March 26, 2005
Mobile phones not always used for a good cause
Several misuses of mobile phones spotted yesterday and today in the press.
Yesterday, The Inquirer reported that British schoolgirls on a trip to France caused armed police to storm their hostel by sending a text message to their parents saying they were under siege by masked gunmen and that one girl had been shot. French plod in flack jackets rushed to the scene after parents in Britain dialled 999.
Head teacher at the girls' school, Graham Abel, said that the girls thought "It was just a good game."
In the UK, two teenagers have been caught filming themselves on mobile phones playing "chicken" on a Gloucester railway line.
The recordings were discovered by the father of one of the 14-year-olds who contacted the child's school which then informed British Transport Police. (via BBC News)
British teenagers are not the only one who make naughty use of mobile phone. Click2Houston reports that investigators are checking out reports that a Houston police officer found nude photos of a drunken-driving suspect on her cell phone, downloaded them and later showed them around the courthouse.
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2005/03/007675.htm
