In August 2018, A bad day working in 30C heat came to a head for ice cream man Alan Donaldson when a 12-year-old boy reached into his van and pulled the lever on the dispensing machine, flooding the floor with ice cream.

Donaldson, 58, was sentenced to 120 hours’ community service by the The Royal Court of Guernsey's Magistrate’s Court.

Prosecuting officer Jenny McVeigh said that on the day in question the van was at Havelet, St Peter Port, and the boy and two friends had passed by and the boy asked if he could have a free ice cream.

Donaldson told him he could not, and then the boy asked if he could pull the lever of the ice cream dispenser. ‘Only if you want a smack,’ Donaldson replied. The boy then jumped up, reached over the counter and pulled the lever of the dispenser, discharging ice cream onto the floor.

Donaldson hit him with a clenched fist, but immediately said that he had not meant to make contact. ‘I didn’t mean to hit you, I thought you were further away,’ he told the boy. The boy left with his friends, to meet his mother and told her what had happened. Donaldson subsequently turned himself in at the police station and, in interview, said he had not intended to hit the boy, but scare him away.

The above is an excerpt from The Guernsey Press explaining the incident. However, what on earth possessed a child to behave in such a manner? What are people such as Alan Donaldson supposed to do in these situations? Where we all draw the line at "reasonable force" is often very subjective. Should he have stood motionless whilst his van literally flooded with Ice cream?

Judge Graham McKerrell passing sentence he said he was prepared to treat the matter as a one-off aberration, but nonetheless had to take into consideration the seriousness of the matter: ‘One cannot go around, in any circumstances, striking 12-year-old boys.’

However, what judge Graham McKerrell did not say was that "One cannot go around, in any circumstances, flooding ice cream vans with ice cream causing financial losses to business owners". It is unjust that the 12 year old in question has only received a punch as punishment whilst Alan Donaldson has been sentenced 120 hours community service. This petition requests one of two outcomes.

1) The 12 year performs the 120 hours of community service side by side with Alan Donaldson to teach the child that there are consequences of his actions (since his teachings at home were insufficient to prevent him from behaving in such a manner)

or

2) Alan Donaldson's punishment is reversed and he is not required to perform any community sentence.