How to avoid community service

[benno]

This is quite a strange one.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/05/high-heels-community-service

Most turn up in trainers or tough old boots, but Debbie Stallard arrived to do her community service in shiny black leather boots with impressive four-inch heels.

Officials patiently explained that the fashionable footwear was simply not appropriate for the sort of manual work she was expected to take part in, only to be told by Stallard that she had to wear high heels because of a medical condition.

No compromise could be found and Stallard found herself back in court explaining why she could not wear flat footwear because of the shape of her feet.

Stallard, a newsagent from Paignton, Devon, was convicted on 16 February of two counts of damaging a vehicle and one of failing to provide a breath specimen. To pay off her debt to society, she was due to do 80 hours of unpaid work such as cleaning graffiti and mending fences.

A probation officer, Heidi Randle, told Torquay magistrates: "She attended on the date required but was sent away because she was wearing four-inch heels. The shoes were not in line with health and safety requirements. She stated she wore them because of a medical problem and could wear open-toed shoes.

"Shoes have to be flat and not open. We tried to contact the GP in this case and received a letter which was non-committal and does not say anything specific about wearing flats."

Stallard claims she has had the condition since infancy and walks on the balls of her feet rather than the heel. Her solicitor, John Darby, told the court: "My client has always lived on her toes. She has always worn heels and in her last job had to sign a disclaimer so she could wear high heels to work. She can't walk in flats."

On Friday, magistrates ordered a full medical report and adjourned the case. Outside court, Stallard, 47, said: "It's health and safety gone mad. I was made to feel stupid, like I had gone there wearing them deliberately ‑ but that is not the case. I'm just not able to wear flat shoes. The boots I wore are what I would consider sensible. They weren't open-toed stilettos or anything like that.

"I've always walked on the balls of my feet. My heels don't naturally hit the ground. It was a nightmare a couple of years ago when flat shoes were the fashion. It's impossible to go to the gym because I'm told I can only go if I have trainers. I can't even wear them. The only ones I would be able to wear are the platform ones, like the Spice Girls used to have.

"Even my slippers have a two-and-a-half inch heel. Apparently there are ways to correct the problem but I don't want to go through that now."

A Probation Service spokesman said: "We take the health and safety legislation for offenders very seriously. Ms Stallard was offered protective footwear but refused to comply. We had no option but to return the order to court for magistrates to resentence as they see fit."

My 1st thoughts were that if you could only wear heels then you should at least get some that look nice.

[Dr. Shoe]

This is quite a strange one.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/05/high-heels-community-service

Most turn up in trainers or tough old boots, but Debbie Stallard arrived to do her community service in shiny black leather boots with impressive four-inch heels.

Officials patiently explained that the fashionable(!!???) footwear was simply not appropriate for the sort of manual work she was expected to take part in, only to be told by Stallard that she had to wear high heels because of a medical condition.

My 1st thoughts were that if you could only wear heels then you should at least get some that look nice.

My thoughts entirely!

[Bubba136]

"Power, who's got the power?" What else can one expect with a "nanny government" taking charge of your entire life? I believe the stories I've read recently about peculiarities associated with the national health system in the UK are even more unbelievable. However, I concur with the sentiments that she could have selected more fashionable boots. Perhaps had she, the "supervisors" wouldn't have subjected her to all the grief she experienced.

[heelma]

"Power, who's got the power?" What else can one expect with a "nanny government" taking charge of your entire life? I believe the stories I've read recently about peculiarities associated with the national health system in the UK are even more unbelievable.

Oh boy, the Marc Levin road again

Fact of the matter is that you simply can't wear heels for certain jobs. Yes, for some of them, safety regulations like that may go to far, but there simply are jobs out there that are too dangerous to do with heels on.

My take on this is that the correct way to deal with this is to either find a service where she can wear her heels, or to change the sentence to something else than community service.

[euchrid]

fashionable(!!???) footwear....

Well they might have been fashionable once. About 1982, I would guess.

[benno]

Well they might have been fashionable once. About 1982, I would guess.

1982? Ten years too early! Those hideous platform monsters were acceptable (outside of Vogue, ELLE, etc) heels whilst fashion recovered from the darkest depths of the 'grunge' period.

See attached for lovely '82 style boots. Pat Benatar was a proper 80s boot wearer.

[kikepa]

My take on this is that the correct way to deal with this is to either find a service where she can wear her heels, or to change the sentence to something else than community service.

What? There's no papers to be shuffled some place? She's a "news agent," so it's a fair bet that she can type. I'm sure there are some reports which need to be made, some data which needs entry...

[candidheel]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/05/high-heels-community-service

I bet you could write a good story on this. I wonder what the medical condition is called?

[crotchboots-m]

those probation people are mental dwarfs. did they even attempt to see if could accomplish her tasks in the boots? i doubt it. another case of mind-thought control by the state. orwell can be groaning from his grave " i told you it would happen..."

[Bad_Robot]

The medical condition could be called "just been awkward and difficult" I am sure she could find some work shoes with a similar heel hight to her slippers...instead she just wants to waste everyones time and money trying to appear clear but looking very foolish

[TDS86]

It is a proper medical condition. Just because she is an offender, doesnt give you the right to judge her...I've worked with offenders, drug dealers/users...plainly what everyone else calls "the scum of the earth"... and to be perfectally honest...some of them are more well behaved than mostly everyone else i've met and probably even some members of this forum. Health and Safety dictates that NO HEELS are to be worn of any type...the shoes that would have been offered would not have had a heel anything more than 1" and even at that...it would also contain a good .5" sole and a steal toecap. Regards TDS

[jmc]

<moderator note> Thread "Interesting news story" merged into thread "How to avoid community service" because both threads discuss the same news story. </moderator note>

[jo]

*** ...it would also contain a good .5" sole and a steal toecap. ***

LOL.

