Quote:
A letter to Peter Akers left his mother with a simple choice - get her son to phone the police and confess his crimes or watch him face the consequences.
But first he would need permission to make the call. After all, he was only six.
Ms Akers, of Mayvale Grove, Derby, said the letter, sent out as part of a batch to encourage known criminals to confess their crimes, had been amusing at first, but then alarming.
The letter from officers in charge of Operation Relentless, a police campaign to target crimes which most affect communities, told Peter that he had one last chance to contact them before further action was taken.
It offered him the possibility of a "fresh start" if he confessed and suggested there was a chance he could receive a drug treatment order instead of a full sentence.
Ms Akers, 39, said: "He hadn't tidied his room from the night before, so I was going to take him down to the police station to get a confession.
"I still want to do something really sarcastic in response to the letter.
"But, on a more serious note, it was a bit of a shock to find that my son's name was on a police database.
"He certainly doesn't have a criminal record.
"It's worrying that if my son breaks a window or something in the future, they might think he had committed a previous offence."
She said Peter had been contacted once by the police, last summer, when he was near teenage boys who ripped up tarmac on a playground in their road.
Although not fully aware of the stir his supposed law- breaking had caused, Peter, who has two sisters, Kristina, 18, and Phoebe, nine, was still bemused by the incident.
He said: "The only thing I've done wrong recently is when I stole some sweets from my sister's room."
Police have now contacted Ms Akers about the incident and made a full apology.
They told her that there had been a problem with the system and they were sorry for the mix-up.
Detective Sergeant, Paul Callum, of Pear Tree CID, said: "We had no idea that her son was six and one of our officers went round to the house to apologise.
"His age should have meant he was screened off the database by a computer programme."
Det Sgt Callum added that there had been a very positive response from the letters correctly sent out.
He said: "The public response to the letters has been fantastic so far."
Operation Relentless is a county-wide blitz on what Derbyshire police believe are the crimes that most seriously affect communities.
Violence, anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, burglary, vehicle crime and drugs have all been tackled since the campaign was launched on May 1. During the first month, police arrested 2,797 people in the county, which is 349 more than in the same month last year - a 14.3 per cent increase.
But first he would need permission to make the call. After all, he was only six.
Ms Akers, of Mayvale Grove, Derby, said the letter, sent out as part of a batch to encourage known criminals to confess their crimes, had been amusing at first, but then alarming.
The letter from officers in charge of Operation Relentless, a police campaign to target crimes which most affect communities, told Peter that he had one last chance to contact them before further action was taken.
It offered him the possibility of a "fresh start" if he confessed and suggested there was a chance he could receive a drug treatment order instead of a full sentence.
Ms Akers, 39, said: "He hadn't tidied his room from the night before, so I was going to take him down to the police station to get a confession.
"I still want to do something really sarcastic in response to the letter.
"But, on a more serious note, it was a bit of a shock to find that my son's name was on a police database.
"He certainly doesn't have a criminal record.
"It's worrying that if my son breaks a window or something in the future, they might think he had committed a previous offence."
She said Peter had been contacted once by the police, last summer, when he was near teenage boys who ripped up tarmac on a playground in their road.
Although not fully aware of the stir his supposed law- breaking had caused, Peter, who has two sisters, Kristina, 18, and Phoebe, nine, was still bemused by the incident.
He said: "The only thing I've done wrong recently is when I stole some sweets from my sister's room."
Police have now contacted Ms Akers about the incident and made a full apology.
They told her that there had been a problem with the system and they were sorry for the mix-up.
Detective Sergeant, Paul Callum, of Pear Tree CID, said: "We had no idea that her son was six and one of our officers went round to the house to apologise.
"His age should have meant he was screened off the database by a computer programme."
Det Sgt Callum added that there had been a very positive response from the letters correctly sent out.
He said: "The public response to the letters has been fantastic so far."
Operation Relentless is a county-wide blitz on what Derbyshire police believe are the crimes that most seriously affect communities.
Violence, anti-social behaviour, criminal damage, burglary, vehicle crime and drugs have all been tackled since the campaign was launched on May 1. During the first month, police arrested 2,797 people in the county, which is 349 more than in the same month last year - a 14.3 per cent increase.
If this happened to my son, I would have thought the same thing, and most likely acted on it
