"Scum" not politically correct language in U.K.

In Lancashire, England, two 16-year-old boys walked into Blackburn Cathedral, scribbled racist and sexually abusive graffiti on prayer books and bent a valuable cross out of shape. On the way out, they had the temerity ["stupidity", surely - ed.] to sign the guestbook.

Pretty soon they "had their collars" felt, as the Brits say -- it means they were arrested -- and were hauled in front of magistrate Austin Molloy. Sentencing the pair for vandalism, Mr. Molloy commented, "Normal people would consider you absolute scum."

Sounds like a pretty apt description to me, and Mr. Molloy's fellow magistrates agreed. (English magistrates sit in benches of three.) However, Christine Dean, a court clerk, objected to the language, claiming it was "inappropriate", which is the word bleeding heart liberals use when normal people tell it like it is.

The mother of one of the youths then lodged a complaint and an inquiry into the incident was launched. One can imagine her huffing, "They're good boys. They ain't done nuffink wrong. Who's `e to talk like that to `em?"

In a TV interview, Mr Molloy said, "We are trained and told to communicate with young offenders -- any offenders for that matter -- in language they understand. You have got to use language appropriate to those people so they understand exactly what you are doing."

"We felt we had to discipline the young boys and that's the language we used to make them understand the gravity of the crime they had committed," he continued. "It was a disgraceful crime. We considered it at length in the retiring room and it was the appropriate statement that we agreed on."

A flak-catcher for the Judicial Communications Office said, "Mr Molloy has not been suspended. The Chairman of the Bench and the Justices' Clerk are working together to find out exactly what happened in court with a view to determining whether any further action is required. In the meantime, Mr Molloy has agreed not to act as a Bench Chairman though he will continue to sit as a magistrate."

In other words, Mr. Molloy has been told to keep a civil tongue in his head when talking to poor disadvantaged young people like these scum, or else shut up.