‘This was no joke’: Police step in after people hit with rose bush in York

Police have condemned as ‘shocking’ the behaviour of a gang of people in York who hit random people with a rose bush in the city centre.

On Saturday afternoon, the Force Control Room received “multiple reports from members of the public about a group of people in the city centre hitting passers by with an artificial rose bush”.

The group was located by officers from the neighbourhood policing team.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “It became shockingly apparent that the group thought this behaviour was a great joke.

“It was no joke to the innocent passers-by who were hit with this object, it was no joke to the families and children who had to observe this behaviour, and it was no joke when the perpetrator was promptly arrested and taken to the cells at Fulford.”

One suspect had been arrested, they said.

“York is a busy and vibrant city centre on a weekend and while the majority of visitors to the city centre are respectful of other people, there are a small minority who get carried away and their behaviour won’t be tolerated,” the police spokesperson added.

“I would like to thank the members of the public who took the time to call us about this behaviour which enabled our officers to quickly locate and deal with the suspects.”

On Facebook, residents gave their responses. One said: “What a stupid thing to do to people! Probably filming it for socials too.”

But another wondered about the police’s priorities. “As much as I admit this would be annoying to the people who were getting hit with said rose bush, come on, there’s much much worse going on in our city.

“People getting physically attacked, people getting robbed, shops getting robbed and threatening staff, kids getting verbally abused by a neighbour, recorded and constantly been watched – these don’t seem to be high enough priority for the police, but hitting people with a fake rose bush is!”