Police plea on video postings

SOCIAL media users are being warned about what they post after three boys were wrongly accused of starting a fire under a bridge in Greenfield.

A video of the three youths pedalling along Wellington Road towards the Churchill playing fields was shared across GMP Saddleworth's Facebook page as well as other Facebook group pages with the user accusing the boys of fleeing the scene after starting the fire.

However, enquiries from their parents and the police confirmed that it was a case of mistaken identity and the boys had been wrongly accused.

The witness to the arson had seen two boys of a similar description setting the fire before running off and after searching the area in his car found the three youths on their mountain bikes.

Believing they were the same males he took 10 seconds of video in an attempt to identify who he thought were the offenders.

But the boys could not have been in the Greenfield area at the time of the offence and were in Uppermill before cycling to an address at Greenfield and then travelling down Wellington Road where they were seen.

The witness has since apologised to the boys and their parents.

GMP Saddleworth took to Facebook to warn users about the problems which can be caused by posting images of possible offenders online.

They said: "This highlights the problem of posting images of possible offenders across social media and it causes all manner of issues for police who would conduct any future investigation.

"In this instance it's placed three young men well known locally in the spotlight with them being accused of starting a fire which is a serious matter when in actual fact they had absolutely nothing to do with the incident."

GMP Saddleworth added: "Please be mindful of naming who you believe to be offenders on social media. Also please do not post images of videos on social media of possible offenders.

"Pass this material to the police so that a properly evidenced and structured investigation can follow."