Jurassic lark for Kingston Maurward students
10:01am Thursday 19th March 2009
By Miriam Philips
A GROUP of 14 student revellers were caught red handed in Dorchester pushing a giant dinosaur model through the town. The Kingston Maurward students were out on a farewell celebration when they embarked on a mission to take the giant model of a triceratops belonging to Dorchester’s Dinosaur Museum through the town.
The triceratops guards the entrance to the attraction in Icen Way, just off High East Street in Dorchester. The students got the model dinosaur over the railings, and were in the process of walking it towards South Street when they were stopped by the police just after midnight on Wednesday.
One of the students emailed the pictures to the Dorset Echo.
He said: “One of the other guys on the course said he’d always wanted to try and get the dinosaur up to the Top o’Town roundabout and wanted to know if we were all up for it. They caught 14 of us in the high street. We’d managed to get it half-way up the street. The police asked us to take it back which we did willingly and I have to admit they found it quite funny.
They were amazed at how organised we were. We drew maps and everything. Loads of people were hanging out of their windows taking photos and no doubt calling the police.”
The police told the students to take the dinosaur back and the students apologised to the museum manager for the damage they caused. The student added: “We were really sorry for causing any hassle and we are in the process of paying for the slight damages that the triceratops sustained whilst we lifted it over the fence.”
A police spokesman said that officers responded to a call from someone in Dorchester saying that youths had taken a model dinosaur from the museum and they were dragging it along the road. Inspector Les Fry of Dorchester Police said it was the first time he had heard of someone taking the dinosaur in the town. The young people involved have apologised to the manager of the museum both verbally and in writing.
“This was an ill-advised prank and I would advise against such action,” he added. A spokesman for the college said: “We do understand that some of our students were involved the taking of the dinosaur. It was a spur of the moment thing. Naturally, as a college we don’t support this kind of behaviour and we have spoken to those involved,” she added.
The manager of the museum, Tim Batty, declined to comment and he said the matter was in the hands of the police. The award winning Dinosaur Museum combines life-sized reconstructions of dinosaurs with fossils and skeletons.
On reading this I joined the Dorset Echo website with mischief on my mind and posted the following comment.
“Triceratops was from the Cretaceous not the Jurassic! Such a wanton lack of research makes me want to vomit with rage! I’m going to have to have a drink to calm me down, as my hands are shaking with rage.” Richard Freeman
Mark got back to me yesterday with a new link. My comic antics had been reproduced in the actual newspaper! A copy is reproduced below for your merriment:
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