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| Police commissioner backs teenage adviser after 'youthful boasting' tweets | Police commissioner backs teenage adviser after 'youthful boasting' tweets |
| (4 months later) | |
| The police commissioner for Kent has insisted that her newly appointed adviser on youth will remain in her post despite the emergence of Twitter messages in which the 17-year-old jokes about drinking, drugs and sex and uses derogatory terms such as "fag" and "pikey". | The police commissioner for Kent has insisted that her newly appointed adviser on youth will remain in her post despite the emergence of Twitter messages in which the 17-year-old jokes about drinking, drugs and sex and uses derogatory terms such as "fag" and "pikey". |
| Ann Barnes said she would not remove Paris Brown from her role as youth police commissioner for the county, describing the tweets as youthful boasting and exaggeration. She told the Mail on Sunday, which unearthed Brown's now-deleted personal Twitter stream: "You cannot condone any offensive tweets and I certainly would not accept anything like that now that Paris has been appointed but I wanted somebody for this job who was a typical teenager." | Ann Barnes said she would not remove Paris Brown from her role as youth police commissioner for the county, describing the tweets as youthful boasting and exaggeration. She told the Mail on Sunday, which unearthed Brown's now-deleted personal Twitter stream: "You cannot condone any offensive tweets and I certainly would not accept anything like that now that Paris has been appointed but I wanted somebody for this job who was a typical teenager." |
| Barnes added: "There is no way I would think of removing her from her post and I am sure Paris will learn from this mistake and be able to move forward to making a success of the role like I know she will." | Barnes added: "There is no way I would think of removing her from her post and I am sure Paris will learn from this mistake and be able to move forward to making a success of the role like I know she will." |
| Brown, who turned 17 last week, took up the role after being picked from 164 applicants who applied to assist Barnes in liaising between the police and local young people. A third of her £15,000-a-year wage comes from Barnes's own £85,000 salary. | Brown, who turned 17 last week, took up the role after being picked from 164 applicants who applied to assist Barnes in liaising between the police and local young people. A third of her £15,000-a-year wage comes from Barnes's own £85,000 salary. |
| Whatever the arguable perils in appointing a teenager to a crime-connected public post in an era when young people have long and easily searchable social media footprints, Brown could have expected more than three days in the job before her personal tweets were splashed across the front page of a national newspaper. | Whatever the arguable perils in appointing a teenager to a crime-connected public post in an era when young people have long and easily searchable social media footprints, Brown could have expected more than three days in the job before her personal tweets were splashed across the front page of a national newspaper. |
| The Mail expressed outrage at some of the teenager's messages, which occasionally used derogatory terms and made references to binge drinking and violence, and joked about sex and drugs, for example: "I really wanna make a batch of hash brownies". | The Mail expressed outrage at some of the teenager's messages, which occasionally used derogatory terms and made references to binge drinking and violence, and joked about sex and drugs, for example: "I really wanna make a batch of hash brownies". |
| Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, professed himself "deeply shocked". He told the paper he believed Brown should be removed: "Public money should never be given to anyone who refers to violence, sex, drunkenness and other antisocial behaviour in this offensive manner." | Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, professed himself "deeply shocked". He told the paper he believed Brown should be removed: "Public money should never be given to anyone who refers to violence, sex, drunkenness and other antisocial behaviour in this offensive manner." |
| Brown said any references to drugs were jokes and that she only drank alcohol at home. She said: "I deeply apologise for any offence caused by my use of inappropriate language and for any inference of inappropriate views. I am not homophobic, racist or violent, and am against the taking of drugs. If I'm guilty of anything it's showing off and wildly exaggerating on Twitter and I am very ashamed of myself, but I can't imagine that I'm the only teenager to have done this." | Brown said any references to drugs were jokes and that she only drank alcohol at home. She said: "I deeply apologise for any offence caused by my use of inappropriate language and for any inference of inappropriate views. I am not homophobic, racist or violent, and am against the taking of drugs. If I'm guilty of anything it's showing off and wildly exaggerating on Twitter and I am very ashamed of myself, but I can't imagine that I'm the only teenager to have done this." |
| She added: "Just as one example, the line about 'Hash Brownies' is a reference to a Scooby Doo film." | She added: "Just as one example, the line about 'Hash Brownies' is a reference to a Scooby Doo film." |
| Barnes reiterated this, saying in a statement on her official website: "I suspect that many young people go through a phase during which they make silly, often offensive comments and show off on Facebook and Twitter. | Barnes reiterated this, saying in a statement on her official website: "I suspect that many young people go through a phase during which they make silly, often offensive comments and show off on Facebook and Twitter. |
| "I think that if everyone's future was determined by what they wrote on social networking sites between the ages of 14 and 16 we'd live in a very odd world. I also suspect that thousands of parents would be at best surprised and at worst deeply shocked and ashamed if they looked into the social networking of their children. | "I think that if everyone's future was determined by what they wrote on social networking sites between the ages of 14 and 16 we'd live in a very odd world. I also suspect that thousands of parents would be at best surprised and at worst deeply shocked and ashamed if they looked into the social networking of their children. |
| "Many will say that Paris has simply been through a phase, however unfortunate, that many teenagers go through. Thousands of people have already seen and heard this young lady articulate her ideas and been impressed by her maturity and her commitment during challenging interviews on the national and local media before this story broke," she added. | "Many will say that Paris has simply been through a phase, however unfortunate, that many teenagers go through. Thousands of people have already seen and heard this young lady articulate her ideas and been impressed by her maturity and her commitment during challenging interviews on the national and local media before this story broke," she added. |
| • This article was amended on 11 April 2013. The original said of Paris Brown that "Her £15,000-a-year wage comes from Barnes's own £85,000 salary". | • This article was amended on 11 April 2013. The original said of Paris Brown that "Her £15,000-a-year wage comes from Barnes's own £85,000 salary". |
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