Pity the poor dope who for one tiny moment though he was doing the right thing to make up for the bad thing only to find himself, again, doing the bad thing:
Police have apologised to a family after smashing down their door by mistake, then later offering a bottle of beer and some flowers to say sorry... After the blunder officers returned later in the day to apologise to the couple, who have two young children. Along with their kind words they also handed over a bottle of beer, worth about £1.79, to Mr McVey, a former soldier with the Royal Engineers, and a bunch of flowers to his fiancée. It is believed that officers had been told by their superiors to make a gesture to the family, but they were then spoken to about their inappropriate choice of a bottle of beer as a gift.
I don't know what sort of beer it was but, given all the talk of discount beer in the UK, it's not likely that it was at the low end. Still... one beer along with flowers? Not a $100 gift certificate to a good restaurant with an offer to mind the kids for the evening? Not a redo of the kiddies' room by the constables involved? No. A beer. Oh dear.