Teen denies crime, but admits it on Facebook - CNET (blog)

I am thinking of writing a book about all the faux pas people have committed on Facebook.

Here's another to add to my already large collection of stories for the book, provisionally entitled: "Face It, I'm a Half-wit."

According to the U.K.'s Portsmouth News, a 16-year-old with a clearly refined sense of humor decided to block all the water passages in a restroom at a public library.

Using all of the ingenuity at his disposal, he shoved toilet paper down the sinkholes and then turned on all the taps.

Portsmouth is the home of Admiral Lord Nelson and others who enjoy doing things with water.

(Credit: CC R Gallant Photography/Flickr)

Being socially conscious, he did this late in the evening, so that water would happily pour away all night. Oddly, more than $200,000 worth of damage ensued from his amusement.

Naturally, he pleaded not guilty. This was until the prosecutor, who, having done what so many prosecutors do these days, showed that he had trawled Facebook for the accused's inner musings.

It seems that, though he had publicly protested his innocence, the accused had answered a question on Facebook as to whether he might be guilty. His reply: "Kind of, yeah. I've kept it to myself. A few mates know."

Clearly, these are good mates, the kind that don't rat out their buddies. Unfortunately, perhaps they might have to do a little work on their privacy settings.

The library was shut for five months, and the judge reportedly made it clear that the teen might also be shut away--in jail.

So, please, everyone. Let's keep on doing silly things on Facebook. Let's keep on admitting affairs, criticizing our bosses, mocking the passengers on our aircraft. A writer needs inspiration, you know. There's never enough.