♪How much is that Golly in the window♪ -To the taxpayer

Racial harassment charges have been dropped against a Suffolk woman whose neighbour complained about a golly doll in her window.

Jena Mason, 65, of College Lane, Worlingham, was arrested after a neighbour complained to police.
Mrs Mason had denied displaying an item likely to cause racially-aggravated harassment at an earlier hearing in Lowestoft Magistrates' Court.
The case against her was dropped after the CPS offered no evidence.

You have to take the rough with the smooth with stories like these. On the one hand it's good that the charges against this woman have been dropped by the CPS, but on the other hand, there is no evidence that common sense played any part in the decision.

The CPS offered no evidence because they had none. Every indication is that they wanted to pursue this nonsense through the courts, label this woman a racist and give her a criminal record. They released this statement:

Chris McCann, head of the complex casework unit at the East of England Crown Prosecution Service, said a "review has been carried out at the highest level".He said: "To establish that an offence has been committed, it would have been necessary to prove that Jena Mason was the person who placed the doll in such a prominent position likely to cause her neighbours racially-aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.Jena Mason was arrested after complaints to police from her neighbour "On the evidence available, it is not possible to show exactly who was responsible for placing the doll in the window."Despite further inquiry and review, we have determined that the evidence is insufficient and there is not a realistic prospect of conviction."

Had common sense been applied by the CPS they would have said the following:

Mrs Mason should not have been arrested in the first place.
A Gollywog is not offensive.
There is no right not to be offended

But that is too much to hope for, common sense is long dead in England.

A neighbour complains to the police that their feelings have been hurt.
The police respond.
The police arrest someone for causing offence.
The CPS take this person to court.
The CPS drops the case because they don't have evidence.
All at what must be a huge cost to the taxpayer.

Nobody even tried to use a little common sense during that chain of events. This arrest for an alleged racist incident will be on Mrs Masons record forever and she's had to face the stress of the arrest and previous court appearance.

The population have become spineless and the police have become petty bullies. Is this really England? Somebody pinch me...