This is an outrage!! What sort of country do we live in when a father cannot even discipline his own child without being arrested! The person who reported this to the police should be so ashamed. And the government! We have people in power today with IQ's so low they should NOT be allowed to govern.

Rob Hughes, Walton on Thames ,

What has happened to common sense and using one's discretion?

Chantel, Wales,

Robert Hitchcock - this man's treatment of his son could hardly be described as abuse. The police have behaved in a thoughtless manner and the boy was traumatised by their action, not his father's.
We have to face it, British police really have become a laughing stock.

Chris Taylor, Chester,

Of course we think todays youth are like animals.
Woe betide the parent that actually wants to discipline their child! God knows the child might even turn out to be a morally upstanding member of society if you do that, and we can't have that can we!
Madness, utter madness.

Jason, Bristol, UK

Another innocent parent on the Police DNA database for life.

nigel, surrey,

This im afraid is just another sign of the creeping police state that Labour have created. Soon we will need police permission to breathe. Really it is ridiculous that the police go out trying to find such "crimes" instead of reacting to reported crimes.

mike, london, uk

Ask yourself what if? What if the report was correct? What if the boy was so afraid of his dad that he would lie to cover for him despite hidden injuries? Would it be right then for the Police to do nothing? The Police were right to follow up the report despite an overreaction maybe.

Dave, Bicester, Oxford

It's child protection: either we foster a society that looks out for child welfare and supports the agencies involved or we don't. We can't have it both ways.

H, London,

This is disgusting action by the police. How dare they take a frightened child from his father and make him strip to his underwear simply to satisfy themselves whether a crime has been committed. The Crime has been committed BY the Police, NOT by the Father. I do hope he sues the Police.

joe flaherty, dublin, eire

Well how about us lily-livered anti-smack brigade giving the smack apologists a firm "malice-free" smack across the face (no marks of course) rather than debating the issue? I suspect my future mugger will have grown up on a childhood diet of corporal punishment rather than dialogue.

Kevin, London,

Mark C, Redhill says:
"look at the size of this man against the size of his son"
I can see your problem Mark. You see the disciplinary smack as a form of combat which obviously it is not. Use the "intelligence" which you value, to understand that the short sharp harmless sting is malice free. Perhaps you need to understand also that your "means to control them" is a rather more sinister interference with your child's development.

Anna, London, UK

What would be said if the police had done nothing?

James Dove,

Nothing James. It was one SMACK!

Incidentally, I'd like to know how the police knew who he was and why was the witness "in no fit state". This is very bizarre.

Liz, Lodnon,

No doubt the police by their actions did more harm to young Harry than the actual smack

P. Williams, Nerja,

Oh dear, all the non smacking commenters are the source of all the trouble we have with kids today. Your flacid liberal attitudes have raised children to a level in society they have no right occupying.
Remember, children start at the bottom & have to work their way up, learning & earning respect!

Pete, St Albans, England

All you need to do is look at the size of this man against the size of his son and wonder how anyone can justify smacking a child
I have 2 sons of similar age - if i hit them i am admitting to them i do not have the intelliegence or the means to control them but other methods - no one wins

Mark C, Redhill, UK

Norman... wind your neck in. He did not beat the child, he gave the child a smack...... hardly taints him as a thug!!!!! I was smacked as a child, and I have smacked my chidl across the legs for being naughty..... not a beating.
This society has gone mad if parents are not allowed to discipline

Elliot, Kingsbridge, UK

Neanderthal thug parent hits child then demands an apology? This idiot should be made to apologise publicly to his son. is this boy to become the next child P? What do those who support this thug want? beat the boy cause he didn't finish his dinner? Thug is lucky to get away with only one night.

Norman Pitkin, London, UK

To comply with the wishes of all the do gooders - from now onward all children should be allowed to do as they wish.

And I hope you eejeets will suffer the conseqeuences in 10 - 20 years time when your old and getting beat up and robbed by the children you wouldn't allow the parents to control.

Paddy, Tralee, Ireland

When I was attacked in London, the police did nothing.

Perhaps they were too frightened to confront my attacker.

I tried to complain but they have no record of anything happening, or my complaint.

Iain Stewart, Barcelona, Spain

The law is reasonable, it allows a smack but it mus leave not mark, which allows appropriate chastisment and prevents abuse. Why was the father arrested if no trace of injury was found?

john jones, Cardiff,

When I was a child the threat of a smack, was more than enough to prevent me from being a lawless child. The problem is that the threat nowadays is meaningless, children are savvy enough to know that the threat cannot be followed through due to events such as shown here.

Jennifer, London,

I was smacked on the bum when I was a naughty girl and I deserved it. It has not affected me in any way shape or form.

Faye, London,

What kind of thug hits a child . No wonder his child run away from him. Calling it a smack hids what it really is - a hit. Shame on all of you who hit your children and support this type of behaviour.

Julia Morgan, Kingsbridge, Devon, UK

Another case of heavy handed over-righteous policing, based on the soft option routine. Better to arrest the good guy than take the time to go after real child abusers.

william, \Preston, Lancashire, England

Here we go again... baby P dies because of a lack of action, but the police are quick to act when a responsible parent dishes out mild chastisement to his child. Heaven help us living in mad PC Britain!!!!!

Andrew brown, derby, UK

I still don't understand why hitting an adult, which of course includes a partner, is "common assault" but hitting a defenceless child isn't. Mr Frearson is rightly indignant as he was acting within the law. However, we should bite the bullet and outlaw this archaic practice too.

Kevin, London,

Scrap the targets, stop the visions and get back to basics bring back common sense. I know of 3 children arrested by 9 police in 4 cars for trespassing on a site in daylight when Heras fencing was left open for months, the owner of the land should have been prosecuted, lets De-Blairise this country

john, gloucester, glos

If the accuser changed his story why was he not done for waisting police time and made to pay compensation to the accused?

Woods, Dundee,

What a bunch of clowns,little wonder people don't trust the Police,l would sue them,wrongful arrest,illeagle detetion,and take young harry to Disneyland

KENNETH BOWRY, LONDON ,

Why did it require four police officers to attend this?

As usual, the police will never, ever admit any wrongdoing. And then they wonder why they have lost the trust of the public.

Michael Fremlins, London, UK

What would be said if the police had done nothing?

James Dove, London, United Kingdom

Yes, it's a ridiculous overreaction. Yes, it was handled in the wrong way. Yes, the whole process was probably very distressing for the child and should not have been allowed to happen.

tanea, Taipei,

Amazing, how they can arrest a man for smacking his son once, for running off. Yet they can leave a 17 month old with three murderers! We are in a madhouse, beyond all comprehension, where will it end?

Ian, Budleigh Salterton, Devon

Please let some common sense return to society. When parents and teachers or even a friendly neighbour can not touch a child with out threat of molesting them, it is time for a change. This should include the right to reasure a distressed child with a hug as well as a firm repromand.

Joy Semmens, Penzance,

I wish the police had adopted this attitude in the 1950's it would have changed my whole life not to have been physically abused by my violent father.

Robert Hitchcock, Redditch, England