to Labour’s plans to allow Green Belt housebuilding, we don’t have a housing or homelessness problem, what we have is a land use problem.
According to the latest figures I’ve seen, we have approximately 271,000 homeless households in England (via Shelter) and 250,000 long-term empty homes (Action On Empty Homes).
Using these empty homes – combined with converting empty offices and other such buildings – would cancel out the homelessness.
It would mean that further building on agricultural land was unnecessary and that the agricultural land could be used more efficiently to produce our own food rather than import it.
Jane Jones, via email
■ Clark Cross (MetroTalk, Thu) says vegans expect farms to grow wildflowers not rear livestock.
There are far more varieties of fruit and vegetables than meat and fish and are of far more benefit to our health.
Factory farmed animals are kept in abominable conditions and if everyone went vegan our health would greatly improve, plus the NHS would thrive rather than collapse as it is at the moment.
The environment would benefit as would animal welfare. As an 80-year-young healthy vegan, my weekly food bill is between £10 and £15 a week and during the summer I grow my own organic vegetables. Long live vegans.
Adrian Appley, Bromley
Universities favour foreign students over our own kids
■ The government has accused universities of ‘being in the immigration business’ after it was revealed almost 150,000 immigrants were student dependants (Metro, Fri).
Student immigration from overseas and the no-questions asked admittance of their families shows how little regard universities have for British youth.
They keep a set number of places for overseas students, thereby limiting access for our young people. It is wrong. It is all about money, with vice-principals earning hundreds of thousands of pounds. My daughter is in her first year at a good university studying medicine, which she had to work really hard for. They are turning away A-grade students.
Yet again, this country is assigning British people to the scrap heap in favour of overseas people. It happens in the labour market, too.
Barbara, Gloucestershire
■ I can see no reason why an overseas student needs to bring their family to the UK, even if their partner is going to work from home and have no recourse to UK public funds.
Andrew Edwards, Islington
Leicester’s greatest, Boris at Chequers,
our sewer shame and mandatory ID card
■ Paul Millburn (MetroTalk, Fri) says Metro should have asked Leicester legend Gary Lineker whether the best act to have come out of the city was Showaddywaddy or Kasabian. The actual answer is either Family or Engelbert Humperdinck, as Lineker, (a man of good taste, would no doubt agree.
Mark, Dukinfield
■ Supporters of Boris Johnson say he is the victim of a witch hunt over the police investigation into lockdown breaking at Chequers, his country residence while prime minister.
If he and the cabinet office are so confident there is nothing to hide in Mr Johnson’s diary and WhatsApp messages, please share these to prove what happened. That’s what decent, honest people would do.
Amanda H Garforth, via email
■ How many people complaining about sewer overflows do any of
the following?
Leave the tap on while brushing their teeth, Use six litres of water to flush a pee, flush ‘unflushable’ wet wipes, over-use bleach and other hazardous chemicals in the sink and toilet, have showers for more than eight minutes etc. We’re all responsible for sewer overflows.
I can’t fathom why there aren’t grants for waterless toilets in suitable homes – a simple way to save both drinking water from being flushed and our rivers from being polluted. And free compost!
Tom Red, East London
Do people claim asylum here because there’s no identity cards?
■ Linda (MetroTalk, Fri) says Britain is attractive to asylum seekers because English is a world language. The real reason is because we don’t have identity cards. In other countries they are mandatory.
Draw your own conclusions.
Ahmed, Ilford
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MORE : TikTok prankster Mizzy arrested for ‘breaching court order’
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