[Maverick]

I was going to put this in 'extreme heels' but there's content in here for everyone.

So I honestly was'nt sure where to place it. Feel free to move it mods!

Also I've done some searches, and had'nt found this elsewhere, so I believe I'm the first?

I won't comment on the article, I'll leave that to others

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/8097320.stm

High heels halt community service

The court heard high heels had affected Stallard's Achilles tendon

A woman who has to wear high heels for medical reasons has had a community service order lifted.

Deborah Stallard, 47, from Paignton in Torquay, was given an 80-hour unpaid work order after being convicted of motoring offences earlier this year.

She arrived on site in four-inch heeled boots but was unable to work as she refused to wear protective footwear claiming they caused her pain.

After hearing medical evidence her sentence was changed to a curfew order.

Stallard was convicted for failing to stop and report an accident, and failing to provide a breath or blood sample in February.

The court was told Stallard had refused protective footwear, claiming she could not wear flat shoes because they caused her too much pain.

Heidi Randle, legal proceedings officer for the probation service, made the application to amend the community service order.

I can't believe I'm going to be electronically tagged

Deborah Stallard

She told the court a medical report supported Stallard's claim.

"The report pretty much stated because of habit of wearing heels for so long her Achilles tendon has shortened, so when she doesn't wear heels, she is in pain," Ms Randle told magistrates.

Stallard's community service was replaced by a six-month electronic tag curfew between the hours of midnight and 0700.

Outside court, Stallard said the sentence was "unfair" and she was considering an appeal.

"It's a bit harsh - I can't believe I'm going to be electronically tagged," she said.

"It's really unfair and I am going to talk to my solicitor about appealing."

[Maverick]

Images on the right hand side of deborah stallard in her heels.

She seems to be quite chuffed, and a bit of the celebrity.

DAmn right I say!

http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/news/COURT-VICTORY-HIGH-HEELS/article-1074277-detail/article.html

Court victory over high-heels

Saturday, June 13, 2009, 10:00

A WOMAN convicted of a motoring offence has been allowed to dodge the unpaid work she was given as punishment – because she can wear only high-heeled shoes.

Deborah Stallard, 47, turned up to carry out the community service after she was convicted for failing to stop and report an accident and failing to provide a breath or blood sample, wearing four-inch heels.

Probation staff told the mother-of-two they breached health and safety regulations and demanded she wear flat boots to carry out the work clearing graffiti.

But Stallard, of Kings Ash Road, Paignton, South Devon, claimed that years of wearing heels had left her with a damaged achilles tendon that made wearing flat shoes painful.

Yesterday, magistrates in Torquay waived the community service after hearing medical evidence on Stallard's behalf – and ordered her to wear an electronic tag for six months instead.

Speaking outside the court, sporting a pair of black leather stilettos, she said she was "fuming".

"This is ridiculous," she said. "Now I'm going to have to put an ankle tag on my heels. I am very angry about this and I will appeal.

"I expect I'll have to wear sandals now, which will be more of a problem for health and safety. I'm not worried about the curfew because I'm in bed then anyway, but I am annoyed about the electronic tag. It's like a wristwatch around my ankle."

Heidi Randle, legal proceedings officer for the probation service, made the application to amend the community service order.

She told magistrates: "Miss Stallard attended unpaid work where the health and safety rules were explained to her. She then arrives at the workshop and on that day, she was wearing four-inch high-heels which are deemed a risk, so she is sent away.

"She sees her officer, and she insists she has to wear heels of that height, and she can't work without wearing heels."

Ms Randle said a medical report supported Stallard's claim. "It pretty much stated that because of wearing heels for so long, her achilles tendon has shortened, so when she doesn't wear heels, she is in pain."

Stallard, who works at a series of convenience stores in Paignton and Torquay, was sentenced on February 16 for the offences committed last year.

Her car was in collision with another vehicle on November 19 but she left the scene of the incident.

She was caught the next day but refused to give officers a breath specimen and, after pleading guilty, was given 80 hours of unpaid work, £60 costs and disqualified from driving for three years.

Defending counsel John Darby told the court yesterday: "The fact she can't carry out this unpaid work is not her fault. It's because of her condition.

"You might think she could work in a charity shop – because her occupation is working in a shop. She does that work in high-heels.

"But the health and safety powers that be, that control the unpaid work situation, will not have the risk of her wearing high-heels."

Chairman of the magistrates Richard Blanchard replaced the unpaid work requirement with a six-month electronically tagged curfew between the hours of midnight and 7am.

He said: "In view of the medical evidence placed before us, we are going to remove the unpaid work requirement, but we are going to replace it with a curfew order."

[jwhite44]

I think this was originally talked about a month or so ago. In the spirit of compromise, couldn't someone find a pair of chunky heel boots with a 3" heel? They'd seem to be high enough of a heel as to not cause her discomfort, yet be consider safe enough to work in (compared to stillettos).

[Tech]

I think this was originally talked about a month or so ago. In the spirit of compromise, couldn't someone find a pair of chunky heel boots with a 3" heel? They'd seem to be high enough of a heel as to not cause her discomfort, yet be consider safe enough to work in (compared to stillettos).

Indeed, here is the thread, I've merged this new duplicate into the existing one.